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e-equip An introductory workshop on

Christian Apologetics

11th & 12th August 2012

FLT+ NFI, Mumbai

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The Call

The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are

simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. --C. S. Lewis

The great commission

Every Christian has a mission to present Jesus Christ to the world. It is the divine mandate of

every person saved by grace!

Mat 28:18-20 18

Then Jesus came to them and said, ―All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to

me.19

Therefore g__ and make disciples of all n____________, baptizing them in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20

and teaching them to obey everything I have

commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.‖

Where are ‘the nations’?

List the communities of those near and around you: School Friends: ___________________, ____________________, __________________________ College Friends: ___________________, ____________________, _________________________ Neighbours: _____________________, ____________________, __________________________ Colleagues: ______________________, ____________________, __________________________

People who don't believe in missions have not read the New Testament. Right from the

beginning Jesus said the field is the world. The early church took Him at His word and

went East, West, North and South. -- J. Howard Edington

The nations are around you! Now how do we share the ‗Good News‘ of Jesus?

Evangelism has to be carried out as a combination of the four factors:

Try to identify the four factors from this Grid!

P E R S S A P E E A I

R A M C C E C O U L P

P O W E R N O E H V R

V O A H E O V V C P O

E D A S S R E P M A E

O P E R S U A D E O C

P R O C L A I M R P H

P P R D E P S U X V E

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P_______________ (Acts 10:30-43)

P_______________ (Gal 5:19-24; Philemon 10,11-16; ) (Lifestyle evangelism)

P _______________ (Acts 3:1-6; Acts 19:11,12; Heb 2:4) and / or

P________________

First things first!

Mark 12:30

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your _________, with all your __________,

with all your _________, and with all your ____________. This is the first commandment.

Jesus is quoting Deut 6:5.

Is there a difference? What? ____________________________

How does one love God with? 1. Heart : _________________

2. Soul : _________________

3. Mind : _________________

4. Strength : _________________

I Peter 3:15- A closer look

―…Always be ready to give an a_____ __(Gk: ―apologia”) to everyone who asks you the

r______ (Gk: ―logos‖) for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.‖

We are called to gently and reverentially give a v________ d_________ when someone asks us

about the hope that we claim to possess and propagate

The context of the verse is the church in a time of p__________

Question: Is this an isolated verse meant for a few ―qualified‖ and ―intelligent‖ people?

Answer: No! This instruction comes from P___________, a fisherman by profession! There are

about 18 time where the term ―apologia‖ is used in the NT either as a verb or as a noun (Acts

22:1; 25:16; Phil 1:7; 1:16 etc).

Name – Place, Pattern, Then

Paul is in four different cities and proclaiming the Gospel. Can you find a pattern?

City - ____________________ ( Acts 17:1-4)

City - ____________________ (Acts 17:17,18)

City - ____________________ (Acts 18:1-4)

City - ____________________ (Acts 19:8,9)

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______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

It is obvious that in the course of evangelism, the N.T. church offered r__________ as to why

they believed in Jesus (and did not simply insist that people must b_________ believe). The

Christian faith was based on reason and evidence (Acts 26: 24-26, I Cor 15: 12-19) and not

empty speculations and ―clever stories‖ (2 Peter 1:16)

We talk of the Second Coming; half the World has never heard of the first. -Oswald J Smith

(1889 - 1986)

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The Context

I believe that pluralistic secularism, in the long run, is a more deadly poison

than straightforward persecution – Francis Schaeffer

We are living in challenging times today - hearing voices that conflict what we believe!

All ways lead to God!

All rivers flow into the same ocean!

God has many names!

Imagine there are no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, no religion

too. Imagine all the people living life in peace. ... – John Lennon (Imagine)

God has made different religions to suit different aspirations, times and countries...one

can reach God if one follows any of the paths with wholehearted devotion (Ramakrishna,

a Hindu mystic)

To communicate CHRIST effectively, it is very imperative for us to understand the world in

which we do it.

One quick glimpse around, none would miss the multiplicity of Beliefs, Cultures, Values,

Norms, Religions and Lifestyles that are so evident. This truly is a pluralistic world.

Let’s work on this: (Work on Part A and part B separately. Start Part B only after you are requested to do so. After you have worked on Part A separately, compare the answers within your group and arrive at agreed answers)

PART A a. The force of gravity is _________ (9.8 / 8.9 / 8.8 / 9.9) m/s

2

b. C_________________ is found in the leaves of plants.

c. The s________ is at the centre of our solar system

d. 1600 ÷ 80 x 12 = ______________

e. Mathematically, a ___________ is the locus of all points equidistant from a central point

f. India became independent on ____________________

g. _______________ _____________ wrote ‗Gitanjali‘ which was published in the year

1912 in England.

h. _____________ is the natural satellite of the planet earth.

i. 152347 + 12376 – 2847 = _______

PART B 1. My favorite flavor of ice-cream is:_________________________.

