ST-121 Apologetics

Sooner or later every Christian is asked a hard question. Learn to give a thoughtful reason for your hope in Christ, with gentleness and respect.

This course follows the WWES textbook The Reason for Hope. It takes up the questions people ask: is there a God, why does God allow suffering, can we trust the Bible, did Jesus rise, and what about other religions? You learn the reasons the book gives and where those reasons stop, and you meet Christian thinkers who have given such answers. The aim is not to win arguments but to witness to Jesus Christ.

What you will study

• What apologetics is: a reply given with gentleness and respect
• Truth, faith and reason: why faith is informed trust
• Is there a God? Four paths, and what they can and cannot do
• Why does God allow suffering? Reasons, lament and presence
• Can we trust the Bible? Manuscripts, history and archaeology
• Who is Jesus, and did he rise from the dead?
• Christ and other religions: speaking of neighbours with respect
• A personal way of witness, and apologetics in the life of the church

Course materials

• The Reason for Hope, a WWES textbook
• The Bible