True Vine Apologetics I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist Curriculum - Session One
Introduction – I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist
**Please note the presentation will move along very quickly.
r Fill in the answer to these questions:
1. What is the purpose of your life? (You can answer this later when you have ample time.)
2. What does Apologetics mean? The word Apologetics is derived from the Greek word, Apologia, which means to defend.
3. I Peter 3:15 exhorts us: “To sanctify the Lord God in your heart, and always be ready to give a defense for the hope that you have.”
4. Christian Apologetics is a defense of the Christian worldview.
5. Paul says, in II Corinthians 10:5 that we are to: “Tear down speculations, and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
6. How many kids walk away from the Christian faith? Once they leave home, 75% of our kids are walking away from the church. Only 30% ever return.
7. They must know what they believe and why they believe it.
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Question 1. DOES TRUTH EXIST?
Lesson 1. “The Roadrunner Tactic”
Absolute truth does exist
Relativism is false
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” II Corinthians 10:5
This verse is telling us that we need to be knowledgeable about arguments that defeat false claims and ideas about God and our Christian Worldview. We can achieve this if we have a clear understanding about truth and the ability to recognize that which is false.
r Fill in the answer to these questions:
1. What is Truth? Truth is telling it like it is, that which corresponds to its referent.
2. It helps us recognize truth by helping us discover what is false.
3. What is the law of non-contradiction? Opposite ideas can’t both be true at the same time and in the same sense.
4. All truth is absolute! Something that is true is true for all persons, at all times, in all places, regardless of who believes it.
5. How do you defeat a self-defeating claim? (The Roadrunner Tactic) Apply the claim to itself. (Example: “There is no truth.” “Is that true?”)
6. “People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.” (Quote by Blaise Pascal)
7. Contrary beliefs are possible, but contrary truths are not possible.
8. You can believe everything is true, but everything can’t be true.
9. Objective truth can’t be denied without being affirmed.
10. Relativism is false.
11. II Corinthians 10:5 tells us: “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” II Corinthians 10:5
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Question 2. DOES GOD EXIST?
Lesson 2. “In the Beginning”
That which begins to exist has a cause
The universe began to exist
The universe has a cause
The cause of the universe has to be someone or something beyond the universe
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
This verse provides us with the most plausible explanation for the cause of the universe. This verse presents time, space, matter, energy, and a causal agent.
r Fill in the answer to these questions:
1. What are the 3 major types of religious worldviews? Theism: God made all. (Judaism, Christian, Islam) Pantheism: God is all. (Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age) Atheism: No God at all. (Religious Humanism, Atheism)
2. What is the Cosmological Argument? That which begins to exist has a cause. The universe had a beginning. If the universe had a beginning then it must have had a cause.
3. What is the SURGE evidence? S – Second Law of Thermodynamics: The universe is running down; it is running out of useable energy. U – Universe Expansion: If time were reversed, the universe would collapse back into nothing. R – Radiation Afterglow: Remnant heat from a past energy. G – Great Galaxy Seeds: Extremely precise conditions in the universe that allow galaxies to form. E – Einstein’s General Relativity: Time, space, and matter are co-existent.
4. Astronomical evidence leads to the Biblical view of the origin of the world.
5. What is the Law of Causality? Sometimes referred to as the “Law of Cause and Effect,” the law of causality tells us that every material effect must be preceded by an adequate cause.
6. Genesis 1:1 says: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
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Lesson 3. “Divine Design”
The universe is finely tuned and has been designed to support human life on earth
That which is designed has a designer
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20
Because of what we can see in creation, everyone has an awareness of some of the unseen attributes of God. This is what is known as “General Revelation.”
r Fill in the answer to these questions:
1. What is an Anthropic Constant? A precise environmental condition that is necessary for life on earth. Over
2. 100 Anthropic Constants have been discovered and each one reflects the fine tuning of the universe.
3. The Psalmist says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” (Psalms 19:1)
4. The prophet Isaiah said, “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? Lift your eyes and look to the heavens!” (Isaiah 40:25)
5. That which is designed has a Designer.
6. Romans 1:20 says: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
7. Because of what we can see in creation, everyone has an awareness of some of the unseen attributes of God. This is what is known as “General Revelation.”
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Lesson 4. “The Origin of Life”
All biological systems have DNA
DNA is a message, and messages only come from minds
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39
The way this verse relates to the lesson is that it tells us that God wants us to love him with our minds. That means we should be using our intellect to learn about who God is, and the facts that support our faith.
r Fill in the answer to these questions:
1. All living things, all biological systems have DNA.
2. Where there’s a message, there’s a messenger, where there’s a code, there’s a coder.
3. In all our experience, information only comes from minds. Information is a characteristic of design.
4. Cells are like little cities.
5. The info found in the DNA of a one celled amoeba is equal to 1000 volumes of an encyclopedia.
6. All the DNA and programming information necessary to create the complete human being that you are and carry you through adulthood was present at the moment of your conception.
7. Systems that behave in a goal directed fashion are products of design.
8. Jesus said in Matthew 10:30 that “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered,” he wasn’t being poetic. He was being literal. It’s in your design!
9. Matthew 22:37-39 says: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”