2. In my opinion, the _________________(saree / churidhar /….) is the most appropriate

dress for women.

3. ____________________ is the best place for a holiday.

4. The _______________________ are the smartest people in the world.

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5. My favorite meal is ______________________.

6. __________________________ is the best cell phone.

What one word would describe your analysis of your attempt to combine the answers of part B?

What is Exclusivism? What is Pluralism?

Exclusivism denotes the view only one answer in correct. This is true for the fields of

Mathematics, Logic and Science. Applied to religion this is the view that truth is found in no

other religion except the one that is being propounded. Though, unfortunately the term gives the

impression that there is the desire to exclude someone deliberately from the truth, this is not the

case.

Pluralism on the other hand is the view that different preferences are equally acceptable. This is

accepted and celebrated in the realm of cultural expressions like food and dress, choices which

reflect personal taste, requirements and desires.

In the religious realm this is translated to affirm the religious validity of all religions. It often

rejects exclusivism as arrogant and presumptuous without examining whether the claim is true.

According to religious pluralists, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism,

et. al., are all equally worthy, even equally true religions. Each of these is a legitimate expression

of a unique cultural heritage, and to reject it as false is to reject that cultural heritage, to

marginalise a people.

Areopagus Surprise! Let‘s look at Paul‘s message in Acts 17: 18-21? What surprised them about Paul‘s message:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

The gospel in such a pluralistic society today is really no ‗New‘ challenge as compared to the

that the early Church faced. The context then, if not so loud and vociferous was nevertheless

present in many forms such as the Roman civil religion, various forms of Greek religions of late

antiquity, gnosticism, and various pagan mystery cults!

“It has become commonplace to say that we live in a pluralist society - not merely

a society which is in fact plural in the variety of cultures, religions and lifestyles which it embraces, but pluralist in the sense that this plurality is celebrated as

things to be approved and cherished” – Leslie Newbigin (The gospel in a pluralist Society)

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Reality check!

There is an old parable about six blind men touching an elephant.One blind man touched the side

of the elephant and said it was a wall. Another blind man touched the ear and said it was a large

leaf of a tree. Yet another blind man was holding a leg and thought it was a tree trunk.Still

another blind man took hold of the elephant‘s trunk and said it was a snake. Someone else was

touching the elephant‘s tusk and believed it was a spear. Another blind man had the elephant‘s

tail In his hand and was calling it a rope. All of the blind men were touching the same reality but

understood it differently. They all had the right to interpret what they were touching in their own

personal way, yet it was the same elephant. People have used this old parable to share their

opinion or viewpoint that no one religion is the only route to God (pluralism). Pluralists believe

that the road to God is wide. The opposite of this is that only one religion is really true

(exclusivism).

Discuss

1. Were any of them wrong in the description of the elephant?

2. Were all of them together right?

3. How could they find out what the elephant really was?

People have used this old parable to share their opinions or viewpoint that no one religion is the

only route to God (pluralism).They suggest that each person accesses reality only from one

perspective (wall, leaf, tree trunk …) but are accessing accurately the same reality. So they

conclude that we need to appreciate all perspectives of reality… or in other words, we need to be

pluralists, appreciating other religions too.

Draw a picture combining a Wall, Leaf,

Tree Trunk, Snake, Spear and a Rope

Draw an Elephant

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Do they resemble each other? _____________________________________________________

These perspectives combined still do not lead us to the elephant (truth). Therefore we need…

No, REALLY need, somebody with sight to tell us what an elephant is …

Thus we can see the need for revelation to know the nature of reality. The Bible is, GOD

revealing Himself, the nature of this world, human nature and much more.

Think this through PART A

Can the following (pairs of) statements be true?

1. The hen has two legs

The hen walks on all fours

2. Kiran is a bachelor

Kiran‘s wife is a teacher

3. Peter said that he is truthful

Peter is a Cretan. All Cretans are liars.

4. Bicycles have one wheel

5. Raju is completely blind, since birth

Raju saw the accident yesterday

6. Henry was in a round room.

He kept going to the four corners of the room.

Therefore, we conclude that O_____________ cannot be true.

PART B

Now, consider the following:

An Atheist believes that there is no God

A Christian believes that there is a God

Can both be true?

So, we can conclude that a___ ways cannot be equally true.

So, pluralism in religion is NOT possible!

