www.SeanMcDowell.org
Non-believers
left the faith
because of
intellectual
skepticism
“We are learning that one
of the primary reasons
that ministry to teenagers
fails to produce a lasting
faith is because they are
not being taught to think.”
David Kinnaman, UnChristian, 2007
“What is new is the lack of ability
to construct bridges between one
layer and another. The inability to
see contradictions as
contradictions and the ability to
easily rationalize seemingly
irreconcilable beliefs, attitudes or
values…”
~ Chap Clark, Hurt: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers
Only 9% of evangelical
adults and 3% of
evangelical youth have a
biblical worldview.
George Barna, Thinking Like a Christian
A “view of the world”
J.P. Moreland
“This is why truth is so powerful.
It allows us to cooperate with
reality, whether spiritual or
physical, and tap into its
power…
Love Your God with all Your Mind
J.P. Moreland
…As we learn to think correctly
about God, specific scriptural
teachings, the soul, or other
important aspects of a Christian
worldview, we are placed in
touch with God and those
realities…
Love Your God with all Your Mind
J.P. Moreland
…And we thereby gain access
to the power available to us to
live in the kingdom of God.”
Love Your God with all Your Mind
Quiz over beliefs of Protestant Youth
What percentage…
1. Believe God created the world
but is not involved today?
(Deism)
2. Believe God is impersonal, like a
cosmic force? (New Age)
3. “Maybe” or “definitely” believe
in reincarnation?
Quiz over beliefs of Protestant Youth
What percentage…
4. Are not assured of the existence
miracles?
5. Are not assured of the existence
of evil spirits?
6. Believe many religions may be
true?
Quiz over beliefs of Protestant Youth
What percentage…
10%
1. Believe God created the world
but is not involved today?
(Deism)
2. Believe God is impersonal, like a 8%
cosmic force? (New Age)
3. “Maybe” or “definitely” believe 33%
in reincarnation?
Quiz over beliefs of Protestant Youth
What percentage…
4. Are not assured of the existence
miracles?
5. Are not assured of the existence
of evil spirits?
6. Believe many religions may be
true?
23%
42%
48%
“People who have a biblical
worldview are much more
likely to act like Jesus because
they see such things as life,
people, and crises differently
than most people do.”
David Kinnaman, UnChristian (2007)
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
“For though we live in the world,
we do not wage war as the world
does. The weapons we fight with
are not weapons of the world…
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
… On the contrary, they have
divine power to demolish
strongholds. We demolish
arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up against the
knowledge of God…”
1 John 2:21
“I have not written to
you because you do
not know the truth,
but because you do
know it…”
Private Sphere
(subjective preference)
Public Sphere
(objective knowledge)
Barack Obama
“I’m a Christian, and I believe in
parents being able to provide
children with religious instruction
without interference from the state.
But I also believe our schools are
there to teach worldly knowledge
and science….
President Obama
…I believe in evolution, and I
believe there’s a difference
between science and faith. That
doesn’t make faith any less
important than science. It just
means they’re two different
things.”
Dr. Michael Weiss
“This will take the discussion about
sexual preference out of the realm
of morality and put it in the realm
of science.”
“New Evidence of a ‘gay gene’” The Week, 2005
“What
rarely arises in such
conversations are teens’
religious identities, beliefs,
experiences, or practices…
National Study of Youth and Religion, 2005
…Religion just does not
naturally seem to appear much
on most teenagers’ open-ended
lists of what really matters in
their lives….
National Study of Youth and Religion, 2005
…Religion seems to become
rather compartmentalized and
back-grounded in the lived
experiences of most U.S
teenagers.”
National Study of Youth and Religion, 2005
Christian Smith
“What a number of teens
apparently mean in reporting
that religion is very important
in their lives is that religion is
very important in the strictly
religious sector of their lives…
National Study of Youth and Religion, 2005
Christian Smith
…Religion influences them
religiously—that is, when it
comes to church, basic beliefs,
prayer, and so on—but not
necessarily in other ways.”
National Study of Youth and Religion, 2005
“Religion influences me a lot
with people I choose not to be
around. I would not hang out
with people that are, you know,
devil worshippers because that’s
just not my thing.”
~ 18 year old girl
“Religion influences me
in the things I choose
not to do, um, like bad
things, like murder or
something.”
~ 17 year old boy
“What our interviews almost
never uncovered among teens
was a view that religion summons
people to embrace an obedience
to truth regardless of the personal
consequences or rewards.”
Soul Searching, 2005
“The language that dominates
adolescent interests and thinking
about life, including religious and
spiritual life, is primarily about
personally feeling good and being
happy.”
Soul Searching, 2005
“We must begin by being
utterly convinced that there
is a biblical perspective on
everything—not just
spiritual matters.”
Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth
In Christ are
“…all the treasures
of wisdom and
knowledge.”
~ Colossians 2:3
Charles Darwin
Autobiography of
Charles Darwin
“The horrid doubt always
arises whether the
conviction of man’s mind,
which has developed from
the mind of the lower
animals, are of any value or
at all trustworthy. Would
anyone trust the conviction
of a monkey’s mind, if there
are any convictions in such
a mind?”