Apologetics Courses and Instructional Materials

Apologetics 101: Defending the Faith in the Marketplace of Ideas 

Brian Hearn. Downloadable as a free PowerPoint presentation. Brian is a wonderful communicator. An outstanding set of slides.

Approximately 12-hour course outline covering a variety of apologetic areas: 

What is apologetics, worldview, reasoning and persuasion?
Types of apologetics and when to use
Classical arguments for the existence of God
General revelation and reasoning compared to special revelation
Islamic worldview compared to Christian
Theodicy and the problem of evil
Historical argument for the Resurrection

Apologetics315. Apologetics315 has a decent inventory of links to available courses. Go to Apologetics315 and search on "apologetics course" and also on "Powerpoint".

Apologetics 315: The Ultimate Apologetics MP3 Audio Page.

"The goal of this page is to create the largest single page of quality apologetics Mp3s on the web. Some audios may be iTunes podcasts. Last updated: April 4, 2011." Lots of teaching materials.

BiblicalTraining.org. Free apologetics audio courses by Dr. Ronald Nash. The online presentation includes helpful text outlines. Also, the speaker is aware he is being "taped", and explains visual aids with that in mind.

Our Daily Bread Christian University

"A premier provider of free biblical online courses to students all around the world. Over 100 courses are available with no cost or obligation. " 

Free apologetics audio course. The lecture I listened to was a bit dry, but contained excellent material. Search on Legacy Lecture Series to find this and other courses.

This website lets you listen to a short sample of each course. To actually listen to the lecture(s), you have to register with the website. This is easy to do — provide a userID and password.

In addition to a full course on Apologetics there is also a full course in Urban Missiology.
https://christianuniversity.org/courses/urban-mission-and-ministry/
https://christianuniversity.org/courses/urban-missiology/
They also have two courses on “Ultimate Leadership”.
https://christianuniversity.org/courses/ultimate-leadership-i/
The Missions section has a full course on African Theology and Religions.
https://christianuniversity.org/courses/african-theology-and-religions/

Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry (CARM)

CARM online Schools of Theology, Apologetics, and Critical Thinking.
$75 for all three schools or $33 for one. Demos:  Theology School; Apologetics School; Critical Thinking School;

Covenant Theological Seminary: Apologetics & Outreach by Jerram Barrs.

"An analysis of the philosophical, religious, and scientific beliefs that shape culture, and how to communicate the gospel accordingly." Sign-up/sign-in required: "Take a minute to create your account and enjoy hundreds of free courses, sermons, lectures, and more"

First 12 lectures deal with postmodernism.

Westminster Theological Seminary: Apologetics 101 Dr. K. Scott Oliphint. iTunes. A presuppositional approach to apologetics.

Westminster Theological Seminary: Apologetics by Westminster Professors.

Review by Cain McCulloch. "Brilliant! My only gripe is the quality...but given the time period it's to be expected. Francis Schaeffer continues to be a blessing three decades after his passing."

R. C. Sproul. Defending Your Faith: An Overview of Classical Apologetics. DVD series. $70. Check Amazon. The first session may be viewed for free. This course is suitable for use at the seminary/college level.

"… Dr. Sproul surveys the history of apologetics and demonstrates that reason and science are your allies in defending the existence of God and the historical truth claims of Jesus Christ. He affirms four logical premises that are necessary for all reasonable discourse, and teaches you how to defend your faith in a faithless world. Furthermore, he points out that there are many levels on which to defend your faith, and shows how apologetics brings comfort and confidence to Christians of all ages. 

"This series is designed for individual study, senior high school classes, homeschoolers, small study groups, and adult Sunday school classes.

The Christ 101 Apologetics Program. Course Instructor: Scott M. Sullivan, Ph.D.

"A Complete Course On How To Defend Traditional “Old-School” Orthodox Christianity To The Modern Secular World. 