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"These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed

except his own." - G.K. Chesterton:

The Gospel is Exclusive

What is the claim for Jesus in the following passages? Is it an exclusive claim or just

another…… godman or guru …or….?

John 14:6: ___________________________________

Acts 4:12: ___________________________________

Jesus surely made an exclusive claim when He said that, He is ―the ONLY way‖. Either, Jesus is

right and all other views are wrong or vice versa. Surely this means that if one of the other ways

is true, Jesus is not who He claimed to be.

So let‘s look a little more closely at Jesus in the next session!

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The Message

I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless

preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history – H G Wells

What’s the Good news?! 1 Cor 1:23

‗But we preach C_____________ crucified.

The message of the c___________ is a stumbling block to the Jews and f______________ to the Gentiles

The message of the cross is not that simple!

Careful readings of the Gospels reveal a plethora of opinions about the person of Christ that his

contemporaries, among whom He moved and worked, held on to.

The most high density occurrence of conflicting statements defining the person of Christ seem to

be around John‘s gospel chapters seven to ten.

Fill in the crossword below to discover what was being said about Jesus!

1. Jn 7:12a (Across 4 chars)

2. Jn 7:12b (Down 8 chars)

3. Jn 7:20 (Across 5 chars)

4. Jn 7:26,41 (Across 6 chars)

5. Jn 7:40, 9:17 (Down 7 chars)

6. Jn 8:48 (Across 9 chars)

7. Jn 10:20 (Down 3 chars)

8. Jn 10:33 (Across 4,3 chars)

1

O 2

7,8

R N

A

3

E N 5

R

4

R

6

A T N

Tip: The NIV Version has been used

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There’s more. Explore it yourself!

For some, the seeming suspense and mystery, which surrounded Him, pushed them to the point

of bewilderment!

The Questions they were asking Him show how things were unfolding in their minds:

____________________________________________________________ John 8:25

____________________________________________________________ John 8:53

____________________________________________________________ John 10:24

1 Cor 15:1-33 Paul sums up the Good news in this manner:

Jesus Christ D_________ for our sins, B___________________ & R_____________ on the third day

No ‘cats on the wall’ please!

Arrange the following words in three columns, each sharing a particular meaning:

Phony Liar Lunatic Awesome Funny Worthy Christ Villain

Lord Weird Crank Crook

Even today there is confusion about who Jesus is? Some say He is a ‗good man‘ others a great

‗moral teacher‘, ‗guru‘, ‗villain‘, ‗fraud‘ and for some others ‗just another man‘ who realized

god in Himself.

C. S. Lewis, who was a professor at Cambridge University and once an agnostic, understood this

issue clearly. He writes:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about

Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be

God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of

things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -on a level

with the man who says he is a poached egg- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must

make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something

worse.

L L L

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Then Lewis adds:

You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can

fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing

nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not

intend to.

Liar If Jesus knew that He was not God and yet claimed to be so, then

He was a deliberate liar–

Deceiving His innocent

followers!

In John 14:6 He said that He was the

T_____________?

John 8:31,32: He promises His

disciples that they would know the

t_________ and that the t_________

would set them free

If a liar, He

also was a

hypocrite

He would also

have been a

fool – As His

lie cost Him

His life on the

cross

He finally died for his claim

that he was the S___ o__

G____ (Lk 22:70)

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How, in the name of logic, common sense, and experience, could an imposter-that is a deceitful, selfish,

depraved man-have invented, and consistently maintained from the beginning to end, the purest and

noblest character known in history with the most perfect air of truth and reality? How could He have

conceived and successfully carried out a plan of unparalleled beneficence, moral magnitude, and

sublimity, and sacrificed His own life for it, in the face of the strongest prejudices of His people and age?

- Philip Schaff (Historian)

Someone who lived as Jesus lived, taught as Jesus taught, and died as Jesus died could not

have been a liar. What other alternatives are there?

Lunatic

How about being honest and wrong at the same time! This means, He really believed that He was

God… but was not!!!

One needs to be out of his mind to be sincere yet wrong about so serious a claim, risking life!

In Jesus we don't observe the abnormalities, inconsistencies and imbalance that usually go along

with being deranged. The poise and composure that He carried, the wisdom and the tact with

which he spoke and answered were certainly out of place in one alleged to be insane.

John 7:40-53 – What was the reason given for not arresting Jesus?

_________________________________________________________________

Mathew 7:28, 29

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at H__ teaching; for He was

teaching them as one having authority, and not as their s_________.

These are hardly the actions of a deranged man…. That is surely not what the people in his time

thought about him.

Here is a man who spoke some of the most profound sayings ever recorded. His instructions

have liberated many individuals from all sorts of bondage.

