# Notes from a Sunday School class



## cih1355 (Mar 15, 2007)

My church offers various courses during the Sunday School hour. I have been attending the apologetics class and here are my notes from one of the class sessions.

How To Do Apologetics

Introduction

A. Philosophical orientations of our day

-Ultimately, there are two worldviews. A worldview that embraces Christ and a worldview that rejects Christ. All non-Christian worldviews have this in common: They reject Christ. 
-Religious pluralism
-Secular humanism
-Denial of the supernatural
-Postmodernism
-Living for pleasure

B. Examining apologetics of our own time.

1. Classical apologetics

a. Step one: prove the existence of God.
-Appeal to natural theology to prove God's existence

1) Ontological argument.
-God is the greatest possible being. God exists in our minds.
A being who exists only in the mind is not so great as a being 
who exists in reality as well as in the mind. If God existed only in
mind, he would not be the greatest possible being. Therefore, 
God exists in reality as well as in the mind. 

2) Cosmological argument
-Whatever has a beginning has a cause. The universe had a 
beginning. The universe has a cause. The cause of the universe
is God. 

My comment: There are different versions of the cosmological
argument. For example, one version of the argument says that 
if there are contingent beings then there must be a 
necessary being and that necessary being is God.

3) Teleological argument.
-Things in nature are designed. The design in nature requires a
Designer and that Designer is God. 

My comment: A classical apologist would argue like the 
following: The arrangement of the nucleotides in DNA has 
meaning. They convey information. The meaning of DNA is what 
determines which order the nucleotides are arranged. 
The information of DNA does not come from DNA nor
does it come from the parts of DNA. The information of DNA 
exists outside of and prior to the arrangement of the nucleotides
in DNA. Whatever gave DNA its meaning or information came 
from an intelligent cause and that intelligent cause was God. 

b) Step two: a presentation of historical evidences
-Prove that the Bible is reliable and then prove that it is the inspired
by God. Prove that Christ rose from the dead. Show that the 
resurrection of Christ is the best possible explanation for the fact 
that Christ's tomb is empty. 

My comment: Historians use different tests to confirm that a 
document is historically accurate. Classical apologists use these 
tests to confirm that the Bible is reliable. 

Weaknesses of classical apologetics
- One's worldview influences how one interprets the facts of science, history, archaeology, etc. The unbeliever is going to interpret the facts according to his worldview. He will not interpret the facts in the same way that a Christian would. 
- A Mormon, Muslim, etc. would be convinced by the arguments for God's existence, but they would not believe in the Christian God. 


2. Evidential apologetics

-One step approach to apologetics.
-No need to prove God's existence first before proving that Christianity is true.
-Appeals to facts, evidence, and miracles that would simultaneously prove that God exists and that Christianity is true. 
-Prove that the best explanation for Christ's empty tomb is that He rose from the dead. 
-Uses probability arguments to prove that Christianity is most likely to be true than false.

My comment: Probability arguments are inductive arguments. The conclusion of an inductive argument follows with a greater or lesser degree of probability. A probability argument for God's existence would say that God's existence is more likely to be true than false. The Bible does not teach that God's existence is more likely to be true than false. Romans 1 says that unbelievers suppress the truth in unrighteousness and that God has revealed Himself in such a way so that men have no excuse for not believing in Him. 

Weakness of evidential apologetics:
- Same weaknesses as in classical apologetics. Unbelievers are not neutral towards God. They will not interpret the facts and evidence in the same way that a Christian would.

3. Reformed Epistemology
-Challenges the assumption that you cannot believe something without evidence.
-It is reasonable or rational to believe some things without evidence. 

Weakness of Reformed Epistemology
-You may rationally believe something that is not true. 

C. Biblical examples of doing apologetics

-Show unbelievers what is wrong with their worldview.
-2 Cor. 10:5 says that we should destroy arguments and every lofty
opinion raised against the knowledge of God.

1. The gospel presented to the Jews (Acts 2:14-41)

Peter is speaking to the Jews. Peter uses the Old Testament to prove 
that Jesus is the Messiah, that He rose from the dead, and that He
is the exalted Lord. 

My comment: The Jews had a misconception of who Jesus was and Paul 
corrected their misconception. 

2. The gospel presented to the Gentiles (Acts 17:15-34).

a. The background of Athens

-The Athenians worshipped false gods. They would spend their time 
in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 

b. Paul was provoked within because of idolatry (v. 16)


c. Paul reasoned with Jews, God-fearing Gentiles, and anyone else 
(vv.17-18)

My comment: Verse 2 of the same chapter says that Paul reasoned 
with the Jews in Thessalonica from Scripture. 

Proverbs 26:4-5 tells us how to reason with an unbeliever
and how not to reason with an unbeliever. When answering an 
unbelievers, our answers should not be based upon their 
presuppositions. Other times we should show how the 
the their presuppositions to lead to folly. We should 
reduce any anti-Christian presuppositions to absurdity. 



d. Paul was taken before the Areopagus to give his defense (vv. 19-21)


e. Paul's defense (vv. 22-34)
-Paul saw their idols and an altar with the inscription, "To an unknown
God". 
- Paul tells them who the true God is. Paul shows them that there 
conception of God is wrong. 
- Paul says that God does not live in temples made by man and that 
God does not need anything. 
-Every nation of mankind comes from Adam. God determined where 
and when they would live. 
-Everyone should seek God. 
-God is not far from us. People exist only by God's providence. 
-We depend upon God for our life and breath. 
-God created man. Since God created man, we should not think that
God is like gold or silver or stone, a man-made image. Idols are 
man-made things. The true God is not a man-made thing. Man-made
gods are images of man. Man-made gods are a reflection of man's 
heart. 
- Paul says that God commands everyone to repent. God will judge the 
world in righteousness by the Man whom He has appointed. God gave
the assurance that He would do this by raising Him from the dead.

My comment: Paul assumed that the Athenians knew God. Even though
they did not know the Scriptures, they still had no excuse for not believing
in God. Even the Greek poets admitted that the supernatural existed.


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