APOLOGETICS FIELD-BASED ACTIVITY

Apologetics Field-Based Activity: The Existence of God Assignment Instructions

Overview

Apologetics is not just theory but a tool we should use to argue for Christianity. This is the first of four apologetics activities in which you will communicate a simple apologetics argument to a person in a conversation. This activity provides you with an opportunity to construct a short argument for the existence of God while anticipating possible objections to that argument and then sharing that argument “in the field.” Afterwards you will reflect on that activity and what you learned during the planning of your argument and from your conversation.

Instructions

A template will be used for this assignment. This template is in three sections. Two-four paragraphs for the reflection are required with a minimum of two pages required for the completed assignment. No title page is necessary since this is a template.

While you should do research in planning your argument, a formal citation system is not required. Do, however, use quotation marks for any direct quotes with a footnote that follows current Turabian format indicating the source of the quote. The following textbook sources are provided to help you as you select and construct the argument for the existence of God.

Kalam cosmological argument (Gould, p. 38-41; Sweis, p. 81-93)

Teleological arguments (several variations; limit yourself to one)

(Gould, p. 41-42)

(Sweis, p. 96-98)

(Sweis, p. 99-105)

(Sweis, p. 106-122)

Moral argument (Gould, p. 42-45; Sweis, p. 171-190)

Argument from reason (Gould, p. 45-47)

Ontological argument (Gould, p. 47-49)

Classical – Anselm’s (Sweis, p. 123-124)

Modal – Plantinga’s (Sweis, p. 125-138)

Classical cosmological argument (Sweis, p. 79-80)

Argument from sufficient reason [cosmological] (Sweis, p. 94-95)

Transcendental (Sweis, p. 139-167)

Pascal’s Wager (Sweis, p. 168-170)

Experiencing God (Sweis, p. 191-195)

Perceiving God (Sweis, p. 196-202)

The Argument from the Mind (Gould, p. 394-411)

The template has three sections:

Argument Construction:

1. You will select one of the lines of argumentation provided and indicate that you are using that argument for this assignment.

2. Plan how you hope to use the line of argumentation in a conversation.

3. Anticipate two to three possible objections and how you would address them.

After this, you are now ready to have your conversation.

The Conversation: This is simply a report on the context of the conversation. Simply insert the appropriate information.

The Reflection: This will be two-four paragraphs long (a paragraph will have at least three complete sentences). You will describe how the conversation went, the reaction of your conversation partner both during and after the presentation of the argument, what you might have done differently, and how you feel after presentation about the strength of the argument.