Was He deluded about His greatness, a paranoid, an unintentional deceiver, a

schizophrenic? Again, the skill and depth of His teachings support the case only for His

total mental soundness. If only we were as sane as He!

- Clark H. Pinnock

LORD

Yet one has only so many choices!

One cannot put Him on the shelf as a good man or a great moral teacher. That is not a valid

option. He is either a liar or a lunatic, else Lord and God.

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Though the evidence is clearly in favor of Jesus being Lord, the moral ramification in admitting

it is rather threatening for any casual seeker! They don't want to face up to the responsibility or

implications of calling Him Lord.

Prophecies concerning Jesus – Fulfilled!

David Greenglass was a World War II traitor. He gave atomic secrets to the Russians and then

fled to Mexico after the war. His conspirators arranged to help him by planning a meeting with

the secretary of the Russian ambassador in Mexico City. Proper identification for both parties

became vital.

Greenglass was to identify himself with six prearranged signs. These instructions had been given

to both the secretary and Greenglass so there would be no possibility of making a mistake. They

were: (1) once in Mexico City Greenglass was to write a note to the secretary, signing his name

as ―I. Jackson‖; (2) after three days he was to go to the Plaza de Colon in Mexico City and (3)

stand before the statue of Columbus, (4) with his middle finger placed in a guide book. In

addition, (5) when he was approached, he was to say it was a magnificent statue and (6) that he

was from Oklahoma. The secretary was to then give him a passport.

The six prearranged signs worked. Why? With six identifying characteristics it was impossible

for the secretary not to identify Greenglass as the proper contact.

If that is true, think how impossible it would be not to identify the Messiah if he had been given

456 identifying characteristics!

More than 300 Messianic prophecies like this were made in the Old Testament and then fulfilled

through Jesus' life, death and resurrection. The chances of one person fulfilling a mere 8 of these

prophecies are 1 in 1017

.For one person to fulfill 48 of these prophecies, the number becomes

staggering - 1 chance in 10 to the 157th

power.

Add to that the other 250 prophecies, and it becomes impossible for any other person except

Jesus to ever fit that particular sequence of time and events (Peter Stoner in his book Science

Speaks -Moody Press, 1963)

The above insight is very important since in probability theory, anything more than 10 raised to

the power of 50 is considered mathematically impossible (To get a perspective about what this

means, remember that the number of atoms in the universe total up to 10 raised to the power of

80!).

In 40 years of working with the intellectuals of the university world, – “I have yet to meet a person who has honestly considered the overwhelming evidence proving the Deity and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth who does not admit that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah. While some do not believe, they are honest in confessing, "I have not taken the time to read the Bible or to consider the historical facts about Jesus."

- Dr. Bill Bright

In John 20:2, Thomas answered and said to Him,

"My Lord and my God!"

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Additional reading

The Claims of Jesus

Christ claimed to live a sinless life

John 8:28-29 John 8:46-47

Jesus Christ claimed to be the ONLY way to God

John 14:6 Matthew 11:27

Christ claimed to have shared the glory of God in Heaven

John 17:5

Jesus Christ claimed to be able to forgive sins

Luke 5:20-21 Luke 7:48-49

Christ claimed to be a Heavenly king

Luke 22:69

Luke 23:1-3 John 18:36-37

Christ claimed to be able to give everlasting life

John 6:40 John 6:47 John 10:28-30 John 11:25

Jesus claimed that He would die and come back to life

John 10:17 John 12:32-33 John 16:16 Luke 18:31-33

Christ claimed that He would return again to judge the world

Matthew 24:27-30 Matthew 25:31-32 Mark 14:61-62

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The Messenger

“Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected” – Mahatma Gandhi

Who’s this? One who could be provoked to defend his faith at the drop of a hat!

We have a copy of his letter though written around two thousand year ago

A man who was not quite eloquent

A man who seemed tireless

Someone who seemed fearless

Committed to the core

It was none other than _________.

The life of ‗the then Saul‘ and the ‗later Paul‘ is a life punctuated by much action, zeal, vigor,

wisdom and vibrancy. It was nothing short of an action packed thriller! Very tantalizing! His

ministry set the pattern that all future messengers aspire.

