Omar Schrock

Box 3306
Spring 2006

Apologetics
As taught by Dr. David Cummins
I. Introduction
A. Be ready to defend your faith - Phil 1:7,17; 1 Pt. 3:15
B. What are the principles to defend?
C. What is the starting point?
D. Think Logically
E. Get past the argument of 'elitism'
1. How can you say that you have the truth when there are so many
beliefs?
F. Note: We are to present the truth in the best possible way but the burden of
proof lies on the Holy Spirit
G. People today want a conversation not a lecture
II. What is Apologetics?
A. A Defense
B. A Challenge of the belief of others
C. Present a Case of Truth
III.Almost all the facts (I mean historical, not Biblical quotations) point to Christ as a
briliant leader-philosopher without any evidence that He was divine.
A. What would you say to the man that says this?
1. He's admitting that some facts don't support his view - almost
2. He's saying that he thinks he has all the evidence
Discussion on 'Indigo Children' and 'Crystal Children'

Avoiding Elitism
People will ask, what makes you think you have the corner on the truth? You're such an elitist,
thinking you and only you have the truth.
I. Don't enter the name calling game
II. Realize that almost every religion has true points
A. Almost every religion has points of truth otherwise nobody would follow them
B. Don't believe that you have to argue from a 'neutral ground' without God's Word
1. Realize that it is the sword
2. Be convinced that the Word of God is your Sword
3. Know your Bible - know where to find what you need
III.They often use faulty logic
A. They will question your source of assurance
B. They believe that two or more conflicting view can both be true
C. We are simply providing evidence for the veracity of the truth

D. A determined will can determine the best evidence with which you can present
them.
E. Don't make commando raids on people
1. Our message is not a system of beliefs but a message of the person of
Christ
---Evolutionism
I. The History of evolutionism
A. Attracted the publics attentions when Darwin published On the Origin of
Species, in 1859
1. Darwin (1809-1882) was a British scientist
2. As a student, Darwin aspired to be a doctor, then decided to become
an Anglican Clergyman
3. He ultimately became intrigued with Science, being influenced by
Charles Lyells theory of uniformitarianism.
4. In later years, Darwin abandoned Anglican-styled orthodoxy and
became an agnostic
5. In 1870 Darwin wrote, My theology is a simple muddle. I cannot
look at the universe as the result of blind chance, yet I can see no
evidence of beneficent design, or indeed of design of any kind, in the
details. (Britannica, vol. 7 p. 67)
B. Darwin based his idea of natural selection on an acceptance of LaMarckianism
(the inheritance of acquired characteristics), and he also assumed that traits were
inherited through blood. Scientists have since rejected both these ideas.
1. He stated his theory in a series of guesses and suppositions.
2. Many of his readers accepted his guesses as if they were proven
conclusions, which they have never been.
3. Even the religious world, assuming that Darwin had proved his
position, tried to accommodate the Bible to include some form of
evolutionism. This even affected otherwise conservative Bible
scholars of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
II. The basic Beliefs of evolutionism
A. Evolution not only affects science, but also history, morality, and religion
1. The system was developed to include evolution of mans view of
God, evolution of the Bible, mans development from primitive to
modern, etc.
2. Consider the following quotations from Sir Julian Huxley, British
biologist:
a. The concept of evolution was soon extended into other
biological fields. Inorganic subjects such as the lifehistories of stars and the formation of the chemical
elements on the one hand, and on the other hand subjects
like linguistics, social anthropology, and comparative law
and religion, began to be studied from the evolutionary
angle, until today we are enabled to see evolution as a

universal and all-pervading process.

