PE016-812 - Contemporary Issues in Apologetics
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2,976 Standard Tuition Fee
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12Credit Points
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0.125 EFT
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8AQF level
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Category advanced unitC
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philosophy ethicsUnit Discipline
Prerequisites
24cps TH/CH/PE/EM
Exclusions
Prior to 2020, this unit content was delivered under the unit code PE704-4.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students willA. Know and understand
1. Demonstrate Advanced knowledge and understanding of, and the research underlying, contemporary apologetics and communication of the Christian Gospel in the contemporary world
B. Be able to
1. Examine the theological principles and epistemological methods of contemporary apologetics
2. Demonstrate skill in applying theological principles and key epistemological methods in communicating the Christian Gospel in the contemporary world
3. Present Research-Aware evidence-based perspectives on contemporary apologetics
C. Be in a position to
1. Applying Advanced perspectives and skills from ‘Contemporary Issues in Apologetics’ to ministry practice and Christian living as a reflective practitioner
Content
1. The definition, elements, purposes, methods, paradigms, values and limitations of Christian Apologetics;
2. Selected historical approaches to and issues in Christian Apologetics, e.g. the Apologists and other early Christian approaches, the Medieval period, the Reformers and early modern issues, the Enlightenment, science and religion in the 19th and 20th Centuries, and the post-modern / late modern era.
3. Foundations of Christian Apologetics and selected methodological issues within the field;
4. Selected major critiques of Christianity and challenges to Christian faith, and potential responses of Christian Apologetics to these;
5. The faith systems of selected important contemporary alternatives to Christianity, and approaches Christian Apologetics offers to these.
Set Readings
Alexander, Dennis (ed.) Can We be Sure About Anything?: Science, Faith and Postmodernism. Leicester: Apollos, 2005.
Bailey, Justin Ariel, Reimagining Apologetics: The Beauty of Faith in A Secular Age (IVP Academic, 2020)
Barnett, Paul. Finding the Historical Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009.
Chatraw, Joshua D. Telling A Better Story: How To Talk About God In A Skeptical Age (HarperCollins, 2021)
Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion (Black Swan, 2016)
Demski, W. A. and Kushiner, J. M. (eds.) Signs of Intelligence: Understanding Intelligent Design. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2001.
Frame, John M. Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2015.
Geisler, Norman L. and Brooks, Ronald M., When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook on Christian Evidences. Revised and Updated ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013.
Gould, Paul M., Cultural Apologetics: Renewing The Christian Voice, Conscience, And Imagination In A Disenchanted World (HarperCollins, 2019)
Groothuis, Douglas, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith (IVP, 2011)
Hoffecker, Andrew W. Revolutions in Worldview. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2007.
Johnson, E. L. and Stanton, S. L. (eds.) Psychology and Christianity. Downers Grove: IVP, 2000.
Lewis, C. S. Miracles: A Preliminary Study. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1948.
McGrath, Alister. Narrative Apologetics: Sharing the Relevance, Joy, and Wonder of the Christian Faith (Baker Books, 2019).
McGrath A. and McGrath, J. C. The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine. Downers Grove: IVP, 2004.
McLaughlin, Rebecca. Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2019)
Plantinga, Alvin. Warranted Christian Belief. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Plantinga, Alvin. Knowledge and Christian Belief. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015.
Samples K. R. World of Difference, A: Putting Christian Truth-Claims to the Worldview Test. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007.
Schaeffer, F. The God Who is There: Speaking Historic Christianity into the Twentieth Century. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1998.
周功和《基督教科學觀》第四版。台北:中華福音神學院出版社, 1996
周功和。《正反不合:現代、後現代、聖靈的時代》。台北:校園書房,2004
林鴻信。《誰啟蒙誰:論啟蒙》。香港:道風書社,2008
關啟文、陳海智、湯靈磐。《智慧設計的當代爭論》基督教世界觀叢書。香港:天道,2014
戴康生主編。《當代新興宗教》。北京:東方,1999