Mission Impossible Statement Construct Paul‘s mission statement from the following verses - 1Cor 1:17; 2 Cor 4:2; Rom 15:16 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

More to Paul

Illustrious Pedigree (Phil 3:4-6)

o C____________ on the eighth day - He had religious p______________

o B____________ - Tribe of the first king of Israel - _____________

o Strict devout meticulous adherent of God‘s law – P_____________

o R____________ Citizen (Acts 22:27)

Zealous P___________ (Acts 7:58, 8:1)

o W___________ to the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 8:1)

o Ransacked the houses of the followers of the w_____ (Acts 8:3)

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o Had official permits from the priests to do the same in f________ lands (Acts

9:1,2)

Passionate P__________ (Rom 2:17-20)

o Clarity of the C _____________ (Gal 1:1)

o D____________ commissioned (Acts 9:15)

o Un______________ Gospel (Gal 1:8)

o Three S__________ years in Arabia (Gal 1:17)

o Early life and Ministry

STEP 1: Acts 9:19b-22

Paul was proclaiming J______ and confounding the jews by

p____________ Jesus is the Christ

STEP 2: Acts 11:19-26

Why was the Gospel preached in Antioch? (19,20)

What was the news that reached Jerusalem? What did they do?

(21,22)

What happened as a result of ‗Barnabas in Antioch‘? (23,34)

Why did he go to Tarsus? What does this tell us about Barnabas?

STEP 3: Acts 13: 1-4

The H______ S_________ sent Paul on his missionary journeys

Completely H____________

o Weakness and f________ (1 Cor 2:1-5)

o F_______ of running in vain (Gal 2:2)

o C_________ outside and fears within (2 Cor 7:5)

o Comforted by company - T_________ (2 Cor 7:6,7)

7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith

8in the

future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous

Judge will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved

His appearing - 2 Tim 4:7,8

Paul – A Model for all disciples of Christ (Try to fill in the blanks that describe these

qualities!)

o U____________ and O_____________ hypocrisy – Gal 2:11-14

o C_____________ with Christ (Gal 2:20) and D_________ to self and world (Gal

2:20, Gal 6:14)

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How could this practically happen in your life? List it out :

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

It would never be an overstatement to claim that he was one of a kind in terms of evangelistic

zeal and passion for the gospel, powered by the Spirit‘s revelation and unflinching commitment.

„I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo. (Referring to the evil threat of Sauron) „So do I, said Gandalf, „and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we

have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.' Lord of the Rings‟ – JRR Tolkien

Working out a Mission Statement

List your Talents (what you received at birth)

List the Spiritual Gifts (what you received at new-birth)

List the Needs / Opportunities that you see around you that can be met with your gifts and

talents

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If Talent + S Gifts + Need / Opportunity = Mission Statement Would you like to try to write out your personal mission statement? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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World Views

If the evidences clearly point to God, then why aren‘t more people believers in God and

specifically in the God that Jesus reveals to us? There are many reasons. One of them is that

human beings s__________ the evidence (Rom 1: 18-20). Another is the various philosophical

or religious worldviews, which blur or block people view of God and Jesus. Therefore, the study

of worldviews becomes important.

What is a worldview?

A u_________ v________ of life. It is a pair of “mind- glasses” through which we look at God,

people, the world, etc. ( Jn 9:1-2,34, Jn 11:21-24, Mt 22:23-28)

Why do people have worldviews?

We need a unifying hub to help e_________ life‘s meaning and purpose. Something that will

answer the fundamental questions of all human beings –

Who am I?

Where did I come from?

Why am I here?

What is my ultimate destiny?

What are the central components of a worldview?

O________ : Where do I come from?

M________: Why am I here?

M________: How do I decide between right and wrong?

D________: Where do I go from here?

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Is there such a thing as a biblical worldview?

Yes! There are probably diverse worldviews among the followers of Christ with varied emphases

and minor differences. The fundamentals however remain the same. In that sense, broadly

speaking, there is such a thing as a biblical worldview. It is based on God‘s revelation in the

collection of books called the B_______.

It is one thing to be a believer in Jesus but its quite another to have a biblical worldview. Often

people become followers of Jesus but their previous world-views (which may be contrary to the

specific teachings of the Bible) are unconsciously retained. Therefore, their ―new faith‖ does not

affect their lives drastically.

That is why the Biblical writers sometimes spent much time first laying the foundations for a

correct worldview before they prescribed changes in behavior for the early Christians.

“Have you noticed that New Testament books like Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians,

Hebrews often have doctrine first, practice later…..what the New Testament writers are doing is

giving us a Christian Worldview……Once we understand our position, the command to act in

certain ways makes sense”

Paul Copan.

What are some examples of worldviews?

A_________________: No God, only matter exists.

P__________________: All is God & God is all. Eg: Advaita

P__________________: Many gods exist (Indian, Greek etc)

F_______ G_________: A personal God exists but is finite in power.

T__________________: An infinite personal God exists eg. Judaism, Islam

T__________T_______: An infinite, personal triune God exists.

What are the central characteristics of a Biblical worldview?