b. ...We are beginning to realize that biological evolution is
only one aspect of evolution in general. Evolution in the
extended sense can be defined as a directional and
essentially irreversible process occurring in time.... Our
present knowledge indeed forces us to the view that the
whole of reality is evolution - a single process of self
transformation.
3. Evolution has become the foundation of the social sciences
(psychology, psychiatry, sociology, etc.), religion, politics, and
education.
a. This has tremendous moral and spiritual implications,
because if man is an animal, he is not answerable to a Holy
God.
b. Some of the great proponents of evolution who have had
enormous influence in the political and educational fields
are Hitler, Mussolini, Marx, Engels, and John Dewey.
c. The development of religious moralism (modernism) is
largely due to the influence of evolutionary thought.
d. Psychologists and psychiatrists today prescribe
animalistic moral behavior as the solution to mans
problems.
B. The Universe is the chance product of arbitrary forces, without a common
design or Designer.
III.The refutation of evolutionism (assuming that refutation of biological evolutionism
will also refute the other forms that stem from it).
A. The Scientific refutations
1. There are inherent/rational difficulties in it
a. Evolution has no explanation for origins
b. Evolution investigates only the material world
c. The first law of Thermo-dynamics which has to do . . . ???
d. The second law of Thermo-dynamics which says that
everything is decaying/deteriorating
e. The fact that many animals have complex parts and organs
which cannot functions until it is complete
(1)i.e. the wing of a bird
(2)it is a foolish position
f. Darwin's position that hereditary things were transmitted
through the blood
g. Darwin's acceptance of acquired characteristics
(LaMarckianism )
h. Spontaneous Generation
i. Comparative anatomy - proves there had to be a common
creator
j. Gene mutations provide no proof for evolution
(1)mutations are abnormalities

(2)they are always harmful and usually lethal

(3)Mutations are not ordinarily caused by natural
means except possibly by cosmic rays
(4)in order for a mutation to make significant
change both parents must have the same
mutation without being separated by time or
circumstances
k. Uniformitarianism geology is no proof
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)footprints
(6)some divonian period rocks contain many human
footprints
(7)no indisputable fossil has been found before the
cambrian age {uniform}
(8)The world has always
(9)the so called pre-historic men have been proven
to be hoaxs
B. Scriptural Refutations
1. Barah something out of nothing
2.
3. Creation points to God as its designer and those who reject danger
reprobate
a.
4. Dramatic events effected the world
a. Creation
(1)God made an adult earth
(2)This allowed the ballance of nature to be in
effect
b. The Curse after man's fall
c. The Flood of Noah's Day
(1)Causes
(a)probable collapse of a water canopy
(b)resulted
i) harmful sun rays
ii) man and animals eating
meat
d. Gap
e. Acts
f. Days
g. Cycle
h.
---

Kent Hovind
Micro-Evolution - changes withing species because of Gene variations. A cat is still a
cat.
Macro-Evolution - Complete changes between types of life and non-life.

RELIGION AND THE CULTS

I. What is Religion?
A. There are more than six billion people living in the world today, most of whom
are associated with one or another of the world's major religions.
B. Most are woefully ignorant of the basic beliefs of their own religion.
C. Religion Defined - That aspect of one's experience in which he attempts to live
harmoniously with the power or powers he believes are controlling the world.
1. According to this, Christianity is not a religion
2. We can't do anything to win/Merit God's Love
II. Religion is Universal
A. Joseph Gaer - As far as we can determine, religion has existed in every society,
from the most primitive to the most culturally advanced.
B. Religion is not only universal, It is also one of the features separating man from
the animal world.
III.Religion meets needs
A. Robert E. Hume - Religion gives a person what he can obtain from no other
source - a confidence in the outcome of life's struggles through a personal
connection with the superior Power or powers in the world.
1. Where did I come from?
2. Why am I here?
3. Where am I going?
4. Most people will send up trial balloon questions to see if you'll
take time to answer. Answer their questions and then they will ask
their real, big question.
B. The distinguishing function of religion, in contrast with that of philosophy or
ethics, or any of the idealizing or cultural activities, is to give to a human being
the supreme satisfaction of life through a vital relationship with what he
recognizes as the superhuman Power, or powers, in the world. - Reason for
Hope
IV.All religions are not the Same
A. All religious paths do not eventually reach the same summit - God
B. Some believe that Universal Religion is that in which there may be Universal
Agreement. We now have the four R = the fourth begin religion.
WHAT IS A CULT?