"Christ 101 is the first complete, full-blown, semester long, multimedia course specifically made to address the problem of using reason and evidence to establish the truth of Christianity. 

"This Thing Is Big. With over 3 years in production and containing contributions from 15 top scholars, Christ 101 is a massive program that consists of 28 lessons totaling up to nearly 14 hours of fun, engaging, and educational instruction.

Over a dozen contributing scholars including Peter Kreeft, Gary Habermas, Craig Evans. Costs about $75.

Google Scholar, Google Alerts, and Google Searches Primer

Google Scholar. Google scholar searches for scholarly and academic sources related to your topic. So, while a Google search on "missional" will bring upwards of 1,000,000 responses, Google Scholar knocks it down to ~10,000. The link is to the Canada version, so you should do a Google Search on "Google Scholar", and select it to ensure you get the right version for your country.

Google and Google Scholar Alerts. You are going to love these! Alerts let you program keywords or phrases and then, while you're off watching YouTube, they are busy doing Google searches. It's like having a research assistant! If you haven't discovered Alerts, check them out. Alerts are for finding new, "breaking" material. So, once you have found material through diligent Google searches, Alerts are a great way to stay on top of your topic.

Google Searches. Via Dr. Bernard Farr of CRIAN website. The actual Google site is here. I have found the minus sign (-) tip to be especially useful in weeding out unwanted matches. The minus sign functions as a NOT or an EXCLUDE. E.g., (African AND -African-American) will weed out African-American entries and let the African entries get through. Saves time.

Phrase search ("")

By putting double quotes around a set of words, you are telling Google to consider the exact words in that exact order without any change. Google already uses the order and the fact that the words are together as a very strong signal and will stray from it only for a good reason, so quotes are usually unnecessary. By insisting on phrase search you might be missing good results accidentally. For example, a search for [ "Alexander Bell" ] (with quotes) will miss the pages that refer to Alexander G. Bell.

Search within a specific website (site:)

Google allows you to specify that your search results must come from a given website. For example, the query [ iraq site:nytimes.com ] will return pages about Iraq but only from nytimes.com. The simpler queries [ iraq nytimes.com ] or [ iraq New York Times ] will usually be just as good, though they might return results from other sites that mention the New York Times. You can also specify a whole class of sites, for example [ iraq site:.gov ] will return results only from a .gov domain and [ iraq site:.iq ] will return results only from Iraqi sites.

Terms you want to exclude (-)

Attaching a minus sign immediately before a word indicates that you do not want pages that contain this word to appear in your results. The minus sign should appear immediately before the word and should be preceded with a space. For example, in the query [ anti-virus software ], the minus sign is used as a hyphen and will not be interpreted as an exclusion symbol; whereas the query [ anti-virus -software ] will search for the words 'anti-virus' but exclude references to software. You can exclude as many words as you want by using the - sign in front of all of them, for example [ jaguar -cars -football -os ]. The - sign can be used to exclude more than just words. For example, place a hyphen before the 'site:' operator (without a space) to exclude a specific site from your search results.

Fill in the blanks (*)

The *, or wildcard, is a little-known feature that can be very powerful. If you include * within a query, it tells Google to try to treat the star as a placeholder for any unknown term(s) and then find the best matches. For example, the search [ Google * ] will give you results about many of Google's products (go to next page and next page -- we have many products). The query [ Obama voted * on the * bill ] will give you stories about different votes on different bills. Note that the * operator works only on whole words, not parts of words.

Search exactly as is (+)

Google employs synonyms automatically, so that it finds pages that mention, for example, childcare for the query [ child care ] (with a space), or California history for the query [ ca history ]. But sometimes Google helps out a little too much and gives you a synonym when you don't really want it. By attaching a + immediately before a word (remember, don't add a space after the +), you are telling Google to match that word precisely as you typed it. Putting double quotes around a single word will do the same thing.