God: An I__________ P_________ T__________ God exists

Human Origin: I am created by the infinite personal God in his i________.

Universe: Is f_______ - a creation of God.

Meaning: I am in this world for the p__________ of God.

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Morality: God is the ultimate s__________ of moral values. Moral values are based on God‘s c-

___________.

Destiny: All human beings have an ever- __________ existence and will be judged after death

by God for a future with God or away from him.

How does a study of world-views help us in our evangelism?

We remember that different people i_______ the same set of facts differently because of their

world-views and we must be patient, persistent & loving in sharing the message of Jesus with

them.

If there are areas of agreement between a worldview and the Christian world-view then

possibilities of b______ b________ can be explored. Eg. The Atheist and the Christian both

believe that evil is real and must be eradicated. This common concern could serve as a point

of contact with the atheist.

Since ―all truth is God’s truth‖, the positive aspects of every worldview can be appreciated.

Human beings made in the image of God may reflect their longing and hungers for God

unwittingly in their religion, their philosophy, their literature etc and these can be used as

bridges to lead a person to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ (Acts 17: 28).

Is there a difference between a religion and a worldview?

A religion and a world- view are r________ but distinct. Every one has a worldview whether

religious or not. Even atheists have a worldview but they would not call themselves religious.

A religion like Buddhism, Islam etc can supply the presuppositions for a worldview.

After our explorations and conclusions about the nature of God, let us look at the person of Jesus

Christ because of his unique life and claims. If his claims to be God are justified, then we can

trust his insights about all of life. If his claims are not justified, then we must turn somewhere

else for ultimate answers about our world and ourselves. For examining these claims, we must

turn to the Bible, which claims to have as its central theme the revelation of God through the

person of Jesus Christ.

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Worldview Exercise

Read through the article ―where was God?‖ by Rajmohan Gandhi. Answer the following

questions:

God should have come up with a better way of shaking us up, says RAJMOHAN GANDHI,

reflecting on the suffering of those innocent ones. – (Article published in ‗The Hindu‘ – 4, Aug

2002)

Where was God?

TOILING long hours, and far from home, for two survival meals a day, humble women,

children and men from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh are gunned down in Qasim Nagar near

Jammu. Where were you, God?

A father and a son who escaped earlier orgies return in slender hope and ardent prayer to their

home in a north Gujarat village, and are done to death. God, where were you?

Surrounded by a violent crowd, but blessed with a cell phone, a former MP phones the police

and his friends in Government in Ahmedabad and Delhi and begs to be rescued but is cut to

pieces. What the police was doing is a good question; yet where was God?

I have been a believer all my life except for a brief spell in my late teens, when I thought I

understood all there was to understand, including the need of some unlucky folk for a crutch

called God. Believer I remain, yet I complain, protest, demand explanations. When, following

September 11, I felt the urge to offer some reflections through the columns of The Hindu, I could

not resist referring to an unfeeling, if all-knowing, Almighty.

A fresh outrage against innocents can sometimes remind me of remarks by a European lecturer

who was visiting Delhi. A God who was both all-powerful and all-loving could not, he said,

permit such outrages. He was either not strong enough or not caring enough. Finding it

impossible to accept that God was less than all love, the European visitor concluded that God

was somehow crippled.

Remembering the Holocaust of the 1930s and the 1940s, the Jews, worshippers of God for

centuries, ask where He was at the time. Reminding God of the several-times-a-day prayers of

millions of fellow-Muslims, the poet Iqbal composed his famous complaint that God had let the

faithful down.

The 1947 brutalities on the subcontinent, Cambodia's killing fields of the mid-1970s, the Delhi

massacres of 1984, the Rwanda heartlessness of 1994, and the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 invite the

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same question, which however is as old as time. After the Kurukshetra war, the selfless Gandhari

had asked of Krishna:

The Pandavas and Kauravas are all dead;

Why did you allow this?

O Krishna, you could have stopped the war,

You had the tongue, you had the power.

(tr. by P. Lal)

Then she cursed, and in effect crippled, Krishna. Deservedly placed in the dock, God, it seems,

has refused to give a direct answer.

God may be silent in the dock, or answer our questions with questions of his own, yet it is also

true that some of us with complacent and comfortable hearts are impacted only by the suffering

of innocents. God should no doubt have come up with a better way of shaking us up; yet when

the sinless pay a terrible price, the rest of us are goaded into some little caring, some little

unselfishness.

Between pounding the Almighty's door with bitter complaints and attempting to realise the

God within, my personal preference is for the former. The notion that given some special sight or

insight humans can realise the God within — or know their real self to be part, somehow, of God

— is beyond me. I respect friends and personalities who can think that way. But for myself I like

to go to God as a child to a parent, and plead and complain and beg and demand, confident in the

parents' love yet knowing that parents too have demands on me.

