| stephenmills1000 |
| Posted 05/10/12 at 11:22 AM | Reply with quote #1 |
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Looking to use On Guard as a group study over the summer, specifically for High School Seinors, graduating high schoolers, and college-age. The idea is to arm our youth with good defenses of reasons to believe in God as they begin to/currently interact with academia, or go off into the "real world." As being located in the Boston area, I feel the intellectual challenges they will face reinforces this compulsion.
The book looks accessible enough, and even fun. Can anyone that's been through this as a group study offer any advice, or helpful tips? Should I utilize the DVD and/or study guide? Is there a better study for a group like this (was considering "Case for Faith" as well).
Thanks!
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| Tetelestai |
| Posted 05/10/12 at 12:01 PM | Reply with quote #2 |
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Hi Stephen
You can check out the TrueU series as well at TrueU.org. I am doing some mentoring for university students for the same reasons you cite and it has been helpful to me. The content is really accesable (good for entry level apologetics) and the DVDs generate lots of discussion. The TrueU series was made specifically with your intended audience in mind.
I have not used On Guard in this fashion (although I have read it myself) so not sure how it will work as group study material although I'm sure it will be good. I'm not familiar with the DVD but I think the younger generation prefers audiovisual media over books so make sure you look into that.
Hope that whatever you choose will be a blessing to the people you work with!
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| stephenmills1000 |
| Posted 05/11/12 at 08:32 AM | Reply with quote #3 |
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Thanks so much, Tetelestai. I checked out the TrueU.org website, and it does in fact seem a perfect fit for my intentions. I notice a lot of reference to Craig's work anyway in there, so again makes this seem perfect for the audience being reached.
If you have been thorugh both, does On Guard go more in depth than this study (spec. "Does God Exist?")? That may be a great option if there's interest in delving further into these issues. "Reasonable Faith" may be a bit too much for this level, however.
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| Tetelestai |
| Posted 05/14/12 at 02:57 AM | Reply with quote #4 |
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Stephen, both courses have their pros and cons. Like I said, I have not been through On Guard as a group study, only by myself but I see that it can benefit group study. I'm not sure how often and how much time you have to spend with the group but if it was a significant amount, I would try to do TrueU first and follow up with On Guard to "formalise" the content.
I would suggest viewing 2 TrueU sessions (about 25 minutes each) each time you get together with discussion after each one. Make sure the students have notepads handy, the information in the sessions come thick and fast and with the limited amount available it is expected the sessions will prompt some investigation by the students themselves (the host encourages that).
TrueU's first DVD series covers the science behind the Kalam and Teleological arguments, looks at the moral argument and also spends some time looking at Intelligent Design. While this may be controversial, I found it a good intro for me to know what it was all about. The second series covers biblical reliability and looks at the archeological record to support much of the Old Testament and starts looking at the historical credibility of the New Testament documents. Lots of stuff I didn't know and that is not covered in On Guard.
The third and final series is being filmed/edited etc. at the moment. I know WLC himself was involved in the filming through his monthly newsletter, possibly as an expert brought in giving his thoughts in several clips. This last series is focussed on Jesus, who he was and what he did. Obviously I haven't seen it yet but look forward to it being released.
In short, TrueU will give a very brief intro to a slightly wider spectrum of work in a way that should appeal to the youngsters. I think it is an ideal starting point and focus on science (as opposed to philosophy) is probably apt, given that your target audience will mostly be confronted by a "science says this" mentality. Having a bit more pholisophical backing once into an argument is good which is where On Guard comes in.
On Guard's strength is the formal treatment of WLC's main arguments, going into a bit more depth (especially on the philosophical side). As you are probably aware, it also covers the Leibnizian cosmological argument and touches on the meaning purpose and value of life on theism versus atheism, things which are not covered by TrueU. The formal layout of the arguments, common challenges and ways to deal with it is a big plus, TrueU won't give you that.
You are right that Reasonable Faith will probably be a way to turn people new to the field off. Some people are even turned off by apologetics in general so not all your students may like it, regardless of which curriculum you use. Maybe you can refer your interested students to Reasonable Faith at the end of your time on apologetics.
Hope my response was helpful, let me know what you decide!
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