Grace Thoughts
Teaching Notes: On Christian Apologetics (Part 1)
Teaching Notes are Bible studies we taught before GraceLife Ministries began publishing articles online in 1995. Some were presented as sermons, others as group studies.
Our hope is that these older studies will be a blessing to you in your life and ministry. Please use them in any way God leads you.
These teaching notes are from a series of studies about Christian Apologetics.
[These notes are from a study presented 45 years ago.]
Christian Apologetics
In addition to the Bible, we will use two books in our study about Christian Apologetics. The title of the first book is An Introduction To Christian Apologetics by Dr. Edward John Carnell. Dr. Carnell was a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. A sub-title for the book is A Philosophical Defense of the Trinitarian-Theistic Faith.
Dr. Carnell defines apologetics as “the branch of Christian theology which answers the question, Is Christianity rationally defensible?” He went on to write that the purpose of apologetics is “to bring glory to God and to remove from critics any excuse for not repenting before God.” Dr. Carnell also wrote that apologetics is defending Christian truth against the charges of unbelievers, gently refuting error, and working with the Holy Spirit in the conviction of men.
Introduction to Christian Apologetics is broken down into three parts:
- The Need for a Christian World-View
- The Rise of the Christian World-View
- Implications of the Christian World-View
The book contains an excellent glossary of terms and a very helpful index of Scriptural passages and subjects.
In the Conclusion, Dr. Carnell summarized all that he had previously dealt with plus shared the futility of atheism through the famous argument of Pascal called the Wager. Having been a dogmatic atheist prior to my conversion to Christianity, I find this fascinating.
The title of the second book is Protestant Christian Evidences written by Dr. Bernard Ramm, a professor of Systematic Theology at California Baptist Theological Seminary. A sub-title for the book is A Textbook of The Evidences of the Truthfulness of the Christian Faith for Conservative Protestants.
Dr. Ramm mentioned that he wrote the book for Christians whose faith needs stabilization or whose critical spirit has been aroused and needs evidences adequate to the issues involved. He also wrote it for those who were yet willing to h ear the evidence.
Dr. Ramm mentioned that he titled the book Protestant Christian Evidences to differentiate from Catholic works on apologetics and evidences because of the treatment on the divine origin and authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
The book is comprised of ten chapters:
- General Introduction to Christian Evidences
- Antisupernaturalism
- Supernatural Verification Through Fulfilled Prophecy
- Supernatural Verification Through Miracles
- Rebuttal to Those Who Deny Miracles
- The Verification of Christianity by the Supernatural Character of Its Founder
- Supernatural Verification Through the Resurrection of Christ
- The Verification of Christianity Through Experience
- The Verification of Christianity Through the Supernatural Character of the Bible
- Decision
Next Time
In the next part of our study on Christian Apologetics, we will look at Soul Sorrow and human predicaments that are solved in Christ.
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Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts
