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Apologetics Class (5-27-2018)

Tactics Book – Chapters 5-6

Today in my Apologetics Class, we covered chapters 5 and 6 from the excellent book Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions. Again this week, we both listened to the Tactics audio book (from Audible) and I displayed the Kindle book on the screen using read.amazon.com. Below is the note-taking form I handed out to the class so they could follow along and fill in the blanks:

Tactics Book Part 2: Chapters 5-6 (5/27/2018)

Chapter 5 (1:59:55 – 2:32) Using Columbo to Lead the Way

We ask leading questions, which take the other person in the direction we want to go
With each leading question, you accomplish 2 things. Every time you ask a question and get a favorable response, the person is telling you:
1. He u________________ the point you’re making
2. He a___________ with the point you’re making, at least provisionally
We want to win someone to our point of view – not force our opinions, but rather p__________
Your leading questions will be used to:
1. I___________ – to indirectly explain your own ideas
2. P___________ – to indirectly advance your own ideas
3. S_____ up the t___________ – Set up the “terms of the conversation” to put you in a more beneficial position for your next move.
4. R____________ – Defeat what you think is a bad argument or a flawed point of view
“The Q_____________” – you will eventually be asked this question (in some form): “You’re saying that people who don’t believe just like you are going to Hell?”
You have to know w______ Jesus is the only way before it is helpful to tell people that he is the only way.
The Jewish attorney who didn’t understand why he needed Jesus. Greg asked 2 questions:
1. Do you think people who commit m________ c__________ ought to be punished?
2. Have you ever committed any moral crimes?
3. That puts us in a tight spot, doesn’t it? Do you know what I call that? Bad news!
4. This is where Jesus come in. We both know we’re guilty, that’s the problem. So God offers a solution: a p___________, free of charge. But c______________ is on His terms, not ours. Jesus is God’s means of pardon. He personally paid the penalty in our place. He took the rap for our crimes. No one else did that. Only Jesus. Now we have a choice to make. Either we take the pardon and go f__________, or we turn it down and p__________ for our crimes ourselves.
“Tell them something they know” – these are the most powerful and persuasive questions.
Shannon, an American college student living in Europe, although she’d been raised in a Christian home and had a strong relationship with the Lord, was perplexed by the idea that others were l___________ apart from trust in C_____________. Greg used questions to remind her of what she already knew and to “connect the dots” for her.
If religion, or sincerity, or ‘doing our best’ cannot save you and me, then how can any of those things save someone else? Either Jesus rescues us by taking the p______________ for our sin on Himself, or we are not saved and we have to pay for our own crimes. It’s no more complicated than that.
The “P__________-A______________ T_____________ Trick” – when someone asks for your personal views about a controversial issue, preface your remarks with a question that sets the stage – in your favor – for your response. Say, “You know, this is actually a very personal question you’re asking. I don’t mind answering, but before I do, I want to know if it’s safe to offer my views. So let me ask you a question: Do you consider yourself a tolerant person or an intolerant person on issues like this? Is it safe to give my opinion, or are you going to judge me for my point of view? Do you respect diverse points of view, or do you condemn others for convictions that differ from your own?” Now when you give your point of view, it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to call you intolerant or judgmental without looking guilty too.
Everyone thinks his own beliefs are c_____________. If people didn’t think their beliefs were true, they wouldn’t believe them. They’d believe something else and think that was true.
If you’re labeled intolerant…”Why is it when I think I’m right, I’m intolerant, but when you think you’re right, you’re just right? What am I missing?”
Example of a student / professor conversation in “Icons of Evolution”:
1. Teacher: Okay, let’s start today’s lesson with a quick review. Yesterday I talked about homology [how different organisms show remarkable similarity in the structure of some of their body parts]. H__________________ features, such as the vertebrate limbs shown in your textbook, provide us with some of our best evidence that living things have evolved from common ancestors.
2. Student (raising hand): I know you went over this yesterday, but I’m still confused. How do we know whether features are homologous?
3. Teacher: Well, if you look at vertebrate limbs, you can see that even though they’re adapted to perform different functions, their bone patterns are structurally similar.
4. Student: But you told us yesterday that even though an o_______________ eye is structurally similar to a human eye, the two are not homologous.
5. Teacher: That’s correct. Octopus and human eyes are not homologous because their common ancestor did not have such an eye.
6. Student: So regardless of similarity, features are not homologous unless they are inherited from a common a_________________?
7. Teacher: Yes, now you’re catching on.
8. Student (looking puzzled): Well, actually, I’m still confused. You say homologous features provide some of our best evidence for common ancestry. But before we can tell whether features are homologous, we have to know whether they came from a common ancestor.
9. Teacher: That’s right.
10. Student (scratching head): I must be missing something. It sounds as though you’re saying that we know features are derived from a common ancestor because they’re derived from a common ancestor. Isn’t that c______________ r_______________?
When professor says “science has proven that miracles don’t happen”, you could ask “Professor, would you please explain to me exactly how the methods of science have disproved the possibility of s_______________ e_______________?”
Pay close attention to the answer to the question, “How did you come to that conclusion?” then, ask yourself if the person’s conclusion is j_______________ by the evidence he gives.
You can use the leading questions to:
1. C_____________ a point
2. C_____________ new information
3. Expose a w________________
Remember, as an ambassador for Christ, you don’t have to hit a h________ r_______ in every conversation. You don’t even have to get on base…sometimes just getting up to bat will do.
Point out weaknesses in a view, but don’t be pushy, condescending, or smug (offensive).
Soften or cushion your approach by using “H_________ you c_________________” to preface your question.

Chapter 6: Perfecting Columbo (2:32:01-3:02:02)

In any encounter, there are 2 different times when the pressure is off (and these are perfect times to focus on improving your technique):
1. Before the conversation begins
2. After it’s over
There are 3 specific things you can do to ready yourself to respond:
1. You can a_____________ beforehand what might come up
2. You can r_____________ afterward what took place
3. You can p____________ the r_______________ you think of during these reflective moments so you will be prepared for the next opportunity.
After each encounter you have, immediately reflect on how you could’ve done better.
3 Skills of an Ambassador:
1. K__________________ – an accurately informed mind
2. W_________________ – an artful method
3. C__________________ – an attractive manner
When you’re alone in the car, you can listen to talk radio (or a debate) and then pause it or turn down the volume and try to respond to the challenger yourself. This places you in an actual dialogue in a way that is completely safe.
Even people who don’t usually like taking tests don’t mind them at all when they know the answers to the questions.
There are 2 things that will help generate the c_________________ you’ll need to face a challenging situation:
1. P_______________ – being prepared will give you confidence
2. A______________ – eventually, you must actually engage. Interacting with others face-to-face is the most effective way to improve your abilities as an ambassador.
Objection: “I just don’t believe any unwanted children should be allowed to come into the world”. Answer: Not wanting to bring unwanted children into the world may be a legitimate reason for birth control, but it has nothing to do with abortion. When a woman is pregnant, the child is a__________ “in the w___________”, so to speak. The human being already exists; he or she is just hidden from view inside the mother’s womb. This woman’s response assumed that before making the journey down the birth canal, the baby simply does not exist.
Objection: “People t________ the B__________ all the time to make it say whatever they want”. Answer: People do twist Bible verses all the time. It is one of my own chief complaints. The student’s point wasn’t really that some people twist the Bible. His complaint was that I was twisting the Bible. Yet he hadn’t demonstrated this.
Once you see how unprepared people are to answer for their own views, you’ll be tempted to use your tactics like a c___________. Don’t give in to that urge. As a general rule, go out of your way to establish common ground. Whenever possible, affirm points of agreement.
When someone uses the Columbo Tactic against you:
1. You have no obligation to cooperate with anyone trying to set you up with leading questions. Simply refuse to answer them, but do so in a cordial way.
2. “My sense is that you want to explain your point by using questions … I’d rather you just state your view directly”
When a question is not a question: What gives you the right to say someone else’s religion is wrong? This is not really a question – there’s no curiosity at all. It is a statement disguised as a question. Response: your question is confusing… Do you really want to talk about rights? Do you really want to know what my credentials are or what authority I have to speak on these things?
The most important thing to remember about these questions is that behind them lurk strong opinions that are open to challenge if they can be flushed into the open.
2 Approaches of Columbo:
1. B__________________ approach (like Lieutenant Columbo) – meant to p_____________, win the person.
2. C__________________, aggressive (like a lawyer) – meant to r__________________, target is the audience.
Sheepish in Seattle:
1. Statement: Some religion beliefs seem foolish. Objection: That’s oppressive, not letting people believe what they want to believe!
2. Response: Do you think I’m wrong then? … If you don’t think I’m wrong, then why are you correcting me? And if you do think I’m wrong, then why were you oppressing me?
3. Objection: All religions are basically the same. Response: Really? In what way? Then, consider this: Either Jesus is Messiah or He isn’t, right? If He isn’t Messiah, then the Christians are wrong and the Jews are right. If He is Messiah, then the Jews are wrong and the Christians are right. … Under no circumstances can they both be basically the same, can they?
4. Objection: No one can ever know the truth about religion. Response: Why would you believe a thing like that?
5. Objection: The Bible has been changed and translated so many times over the centuries you can’t trust it. Response: Even if the Bible vanished from the face of the Earth, knowledge of God could still be possible, at least in principle…How do you know the Bible’s been changed? Have you actually studied the transmission of the ancient docs?

Discussion Questions

There are 2 “modes” of Columbo, (1) to persuade and (2) to refute. What is the benefit of each approach? What situations might you use each one?
What is the “Passive-Aggressive Tolerance Trick”? How does this help us in this modern, tolerant and politically correct environment?
What are 3 uses of asking leading questions?
How can you defend yourself when Columbo is used against you?