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Apologetics/Faith/Reason - Pocket Handbook Ch1-2 (pgs. 9-18 ) [corresponding ch in
Fundamentals book = ch 1 (pgs. 13-23)]
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Apologetics
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“Be ready to give a ____________ for the hope that in in you” (1 Pt 3:15)
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Apologetics is the enterprise of obeying that command
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Objections to Apologetics
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It is too ____________
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Not enough of the _____________
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Love, morality, holiness are all more important than reason…Kreeft says this is true but
those who hold this _______________ that these things are more important!
Response =
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“Apologetics gets to the heart _____________ the head…the head is the gate to the
heart
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Power of Reason
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Reason has _______________ power…we can’t believe what we believe to be untrue
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“______________ may not bring you to faith but they can certainly keep you from faith”
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Arguments can bring you __________ to faith like a car can bring you to the sea…but if you are
going to get wet you must decide to jump in
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Concerning methodology
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We are more concerned with truth i.e. content than method at this time
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But…a few things to consider
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The larger context
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The total psyches of the persons involved
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The ______________ between the persons
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The immediate situation
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The larger social ____________ situation
E.g you would use different methods with a Muslim than with an American teen
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Qualities of an Apologist
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“Arguments are more like ____________ than ______________…it matters enormously who
wields a sword”
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“The arguer’s tone, sincerity, care, concern, listening, and respect matter as much as his or her
logic…probably more”
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The Need for Apologetics Today
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Triple crossroads/crisis
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Western Civilization is in danger of dying…it is losing its ___________ i.e. the Christian
Faith b/c of the disease of secularism i.e. no faith, no soul
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Crisis of Truth – “the idea of _____________ ___________ is being ignored,
abandoned, or attacked.”
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Spiritual Crisis – we pay little attention to learning how to _____________…but our time
is short we will die soon
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Confines of the text
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“mere Christianity” that which is core to all “orthodox” Christians
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The heart or essence of the faith as summarized by the ______________ ____________
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Liberal Theologians will not like this book especially b/c of its…
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Arguments for ______________
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Reliability of _______________
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The divinity of _____________
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The reality of ______________
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CH2 – Faith & Reason
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The “marriage”
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If they are incompatible, then apologetics is impossible b/c _______________ is the
attempt to defend the Faith w/ reason’s weapons
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Defining Faith
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Distinguish the __________ of Faith (believing) from the ___________ of Faith (What is
believed)
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Act = Fides ___________ = believing; adherence of man to God…the Theological Virtue
of Faith. E.g. “I have firm faith that Jesus is God”
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Object = Fides ___________ = The Objective content; that which is believed. E.g. “The
Catholic faith holds many truths”
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The Object of Faith (Fides Quae)
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Is expressed in _____________
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these are needed in order to “know or tell others what God we believe in & what we
believe about God”
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*__________ Himself is the ultimate ___________ of Faith
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The Act of Faith (Fides Qua)
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Is more than merely an act of belief
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4 dimensions of religious faith:
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____________ faith
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____________ faith
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____________ faith
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The Heart
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Defining Reason
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Distinguish the Act from the Object
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The Object of Reason is all that reason can know i.e. all the truths that can be:
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____________ by human reason
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____________by human reason
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____________ by human reason without premises assumed by faith
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Reason is relative to ___________ i.e. its correctness is dependent upon that which is
true(reality itself)
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It is a way of knowing truth
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_____________ is also a way of knowing truth e.g. we believe what others say
and come to knowledge that way.
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Relation b/w the Objects of Faith & Reason
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How are they related?
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3 Different kinds of Truth
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Truths of Faith and __________ of Reason
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Truths of both Faith __________ Reason
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Truths of Reason and __________ Faith
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_________________ holds that everything we know by faith can also be understood, or
discovered, or proved by reason.
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______________ holds that the only certain knowledge we can have is by faith.
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This claims that everything we know by faith can also be known by reason and vice-versa.
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_______________ is very popular today because it reflects the “separation of church & state,”
religion & philosophy, sacred & secular.
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Reduces reason to scientific, mathematical, & empirical reasoning.
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Reduces faith to a personal, subjective attitude.
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a = Revealed by God but not understandable, discoverable, or provable by reason (e.g., the
Trinity or the fact that Christ’s death atoned for our sins).
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b = Revealed by God & understandable, discoverable, or provable by reason (e.g., existence of
one God or objective moral law).
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c = Not revealed by God but known by human reason
(example, E = mc2, F = ma, Quadratic formula)
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The Christian apologist admits that he cannot prove the propositions in a; however, he can
______________ all the ____________ to them.
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E.g., the mathematician might argue against the Trinity by saying that it is a contradiction to call
one three (i.e., 1 ≠ 3). We can reply by defining “nature” and “person” see Theology and Sanity
chs. 6-8
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Why F & R can never contradict each other
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Aquinas
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Only the _____________is opposed to the __________
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We are sure that rationally self-evident propositions (e.g. the whole is greater that than
the part or effects have causes) are _____________.
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God cannot ___________
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So if truths gotten by human reason are true and propositions of faith are from God
then…these two kinds of truths are not opposed…they must both be __________
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No contradiction continued…
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Even the principles known to us naturally (e.g. the whole is greater than the part…etc.) are
implanted in us by ___________…for God is the Author of our ____________.
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“Whatever arguments are brought forward against the doctrines of faith are conclusions
___________________ derived from the first & self-evident principles embedded in rational
human nature”
Self-evident truth
Mistake in reasoning
Doctrine is false
“Every possible argument against Christianity has a rational _____________ in it somewhere”
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John Paul II said:
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“Faith and reason are like two wings in which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of
_____________.”Fides et Ratio, JPII, 1998
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And so, we must echo the words of Pilate and ask, “what IS truth?”