PH606: Apologetics Syllabus
Summer InMinistry 2009 / Dr. James Beilby
Contact Information:
Dr. David
Dr. James ffice AC335
Course Description:A study of the intellectual moorings of the Christian world view and the practice of inviting real people into friendship and personal dialogue to consider the reasons for faith. This course examines why we think it is reasonable to believe anything at all, why we should think that God exists, and why we should believe that Jesus Christ is the ultimate self-revelation of God.
Required Textbooks:
Boyd, Gregory A., and Edward K. Boyd. Letters from a Skeptic. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1994. ISBN: 1-5647-6244-0
Clark, David K. Dialogical Apologetics: A Person-Centered Approach to Christian Defense. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1993. ISBN:0-8010-2573-7
Kreeft, Peter and Ronald K. Tacelli. Handbook of Christian Apologetics. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1994. ISBN: 0-8308-1774-3
Strobel, Lee. The Case for Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998. ISBN: 0-310-20930-7
Course Requirements:
1. SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS: Please use the assignment links in the assignment tab in Blackboard to upload all assignments. I encourage you to keep a copy on your computer and then upload from there to the assignment links. Work carefully. Once you hit send, you can’t take it back. So be sure you’ve got the right assignment in the right slot!
2. Due date each week is Sunday night at midnight. You'll begin each week on Monday with a streaming audio lecture, if that's planned. Then do your textbook reading assignment and other activities. The week ends Sunday evening. Your deadline for posting your written assignments and your discussion folder entries is Sunday night. So generally, the activities for each week begin Monday morning and end Sunday night. Of course, you're always welcome to submit things early.
3. Discussion Forum (5% of grade): Often you’ll find discussion folders connected with the activities of a particular week. If there's a bit of research or reflection assigned, I expect you to try and do that thinking for yourself, not just to depend on your classmates' work. You'll receive full credit on this assignment if you do the research and participate weekly.
"Stump the Prof": The first folder is called "Stump the Prof." You may use this folder to ask questions at any time. Use it for the kinds of questions everyone in the class would wonder about … apologetic ideas or issues relating to this course that you're wondering about. (This isn't for personal questions. Those go to my e-mail address. Technical questions … getting Blackboard to work for you … go to Molly Noble at or for media issues (e.g., streaming audio) contact Scott Strand at .) Put your apologetic question, in very brief form, in the title of your post so your classmates can enjoy reading your question and my response. I hope you enjoy this free-for-all section!
4. Reading Report (no grade): You will read the assigned textbooks and one (1) other book of your choice from the list below. All readings are listed on the Assignments tab. I recognize that some of you may have read one of the textbooks. If so, you need not read it entirely again. (The exception is Letters from a Skeptic. You won’t need to read it, but you will need to review it in order to write your book review.) For every textbook you choose not to read, choose a second book from the list below and read that in place of the textbook you’ve read. At the end of the course, I’ll ask you to submit a Reading Report in the via an assignment link. You can just write a message that says, "I've completed ___% of the required reading."
D’Souza, Dinesh. What’s So Great About Christianity.
Eddy, Paul, and Gregory Boyd. The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition.
Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.
Netland, Harold. Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faith & Mission.
Wright, N. T. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.
5. Boyd Integrative Book Review (15% of grade): After reading Gregory Boyd and Edward Boyd, Letters from a Skeptic, go back through the book and reread the last two or three paragraphs of each letter. Then write an essay of 500 words, answering the following questions. What patterns, if any, do you notice here? What happens in these paragraphs that don't seem like what you might have thought apologetics would amount to? What is your response to those patterns? Do any of the patterns you notice seem like good ideas or not? Why? How would they affect your views on how apologetics ought to be practiced? (Don't answer these questions piecemeal or one-by-one. Answer them as a whole.)
6. Verbatim I & II (25% of grade for each verbatim): You will write two apologetic verbatims. You should follow these guidelines:
a. Each conversation should be with a person with whom you disagree religiously. You should explore this person's spiritual journey in a conversation of 45 minutes in length minimum.
b. Your apologetic conversation should be more than presentation of your ideas. You should listen to your friend's ideas, but you should also seek to hear the total person; emotional, attitudinal, relational elements are important, too.
c. Afterward, summarize the conversation as best you can in 600 words. Describe key ideas, how the flow of the discussion went, and where it ended. Quote particularly revealing statements made by the other person. Tape recorders are not allowed. They often put people off, and this is also an exercise in careful listening and recollection.
d. After you report the conversation, summarize your reactions in about 600 words. Discuss (1) where this person is spiritually, emotionally, relationally, etc., (2) some indication of how your friend responded emotionally, intellectually, attitudinally, etc. (including body language) to your conversation, and (3) your assessment of the conversation as a whole.
e. After you describe the person, create an apologetic strategy specifically for him or her in about 600 words. Research any puzzling questions you were unable to answer, and think through the sorts of things that need to happen for this individual so that he or she may have a genuine opportunity to respond to the gospel.