I feel entitled to pound on God's doors, even as we should on the doors of the government, the

police, the courts, the media, the human rights commissions. I feel I have the right to say to God,

as to a government officer, I recognise your authority, but kindly do your job.

Turn to Me, said God as Krishna, and I will never let you down. If I feel that noble or innocent

people have been let down, I will complain.

Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth, said an old Jewish prayer.

Speak up, Lord, for thy believer complaineth may be a permissible variant. This gives him the

chance to say something to us, or to oblige us to look within, or to reflect.

In the Quran it says that God cannot change a people unless they change themselves. India,

Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are all deeply religious countries where Hinduism,

Islam and Buddhism are expressed in a variety of striking ways. Pakistan International Airlines

(PIA) flights commence with a (recorded) prayer. At least one TV channel in Pakistan is

exclusively religious (Islamic). In India, gods and goddesses are only a finger-touch away. At

any given moment, three or four channels provide us with stories of their surface rivalries, their

ultimate unity, and their miracles.

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But both in India and Pakistan we can ask whether our religious nation is truly a God-turning

nation. Are we a people satisfied with ourselves, or are we a God-pleading, God-complaining

people? If we pester him, he may suggest how we may begin to change ourselves, so that he may

complete the job.

When we (Indians or Pakistanis) win a cricket match, then God is in heaven and all's well with

the world. When times are bad, and the innocent suffer, we do many things but rarely reconnect

with God, or dial "G" with a grouse.

If we do, a voice, our own or prompted by a greater source, may well say to us: It is up to you,

and others like you, to decide whether or not a faultless one died in vain. Don't you know that

you can help the innocent dead to remain alive and working? Do you tell your friends, and if

possible others, their stories? Don't make them out to be angels, but let your friends know that

they were decent, and innocent, and yet they were killed. They were killed because some people

loved to hate, and others thought that to kill was proof of manliness.

In 1993, Amy Biehl, a White American serving Black Africans, was killed in Guguletu outside

Cape Town. Because her parents refused to hate Amy's killers, and because Amy's story was told

again and again, that dead American girl is a living force for reconciliation in South Africa. After

September 11, a few Americans connected to victims of the attacks on the Manhattan Towers

went to Afghanistan to share their grief with victims of the U.S. bombing.

But, you may with reason protest, in some situations mothers and fathers dare not talk of a

child who was killed for fear of endangering another child who has survived. In that case, the

second voice may say, expose such situations.

Alike for the guilty and the innocent, the famous and the unknown, the rich and the poor, life

is precarious. Hence it is that when the remarkable Dhirubhai Ambani recently died, we heard

those accompanying his body recite the words, Raam Naam Satya Hai. The name of Rama is the

truth. Greater than Dhirubhai, greater even than Rama, was the name. The God the name evokes

is in the end everyone's judge and executioner.

India's truck and taxi drivers who daily, before their first outing, plead for survival also

acknowledge God's authority and their vulnerability. They are not shy of confronting God.

Discuss:

1. What is Rajmohan Gandhi’s World view(s)? Justify.

2. How would you communicate your worldview to him? What are the points of contact?

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The Bible And History

The Bible, unlike most religious books, is primarily a narration of historical events. It is a record

of God‘s actions in our world.

History is a selective record of p_____ events (and sometimes, the interpretations of those

events by the recorder). The events include places, people, nations etc.

God‘s message to us in the Bible is given through historical c________ie. actual places, people,

events etc. (unlike pure philosophy or mythology as found in many religions) & hence the

reliability of the accounts can be subject to verification. This also means that the fingerprints of

God can be detected in human history as well.

The Old Testament writers specifically dealt with the c_______ of the universe and the events in

the life of God‘s chosen nation, I__________.

The New Testament writers were specifically interested in the events surrounding the life of

J_______ and its implications for humanity.

The events in the New Testament are not ―clever stories‖ symbolizing spiritual truth. They are

not myths. They actually h__________ ( 2 Pet 1:16).

Most of the N.T. writers and its immediate audiences were eye- w_________ of events

surrounding the life of Jesus (2 Pet 1:16, 1 Jn 1:1, 1 Cor 15:3-7, Acts 2:22, 32, Acts 9:3-6, Acts

26:24-26, Jn 20:30, Jn 21:24) while others carefully investigated them ( Lk 1: 1-1-4).

The Biblical material is clearly rooted in history. However, some claim that it has been corrupted

during copying & transmission over the centuries. Is this charge based on fact? For determining

the historical reliability of any ancient document, 3 tests are commonly used. Lets apply them to

the New Testament.

