...E Leo Whitworth Jr. Dr. C Fred Smith Apologetics 500-D01-LUO April 1, 2015 * What do you think is the best apologetic method and defend your view. * The relationship between faith and reason * A comparison between the evidentialist, presuppositionalist, and experimentalist strategies. In my view, the best argument in apologetics is the evidentialist method. This method argues that the most significant historical events in Christianity- particular the resurrection of Jesus are matters that can be established through proper historical argumentation, even apart from any prior arguments for the existence of God. Instead of trying to prove the existence of God through some form of rational proof, the evidentialist attempts to prove the existence of God through the truth of scripture and then using that truth to prove the existence and nature of God. To do this the evidentialist has to successfully defend his understanding of past events and his interpretation of texts and historical theories and ideology. The evidentialist also assumes a shared view of experiences, scientific theories, and the general rules of logic when engaging a skeptic, and there has to be some shared study and common ground of the nature and philosophy with the unbeliever to have a meaningful discussion. One of the advantages of being an evidentialist you can argue both for theism and for Christian theism at the same time without recourse to an elaborate natural theology. For instance...
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...C. S. Lewis once said, “God is not the sort of thing that one can be moderately interested in.” This implies that if God exists humanity ought to find the best way to relate with Him and if God does not exist then there is no need to be interested in God at all. Most theist and atheist philosopher like Camus and Sartre agree that the answer to the question of whether God exists makes a huge difference for man. For example, if there is no God then life ends in death, and therefore our existence is inconsequential. On the other hand, if there is a God, then there a chance/possibility of knowing and relating with Him as part of His creation. This paper therefore seeks to provide reasons that assert the claim that God exists in addition to responding to the popular atheistic theory of theodicy which claims that the problem of evil proves that God does not exist and if He does then He is not good and omnipotent. One of the arguments that theists use to prove the existence of God is the one of the origin of the universe. It relies on the widely popular assertion that the there was a time when the earth was not there. For centuries, human beings have seen themselves faced with the question of why we have everything instead of nothing. Atheists claim that the universe we live in is eternal with no beginning or end and that is all. Surely, that claim is not reasonable. If there is beginning point for the universe then the actual number of events that occurred in the past is infinite...
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...EVIDENTIAL APOLOGETICS Michael V. Galarneau Jr. Introduction to Apologetics APOL 500 September 9, 2012 Contents Introduction 1 Summary of Evidential Apologetics 1 Critique of Evidential Apologetics 2 Proponents of Evidential Apologetics 3 Conclusion 3 Bibliography 4 Introduction Apologetics has a long history within Christianity. The term, itself, comes from the Greek word apologia which is found in 1 Peter 3:15 giving apologetics a biblical origin. Peter’s call for believers to “make a defense (apologia)” is the heart of Christian Apologetics. The idea is that, in the face of unbelief and persecution, Christians need to be ready to defend or argue for their belief in Christ. Put a little more plainly, apologetics is “defending Christianity in the context of an unbelieving and skeptical world.” Apologetics comes in many forms or styles that can by generally categorized as one of two differing styles: positive apologetics (“presents the truth of Christ”) or polemics (“proclaims the errors of all other systems”). Within the two styles of apologetics, there are many different approaches to or uses of them. This paper will focus on just one of the many Apologetic Methods: Evidentialism, with the purpose of providing an analysis of the evidential approach to apologetics. Summary of Evidential Apologetics Evidential Apologetics is a form of positive apologetics that is actually a sub-genre of the Classical...
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...According to Groothuis, various apologetic systems have proved useful, even though the best apologetic method must squarely face its limits. Even though a thorough and wide ranging apologetic is surely needed today, apologetics is bounded by at least three realities. [1] First, the Bible is a long, ancient and sometimes perplexing book for contemporary people. Defending what the Bible teaches is not a simple task and it certainly does not admit of a formula. We should realize that all our intellectual endeavors, especially those dealing with the broadest and deepest questions of life’s meaning, will be dogged to some degree by misunderstand, ignorance and intellectual disappointment. To hold that the Christian worldview is the best rational explanation for the things that matter most does not imply that we have a lock on all the best arguments or have attained all the truths we need. [2] Second, apologetics is limited not only by the difficulty of the subject itself, but by the weaknesses of the subjects who practice it which is us. We commend and defend Christianity through our speech, our writing and our demeanor. If we fall short as apologists, this does not mean that Christianity is untrue or irrational, or that all our efforts are vain. Our job is to faithfully give the best arguments possible from the purest heart possible. [3] Then lastly, apologetics must be understood within the framework of God’s secret councils. God often does not tell us how or why he...
