Youth Apologetics
The other day someone who asked, “What would the youth need to know about the Christian faith?” I responded with the following:
It is important for high school students, grades 9-12, to understand that Christianity is more than just my mom and dad’s religion. They too must take up the challenge to know what they believe and why they believe it. It may appear that theology and apologetics is too cerebral for them, but this is not the case. If students can learn higher mathematics like trigonometry and calculus to improve their SAT scores, they can also learn how to give an answer for their faith.
Several years ago, the youth group with which I served as a volunteer spent several Saturday evenings dealing specifically with apologetics and theology. These groups were called “Life.” The goal was to prepare them for the things that would challenge their beliefs when they entered into college. The first series of groups dealt with foundational questions related to areas of philosophy, like epistemology (Can we know?), metaphysics (What is true?), ethics (What is right?), and evil (Why evil exists?). The second series of groups dealt with important questions related to essential Christian doctrine (God, the Bible, Christ, Holy Spirit, Salvation, Church, and Eschatology).
Secular higher learning centers often challenge the traditional Christian worldview answers to the above-mentioned foundational questions and tout—sometimes quite militantly—their own warped answers in support of another worldview, either modernism or postmodernism. There are also cult groups evangelizing on college campuses (e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses), who also challenge the essential Christian doctrines. (These groups meetings turned out to be pretty popular too.) As with all students, it is helpful to present these things in creative ways, using various modes of communication (media, object lessons, playing “Devil’s advocate,” etc.)
Peace
It is important for high school students, grades 9-12, to understand that Christianity is more than just my mom and dad’s religion. They too must take up the challenge to know what they believe and why they believe it. It may appear that theology and apologetics is too cerebral for them, but this is not the case. If students can learn higher mathematics like trigonometry and calculus to improve their SAT scores, they can also learn how to give an answer for their faith.
Several years ago, the youth group with which I served as a volunteer spent several Saturday evenings dealing specifically with apologetics and theology. These groups were called “Life.” The goal was to prepare them for the things that would challenge their beliefs when they entered into college. The first series of groups dealt with foundational questions related to areas of philosophy, like epistemology (Can we know?), metaphysics (What is true?), ethics (What is right?), and evil (Why evil exists?). The second series of groups dealt with important questions related to essential Christian doctrine (God, the Bible, Christ, Holy Spirit, Salvation, Church, and Eschatology).
Secular higher learning centers often challenge the traditional Christian worldview answers to the above-mentioned foundational questions and tout—sometimes quite militantly—their own warped answers in support of another worldview, either modernism or postmodernism. There are also cult groups evangelizing on college campuses (e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses), who also challenge the essential Christian doctrines. (These groups meetings turned out to be pretty popular too.) As with all students, it is helpful to present these things in creative ways, using various modes of communication (media, object lessons, playing “Devil’s advocate,” etc.)
Peace
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