Filling the Gap | Apologetics
23 April @ 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The word “apologetics” is derived from the Greek word “apologia”. It means to give a “defence” or “make a case” as in a court of law. Apologetics is a theoretical discipline that seeks to provide a rational evidence-based justification for the truth claims of the Christian faith. Dr William Lane Craig asserts that “The goal of apologetics is to persuasively defend Christianity against charges of falsehood, inconsistency, or credulity”, This course covers the following key topics:
1. What is apologetics, what’s its relevance and importance to faith and witness?
St Peter wrote “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3 :15.). To “give an answer” is to “to give a defence”. Apologetics is not about winning heated arguments. Neither is apologetics a replacement for gospel witnessing or evangelism. In fact, they often work in tandem.
Apologetics can be learnt and used both overtly and responsively. Being able to articulate a simple list of reasons of why Christianity is true, rational and reasonable when witnessing, can be powerful. “Apologia” (defence) is used several times in the New Testament including 1 Peter 3:15, Acts 22:1 and 25:16, 1 Corinthians 9:3, Philippians 1:7 and 1:16, and 2 Timothy 4:16. We observe that Paul takes an “apologetics” approach when defending the gospel truth and himself, in Athens (Acts 17), Acts 22 (his conversion), and his faith defence as found in Acts 24 (Felix), and Acts 25 (Festus & Agrippa).
2. What are the good reasons to believe in God’s existence?
Over two sessions, we will explore six significant reasons for God’s existence including the Cosmological Argument for the absolute beginning and ongoing expansion of the universe, the Teleological Argument for the phenomenal fine tuning of all things, the Axiological Argument from morality including objective truths, morals and values, the Ontological Argument (ontology is the study of the nature of existence and being), the beauty of mathematics which is the language of God, and the argument from human consciousness.
3. What is a worldview and why does it matter?
Everyone has a worldview, even if they don’t recognise it! Worldviews shape us; they deeply influence our perspectives, our attitudes and our responses. Your worldview is your personal all-encompassing view or explanation about life; how you would answer the BIG questions such as: Is there a God? Why is there something rather than nothing? And What is the purpose of life? We will examine the Christian worldview and briefly how it differs from other religion worldviews.
4. What is the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus and why it matters for absolutely everyone?
Atheists and other religions challenge the central claim of Christianity that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is the most important event in all history, but many of the current secular culture are either not bothered about it and dismissive of religion in general, or are sceptical, or are asking challenging questions; can a dead man really come back to life? what is the evidence, and can we trust it? We will explore the key facts that underpin the historicity and truth of Jesus resurrection and the confidence that can be obtained from God’s word and non-biblical sources.
5. Does science conflict with faith and theism?
Naturalism (atheism) often makes the extravagant broad claim that science has or will provide answers for everything and that therefore, there is no God. But this cannot be so; for instance, naturalism cannot answer WHY questions such as: why there is a universe, and why is there intelligent life on earth? For Christians, science is not the enemy of faith and theism. In fact, it was theism that first gave order and the rationale for the sciences and the development of the scientific method. This session will explore where naturalism clashes with theism including the conjecture that is human evolution, whether alien life exists elsewhere in the universe plus examine the biblical account of creation. Remember. science is a wonderful gift of God, but it is only one way of knowing reality; it cannot account for logical and mathematical truths, metaphysical truths (such as there are other minds other than your own), or ethical beliefs about statements of value, or aesthetic judgements.
6. The challenge of evil, pain and suffering
Whilst Christians view that pain and suffering results from human rebellion and sin, we also hold onto God’s loving compassion and sovereignty, that Jesus Christ provides hope and meaning, and that God has and will finally triumph over suffering and evil. In this session, we will examine St Anselm’s free will defence argument and its subsequent development by contemporary apologists and also briefly review the responses to this challenge as offered by other world religions. We will also briefly examine the book of Job.
Course Presenter
The course will be presented by Brett Ennis who says “considerable care has been taken to carefully research and present the published material of world-renowned Christian apologists. I’ve studied apologetics and science at university level and read a very large number of books and published articles and watched scores of debates and lectures on the discipline. I’ve drawn significantly from the scholarly published works of Drs William Lane Craig, John Lennox, Hugh Ross, James Tour and Gary Habermas plus C S Lewis and J Warner Wallace. All course contents and reference websites will be made available to course participants including recommendations on a reading list and further on-line courses for those wishing to continue exploring this fascinating and developing discipline.”
Finally, if you’re not sure this course is for you then please feel free to seek the confidential opinion of the folks that attended the last course in 2024. I’m happy to put you in touch with past participants that you can approach to independently seek their views.
Places are limited, so please contact the church office if you wish to attend.