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...APOLOGETIC METHODS Growing up in a large African American Baptist Church over the past 40 plus years with the past 30 plus years proactively engaged in the attempt of pastors & ministers trying to bridge and mesh this gap that has long existed in our places of worship for various reasons. This gap is the intellectual knowledge of the reasoning and faith. Being that faith and reason are two modes of belief, to explain the relationship of the two one must first explain exactly what reason and faith are. Reason is generally a methodical belief that is gained by utilization of intellectual, moral, or religious principles or evidence. Faith, on the other hand, is belief that is generally a willed attitude of trust motivated by inspiration by a divine authority or revelation. Hence, Reason is more so a demonstrated belief, whereas faith is more so a do-able belief. In our ancestry past, due to lack of access (opportunity) to the faith experience was more of a heart ( do- able ) belief instead of a head ( demonstrated) belief, which was not all wrong , but was not all right neither. Groothuis states ,”Biblically understood, conversion is a radical turn away from sin, selfishness and Satan, and a turn toward God and his kingdom. This incorporates the whole person, not merely the intellect….. Therefore, conversion is necessarily intellectual and involves cognitive assent to propositions taken to be objectively true. “ ( Groothuis, 2011). Basically speaking there is much power...
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...On Why Love Is A Promise That God Expects Us To Keep…And How He Knows That We Can Have you heard that ” Love is a promise, not a feeling”? Hard to believe when the world about you is filled with songs that say the opposite these days. “Whatever feels right at the moment” is what you hear most often. But when does a broken heart ever “feel” right? When does a “broken” conscience ever let you sleep really peacefully without having to do something distracting to make it go away? Entertainment, addictions, even the approval of the those around you who aren’t really looking through what you’re doing will not eventually make up for what’s missing: real love. The kind of love that only God has made us to want and need in order to feel whole. This love is deep and abiding, encompassing the real passion that its poor substitute tries to get along without in this world. It is relentless in its pursuit of our heart and all the distractions and the false relationships we heap up between us and it show that we cannot get along without it. It won’t let us go in spite of our bad behavior. Why? Because real love is a promise, not a feeling. God created us to express love that way. Expressing anything less, no matter what temporary heights you reach, robs everyone, including yourself. You see, God, made us to be highly motivated to want the promise much more than just the feeling alone. It is the only way to make the whole thing last and get every last best drop of those precious feelings...
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...There are numerous apologetic methods that are “on the market” today. So much so that entire books are written just on one particular method. However, I believe Groothius said it best when he stated “some apologists have spent as much time or more time attempting to refute their fellow apologists’ methods than they have in attempting to bring apologetics to the people who need it most: unbelievers and doubting followers of Jesus.” In the options given in our assigned reading this week I relate most with the worldview hypothesis method. I believe this method addresses the needs of the culture around us in order to lead people to genuinely find Jesus. All too often I have seen conversions that have occurred that were not deeply rooted in true change. Whether it was a great worship experience or any other type of experience that was the catalyst to conversion, neither of them seem to be deeply rooted and can be swayed very easily. Worldview hypothesis in my opinion presents more of a consumerist approach that can appeal to people. Let me explain what I mean because I know the word consumerist is a naughty word in the Christian world. The American culture has been engrained with a virtual buffet of choices when it comes to any aspect of our life. Think about it; careers, television, food, shopping, etc. In each of these areas, the person is presented with a smorgasbord or choices in which they weigh the pros and cons and make a decision. And let’s face it, it works. Why...
