The Experiential Problem of Evil In this lesson we consider a different aspect of the problem of evil, what might be called the experiential problem. What is the experiential problem? What are the kinds of questions that the experience of evil and suffering raise? How is the logical problem different from the experiential problem, and how does it call for a different apologetic? How does Jesus’ interaction with Mary and Martha in John 11 concerning the death of Lazarus model for us how we can minister to people experiencing great evil or suffering in their lives? What is the eternal perspective concerning evil which we observe throughout scripture? What are some examples in Scripture of the eternal perspective of people who suffered greatly? (57 min)
Lesson 17: Review Questions
Lesson 17: Lesson Notes

Tags: Evil, Experietial Problem

The Logical Problem of Evil In this lesson we continue our consideration of the problem of evil. What are the deductive and inductive versions of the problem of evil? Why is it important to properly understand what Christians mean by God’s omnipotence? What are two ways to respond to the problem of evil? What is Alvin Plantinga’s Free Will Defense, and why is it important? What is essential to have morally significant individuals who have a capacity to love God and one another? What is the problem with the idea of the “best of all possible worlds?” When contemplating the scale and kind of evil in the world, what is necessary to be able to assess the probability that God exists? How have Christians historically accounted for natural evil? (63 min)
Lesson 16: Review Questions
Lesson 16: Lesson Notes

Tags: Evil, Suffering, Problem of Evil, Freedom, Determinism, Libertarian Freedom

The Problem of Evil: What is Evil? In this lesson we began to tackle what many consider the chief obstacle to faith which people encounter and for which the Christian apologist must have a satisfactory answer: the Problem of Evil. What is the problem of evil? What are the two kinds of evil? What is the difference between the logical and experiential problems of evil? What are the various views of what evil is, and what is the Christian view of evil? What is a “state of affairs?” Why is it important to understand that evil is a state of affairs? Did God create evil? What is the difference between creating and actualizing, and why is that important? What about the verse in Isaiah which seems to say God created evil? What is the difference between the deductive and the inductive aspects of the logical problem of evil? (46 min)
Lesson 15: Review Questions
Lesson 15: Lesson Notes

Tags: Problem of Evil, States of Affairs, Suffering, Evil

Due to a failure to record today's lesson, the audio recording for this lesson is from last years class. Sorry for any inconvenience.

The Nature of Humanness In this lesson we consider what is the nature of being human, most particularly, what aspects of humanness are most challenged or questioned today. How does the bible view the nature of humanness? What are the two primary competing views of the nature of humanness in Western culture? What, if anything, is the difference between the brain and the mind? What is physicalism? What is dualism? How does the Law of the Indiscernibility of Identicals help us to answer the question as to which view is correct? How does the existence of consciousness pose problems for the physicalist? How do mental properties such as thoughts, beliefs, and sensations differ from physical properties? Are humans essentially different than animals? How does this question influence our view of issues like population control, euthanasia, and abortion? (55 min)
Lesson 14: Review Questions
Lesson 14: Lesson Notes
Handout: Us vs. Them

Tags: Human, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Dualism, Physicalism

The Nature of God, pt 2 In today’s lesson we continue our study of those things about God which one can discover from the general revelation and natural theology, even if they don’t have a bible. What does the transcendence of God mean, and how is He related to space and time? How can we know that God is a person? What are some of the aspects of personhood? What do we mean by the omnipotence of God? What is the freedom of God and how is it related to His personhood? What is wrong with a god-of-the-gaps view of God? How can we know that the teleological arguments for God’s existence aren’t merely a god-of-the-gaps argument? (50 min)
Lesson 13: Review Questions
Lesson 13: Lesson Notes

Tags: Transcedence, Personhood, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Immateriality, Freedom

The Nature of God, pt 1 Having considered some arguments for the existence of God in the previous three lessons, in this lesson we move on to consider what this God is like. Is it appropriate to speak of defending God? It is important as we seek to offer an apologetic for God’s existence that we make sure we are talking about the true God. Non-theists often argue against a “straw man” type of God. We need not try to defend the existence of such a God. What are our sources of knowledge about God, and what do they tell us? What do we mean when we say that God is a necessary being? What is the aseity of God? What does it mean that God is immaterial? What is wrong with thinking of God as a complex being? (53 min)
Lesson 12: Review Questions
Lesson 12: Lesson Notes

