Since the gospel was first communicated in the first century Roman world, Christians were being called to give a defence (an apologia) of their faith and hope.
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The strangeness of Christianity in the ancient world
Christianity was so strange and unique to the ancient world. It didn’t fit the existing belief systems, worldviews and plausibility structures at the time – whether Jewish, Greek or Roman. Ideas around loving your enemies; using power to serve the weak; history moving towards justice, equality, monogamy & consent between husband and wife; and a Messiah who triumphed through suffering… That was all very strange to the ancient listeners – who valued power and glory, signs and wonders. At the same time The Jesus Revolution was spreading like wildfire and changing lives, communities and cities. This combination of strangeness yet expansion meant the Christians were always being asked questions and were often under attack. Just read the book of Acts and you’ll see!
Peter famously exhorted the early Christians to respond to their culture and their pagan neighbours like this.
In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer (an apologia) to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).
As Christians lived for and revered Christ in their hearts they provoked questions, especially in the face of suffering. They were therefore required to be prepared to give a defence (an apologia) of their hope to everyone who asked. And they were to do so in a manner that was fitting to the gospel itself, fully of gentleness and respect.
The strangeness of Christianity in our modern secular culture
Our society today is increasingly secular. Organised religion is on the decline. There is a new ‘secular creed’ by which we are to live by – expressive individualism (you do you), relativism (there is no such thing as objective truth), pluralism (we must accept everyone without critiquing what they believe or do), philosophical materialism (nothing exists apart from material matter) and scientism (only science can tell us what is true and real). This is the post-Christian secular world that we now live in.
Yet these secular creeds (and others) are not only contradictory but also unstable and proving to be ineffective. Our culture is experiencing increasing anxiety, division, restlessness, mental health challenges and meaninglessness. Throwing off the shackles of organised religion and belief in God has not left us in the promised land that many hoped for – their is a void, a meaning crisis. And whilst organised religion is on the decline, many still call themselves ‘spiritual’ and people are still coming to life-changing faith in Jesus. The Jesus Revolution continues to expand.
Additionally, our culture is unaware that many of the moral goods it values (equality, compassion, consent, enlightenment, science, freedom and progress) are not at all self-evident or true, but are rather alternative beliefs and faith-acts about the world which cannot be proven. These values did not come to us, as Tom Holland has shown, through Roman, Greek, Enlightenment, scientific or modern secular philosophies – they came to us through Jesus and the Apostle Paul. Our culture wants the ethics and values of Christianity, but doesn’t want the Christian story that underpins and motivates them – the image of God, original sin, the suffering God, the resurrection of the Son of God and the kingdom of God.
Course Outline
To help us learn to give a defence for the hope that we have in our secular post-Christian culture we are going to run a 6 session course called 6.30 Apologetics.
Each week we’ll take a different topic and do four things:
- State the objection to Christianity as best we can.
- Commend the parts we can agree with, that align with Christian truth.
- Critique the objection on its own terms, revealing its incoherence.
- Show how the gospel of Jesus fulfils the deepest desires of the human heart and provides a coherent and stable worldview.
This approach has been called ‘subversive fulfilment’ and has been populated by people like Tim Keller, Dan Strange, Rebecca McLaughlin and Chris Watkins.
The format of each session will be as follows
- 15 minutes – Opening discussion around the topic for that session
- 20 minutes – Talk on the topic
- 25 minutes – Reflection & discussion
- 15 minutes – Q&A and prayer
Who is 6.30 Apologetics for?
6.30 Apologetics is for anyone who wants to learn to articulate and defend the Christian faith. It is open to everyone within Christ City Church and to those from other churches. If you’re not sure, do get in contact with myself or Maffy and we can work out if the course is right for you or not.
When & Where is 6.30 Apologetics?
The course will take place from 6.30-7.45am on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 28 Bachelors Walk (10 seconds walk from O’Connell Bridge).
Please arrive at 6.25am for coffee and pastry.
Here is an outline of each session
- Isn’t Christianity exclusive? What about other religions, beliefs and ways of living? Are we not past being religious? (24th Jan)
- How can a loving God allow suffering? Given all the evil in our world is God really good, or does he even exist? (28th Feb)
- How can a loving God send people to hell? What about babies and those who haven’t heard the gospel? (27th March)
- Isn’t the Bible out-of-date (part 1)? Isn’t the Bible homophobic, transphobic and anti-women? (24th April)
- Isn’t the Bible out-of-date (part 2)? Isn’t the Old Testament God a moral monster who condones slavery & violence? (22nd May)
- To be confirmed (by vote from course attendees) – either based on something we couldn’t look at, or need to look at in more depth (26th June)
Requirements & Sign Up
If you’d like to be a part of the course here are the prerequisites:
- Commit to all 6 sessions;
- Arrive on at 6.25am, ready to start, at 6.30am**;
- Pay €40 (€20 if a student or unemployed);
- Complete a 1000 word reflection (bullet points is fine) by 22nd May*;
- Sign up here.
- Before the course starts, read Tim Keller’s Defeater Beliefs Whitepaper and listen to Andrew Wilson, Glen Scrivener & Rebecca McLaughlin in episode 6 of the Post-Christianity Podcast – welcome and witness: how to reach our secular age?
If you have any questions let myself or Maffy or else we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 24th January 2023, 6.25am for our first session.
Booking has now closed.
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*Essay Title – Within 1000 words (bullet points is fine) answer one of the biggest objections to Christianity using the 4-steps of subversive fulfilment (see recommended resources below)
**If you’re planning to drive, parking in the centre of town can be tricky. Our suggestion is to pay for parking at Jervis Shopping Centre, or park on Railway Street, D1 and walk 15 minutes.
Recommended Resources
(you will also find Youtube videos, websites and podcast series online from all these authors)
Websites
- Thegospelcoalition.org and Thegospelcoalition.org/thekellercenter
- Bethinking.org
- Reasonablefaith.org
Tim Keller
- The Reason for God – belief in an age of scepticism
- Making Sense of God – an invitation to the sceptical
- How to reach the west again? (book and video link)
Glen Scrivener
- The Air We Breathe – How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality (web link)
Rebecca McLaughlin
- Confronting Christianity – 12 hard questions for the world’s largest religion
- The Secular Creed – Engaging five contemporary claims (free ebook)
Dan Strange
- Making Faith Magnetic – five hidden themes our culture cannot stop talking about and how to connect them to Christ
C.S Lewis
- Mere Christianity
- The Great Divorce
- The Problem of Pain
Other
- Justin Brierley -The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again
- Pete Nicholas – A place for God
- Tom Holland – Dominion: how the christian revolution remade the world
- Carl Trueman – The rise and triumph of the modern self
- Peter Williams – Can we trust the bible?
- Andrew Wilson – 1776: Remaking the world
- Andrew Wilson – If God then what?
- Lee Strobel – The Case for Christ
- Lee Strobel – The Case for Faith
- William Lane Craig – Reasonable Faith