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...Secularism and Christian Apologetics When I consider the reasons I returned to school and the chain of events that precipitated this dramatic life altering change, I know in my heart it is God guiding my steps. I am only a student, a late in life student, but I hope in some way I can be of some help perhaps through education a chance in some unknown infinitesimal way of helping to restore our country to some semblance of the moral clarity this nation was founded on. The Secular left is arguably responsible for the loss of our moral compass, today’s society is devoid of character, strength of integrity, honesty, piety, and respect for fellow man. While I am just a student, for me to be able to learn about a way (Apologetics) to help defend Christianity and as a result of my studies perhaps defend my country and my God, it is quite an honor that I hold dearly. I think this is summed up best by one of history’s early recognitions of our nation when described by the French Ambassador, Alexis de Tocqueville, as observed in Democracy in America; I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion, for who can read the human heart? But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensible to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or to a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society (Tocqueville). I pray we can become closer to this ideal once again. Secularism it is commonly...
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...Managing Motivation at Technocraft Lea Darrigade Ines Gyselinck Mary Sagala Benjamin Seban Intercultural Management BS 1 Christophoros Lambridis I. Introduction This report talks about the working motivational problem shown by the workers in a small factory named Technocraft, located in the South East of England. It had slowed down the company’s function in producing high-quality sound recording equipment. The problem has risen to high labor turnover and difficulties in recruiting new employees. It led George Orwell Newell, the company chairman, to hire a consultant named Helen McKiernan to figure out the sources of the problems. In order to help figuring out the problem, George Orwell told Helen about his hypothesis of the lack of motivation in workers is because company’s location which is in the below-average national unemployment are, therefore most of the women workers, who work on the wiring, had no real reason to work since they already have husbands who can earn adequate wages to fulfill living necessities. However, Helen did not want to conclude the problem there. When Helen had done her research, she found out that the workers actually enjoyed their work, but hate to work for the company. In other words, the problem that halted the working motivation in workers is the management itself. II. Forms of inefficient management that leads to the lack of working motivation. a) Uncomforting regulation on working performance In a company,...
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...Student Survival Guide On the personality spectrum my biggest dimension was the giver personality. I think that I need to learn how to put other peoples needs aside so that I can focus on my school work more. I love to help others and will always put others before myself, but when going to school in a distance learning environment that will sometimes get in the way, it is easy to put off school work for other people. I need to designate time away from my husband and children so that I can concentrate on the task at hand in my schooling. That does not mean that I need to neglect my family, I just need to also make time for myself. When doing research on the internet I need to be very careful. It is easy to get into websites that are not ones that I should be using for education research. It is difficult because there are websites like Wikipedia that look like they are credible and good for research purposes, but in fact they are not. Sites like wiki are able to be changed by anyone, allowing people to go in and change information, making it false, or adding information that is not correct in with what is. A good way to know if I am on a good website is if it is .edu, .gov, or .org. I need to make sure I am doing lots of research on any topic to make sure that I have all the facts about that topic correct. The University of Phoenix has a lot of good resources to use for research. They have a University Library that is very helpful when doing research. I can choose different...
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...that they are too short term oriented, too focused on fast returns, and that this negatively impacts their long term capital budgeting. Can you suggest a company, or industry, where this appears to be true. How? Why? Instant gratification is important in today’s society. People do not have the time in their busy lives to wait on much. Companies also focus on instant gratification and make decisions to help bring in quick returns to satisfy investors. Strong or growing earnings per share is important for investors. Some industries will make decisions that may not be long termed oriented to keep from reducing earnings per share and return on investment. A great example is General Motors. General Motors went a bit too far and had a class action suit against them. They settled in 2008 for $303 million to its shareholders. “The two-year-old class-action lawsuit stems from claims that GM issued false and misleading statements about its finances to artificially inflate the company’s stock price and debt securities “(General Motors 2005). The problem with short term orientation is that the company may take money from other areas to achieve earnings that are expected of them. This money can come from research and development or advertising and have a long term effect on the company. It is still important to keep an eye on short term gains to earn capital that the company needs to provide for its long term goals, but the company still needs to focus on long term and sustainability. ...