Tags: God, Essence, Necessity, Aseity, Incorporeality, Simplicity

Existence of God, pt 3, Exploring Natural Theology In this final lesson of three on arguments for the existence of God we considered briefly four more arguments. Do absolute or objective moral values and duties exist, and if so, how do these point to God’s existence? What is consciousness? Why is consciousness evidence that a necessary conscious being (God) exists? What is C. S. Lewis’ argument from Joy for God’s existence? How does the presence of beauty in the universe, and our awareness of it and our ability to create it give evidence the God, the grand artist, exists? We then briefly mentioned three other arguments. Finally, we reflected on the issue of what some call the hiddenness of God. Why does God not make Himself more conspicuous to us? (57 min)
Lesson 11: Review Questions
Lesson 11: Lesson Notes

Tags: Existence of God, Argument, Beauty, Consciousness, Morality, Joy, Hiddenness of God

Existence of God, pt 2, Exploring Natural Theology In this lesson we resume our study of various arguments for the existence of God. What were the arguments that led the 20th century’s leading atheist philosopher to conclude that God exists? What is the teleological argument? What role did the famous philosopher David Hume play in this argument? Did Hume’s critique of the argument settle the matter of disproving the argument? What are two aspects of the teleological argument? It seems that we intuitively normally know when something is designed, but what are the things that actually help us to detect design? What is the anthropic principle? What is irreducible complexity and how does it point to design? Why is the presence of information in biological life evidence of design? (52 min)
Lesson 10: Review Questions
Lesson 10: Lesson Notes
Handout: Fine Tuning
Handout: Hume's Critique of The Teleological Argument

Tags: Existence of God, Teleological, Argument

Existence of God, pt 1; Exploring Natural Theology In today's lesson we begin to examine some of the various arguments that point towards the existence of God. Why is it not necessary to know these arguments to believe that God exists? How are these arguments helpful? Given the inductive nature of many theistic arguments, why is it helpful to use more than one? What is the main point of the several ontological arguments? Who do we credit with first articulating the ontological argument? Why is the ontological argument so controversial? Why does the ontological argument still persist and is gaining new respectability? What are “possible worlds?” What is the difference between contingent and necessary existence? What do we mean by a “maximally great being.” What is the chief point of the various cosmological arguments? What is the Kalam cosmological argument? What are four reasons to believe the universe had a beginning? Given the conclusion of the cosmological argument, what can we then infer about the nature of the cause of the universe?
Lesson 9: Review Questions
Lesson 9: Lesson Notes
Lesson 9: Handout: Arguments for God's Existence

Tags: Existence of God, Cosmological, Ontological, Argument

Logic: Rules of the Road In today's lesson we considered the subject of logic. We considered how an argument and the laws of logic are like a road trip to a destination and the laws that apply to traveling that road. What happens if we violate the rules of the road (logic) in an argument? From where do the three fundamental laws of logic come? How do we know that there is not an “Eastern logic” and a “Western logic?” What are the three fundamental laws of logic? What are some important Christian truths on which the Law of Identity has bearing? What are formal and informal logical fallacies? What are some common informal logical fallacies that we and others can frequently make?
Lesson 8: Review Questions
Lesson 8: Lesson Notes

Tags: Logic, Fallacies, Laws of Logic, Argument

Argumentation and Reasoning A Christian who wishes to be skilled at apologetics needs to understand about how arguments are structured, and what makes a good or sound argument. This is necessary in order to both make the best arguments possible for the Christian faith, as well as to be able to know if someone else’s reasons for believing what they do are good or not. What do we mean by the word “argument” in this context? What are deductive, inductive, and abductive arguments? What is the difference between a valid argument and one in which the conclusion is true? Does a poor argument for a belief or position mean that the belief in question is false? What are the two primary ways in which an inductive argument can be assessed for its effectiveness? What is explanatory power? What is explanatory scope? What is Ockham’s Razor and how does it apply in our context? What are some ways we can work to improve our reasoning and arguments? (57 min)
Lesson 7: Review Questions
Lesson 7: Lesson Notes

Tags: Argument, Reasoning, Deductive, Inductive, Abductive