The OR operator

Google's default behavior is to consider all the words in a search. If you want to specifically allow either one of several words, you can use the OR operator (note that you have to type 'OR' in ALL CAPS). For example, [ San Francisco Giants 2004 OR 2005 ] will give you results about either one of these years, whereas [ San Francisco Giants 2004 2005 ] (without the OR) will show pages that include both years on the same page. The symbol | can be substituted for OR. (The AND operator, by the way, is the default, so it is not needed.)

Exceptions -- 

Search is rarely absolute. Search engines use a variety of techniques to imitate how people think and to approximate their behavior. As a result, most rules have exceptions. For example, the query [ for better or for worse ] will not be interpreted by Google as an OR query, but as a phrase that matches a (very popular) comic strip. Google will show calculator results for the query [ 34 * 87 ] rather than use the 'Fill in the blanks' operator. Both cases follow the obvious intent of the query. Here is a list of exceptions to some of the rules and guidelines that were mentioned in this and the Basic Search Help article:

Exceptions to 'Every word matters'

Words that are commonly used, like 'the,' 'a,' and 'for,' are usually ignored (these are called stop words). But there are even exceptions to this exception. The search [ the who ] likely refers to the band; the query [ who ] probably refers to the World Health Organization -- Google will not ignore the word 'the' in the first query.

Synonyms might replace some words in your original query. (Adding + before a word disables synonyms.)
A particular word might not appear on a page in your results if there is sufficient other evidence that the page is relevant. The evidence might come from language analysis that Google has done or many other sources. For example, the query [ overhead view of the bellagio pool ] will give you nice overhead pictures from pages that do not include the word 'overhead.'

Punctuation that is not ignored

Punctuation in popular terms that have particular meanings, like [ C++ ] or [ C# ] (both are names of programming languages), are not ignored.

The dollar sign ($) is used to indicate prices. [ nikon 400 ] and [ nikon $400 ] will give different results.
The hyphen - is sometimes used as a signal that the two words around it are very strongly connected. (Unless there is no space after the - and a space before it, in which case it is a negative sign.)

The underscore symbol _ is not ignored when it connects two words, e.g. [ quick_sort ].

See also the articles below.

Related articles

• Google Alerts finds timely content backlinks
• Tips on Finding "Tips" and other Tips for Using "Google Alerts"
• Google Alerts Finds Timely Content Backlinks
• How to Use Google Alerts for Content Marketing: Collect & Store Content Ideas
• Tips for Searching in Google [Infographic]
• 10 Great Google Search Tips for Teachers and Students

10 Most Significant Discoveries in the Field of Biblical Archaeology

Challies - 10 Most Significant Discoveries in the Field of Biblical Archaeology Adapted from the ESV Archaeology Study Bible. 1. Rosetta Stone 2. Dead Sea Scrolls 3. Tel Dan Inscription. 4. Ketef Hinnom Scrolls 5. Moabite Stone 6. Lachish Letters 7. Epic of Gilgamesh 8. Hezekiah’s Tunnel 9. Crucified Man at Givat Hamivtar  10.Ugaritic Texts.  (h/t Paul Carden)

The Centers for Apologetics Research C/FAR AC/FAR

The Centers for Apologetics Research C/FAR The Centers' main goal is to equip Christians in the developing world for discernment, the defense of the faith, and cult evangelism. While a number of ministries seek to fulfill this biblical mandate in North America, there are next to none in the developing world, where cultic movements are growing quickly and with the least resistance; it is this need that the Centers were founded to meet.

Africa Centre for Apologetics Research AC/FAR ACFAR An affiliate ministry of The Centers for Apologetics Research (C/FAR)

AC/FAR African Apologetics (blog) Inactive since 2013

Should You Trust the Watchtower? (2017) [Video] Part 1   Part 2   Part 3

Paul Carden's Facebook Page

Christian Study Library (Reformed - South Africa)

Christian Study Library .Org The purpose of the Christian Study Library (CSL) is to provide Scripturally sound material for free by means of the Internet. We are situated in a third-world country (South Africa). Our aim is to allow other people in third-world situations to participate in the exploration and expression of this great wealth. Seeing that a large number of people are unable to join a big library or undertake extensive Internet searches (too expensive!), we would like to accumulate as much good material as possible under one roof – for free!