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...and powerful in both stability and its financial systems. However, the global crisis of 2008 cost 10 million people to loose their jobs, savings and even their homes. The unemployment rate in Iceland tripled and the government regulators who were in charge of taking care of its society allied to side of bankruptcy. In 2008, Iceland was in the brink of bankruptcy. In a scenario repeated in the United States (US) the financial regulators failed to raise the alarm or halt the reckless borrowing. What the Banks and financial institutions have done over the years has enriched themselves as companies and individuals at the expense of the greater good of other and the economy and environment as a whole, forcing high short term returns at the cost of not doing long term investment in plant, products, training and environmental protection amongst others. Instead they have used the power and influence that they have to further reduce the legal restrictions on what they and prevent any meaningful increase in regulation, permitting only window dressing laws that do little and are easily circumvented. This has given them more power and influence with which they get further concessions and so acquire more money and so on. With the financial crash in 2007 the reason why such regulation was needed became obvious, but again the financial sector used their power to prevent any meaningful reform. However acting on the suspicion that an investment is a bad one by betting against it for own financial...
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...M4 – Analyse the reasons why costs need to be controlled to budget. Introduction – for this assignment I will be analysing the advantage and disadvantage about the business that brad owns, which involves transporting business people to and from the airports using luxury cars. Furthermore I will also explain what the word budget, fixed, variable and total costs means. The main topic that I will cover is the fact that if brad does nothing to his costs than what effects will it have on the business as well as him. Explain: 1) If they are not monitored then: - Managers may not notice problems because he can’t take steps to correct the problems if he doesn’t know it exists, he won’t know if he made more adverse or more favourable. If Brad doesn’t know that he have made more adverse than he will not be able to know how much adverse he have made and on which item. If the costs are not controlled by him than he will go above his budget and he will make a loss. 2) Paste in the Eco Clothing variance analysis and explain why it may be overspent in each area of adverse variance (refer to your completed hand-out) 3) What problems might this create? - Reduced profits - problem because…. - The need to replace/better train staff - problem because…. - The need to source new material suppliers/renegotiate - problem because…. - Pressure to increase prices - problem because…. Conclusion – • Consider (and then explain) how without the budgeting process (the setting...
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...expected and a guideline for others to follow throughout their school, career and individual everyday life. Defining personal responsibility is different depending on who is asked. However, personal responsibility is being liable for the outcome of an action in a variety of capacities. Deflection and entitlement are costly on so many levels. Taking ownership of mistakes is highly important in discovering how to avoid being a victim of the “blame game”. In order to achieve this, there must be a strategy put in place to decide how to proceed in being personally responsible. There must be a list of short term goals that are easily attained. Short term goals allow an individual to solidify their commitment and achieve instant gratification while staying realistic and ethical. Long term goals, however, are achieved over a longer period of time and can be a compilation of short term goals. Hand in hand with creating strategic goals, it is necessary to utilize self discipline. Self discipline will ensure that an individual adheres to the steps required in meeting particular goals. Setting aside an allotted time to study that is conducive to learning is important to success. Create a list of deadlines for each of your assignments to ensure that each assignment is done and submitted on time. Although...
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...me, as I am currently pregnant and am working to purchase a house for our family. When reviewing the ten principles of Economics, there are several that play a major role in my decision to purchase a house. First, we as a family needed to understand that there are tradeoffs that will need to be made in order to budget in a house purchase. Frivolous spending such as eating out and purchasing various technological gadgets will have to be monitored more closely and possibly stopped altogether. Also, any old debt would need to be paid off first to make room in the budget for the new debt of the house payments. In order to understand what items are considered frivolous and what old debt is priority, we will need to develop a short and long term budget that addresses where we are currently and where we want to be, and lays out a course of action to meet those goals. Also in the budget and course of action we would need to identify the incentives of purchasing a house, as well as the consequences that can occur. For example, what are the positives of the neighborhood and schools in the area? If one or both of the income providers lost their jobs or became unable to work, what plan of action would take place? These questions and many others would have to be taken into consideration to understand the pros and cons to purchasing a...
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