Apologetics at Bright Star Christian School
The Apologetics class at Bright Star has many goals and I hope several benefits to our students. There are three deliberate purposes that guide the detail of each lesson. I wish to briefly outline these principles in order to give you a better understanding of the class and our reasons making it a mandatory subject.
First, to instill the children with an understanding that there are trustworthy answers to hard questions they may face in life within a Christian worldview; that our faith is reasonable and logical and the source of all wisdom. I chose the title of Apologetics not for its more well known definition “to give a defense” but moreover for its root meaning of “to have an answer”. The word comes from apologia found in the Greek of 1 Peter 3:15. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. This is not to encourage debate or arguing with secularists but rather to provide an inner peace when the student encounters objections to moral teachings of parents and the bible.
Second, it is my hope that this class will serve to prepare the students for challenges they will face in their future education, especially where it pertains to faith. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. Col 2:8. The world of higher education many times is not only devoid of theistic considerations but is openly hostile to them. By providing the children with scientific and educational resources they can use in the future, we will equip them to successfully identify logical fallacies and refute flawed theories.
Finally, Apologetics strives to provide a clear understanding of the Christian Moral Ethic and how to apply it to the students everyday actions and situations. Understanding that this ethic will not conform to the world but can serve to transform them through the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2). The practice of solving moral dilemmas under guidance in the classroom is used to shape moral thinking and build character. We encourage students to examine mores they encounter in modern culture by introducing the students to the subjects of teleology, veritology, ethics, and philosophy.
I have attached several survey results and quotes that support the need for apologetic study. I want to make it clear that I did not read the references below and then decide to teach a class in an attempt to prevent the statistics from propagating. Almost all of the information below was discovered since the class has begun. Likewise, even though I have confessed to being among the numbers that were lead astray in college and suffered in faith during their twenties, this class was not conceived or begun to atone for mistakes. Nor have I begun this to prevent our children making the same mistakes. No, I want to start by saying that God by his Holy Spirit, prepared me, encouraged me, gave me the desire and then lead me to teach the apologetics class at Bright Star. Obedience to this calling is the whole reason for the curriculum’s existence.
Having established the purposes of this class and making it clear that its existence at least for me is a calling from God. I have collected some quotes and survey results and general data that speak to the importance of this work that I felt obliged to share. Even though these numbers may be alarming, I believe with all my heart that the Lord has prepared the way for the students of Bright Star to persevere in the face of adversity and evermore to “shine” with His grace!
Brad McFadden
Bright Star Christian School
– A recent TIME Magazine article points to research that found 61 percent of adults polled who are in their twenties said they had participated in church activities as teens but not longer so. Some argue that young people typically drift from organized religion in early adulthood, but others say the high attrition is a sign that churches need to change the way they try to engage the next generation.(How to Get Teens Excited About God by Sonja Steptoe 20061101)
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1553366,00.html
– A study from UCLA found that almost half of college students drift away from their Christian upbringing. While 52 percent of incoming students said that they regularly took part in church events, the number shrinks to 29 percent who are still involved in church activities by their junior year.
(Gary Lyle Railsback, “An Exploratory Study of the Religiosity and Related Outcomes Among College Students,” Doctoral dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles, 1994.)
– Josh McDowell estimates, ‘over 69 percent of youth are leaving traditional church after high school.’
– LifeWay Christian Research reports, ‘The overwhelming majority of children from evangelical families are leaving the church as they enter adulthood.’
– Mark Matlock finds, ‘Depending on whose numbers you use, 58 percent – 84 percent of graduating youth from church youth groups are not returning.’
– David Wheaton, author of University of Destruction, states that ‘as many as 50 percent of Christian students say they have lost their faith after four years of college.’
– George Barna gives troubling news in his book, Real Teens: ‘Now only 33 percent of churched youth say that the church will play a part in their lives when they leave home.’
– Glenn Schultz at LifeWay Christian Resources estimates that 75 percent of young people leave church in their late teens and aren’t reconnecting later.
– Student Venture reports that about 70 percent of seniors in high school who claimed faith, stop attending church during the college years.
– Ron Luce in Battle Cry for a Generation estimates ‘88 percent of kids raised in Christian homes do not continue to follow the Lord after they graduate from high school.’
– LifeWay Research found that 70 percent of young adults ages twenty-three to thirty stopped attending church regularly for at least a year between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two.”
(from the book: The Fall of the Evangelical Nation – Young evangelicals fleeing church, faith by Christine Wicker ; pg162)
-Study showing only 4% of people have an orthodox Christian worldview. http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/131-a-biblical-worldview-has-a-radical-effect-on-a-persons-life
-Article that contains references about the church giving up in the middle of the war: http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/when-the-church-staggers-stalls-and-sits-down-in-the-middle-of-a-war
-The CIRP Freshman Survey,
More college freshmen today describe themselves as politically liberal than at any time since the Vietnam War,
- 57.9% think gay couples should have the legal right to marry
- 36.5% say marijuana should be legalized
- 32.2%, the highest score since 1980, advocate ending capital punishment
- 29.9% say they are liberal or “far left,” the highest figure since 1975
-Recent studies have brought the trend to light. Among the findings released in 2009 from the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), one stood out. The percentage of Americans claiming “no religion” almost doubled in about two decades, climbing from 8.1 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008.
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