Apologia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Apologia Education Ministries presents:

• I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist Book by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek
• Softcover book with over 400 pages. Click here to read a sample chapter. 
  • $16.00 available from Apologia Educational Ministries
• I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist Curriculum by Frank Turek and Chuck Winter
• Click here to read a sample chapter. 
• 279 spiral bound pages
  • $33.00 available from Apologia Educational Ministries
• High School level Book and Curriculum

About the Book and Curriculum

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist seeks to argue that Christianity in not only more reasonable than all other belief systems, it is more rational than unbelief.  The authors guide readers through traditional, tested arguments for the existence of a creator God. This book is a helpful resource for Christians seeking to intelligently defend their faith.

 The I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist Curriculum teaches how to go through the book for maximum understanding. It is organized to help you understand and remember what the chapter was about. The main content is organized into four sections.

 Hook—This reminds you what the book chapter talked about and warms up your brain.

Book – This section takes you deeper into the issues discussed in each chapter. It focuses on knowledge and comprehension.

Look – This has you check out information for yourself, not just take the author’s word. This includes research assignments and other activities.

Took – This is a summary of the material and helps to apply the concepts studied.

ClarkClan Experiences

Sarah(15) and I both read the book and went over the  curriculum together.  We would read the chapter in the book, then spend about two weeks working through the work book. I had Sarah do the questions on her own, then would go over her answers with her and discuss them.

We found this to be a very thought provoking book and curriculum. It really makes you think through tough issues. The questions require more than a one word answer.They are thought provoking requiring you to dig deep and really think.  The part of the curriculum that we had the hardest part with was the Look section. This section requires research and writing apologetic papers that we have never done before.

The book is 15 chapters long, with an introduction and 3 appendices. The introduction  defines terminology and introduces three major religious worldviews: Theism, Pantheism, Atheism. Agnostic is also frequently used throughout the book.  Evidence for Christianity is explored in detail using a logical, twelve-point progression.

This twelve point progression was originally presented by the authors Norman Geisler and Frank Turek in a seminar called “The Twelve Points that Show Christianity is True.” These points are:

1. Truth about reality is knowable.
2. The opposite of true is false.
3. It is true that the theistic God exists. This is evidenced by the:
1. Beginning of the universe (Cosmological Argument)
2. Design of the universe (Teleological Argument/Anthropic Principle)
3. Design of Life (Teleological Argument)
4. Moral Law (Moral Argument)
4. If God exists, then miracles are possible.
5. Miracles can be used to confirm a message from God. (ie., as acts of God to confirm a word from God).
6. The New Testament is historically reliable. This is evidenced by:
1. Early testimony
2. Eyewitness testimony
3. Uninvented (authentic) testimony
4. Eyewitnesses who were not deceived
7. The New Testament says Jesus claimed to be God.
8. Jesus’ claim to be God was miraculously confirmed by:
1. His fulfillment of many prophecies about himself;
2. His sinless life and miraculous deeds;
3. HIs prediction and accomplishment of his resurrection.
9. Therefore, Jesus is God
10. Whatever Jesus (who is God) teaches is true.
11. Jesus taught that the Bible is the Word of God.
12. Therefore, it is true that the Bible is the Word of God (and anything opposed to it is false).

(taken from page 28 of I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist)

The twelve points form a line of reasoning to be explored in depth. The authors state that these points need to be justified by evidence and good reasons. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist seeks to present this evidence in a format that is easy to understand. Each chapter in the book covers one of these points in depth using real life examples and solid evidence.

Sarah’s favorite part of the curriculum are the profiles of important people and topics. These people and topics are mentioned in the  book and these vignettes help to understand them better. We also liked learning more about how to share our faith with other people. This was brought home to us as this past weekend as we worked at the county fair in the church fair booth. We had one man who stood at our table and announced he was not a Christian. Unfortunately, in the middle of our answer he walked off, but the encounter underscored the need for learning Christian apologetics.

This study has been a challenge to both Sarah and I. We have enjoyed reading the book and are learning quite a bit about apologetics. We plan on continuing using this book and curriculum and would recommend it to others seeking a way to teach Christian apologetics.

Many of my Review Crew mates also reviewed this book and curriculum. Click on the banner above to read what they had to say about it. 

Disclaimer:  As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew I received the book I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist and the I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist curriculum for free from Apologia  in exchange for my honest review of their product.  All opinions given are mine and/or my children’s