4/10/20091 WHAT IS APOLOGETICS?  SUPERMARKET OR ANTIDOTE?

4/10/20092  To form beliefs, we must investigate the world and its issues to discover facts and truths about them. The reason we will use this process as we move forward? Because truth is true whether you believe it or not, truth does not require belief to be true. Because truth is true whether you believe it or not, truth does not require belief to be true.

4/10/20093 SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING. WE MUST BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND OUR SITUATION TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHY AND ANTIDOTE IS NECESSARY. WE MUST BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND OUR SITUATION TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHY AND ANTIDOTE IS NECESSARY. IT IS THE GOAL OF GOD’S LAW TO GIVE US THAT UNDERSTANDING, THAT DIAGNOSIS, AND THE GOAL OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST TO PROVIDE THE ANTIDOTE. IT IS THE GOAL OF GOD’S LAW TO GIVE US THAT UNDERSTANDING, THAT DIAGNOSIS, AND THE GOAL OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST TO PROVIDE THE ANTIDOTE.

4/10/20094 BUT MOST PEOPLE WOULD RATHER BE IN THE SUPERMARKET, AND WE MUST PERSUADE THEM THAT THEY NEED TO GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. BUT MOST PEOPLE WOULD RATHER BE IN THE SUPERMARKET, AND WE MUST PERSUADE THEM THAT THEY NEED TO GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. THEY WILL HAVE MANY OBJECTIONS, BARRIERS, BIASES, MISCONCEPTIONS, PRESUPPOSITIONS, DISTORTIONS OF FACTS AND ANY NUMBER OF EXCUSES. THEY WILL HAVE MANY OBJECTIONS, BARRIERS, BIASES, MISCONCEPTIONS, PRESUPPOSITIONS, DISTORTIONS OF FACTS AND ANY NUMBER OF EXCUSES. THIS IS WHAT CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS IS FOR, TO REMOVE THESE HINDRANCES THAT STAND BETWEEN A PERSON AND THE CROSS OF CHRIST. THIS IS WHAT CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS IS FOR, TO REMOVE THESE HINDRANCES THAT STAND BETWEEN A PERSON AND THE CROSS OF CHRIST.

4/10/20095 SO WHAT IS APOLOGETICS?  a branch of theology devoted to the defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity

4/10/20096  SOME CHRISTIANS SEE APOLOGETICS AS PRE-EVANGELISM; IT IS NOT THE GOSPEL, BUT PREPARES THE SOIL FOR THE GOSPEL.  OTHERS MAKE NO DISTINCTION, SEEING APOLOGETICS, THEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, AND EVANGELISM AS DEEPLY ENTWINED FACETS OF THE GOSPEL.

4/10/20097  WHATEVER ITS RELATION TO THE GOSPEL, APOLOGETICS IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT ENTERPRISE THAT CAN PROFOUNDLY IMPACT UNBELIEVERS AND BE USED AS A TOOL THAT CLEARS THE WAY TO FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.

4/10/20098 WE NEED TO ENGAGE THE CULTURE!  CHRISTIANS MUST BE INFORMED IN DOCTRINE, THE HISTORY OF OUR FAITH, PHILOSOPHY, LOGIC, AND OTHER DISCIPLINES AS THEY RELATE TO CHRISTIANITY.  WE NEED TO KNOW THE FACTS, ARGUMENTS AND THEOLOGY AND UNDERSTAND HOW TO USE THEM IN A WAY THAT WILL EFFECTIVELY ENGAGE THE CULTURE.  IN OTHER WORDS; CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS

4/10/20099 CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS ONE OF THE FIRST TASKS OF CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION. A NUMBER OF WIDELY HELD ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY CAN EASILY BE CHALLENGED WITH A LITTLE INFORMATION. ONE OF THE FIRST TASKS OF CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION. A NUMBER OF WIDELY HELD ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY CAN EASILY BE CHALLENGED WITH A LITTLE INFORMATION.

4/10/ A FEW ASSUMTIONS HELD BY OUR CULTURE. JESUS NEVER LIVED. JESUS NEVER LIVED. YOU CANT PROVE GOD EXISTS. YOU CANT PROVE GOD EXISTS. THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS MIRICLES. THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS MIRICLES. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD. THE BIBLE WASN’T WRITTEN UNTIL HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER THE LIFE OF JESUS. THE BIBLE WASN’T WRITTEN UNTIL HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER THE LIFE OF JESUS.

4/10/ WHAT ABOUT THE BOOKS THAT GOT LEFT OUT OF THE BIBLE? WHAT ABOUT THE BOOKS THAT GOT LEFT OUT OF THE BIBLE? ALL RELIGIONS BASICALLY TEACH THE SAME THING. ALL RELIGIONS BASICALLY TEACH THE SAME THING. IF GOD OF THE BIBLE IS REAL, HOW COULD HE ALLOW EVIL? IF GOD OF THE BIBLE IS REAL, HOW COULD HE ALLOW EVIL? WHAT’S TRUE FOR YOU IS TRUE FOR YOU; WHAT’S TRUE FOR ME IS TRUE FOR ME. WHAT’S TRUE FOR YOU IS TRUE FOR YOU; WHAT’S TRUE FOR ME IS TRUE FOR ME. CHRISTIANITY IS UNREASONABLE. CHRISTIANITY IS UNREASONABLE.

