APOLOGETICS CLASS

WEEK ONE

WHAT IS APOLOGETICS?

• The word apologetics is derived from the Latin word apologia

• Apologia is the Latin word for the defense of one's opinions, position, or actions

• Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle described apologia as a genre of rhetoric, in which the orator persuasively explains and defends his actions and himself against an accusation, and earns vindication from and re-acceptance to the polity (a form of government)

• Apologetics is being able to provide a rational, logical defense of your faith

WHAT IS APOLOGETICS?

WHAT IS APOLOGETICS?• (Video shown from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope with Darth

Vader choking an Imperial officer and declaring he finds the officer’s “lack of faith disturbing.”

• This is an example of what apologetics is all about – defending one’s faith against detractors and doubters

• While it may occasionally be tempting, this is not the Jesus-approved method for defending your faith.

• Because there is a need to be able to rationally defend Christian beliefs both externally with others and internally with ourselves

• Matthew 13:18-23o A person who does not understand may never take rooto You are the seed on good soil and you can help others

• 1 Peter 3:15-16o Being prepared to answer is a command

WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT APOLOGETICS?

1 Peter 3:15-16 - But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.• Its not only about being prepared to give an answer, its about how you give that

answer (with gentleness and respect)

• How do you keep a clear conscience when respectfully disagreeing with someone?

• How can your response shame someone who may have slandered you and your faith?

• Character, not a good argument, is always the way to win someone over

HOW WE DEFEND OUR FAITH

• Peter had the credentials to give advice to the persecuted churches in Asia Minor in 1 Peter as he was the first apologetic of the faith

• Acts 2:1-41o Note how Peter explains what is going ono 3000 are baptized based on an explanation of what they were witnessingo Defending your faith can be an evangelistic event!

• Acts 17:1-5o Paul reasoned with the Jewish populationo He met the local Jews where they were at -- in the synagogue o He reasoned with them from the scriptures -- from their scriptures! o Its tough to meet people where they are at in terms of their beliefs in civil

rights, scientific reasoning, denominational beliefs, etc.

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES TO LEARN FROM

• Acts 17:16-34o Paul met the Athenian philosophers where they were at --- in their house (the

Areopagus which was a court of law)o He challenged the Epicureans who believed in gods but did not believe in

divine interventiono He challenged the Stoics whose philosophy was to understand the natural

order of things from a cosmic perspectiveo It was an evangelistic event as this resulted in conversions!

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES TO LEARN FROM

• 2 Corinthians 10:4-5o We tear down obstacles to knowing Godo We tear down arguments – not people!

• 1 Corinthians 2:1-5o Defending your faith is about your character, understanding where people are

at and speaking plain and clearo You are not engaged in an academic debate full of ten-dollar words

http://www.cwacademy.net/apologetics-class/ is a great resource if you are interested in engaging in the details of logical fallacies and types of arguments

o You are engaging real people with real problems, real concerns and who deserve a real, straight-talking response

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES TO LEARN FROM

DOES GOD EXIST?

• (Video shown from Star V: The Final Frontier when Captain Kirk asks the powerful alien near end of film “What does God need with a starship?”

• Kirk was a skeptic and we should all be skeptics to some extent

• We have been equipped with the Word and should never just take for granted what we’re told even when it is preached from the pulpit but should check and study for ourselves

• The Skeptico Requires evidence or sufficient proof (e.g., the Bereans)

• Atheisto Absence of belief in God/divine

• Agnostico Lacks sufficient knowledge or access to knowledge to know decisively one way

or the other

• Unchurchedo Lacks upbringing in and affiliation with a Christian denomination/church

THE CHALLENGERS

• The Atheist is the biggest challenger to Christianityo On the attack with lawsuits against Christian and Jewish symbolism in public

placeso New Atheism is the name given to a 21st Century movement who believe that

religion should not be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by rational argument

• The French Revolutiono The French Revolution (1789-1799) emboldened atheism in Europeo The Catholic Church was seen as having been a supporter of the French

monarchy and was the largest landowner in Franceo The Catholic Church’s association with the overthrown French monarchy led

people to view the church as being an oppressor and they reacted against it

THE ATHEIST

• The American Revolution o The American Revolution (1765-1783) saw the colonies shake off British ruleo The Americans saw the Catholic Church in bed with the European powers and

the Church of England as the official church of the British Empireo The Americans set up separation of church and state not to exclude religion

from public life but to ensure no single denomination became the establishment

o Atheist activists promote extremist interpretations of the separation of church and state to remove religion from all areas of public life

