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Apologetics Class 2/4/2018

Yesterday in the Apologetics class, we watched the following videos:

Then this Living Waters video of the Way of the Master TV episode on Atheism (please note – you can purchase this video online here):

Here is the note-taking form with discussion questions that I plan to hand out:

Apologetics @ Ohio State & Atheism (WotM) 2/4/2017

Give Me an Answer – Cliffe Knechtle at Ohio State (~17 minutes)

God’s forgiveness and penalty for sin
1. God only forgives us when we a________ for forgiveness.
2. According to Christ, it’s God who we’ve sinned against. According to God, when I sin, what I owe him is my life-the wages of sin is death.
God is selfish/jealous. Doesn’t God owe me something?
1. God doesn’t owe us anything. God gave us g_______ of l_______, we messed it up. God gave His only Son, Christ to bleed and die on a cross, so God has given Himself for us. Question is, how are we going to r_______ to God’s g_______, love and generosity?
2. If children are drugs, & I’m not jealous, something wrong with my love! If wife is committing adultery, and I experience no jealousy, then I don’t understand what love is.
He’s so committed to us that he gives c_____________ to good people.
1. God doesn’t give cancer to good people. You and I live in a cursed, messed up world, in Genesis 3, we read about a big fall (not stubbing toe). Adam and Eve commit cosmic t_____________ against God. Book of Job… Did Job sin? Is that why he suffered? No! Job suffered because he was born into a cursed, unfair world.
Job s______________ because God had a bet with Satan!
1. Satan challenged integrity of Job’s faith. Satan’s point was, The only reason Job has faith in God is because he gets good things from Him and once He take those away, he’ll curse God to His face. Is Job’s faith based on based on having the good things in life? Or is Job’s faith based on the character of God being good, in spite of the circumstances of life? When the circumstances of life turn unfair and cruel, Job’s faith is so magnificent, because his faith not based on circumstances of life, it’s based on the character of God.
When you say that every other religion is wrong, who are you to say that?
1. Jesus Christ contradicts Buddha, Muhammad and the Avatars of Hinduism. The law of non-contradiction applies. ‘A’ and ‘non-A’ cannot be both equally right in the same way at the same time. Now, the question is, does the evidence support Jesus Christ as being reliable? Or Siddhartha Gautama Buddha? Or Muhammad? Or Shirley MacLaine? Or whoever you’re seriously considering? Jesus lived a sinless life, He taught amazing ethical teachings (Robert Cole, Psychology Professor at Harvard University, points out ‘All the writings on ethics over the past 2,000 years are simply footnotes to the Sermon on the Mount). The evidence is, you can t________ C_________, because He’s credible.
Your evidence is eyewitness accounts from a couple thousand years ago. Christians have a series of anecdotes, not hard evidence (e.g. videos) …how can you disclaim other evidence?
1. New Testament documents more than anecdotal. NT has so much more m_________ e____________ than any other documents from antiquity. Over 5,000 vs. 20 for others.
2. Belief with no evidence is blind gullibility. Faith had better be based on evidence.
3. Used example of not giving wallet to street person, but give to friend. That’s faith/trust.
A robot or machine can’t love. Love, in order to be real, has to be f___________.
Why does God allow terrible things to happen?
1. Genesis 3 – when we human beings r_______________ against God, He took a step back from planet earth and chaos filled the gap. We’re born into cursed world, not because God created it that way, but because we told God to “get lost”.
The only way there can be a moral a_____________ is if there’s a God that created it.
Do you think that the Nazi’s did wrong in gassing J_____? Student: “By my view of justice, of course”. Is there justice above cultural law? Cliffe cites the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1949).

Way of the Master – Atheism Episode (~28 minutes)

Atheism: the belief that there’s no God. Takes more f____ to be an atheist than believe in God.
The Atheist’s nightmare – the b____________. Designed for our consumption:
1. 3 ridges on the far side, 2 ridges on the close side, matches hand
2. No slip surface with outward indicators of inward contents (green, yellow, brown)
3. Tab at top like soda can, when you pull tab contents don’t squirt in your face
4. Wrapper (skin) bio degradable and has perforations
5. Banana is curved toward the face to make eating it easier.
A building is absolute proof that there was a builder. Creation proof of C___________.
Like a car, that was obviously d____________, our bodies were designed by a Creator.
“There is no God” an absolute statement. I would have to have absolute k___________.
“There is no gold in China” – I would have to know everything about China.
“There is gold in China” – don’t need all knowledge about China, just a little.
A_______ (absolutely sure there is no God) vs. A_________ (based on limited knowledge only)
During discussion with atheist: 1) Changes m____, 2) Deliberate s______, 3) J_________ himself
Ray asks atheist, “Do you know what God has done for you so you don’t have to go to Hell?”
Atheist asks, “How good do you have to be…?” Ray answers, “You have to be p__________”.
Principal: Swing (the conversation) from the i__________ to the c______________.
An atheist may not want to believe in God, demanding absolute proof of His existence.
The atheist is not your enemy, so don’t argue with him. Help him see he’s really agnostic
Apologetics is like b____, God’s law is like the h_____. If no hook, fish swim away fat and happy.

Discussion Questions

1^st video answered & didn’t avoid intellectual questions. 2^nd video taught you shouldn’t dwell in the intellectual, but swing to the conscience. Which is the better approach, more biblical? Why?
Were any of the students in the 1^st video humbly seeking the truth or really open to it?
Do you think there were unbeliever’s questions avoided during the 3 conversations presented?
How would you answer the woman near the end who said, “I believe everything on this earth was either accidental or created by man”?
How would you answer the young man who asked, why you should believe in a book written by people thousands of years ago, who were superstitious?

Upcoming

https://camelbackclassic2018.homeschooldebate.net/ (March 22-24) Apologetics Judges needed