4/10/ Apologetics training equips believers to answer these types of questions. It does it in 3 ways

4/10/ st, –While Christian faith cannot be proven by reason, Christian faith isn’t irrational /contrary to reason. This is very important because it demonstrates that Christianity Is not simply personal preference, a function of how someone was raised, or a worldview supported only by emotional considerations.

4/10/ nd –It answers objections against the faith and seeks to remove misconceptions. 3rd –Christian apologetics not only provides evidence and arguments for Christianity but demonstrates the weaknesses of atheism and other belief systems logically incompatible with historic Christian faith. It offers something far better to replace there worldviews.

4/10/ APOLOGETICS IN THE BIBLE  SOME BELIEVERS ARE SUSPICIOUS OF AND OPPOSED TO APOLOGETICS. THEY VIEW IT AS BEING CONTRARY TO FAITH.  THIS IS ROOTED IN A MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE WORD “FAITH”

4/10/ FAITH AND BELIEF  THESE WORDS ARE TRANSLATED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM THE WORD “PISTIS” DEFINITION INCLUDES:  FIRM PERSUASION  A FIRMLY RELYING CONFIDENCE  WHEN WE TRUST SOMETHING, WE HAVE REASONS FOR IT, EVIDENCE THAT JUSTIFIES AND SUPPORTS IT.

4/10/ A CLAIM IS NOT TRUE JUST BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IT, OR UNTRUE BECAUSE WE DON’T BELIEVE IT.  1 ST WE ASSESS THE EVIDENCE AND REASONS FOR ITS TRUTH.  2 ND WE WEIGH THE EVIDENCE TO DETERMINE HOW WELL SUPPORTED THESE CLAIMS ARE.  3 RD WE TRUST; WE EXERCISE FAITH BASED ON THE WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE.

4/10/ FAITH IS NOT CHRISTIAN-BRANDED HOPING OR WISHING.  OTHER BELIEF SYSTEMS HAVE THIS KIND OF FAITH.  TO BELIEVE SOMETHING WITHOUT FIRST REFLECTING ON IT OR LOOKING INTO IT IS NOT AN ACT OF FAITH, IT IS AN ACT OF FOOLISHNESS.

4/10/  THE WHOLE POINT OF CHRISTIANITY IS NOT THAT WE HAVE FAITH, THAT IS NO DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER RELIGION OR WORLDVIEW.  IF JUST HAVING FAITH WAS THE GOAL, ALL THE WORLD WOULD BE SAVED SINCE EVERYONE BELIEVES IN SOMETHING.

4/10/  FAITH ITSELF IS NOT THE OBJECT.  WHAT DIFFERENTIATES RELIGIONS IS THE OBJECT OF THERE FAITH.  THE CONTENT OF FAITH IS WHAT MATTERS.  SO CONTENT OF A FAITH IS WHAT WE MUST INVESTIGATE AND THEN EMBRACE OR REJECT.

CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS IS MODELED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT THE GREEK WORD “APOLOGIA” IS WHERE WE GET OUR WORD APOLOGETICS FROM. IT IS USED TO DESCIBE A DEFENSE, AS IN A LEGAL DEFENSE OR MAKING A CASE. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IT IS TRANSLATED AS DEFENSE OR VINDICATION.

4/10/ Acts 22:1 “Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.” Philippians 1:7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. Philippians 1:16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

4/10/ Peter 3:15-16 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. Jude 1:3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

4/10/ PAUL AT MARS HILL ► Acts 17:22-34 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” So Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

4/10/ ► PAUL ARGUES FOR THE FAITH IN 2 WAYS. ► 1 ST HE FINDS COMMON GROUND. ► 2 ND PAUL ARGUES BASED ON FACTS THAT COULD BE INVESTIGATED BY ANYONE WHO WAS INTERESTED.

4/10/ ► BEHIND PAULS BOLD APPROACH IS A LOGIC AND COHERENCE THAT EMPOWERED HIM BECAUSE HE UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF INTELLECT AS IT RELATES TO FAITH. ► Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

274/10/2009 USE AND ABUSE CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS IS NOT TO WIN ARGUMENTS. THE HOLY SPIRIT SAVES PEOPLE, NOT US.

284/10/2009 TOLLERS AND JACK A GOOD EXAMPLE OF APOLOGETICS AT WORK IN A GRACIOUS CHRISTIAN WAY CAN BE SEEN IN THE STORY OF 3 FRIENDS WHO WERE WALKING TOGETHER AND TALKING IN 1931.

294/10/2009 JACKTOLLER HUGO DYSON

304/10/2009 “JACK” = C.S. LEWIS C.S. LEWIS MERE CHRISTIANITY AND THE CHRONICALS OF NARNIA

314/10/2009 “TOLLER” = J.R.R. TOLKIEN THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY AND THE HOBBIT

4/10/ CONCLUSION  IN THE LIGHT OF THE COMMAND TO BE ABLE TO GIVE A DEFENSE FOR THE TRUTH THAT IS WITHIN US AND TO LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR MINDS, WE MUST EQUIP OURSELVES WITH FACTS, EVIDENCE, AND ARGUMENTS FOR CHRISTIANITY.