The Bibliographical Test

As we apply this test, 3 important questions are asked to determine the reliability of any ancient

document.

How many manuscript copies of the ancient documents are available?

How many years have lapsed between the last written original and its earliest surviving

copy?

What is the percentage of variation in the available manuscripts?

More than 2______ (5000 Greek + 10000 Latin Vulgate + at least 9000 other early versions)

manuscript copies of the New Testament (in full or portions thereof) are now available with a

0.05 to 2.5 % variation in them, no variation affecting any central belief of the Christian faith.

This helps us to reconstruct what could have been the original documents of the NT, even though

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like all ancient documents, the originals are not available. The earliest attested manuscript

portion - portion from Jn 17 - is only about __ years after its original. There is simply no ancient

writing with such a wealth of manuscript evidence today. If anyone discounts the historical

reliability of the New Testament, he will have to discount all of ancient literature as well.

The next closest ancient manuscript is from the writings of Homer, the Greek poet of which are

available 643 copies with the earliest surviving copy being 500 years from the original.

Internal Evidence Test

Are there any internal c____________? In the N.T. no contradictions have been proven.

Some people have pointed out apparent contradictions. For example, the differing gospel

accounts of the number of angels after the resurrection of Jesus etc. However, upon closer

scrutiny of the text and the context, the ―contradictions‖ can be resolved without much difficulty

and the ―errors‖ are actually complementary accounts, copyist errors, misinterpretations etc

External Evidence Test

Are there any records of Jesus or his disciples from the non-C__________ writings around their

time? Yes! There is sufficient evidence for the events surrounding the life of Jesus from extra-

b_________ sources.

Some examples are:

Thallus, (Samaritan historian, 52 AD): Explains away the darkness that occurred during

the time of Jesus‘ crucifixion as an eclipse (as quoted by Julius Africanus, 221 AD approx).

Mara Bar-Serapion (Syrian, after 73 AD) : “….What advantage did the Jews

gain by executing their wise king? It was after that that their kingdom was abolished….”

Cornelius Tacitus (Roman historian, 112 AD) : “….Christus, the

founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of

Tiberius…”

Lucian (2nd

century) : “….the man who was crucified in

Palestine because he introduced this new cult into the world….”

Flavius Josephus (Jewish historian, born AD 37):

“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man….for he was a doer of wonderful works….He

was the Christ…..”. (This is a hotly contested passage, due to its positive references to Jesus). In

another writing, he refers to “…..the brother of Jesus, the so-called-Christ, whose name was

James…..”

If you put the above evidences from extra-biblical sources together, the picture of Jesus that

emerges is remarkably similar to the portrait that the NT writer‘s paint of Jesus.The above

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information helps us to conclude that the NT writers were historical persons writing about real

historical events. The non-Christian & the Christian writers are agreed about many of the events

surrounding the life of Jesus.

As far as the Old Testament is concerned, before 1947, the only Hebrew manuscript evidence

before the Christian era was the Nash papyrus (a fragment of the 10 commandments and Deut

6:4-9) dated between 150 and 100 BC. The earliest surviving copy of the Old Testament was

from the 9th

century AD. Later manuscript evidence of the OT exists in much larger numbers.

All that changed however in the middle of the last century. In 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls were

discovered dated from 3rd

century BC to first century AD. They include one complete book

(Isaiah) and thousands of fragments, which together represent every OT book except Esther.

Interestingly, they corresponded almost exactly to the Old Testament that we have today. This is

a good example of the painstaking processes that the Jewish writers took to preserve their sacred

texts.

Based on the above evidence we can conclude that what the Bible is a historically reliable

document. It is one thing to say that the Bible is historically reliable. But why do we say that the

Bible is God‘s written word?

Exercise:

Discuss: What are the limitations of truths gleaned from history

____________________________________________________________________

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Intimacy with GOD through the Word

Notes:

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Notes:

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FLT+

Schedule

Saturday 11th August 2012

10-10:30 Worship etc.

10:30 – 11:30 Session I – The Call (CG) 11:30 – 12:00 Tea Break

12:00 – 1:00 Session II – The Context (CG)

1:00 – 2:00 Lunch Break 2:00 – 3:00 Session III – The Message (CP)

3:00 – 3:30 Tea Break 3:30 – 4:30 Session IV – The Messenger (CP)

Sunday 12th August 2012

3:15 – 4:15 Session V - World Views (RZ)

4:15 – 4:30 Tea Break

4:30 – 5:00 World views – Exercise (RZ)

5:00 – 6:00 Session VI - Intimacy – Word (BG)

6:00 – 7:00 Session VII – Bible and History (BG)