Apologetics Foundations is a series of three short courses for individuals who want to think more logically, test their beliefs against reality, and examine their worldview claims. Whether you’re a lifelong Christians or wrestling with tough questions, this course is for is designed to meet you where you are at.
In this collection of courses, you’ll tackle three big questions — What is Truth?, What is Logic?, and What is a Worldview? — and walk away with a clearer grasp of these core ideas and a stronger case for why the Christian worldview makes the most sense of reality.
Learn how to recognize truth in a world full of competing “truths,” and discover how to define and evaluate truth, identify trustworthy sources, and think clearly and confidently as a Christian. You’ll walk away better equipped to navigate tough conversations and engage others with clarity, reason, and conviction.
In this lesson, we review the attributes of truth as defined by the Correspondence Theory. We examine why the truth must be discovered, transcultural, unchanging, exclusive, independent of the speaker’s character, and aligned with reality. As an example, we apply these elements to the resurrection of Jesus to determine whether it is true.
Here, we discuss alternative theories of truth and determine why they fall short or fail to meet their own criteria. Additional theories of truth include the Coherence Theory, the Pragmatic Theory, Skepticism, Postmodernism, and Relativism. We also review the differences between objective and subjective truth claims to understand why determining the type of truth is essential to sound reasoning.
You’ll learn how to determine reliable versus unreliable sources to ascertain whether a claim is true. We examine sources such as confirmed facts, expert statements, popular opinions, the human experience, feelings, and social influencers. We conclude by discussing how to identify self-defeating statements and explaining why the Christian God is the source of truth.
Explore the principles of logic and different types of reasoning, and learn how to evaluate arguments and identify various forms of logical fallacies.
This lesson explores the basic principles of logic and provides an overview of the concepts that assist in evaluating arguments. Concepts discussed include the components of an argument, methods of analyzing an argument including validity, soundness, cogency, and strength, as well as three fundamental laws of logic.
Building on the concepts from the first lesson, this lesson explores three types of logical arguments: deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, and abductive reasoning. We also discuss a type of statement that does not employ good logic: self-refuting statements.
In the third lesson, we discuss formal and informal logical fallacies. We explore examples of the various forms of logical fallacies, with particular attention to common informal fallacies frequently employed in faith-based conversations.
Learn what makes up a worldview, what questions it seeks to answer, how it’s formed, and how to test and compare it to others. Understand the basic tenets of major worldviews in the West and how Christianity stands apart.
This lesson answers the question, “What is a worldview?” We discuss how worldview relates to someone’s beliefs and who has a worldview. This lesson also explains why it is important to analyze worldviews as they affect actions and opinions on eternal destination.
In this lesson, we discuss the big questions of life that every worldview tries to answer. This will be accomplished by using the TAKES acronym (Theology, Anthropology, Knowledge, Ethics, Salvation). We also cover how worldviews are formed, how they interpret reality, and how we can test their beliefs.
In this lesson, we compare dominant Western worldviews. Using the TAKES acronym we learned in Lesson Two, we break down popular worldviews to see how they answer life’s biggest questions and what their implications are for purpose, hope, and eternity. Worldviews assessed include: Naturalism, New Age/Spirituality, Postmodernism, and Post-Truth/Deconstructionism.
This lesson shows how Christianity stands apart from all other worldviews. We walk through the history of reality and show how the Christian worldview answers the big questions of life. By discussing the grand metanarrative of God’s plan for humanity and salvation, we see that the Christian worldview ultimately gives us the greatest hope and purpose.
For individuals only
