Apologetics Unit 1 Test

bible 12 apologetics

3 aspects of evangelism

sharing your testimony, sharing the gospel, apologetics

4 parts of the biblical narrative

creation, fall, redemption, restoration

3 categories of objections to christian belief

volitional, emotional, intellectual

christian apologist John Lennox’s view is that

Christian Faith is not blind, but evidence based

3 aspects of Christian Faith

understanding (notitias) , agreement (assensus), active trust (fiducias)

possibility of “100% certainty” for humans

not possible because there are a lot of things that ppl believe that aren’t evidence based, we don’t know everything about the world, confidence and trust > certainty

definition of truth

something corresponds to reality

definition of relativism

denies that there are truths which are absolute
- all propositions are only true relative to individuals or cultures

5 truths of truth

1. truth is discovered, not invented

2. truth is transcultural

3. truth is unchanging even though our beliefs about truth change

4. beliefs cannot change a fact, no matter how sincerely they are held

5. truth is not affected by the attitude of the ones professing it

objective truth claim

says something about the object (ice cream is medicine)

• true regardless of what anybody thinks

• it is “mind independent because reality is mind independent”

subjective truth claim

says something about the subject (i like chocolate ice cream)

• refers merely to an individual’s (subject’s) state of mind

• a belief or opinion

• may/may not correspond to reality

ontology

theories on the nature of reality

• what is real, what is true

epistomology

theories on the nature of knowledge

• how do we know what is real and what is true

knowledge

a justified, true belief

• justified: reasons for believing must outweigh any “defeaters” to that belief

• true: must turn out to be true in reality

• belief: you must believe in it

4 reasons why beliefs are formed

1. sociocultural

2. psychological

3. religious

4. philosophical

which reason for why beliefs are formed is most supported in “I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist”

philosophical (?)

law of noncontradiction

contradictory claims cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense

self defeating statement

statement that fails to met its own standard

EX: “today is opposite day”

skepticism of david hume: what is the principle of empirical verifiability (logical positivism) and why is it self-defeating?

• principle of empirical verifiability (logical positivism): a proposition can only be meaningful if it is true by definition or empirically verifiable (available to senses/scientific method)

• self defeating: neither true by definition nor can be verified empirically by the senses

EXTRA CREDIT: 5 things science can’t prove but we still believe

1. aesthetic judgments

2. ethics/ethical truths

3. science

4. metaphysical truths

5. logic/math

deductive vs inductive reasoning

DEDUCTIVE

• moves from general to particular

  • cause to effect

• philosophical reasoning

• conclusion is necessary

• A=B, B=C, therefore C=A

INDUCTIVE

• moves from particular to general

  • effect to cause

• scientific reasoning

• conclusion is merely probable

requirements of a “sound” deductive argument

1. be logically valid (formally valid)

   1. conclusion follows necessarily from the premises

2. have true premises

fallacy of equivocation

a word or phrase is used with two or more meanings

ad hominem argument

literally means “against the man”

• attacking the character of arguer not the argument

genetic (original) fallacy

faulting an idea because of where it came from, how it originated

straw man argument

distorting or misrepresenting someone’s argument in order to make it easier to defeat

circular reasoning/”begging the question”

when your only reason for believing the premise is because you already believe the conclusion

red herring

introducing an irrelevant point into the argument as proof, when in reality it avoids the original question

Christian view for epistemology

• it follows that reason, our immediate experience, and the history of recorded observations (Testimony) can be used to more substantially confirm than disconfirm the existence of God and the truths of scripture

• therefore, God and reality can be known truly if not exhaustively