I. A cult is a perversion, a distortion of biblical Christianity, and/or a rejection of the

historical teachings of the Christian church. 2 Cor. 11:13-15
A. A Cult is anyone that believes that Jesus' death was not enough to save you.
That there is something you must add to salvation.
II. Why do Cults Prosper?
A. The Cults provide answers to man's basic questions: Who am I? Why am I here?
Where am I going?
B. The cults meet human Needs
1. They appeal to man's basic human needs - to be loved, to feel needed,
to sense that our lives have direction and meaning
2. There is basic desire to know and serve God
C. The Cults make a favorable impression
1. If the church fails to carefully and seriously provide spiritual warmth
and true exposition of the Word of God, those with spiritual needs
will find other avenues of fulfillment
2. Many cults prey on ignorance, and try to impress the uninformed with
pseudo-scholarship
3. Many people in the cults were raised in Christian churches, but were
untaught in
!!Spring Break!!
CHARACTERISTICS OF A CULT
I. New Truth
A. Many cults promote the idea that God has revealed something special to them
1. Unification Church - Rev. Moon is bring truth previously unrevealed
we are the only people who understand the heart of Jesus, the
anguish of Jesus, and the hope of Jesus.
2. Mormon church - Christianity was apostate for some 18 centuries
until God revealed new truth to Joseph Smith Jr, restoring the true
gospel that had been lost
B. These and other cults justify their existence by claiming they have something
more than the Bible and its inadequate message.
C. The cults have no objective, independent way to test their teachings and
practices.
II. New Interpretations of Scripture
A. Some make no claim to new truth or extra-biblical revelation, but believe that
they alone have the key to interpreting the mysteries in the Bible.
B. The Bible is then reinterpreted usually out of context, to justify the peculiar
doctrines of the cult.
III.A Non-biblical Source of Authority
A. Some have sacred writings or a source of authority that supersedes the Bible.
We believe the Bible to be the Word of God in so far as it is translated correctly
. . .
B. Christian Science believes that the Bible is mistaken and corrupt and inferior to
the writings of Mary Baker Eddy.

C. Unification Church believes the Bible to be incomplete while Rev. Moons

Divine Principle is the true authoritative sources.
D. Many others claim to believe the Bible when in reality it is true as it is
interpreted by their leader.
IV.Another Jesus
A. Paul warned us of this, w Cor. 11:4
B. The Jesus of the cults is not the Jesus of the Bible.
C. No matter what the particular beliefs of any cult may be, the one common
denominator they all possess is a denial of the biblical teaching on the deity of
Jesus Christ.
V. Rejection of Orthodox Christianity
A. Characteristic of many cult groups is a frontal attack on orthodox Christianity.
B. Joseph Smith Jr, said he was given an assessment of the Christian Church when
he inquired of the Lord which church to join - I must join none, for they are all
wrong.
C. Double-Talk
1. They say one thing publicly but internally believe something totally
different.
2. Mormon Church - First article of Faith - We believe . . . in His Son,
Jesus Christ.
VI.Non-Biblical teaching on the Nature of God
A. An inadequate view or an outright denial of the Trinity
B. JWs - There is no authority in the Word of God for the doctrine of the trinity
of the Godhead.
C. Likewise the Way International.
D. Cults are marked by their deviation on the doctrine of the Trinity and the nature
of God.
VII.Changing Theology
A. Cults are continually in a state of flux and have no sure foundation on which to
anchor their rope
B. JW - No vaccination - Today ok.
VIII.Strong Leadership
A. Characterized by central leader who considers themselves messengers of God
with unique access to the Almighty.
B. The strong leadership leads the followers into total dependence upon the cult for
belief.
IX.Salvation by Works
A. One teaching that is totally absent - The Gospel of the Grace of God.
B. Salvation is a process
X. False Prophecy
Conclusion:
Beware of a group that embraces even some of these features.
The sure mark of a cult is what it does with the Person of Jesus Christ.
Quiz 3/27/06