7. Strobel Integrative Book Review (15% of grade): After reading Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ, go back through the book and identify what you consider to be the three or four key or central issues. Then write an essay of 500 words, answering the following questions. What issues did you choose as the most important issues? Why do these particular issues seem so important in our cultural situation? What is your response to those issues? Do the authors make the case on these issues? Or do the issues remain unresolved in your mind? Why? (Don't answer these questions piecemeal or one-by-one. Answer them as a whole.)
8. Letter to the Editor (15% of grade): After reading the "Letter to the Editor" [see Course Documents], write a 1000 word letter back to the newspaper. (This is a real letter. I've seen Rodney Sheffer on the local cable TV program produced by Minnesota Atheists.) Respond to the issues raised in Sheffer’s original letter to the editor. Use all the information learned in apologetics as well as the strategy of dialogical apologetics. Make this letter both clear/convincing evidentially and persuasive/impactful in form.
Course Information:
1. I will figure your final grade with these percentages: Discussion Forum participation (5%), Boyd Integrative Book Review (15%), Strobel Integrative Book Review (15%), Apologetic Letter to the Editor (15%), Verbatim I (25%), and Verbatim II (25%). Again, I urge you to keep backup electronic versions of your assignments.
A 95-100 / B+ 91-93 / C+ 83-85 / D+ 75-77 / F 0-70
A- 93-95 / B 87-91 / C 79-83 / D 72-75
B- 85-87 / C- 77-79 / D- 70-72
2. Feel free to e-mail or phone me if you have special concerns.
3. If you must miss an assignment deadline for a legitimate reason, please speak to me before the due date to make arrangements. If you have any emergencies or problems, please talk to me sooner rather than later.
4. Any work that involves cheating receives a grade of "0."
PH606 Summer 2009 Assignments
WEEK 1: June 15 - 21· Listen: Lecture I: "Introducing Apologetics"
· Read: Gregory A. Boyd and Edward K. Boyd, Letters from a Skeptic
· Write: Boyd Integrative Book Review (submit via assignment link
below)
· Post: An introduction of yourself to the rest of the class on the
Discussion Board (see Communication / Discussion Board, or the tab to
the left)
Week 2: June 22 - 28
· Listen: Lecture II: "Dialogical Apologetics"
· Read: David K. Clark, Dialogical Apologetics, chaps. 5-9
· Post: Discussion on Dialogical Apologetics (see Communication / Discussion Board, or the tab to the left)
Week 3: June 29 - July 5
· Listen: Lecture III: "Kreeft's Approach to Apologetics"
· Read: Kreeft and Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics, chaps. 2-9; 14-16
· Web: Visit the Uncommon Knowledge website: #634: Darwin Under the Microscope
· Post: Discussion of Intelligent Design and the Existence of God (see Communication / Discussion Board, or the tab to the left)
Week 4: July 6 - 12
· Listen: Lecture IV: "The Context of Dialogical Apologetics"
· Read: David K. Clark, Dialogical Apologetics, chaps. 1-5
· Plan: Schedule/interview dialogue partner for Verbatim I
· Post: Case Study I: "Bill the Mathematician" (see Communication / Discussion Board, or the tab to the left)
Week 5: July 13 - 17 Intensive Week I
OTHER INTENSIVES ... NO CLASS
Week 6: July 20 - 24 Intensive Week II
APOLOGETICS INTENSIVE WEEK
Week 7: July 27 - August 2
· Listen: Lecture V: "The Case for Christ"
· Read: Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ
· Write: Verbatim I (submit via assignment link)
· Post: Case Study II: "Carrie and Jason" (see Communication / Discussion Board, or the tab to the left)
Week 8: August 3 - 9
· Write: Strobel, Integrative Book Review (submit via assignment link)
· Plan: Schedule/interview dialogue partner for Verbatim II
· Post: Verbatim I Learnings (see Communication / Discussion Board, or the tab to the left)
Week 9: August 10 - 16
· Listen: Lecture VI: "The Jesus Seminar"
· Write: Verbatim II (submit via assignment link)
· Post: Case Study III: "George the Lawyer" (see Communication / Discussion Board, or the tab to the left)
/ Week 10: August 17 - 21
· Listen: Lecture VII: "Final Words"
· Write: Apologetic Letter to the Editor (see Letter in Course Documents) (submit via assignment link)
· Post: Verbatim II Learnings (see Communication / Discussion Board, or the tab to the left)
· Submit: Reading report via assignment link and Course evaluation
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