Topics:

Old Testament
New Testament
Revelation & Scripture
Interpretation & Hermeneutics
Doctrine of faith (What we believe)
Creeds & Confessions
Doctrine of life - Ethical principles
Doctrine of life - Ethical themes
Spirituality & Godliness
Worship & Liturgy
Church Leadership and Offices
Preaching
Pastoral care
Youth ministry and catechism
Church Government
History & Church History
Defending the faith (Apologetics)
Mission & Evangelism
Other religions
Faith & Science
Philosophy & Culture

• 
  

See also www.refstudycentre.com

Worldview Dictionary

Summit Worldview Dictionary

h/t Paul Carden (CFAR Centers for Apologetics Research)

HISTORY of AMERICAN FUNDAMENTALISM & EVANGELICALISM Reading List

From The Gospel Coalition website.

Required Books

• Carpenter, Joel A. Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
• Graham, Billy. Peace with God: The Secret of Happiness. 1955; reprint, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000.
• Hankins, Barry, ed. Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism: A Documentary Reader. New York: New York University Press, 2008.
• Marsden, George M. Fundamentalism and American Culture, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
• Sutton, Matthew Avery. American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.
• Sweeney, Douglas A. The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.

Required Essays 

• Hamilton, Michael S. “The Interdenominational Evangelicalism of D. L. Moody and the Problem of Fundamentalism.” In American Evangelicalism: George Marsden and the State of American Religious History, eds. Darren Dochuk, Thomas S. Kidd, and Kurt W. Peterson, 230-80. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2016.
• Marsden, George M. “The Rise of Fundamentalism.” In Turning Points in the History of American Evangelicalism, eds. Heath W. Carter and Laura Rominger Porter, 133-53. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017.
• Sweeney, Douglas A. “The Essential Evangelicalism Dialectic: The Historiography of the Early Neo-Evangelical Movement and the Observer-Participant Dilemma.” Church History 60.1 (March 1991): 70-84.

Monographs (assigned to individual students, not the entire class)

• Bendroth, Margaret. Fundamentalism and Gender, 1875 to the Present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996.
• Dochuk, Darren. From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Religion, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism. New York: Norton, 2010.
• Gasaway, Brantley W. Progressive Evangelicals and the Pursuit of Social Justice. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2014.
• Gloege, Timothy. Guaranteed Pure: The Moody Bible Institute, Business, and the Making of Modern Evangelicalism. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2015.
• Hankins, Barry. Uneasy in Babylon: Southern Baptist Conservatives and American Culture. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2003.
• Larson, Edward J. Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate over Science and Religion, 2nd ed. New York: Basic, 2006.
• Marsden, George. Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.
• Mathews, Mary Beth Swetnam. Doctrine and Race: African American Evangelicals and Fundamentalism between the Wars. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2017.
• Miller, Steven P. The Age of Evangelicalism: America’s Born-Again Years. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
• Swartz, David R. Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.
• Williams, Daniel. God’s Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
• Worthen, Molly. Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Biographies (assigned to individual students, not the entire class)

• Blumhofer, Edith. Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody’s Sister. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.
• Dorsett, Lyle. Billy Sunday and the Redemption of Urban America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991.
• Evenson, Bruce J. God’s Man for the Gilded Age: D.L. Moody and the Rise of Modern Mass Evangelism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Hankins, Barry. God’s Rascal: J. Frank Norris and the Beginnings of Southern Fundamentalism. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1996.
• Turner, John. Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for Christ: The Renewal of Evangelicalism in Postwar America. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2008.
• Wacker, Grant. America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.