Atheism, Agnosticism, & Skepticism

I. Definitions
A. Atheism - A + Theos (alpha privative and Theos)
1. One who believes that there exists positive evidence that there is no
God. All existence can be explained naturally rather than
supernaturally.
2. Sometimes refers to a rejection of only particular gods or a particular
God
B. Agnosticism - A + Knowledge
1. One who believes there is insufficient evidence to prove or disprove
the existence or nonexistence of God or gods.
2. Criticize the theist and the atheist for their presumption of knowledge
of God or gods.
3. Two types of agnostics
a. Soft Philosophy - This type says there is insufficient
evidence but leaves open the possibility of sometime
obtaining enough evidence to know with certainty, We
dont not know if God exists.
b. Hard Philosophy - This type is convinced that it is
objectively impossible for anyone to ever know with
certainty the existence or non-existence of God or gods.
We CANNOT KNOW if God exists.
C. Skepticism - inquiring, doubting - range of belief:
1. A state of doubting
2. A state of suspension of judgement
3. A state of unbelief or non-belief
D. Rene Descartes 1596-1650
1. Uses skepticism to prove the existence of God
E. Machiavelli 1527
1. Wrote The Prince
2. End justifies the means
F. Hegel 1770-1831
1. Says we dont need anything to justify that we exist
2. Ultimately says that God is imaginary
G. Ludwig Fearbach 1804-1872
H. Engles
I. Marx
J. Friedrich Nietzsche - 1900
1. Death of God school
K. Arguments against the existence of God
1. Language
a. Any talk about Him is meaningless because He doesnt
exist
2. Knowledge

3. Moral Concepts
a. If He existed why would He permit Evil?
4. Scientific Method
a. He is just an idea/wish that man has
b. The result of superstitious beliefs
5. Logic
a. Can He make a rock so big He cant move it?
L. Much of what is known as Atheism is actually Naturalism
1. We live in a closed system - nothing comes in or goes out
Beliefs
Transcendence
Immanence
Atheism

No

No

Agnostic

unknown

No

Pantheism

No

yes (infantismal)

Polytheism

Not Really

Territorial

Deism

Supposedly

No

Neo-Orthodoxy

Yes

Occasionally

Allah (Islamic)

Despotic

Arbitrary

Often None

Goody

Liberalism

Christian Theism
YES
YES
M.The Nature of the God of other beliefs
1. Transcendence
a. The Supernatural
2. Immanence
a. Does he deal with Men?
3. Beliefs:
a. Atheism - Positive evidence against the existence of God
b. Agnosticism - Insufficient Evidence/
c. Pantheism - the allis god
d. Polytheist - Many Gods
(1)Their god is superhuman but not supreme
e. Deism
(1)says he is supernatural but not interested in
mankind
f. Neo-Orthodoxy
(1)New Truth
(2)God is the Wholly Other
(3)Whatever part of the Bible speaks to you is the
Word of God
g. Allah (God of Islam) (Moslem)
(1)dont be afraid to witness to them
(2)they know that Islam offers no peace
(3)Theyve tasted a little of what we have to offer

(4)He is immanent when he wants to be

h. Liberalism
(1)The whole purpose of God is to please them
(2)A God of Love, not to put any restrictions on
them
(3)the goody god of love
(4)He would never chasten anybody
i. Christian Theism - Correct position
(1)He is interested in our lives
(a)enough so that he sent His Son to die
for us
QUIZ 4/10/06

Post-Modern Times:
1789 - Fall of the bastiel (French Revolution)
- Destruction of all Previous History
1989 - Fall of the Berlin Wall
Now we are in the 3rd millennium AD.
Striving for unity
Secular Humanism
Social Engineering - Day Cares/Public Schools

