Apologetics Worksheets - Cru



Apologetics Worksheet #1

Topic: Existence of God

Name ___________________________________________ Grade __________

Note: These six worksheets are designed to serve several purposes:

A) Help Guide Your Reading. The questions in these study guides will point you to the topics in the readings that your professor views as most important for this class.

B) Develop Skill in Asking Questions. One of the objectives of this course is to improve your skill in effectively entering into genuine dialogue with those who raise questions about, or objections to, your Christian faith. You will learn some about this skill in Newman’s book, Questioning Evangelism. You will also practice asking questions during the live classroom sessions. In addition, some of the items on these worksheets will ask you to begin generating questions that you might ask in response to various issues raised by nonbelievers or new believers.

C) Guide Professor in the Class Presentations. When you turn in these completed study guides on the first day of class (hard copy, typed), your professor and TA will spot read them, both to see that you’ve completed them, and to discern if there are any issues from the reading that need particular attention during the live class sessions.

As indicated in the syllabus, you may skim the readings, if you can master the content using that method. You are strongly encouraged to first review the questions in the worksheets, then read the chapters and articles in the order listed in the syllabus, (which is also the order of the questions in the worksheets).

Questions for Worksheet #1:

1. On the third page of his article, Jeff Grant lists four things he is trying with his friend to “love him and move the conversation forward.” Of those four, which one do you personally find the most difficult and why? (In which of those practices could you use the most improvement?)

2. Based on Newman’s Introduction, is “dialoguing the gospel” the only, or most important, skill an evangelist needs to develop? In which of the skills Newman mentions are you personally the strongest? In which one do you need the most improvement?

3. Summarize what “rabbinic evangelism” is, and is not, according to Newman, Chapter 1.

4. Summarize what Feinberg means by “Cumulative Case Apologetics”? How is it different from other forms of apologetics?

5. In Chapter 8, Keller lists several “clues” that God exists. Which of these, if any, would be most convincing to the people with whom you’ve shared Christ? Briefly explain why that “clue” probably would, or would not, be convincing?

6. Based on Keller, Chapter 6, how could you respond to someone who says that science has disproved Christianity or the Bible?

7. Based on the Foreward (by Maier) and the Introduction (by Schmidt) in How Christianity Changed the World, how might you respond to someone who argued that the world would be better off without the Christian religion?

8. Based on Schmidt, Chapter 9, how might you answer someone who says that science has made religious faith unnecessary?

9. Based on Habermas and Moreland, how could you respond to someone who says, “To believe in Jesus’ resurrection is irrational. No one could believe he came back to life simply based on reason.”?

Case Study: Joe is a Biology major at the university, and takes a “scientific” view of life. He says the only information we can know with certainty is empirical, scientific data. When it comes to God, science really can’t prove or disprove anything, which is why Joe is satisfied being an agnostic. To him, faith is irrational because it “leaps” beyond empirical evidence. In truth, Joe leans toward atheism, believing that science has made God obsolete. He says that through science we have explained the origin of life, evolution, and almost every other question about the universe. Why do we need God?

10. What are five questions (3 intellectual and 2 personal) you might ask Joe to try to identify his underlying issues or concerns?

11. In your own words, how would you describe Joe’s objection(s) to the Christian faith? What is at the core of Joe’s objection?

12. Reflecting on the arguments presented in the readings, which arguments do you think might be most helpful and why?

13. In a paragraph, write a summary of what you might say in response to Joe.

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