Youth Apologetics

High School Level

Youth pastors and camp / retreat organizers can choose from many single-session topics or if time permits go through our 8-part series on unfolding the Christian worldview. These are explained below.

Our youth specialist is Jason Dollar who presents each topic in a highly interesting and interactive manner. The students will be provided extensive notes and all the material is presented via PowerPoint. Special care is made to be sure each topic is presented on a level that high school students will be able to comprehend and find helpful.

Single Session Topics (about 1 hour each)

1. What is a Worldview?
   Everyone has one, but most of us do not realize it. With carefully constructed PowerPoint slides, Jason illustrates how our worldview affects the way we interpret everything.
2. How is the Christian Worldview Superior to Others?
   Worldviews can basically be categorized into the “big three” – Naturalism, Pantheism, and Theism. In this session, each of the big three are explained and compared with each other. The conclusion is clear – Christian Theism is superior.
3. How Do I Know That God Exists?
   This session is a broad overview of the standard arguments for the existence of God. Without being technical, Jason explains the basics of the First Cause argument, the Design argument, and the Moral argument for the existence of God. Every Christian should have a good working knowledge of these basic arguments.
4. Is the Universe Designed?
   We hear about “Intelligent Design” on the news occasionally. But what is it? This session will explore in greater depth what it means for something to be designed and how this applies to the universe. The students will see that the best science available today points to the existence of a Designer.
5. I Cannot See God, Why Should I Believe He Exists?
   This objection to Christianity sounds trite, but many people continue to use it. In this talk we show how God’s invisibility actually leads to greater glory for Him. In other words, God has good reasons for not appearing before us just yet.
6. Does the Presence of Evil and Suffering Disprove the Existence of God?
   This is perhaps the most serious objection to the Christian faith. But does it hold any water? Jason will show that there are a number of ways to deal with the problem of evil using creative slides to illustrate his points.
7. Why Should I Believe Christians – They’re All Hypocrites?!
   Can a belief system be judged on the basis of the conduct or misconduct of its adherents? This is a tough question and deserves careful thought. High school students are especially prone to use this objection against Christian belief.
8. Can I Trust the Bible?
   The Bible demonstrates powerful evidences of authenticity. Jason brings out 7 major reasons why people should trust that the Bible is true and is, in fact, the very Word of God.
9. Does the Bible Contain Contradictions?
   Of course if it does, than Christians hold to false beliefs. If the Bible errs in one part, than none of it can be trusted. However, this study shows that all the attempts to find contradictions in the Bible fail. Jason walks through several difficult passages that have often been accused of conflicting, and shows that upon deeper study, there are no contradictions in the Bible.
10. Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?
    I Corinthians 15 makes is abundantly clear that if Christ did not rise our “faith is in vain.” But the historical evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is amazing! This session walks through several lines of evidence and shows that it is far from irrational or unreasonable to believe that Jesus actually and bodily arose from the dead.
11. Did They Really Find Jesus’ Tomb?
    The Discovery Channel recently broadcasted a documentary which strongly suggested that the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth (complete with a box full of his bones) had been found. Is this true? This session will show the weak science and the ulterior motives of the producers of the documentary. In a TV age, high school students really need to hear this talk.
12. Did Jesus Really Exist?
    A few historians deny that Jesus of Nazareth ever existed. He was, they say, only a legend. A quick survey of the extra-biblical literature which mentions Jesus or his followers debunks this idea quickly and shows that Jesus was a historical figure and not a myth. In our day of growing skepticism, our youth really need to feed upon this information.
13. Why Do Millions of People End Up in Hell?
    This is a serious question that unbelievers ask Christians. If God is truly full of love and grace, than surely He would not allow as heinous a place as Hell to exist. But does God have good reasons to maintain a place of eternal punishment? The Bible (and common sense) teaches us that He does. This is one of the most interesting and evangelistic talks offered.
14. Aren’t All Religions Equal?
    Many teach today that there is but one divine essence (god), but there are many different paths to get to this essence. In other words, Jesus might be a legitimate path to this god, but so might Mohammed, or the enlightened path of Buddhism. All of these ways are equal because they all lead to the same place. This view is called religious pluralism and it flies in the face of the exclusive claims of Christianity that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone – no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). This session not only reveals the problems of pluralism, but also how Christians should respond to this major challenge against our faith.
15. Isn’t Religion Just a Psychological Crutch for Weak People?
    This objection to Christian faith has often blindly accepted, but is there anything to it? With some careful thinking and analysis, Christians can see that their faith in Christ might very well be a “crutch” (something that holds us up), but that having a crutch does not imply psychological problems. In fact, if a person’s leg is broken and they know it, not having a crutch would reveal a psychological problem.
16. How Can I Avoid Logical Fallacies?
    From advertising to false teachers, logical fallacies are thrown about like confetti. What is a logical fallacy? It is when an argument fails because it breaks a rule of logic. Like this example of a hasty generalization: Barry Bonds was rude when he did not sign my autograph. Therefore, all professional athletes are rude. This session is a lot of fun, but is very important in training students to think more critically.
17. Can Christianity and Science Ever Be Reconciled?
    This is a very important session in our day. Jason works through several interface possibilities between Christianity and Science (attempting to define both sides well and be fair to both sides).
18. Who Are Muslims and What Do They Believe?
    After September 11, 2001 it has become painfully apparent that Christians need to know Muslim doctrine. This session covers a brief history of Islam and some of its main teachings.
19. Who Are Mormons and What Do They Believe?
    Ever growing, the Mormon cult is actively stealing sheep from the Church. This look-a-like counterfeit must be exposed for what it is – an apostate and false church that deceives its members by horribly twisting the Word of God.
20. Who Are Jehovah’s Witnesses and What Do They Believe?
    The JW’s have an incredibly revealing history. This session journeys into the past to see the deception and lies of this cult. If time permits, the students will learn ways to respond when JW’s come to the door!

Series (8 sessions, about 1 hour each)

Unfolding the Christian Worldview
This series is basically a lengthy unpacking of I Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

Each section of the verse is given a great amount of thought and meditation. Of course, there is a particular emphasis given to the idea of making “a defense.”

This series has been tried and tested with various groups of students ranging in age from 6th grade to 12th grade. The response has always been very positive. This series can be done on 8 consecutive Wednesday or Sunday nights or even as a Sunday School series.

Session 1 – The Christian Worldview Involves a Right View of God
Session 2 – The Christian Worldview Involves a Personal Relationship with God
Session 3 – The Christian Worldview Can be Reasonably Defended I
Session 4 – The Christian Worldview Can be Reasonably Defended II
Session 5 – The Christian Worldview Can be Reasonably Defended III
Session 6 – The Christian Worldview Can be Reasonably Defended IV
Session 7 – The Christian Worldview Provides Immeasurable Hope
Session 8 – The Christian Worldview Blooms with Fruit

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