THE ATHEIST

• Is Religion the Root of the World’s Condition?o There are plenty of examples such as the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Taliban

and ISIS to feed this atheist viewo There are examples of atheist societies that were every bit as evil

Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Communist regimes that sprang forth The human rights record of atheistic societies is no better than any religious group

• Atheism is a Belief Systemo Scientific method cannot definitely prove there is a God --- nor can it prove

conclusively that there is not a God!o Atheism is an opinion and an individual belief that there is no God which, by

their own rules, makes their belief no more credible than their view of a Christian’s belief

THE ATHEIST

• “How we think about God is directly related to the how we think about the world we live in” – What We Talk About When We Talk About God, Rob Bell

• God is beyond our tangible, well-proven natural world that is supported with hard evidenceo There is no “smoking gun”o There is, like a legal case, cumulative evidence that points to God

• There are three basic types of arguments for God’s existenceo Cosmologicalo Teleologicalo Moral

THE CASE FOR GOD

• Cosmological Argumento This is the Cause and Effect argumento Every belief system has a creation story of some sort that tells of things in our

world having a cause -- a creating, initiating entityo Principle of Sufficient Reason states that nothing is without reason and

everything must have a reason or a cause

• The universe had a beginningo Whatever has a beginning must begin to exist from a cause (something or

someone)o The universe is made up of space, time, matter and energy so the cause of the

universe had to be outside of the universe --- outside of nature as we know ito In other words, who lit the fuse on the Big Bang?

THE CASE FOR GOD – COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

• Teleological Argumento This is the argument for our amazement at the design, sequencing and even

beauty at the world around uso Fred Hoyle (coined “Big Bang”) stated that the odds of our universe being by

accidental design is like those of a tornado sweeping through a junk yard and assembling a functioning 747 from the scraps

o The Teleological Argument is the Intelligent Design argument The belief that physical and biological systems observed in the universe result chiefly from

purposeful design by an intelligent being rather than from chance and other undirected natural processes

THE CASE FOR GOD – TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

• Teleological Argument’s Evidenceo If the explosive force of the Big Bang were off by only 1 part of 1059 (10

followed by 59 zeroes), the universe would have collapsed back in on itself or be expanding too fast for stars to form

o If Weak Nuclear Force was just slightly weaker in relation to gravity, most of the hydrogen on Earth would turn to helium --- no H2O!

o If Strong Nuclear Force was just 2% stronger, there could be no formation of protons resulting in a universe with no atoms

o Water is unique in that it permits many chemical reactions without becoming part of the action the way acids and alkalines do

o If water’s viscosity was less, it would disrupt delicate cellular activities in our bodies

o If water’s viscosity was more, it would prevent movement of larger molecules

THE CASE FOR GOD – TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

• Teleological Argument’s Evidenceo The sun is made of elements like hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon o The Earth is made of elements like hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbono What are plants made of? What are people made of?o Plants get their energy from photosynthesis which allows the plant to process light and food

into a carbohydrate called glucose which powers the machineo People get their energy from processing food and drink into a carbohydrate called glucose

which powers the machineo Genesis 2:7 – as if God has some sort of holy play-doh and used it to create the stars, the

Earth, the plants and uso Even people who don’t believe in God have to admit that it is very unusual that all creation

flows together like that (Intelligent Design)o God scooped up some dirt, shaped it and blew on it to create man from the same stuff the

stars in the universe are made fromo You and I are made of the same things as the stars.

THE CASE FOR GOD – TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

• Teleological Argument’s Evidenceo Evolutionists tell us that our belief in God is left over from a time when our

ancestors needed to explain things in order to survive without having the benefits of modern science Is our concept of beauty nothing more than left over wiring for us to find food or a mate? Is love nothing more than a biochemical response? If we can’t trust our left over belief in God, how do we know we can trust our belief in

evolutionary science?

• Teleological Closing Argumento Why do we long to satisfy a hunger? Because we know food existso Why do we long to satisfy a thirst? Because we know drink existso Why do we long for something greater in our innermost being? Because we

know something greater exists

THE CASE FOR GOD – TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT

• Moral Argumento Every society has a code of “right and wrong” and they are generally very

similar in core valueso These values cannot be explained away by natural causes or social factors

Origin must be some common personal source Natural causes or social factors do not explain why we thing something is right or wrong

• Example of Relationshipso Humans are inclined to forge family bondso Animals do this too but humans attach moral values to ito The family bond is more than just a drive reproduction and survivalo When we remove the relationship factor from sex we end up with things we

attach moral values to (e.g., pornography and prostitution)o Why do we attach emotional bonds to the relationship? Hardwired for a

relationship with God!

