Dialoguing with the Skeptical & the “Unchurched”.

Dialoguing with the Skeptical &

the “Unchurched”

Skeptic – one who requires evidence or sufficient proof (we should all be skeptics on some level!)

Atheist – absence of belief in God/divine (technically different from “believes God does not exist”, practically they are identical)

Agnostic – lacks sufficient knowledge or access to knowledge to know decisively one way or the other

Unchurched – lacks upbringing in and affiliation with a Christian denomination/church

1) Learn the language!•Acts 2:4-6 – overcoming the obstacle of “understanding”

•Acts 17:16-31 – Paul spoke the “language” of his audience

•Read and study topics outside your comfort zone in science, archaeology, prophecy, NT scholarship philosophy, history, newspaper, etc…

2) Avoid Stupid and Foolish Controversies• II Timothy 2:14-26 – our aim is to teach accurately;

not win a fight

• What are the problems that people may have with Christianity?• Content problem – what does Christianity really

teach?• Coherence problem – does not make sense yet,

harbor some doubts• Cost problem – embracing Christianity will create

upheaval in life

3) Focus discussion on what someone does believe

• I Timothy 1:3-7 – does someone really understand what they affirm?

•Note: Atheism is not a worldview, it is an objection to a theistic worldview. It does not explain what someone does believe, only what someone does not believe.

•Humanism?, scientism?, some other worldview?

4) Share stories of your lives• I Thessalonians 2:8

•Not just about arguments and information, but about the people

Online Resources

www.douglasjacoby.com (Douglas Jacoby)

www.evidenceforchristianity.org (John Oakes)

www.reasonablefaith.org (William Lane Craig)

www.cslewisinstitute.org (CS Lewis Institute)

www.risenjesus.com (Mike Licona)

www.rzim.org (Ravi Zacharias)

www.johnlennox.org (John Lennox)

www.cwacademy.net (ACR Teaching Website)

(look here for youtube channel, powerpoints and exam material!)

Exit Survey1)What part of the session was most

informative/helpful?

2)On a scale of 1-5 how much better equipped do you feel to deal with apologetics questions? (1=low, 5=high)

3)Any suggestions for improving the session?