---SECULAR HUMANISM
Definition:
Secular - Non-theistic
Humanism - the religion which deifies man and dethrones God. Its avowed aim is to
replace theism with humanism.
Webster on humanism: A doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests
and values; esp: a philosophy that asserts the dignity and worth of man [this is extremely wrong,
Christianity gives man dignity and worth] and his capacity for self-realization through reason
and that often rejects supernaturalism.
Its Creed is: Humanist Manifesto I (1933) and Humanist Manifesto II (1973).
Greek philosopher Protagoras Man is the measure of all things.
Today Man is the ultimate standard by which all life is measured and judged. Thus
values, law, justice, good, beauty, and right and wrong all are to be judged by man-made rules
with no credence to either God or the Bible.
Tenets of Secular Humanism II
1. Traditional dogmatic or authoritarian religions that place revelation, God, or creed
above human needs and experience do disservice to the human species.

2. Promises of immortal salvation or fear of eternal damnation are both illusory and
harmful.
3. We affirm that moral values derive their source from human experience. Ethics is
autonomous and situational.
4. Reason and intelligence are the most effective instruments that mankind possesses.
5. The preciousness and dignity of the individual person is a certain humanistic value.
6. In the area of sexuality, we believe that intolerant attitudes, often cultivated by
orthodox religions and puritanical cultures, unduly repress sexual conduct.
7. To enhance freedom and dignity the individual must experience a full range of civil
liberties in all societies. ( - no rules)
8. We are committed to an open and democratic society.
9. The separation of church and state and the separation of ideology and state are
imperatives. (This should be both ways)
10.Humane societies should evaluate economic systems not be rhetoric or ideology,
but be whether or not they increase economic well being for all individuals and
groups, minimize poverty and hardship, increase the sum of human satisfaction,
and enhance the quality of life.
11.The principle of moral equality must be furthered through elimination of all
discrimination based upon race, religion, sex, age, or national origin. We believe in
the right to universal education.
12.We deplore the division of humankind on nationalistic grounds. [political borders]
13.The world community must renounce the resort to violence and force as a method
of solving international disputes. War is obsolete.
14.The world community must engage in cooperative planning concerning the use of
rapidly depleting resources.
15.The problems of economic growth and development can no longer be resolved by
one nation alone, they are worldwide in scope.
16.Technology is a vital key to human progress and development.
17.We must expand communication and transportation across frontiers. Travel
restrictions must cease.
---THE OCCULT
I. Definition
A. Things that are mysterious
B. Secret or hidden
C. Operations or events in which humans exceed their five senses
D. Deals with the supernatural
1. Angels or Demons
a. Have to cast out the demon of every sin (cast out the
demon of smoking)
E. A Christian can be oppressed but not possessed
II. Two equal and opposite errors
A. Wont believe in the supernatural
B. Undue interest in the supernatural

C. *Understand that the supernatural does exist

D. Be careful of putting everything into an occult situation
III.Three Characteristics
A. Escapists
1. Blame the Devil for everything
B. Superstitious
C. Victims
1. Robs them of the truly spiritual
IV.Causes
A.
B. Curiosity
C. The occult offers reality
1. Spirituality that you can see
D. Secularization of Christianity
V. People
A. Cayce
1. Mother was virgin born
B. Jean Dixon
C.

APOLOGETICS READING
Source:

Author

The Dark Side of Calvinism

Pages
50 +

Debating Evolutionism #4

Kent Hovind

= 50

Faith & Politics

Dan Rather

= 50

Looking Back & Pressing Forward

Henry Morris

= 50

Standing Firm on Gods Word

Tim LaHaye

= 50

Creation Evangelism in the Church

Chuck Smith

= 50

Total:

300+

Mormon Pick-up Line:

Do you want to go to Heaven when you die?