THE CASE FOR GOD – MORAL ARGUMENT

• Moral Obligationo Consider those who state that no one should impose their moral views on

other because everyone should be free to do their own thingo Are there people in the world doing things you believe are wrong and should

be stopped?o If you answered “yes”, some people need to be stopped from doing their own

thing, then this is “moral obligation”o Why do some help a stranger at personal risk? This is “moral obligation” not

the self-preservation or lineage preservation of evolutiono Where does your “moral obligation” come from?o Without God, what is the basis for any moral obligation such as basic human

rights…what sets apart the “good” from the “bad”?

THE CASE FOR GOD – MORAL ARGUMENT

• Closing Moral Argumentso If God does not exist, then objective moral values do not exist

Without God, what makes your moral values any more relevant than my moral values?

o Unchanging ultimate accountability (e.g., God) must exist for moral values or they do not matter You can change to rules to suit your mood or own selfish ambition and goals

THE CASE FOR GOD – MORAL ARGUMENT

• The evidence mounts to some external force greater than us and greater than nature

• We are hardwired to seek out a relationship with that greater being

• People agree with using deductive reasoning in a court of law or other areas of life but they are resistant to the logical conclusion that God does exist and we need a relationship with Him

THE CASE FOR GOD - CONCLUSIONS

DOES JESUS EXIST?

• It is generally agreed upon that Jesus was real, historical figureo Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee who followed oral tradition of

teachingo Jesus was baptized by John the Baptisto Jesus was crucified on orders from Pontius Pilate

• Certain events in the Gospels were documented by non-discipleso Josephus, a 1st Century Roman-Jewish historian, wrote of Jesus in his

Antiquities of the Jewso Tacitus, Roman senator and historian who was highly esteemed, wrote of Jesus

and his execution in his Annalso The Nazareth Inscription is a tablet found in Nazareth on which the Roman

government outlaws the disturbing of graves. It is disputed if it was in response to Jesus’ empty tomb

THE CASE FOR JESUS – A REAL PERSON

• Jesus did not write down any of his teachings. Even God wrote down the Ten Commandmentso Most people in the area where Jesus taught probably could not reado Oral tradition was more highly respected that written tradition that could not

be fact-checked by the common mano Writing materials were expensiveo Consider that Socrates left behind no writings at all and everything we know

about him is based on the writings of two of his disciples, Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of Aristophanes

o Why a double standard then for the Gospels?

THE CASE FOR JESUS – NO DOCUMENTATION

• The supernatural divinity of Jesus is disputedo Miracles and the accuracy of the Scriptures will be addressed in a later sessiono “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great

moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic…or he would be the devil of hell…Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call him Lord and God” – C.S. Lewis

o The Gospels were written at best 40-60 years after Jesus’ death so there is dispute about their accuracy

o Paul’s letters were written only 15-25 years after Jesus’ death Paul’s letters capture the same supernatural divinity of Jesus as the Gospels Many of Jesus’ supporters were still alive as were other witnesses such as

government officials, bystanders and Jesus’ opponents If Paul’s letters, meant to be read aloud to the churches, made false claims about

Jesus’ healing people and his resurrection from the dead, wouldn’t people have challenged their validity? There is no record of such challenges being made

THE CASE FOR JESUS – SUPERNATURAL DIVINITY

THE CASE FOR JESUS – THE RESURRECTIONA Big Mistake!Tomb Occupied

A Big Mystery:Tomb Empty

Wrong Tomb Hallucination Remiss:Jesus was Still Alive

Jesus Died

Removed:Someone elseRemoved Jesus

Resurrected:God Removed JesusHe is Who He Claims

DisciplesGrave Robbers

RomansJews

UFOs/Worms

Chart from “Historicity of Jesus” at http://www.cwacademy.net/apologetics-class/

• Jesus did exist as supported by non-biblical, non-Christian sources

• Based on a lack of contemporary challenges to Paul’s claims, particularly a lack of challenges from Jesus’ opponents, Jesus was and is a supernatural being who was raised from the dead and is the son of God

• Jesus being raised from the dead and escaping the tomb is the only logical conclusion and is supported by over 500 witnesses who saw him afterwards

THE CASE FOR JESUS - CONCLUSION