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APOLOGETICS

APOLOGETICS. DOUBT. CERTAINTY. Write down three things of which you are certain Certainty is the full awareness that something is true It’s proportional to the excellence of the guarantor Certitude is how you feel about that of which you are certain

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APOLOGETICS

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  1. APOLOGETICS DOUBT

  2. CERTAINTY • Write down three things of which you are certain • Certainty is the full awareness that something is true • It’s proportional to the excellence of the guarantor • Certitude is how you feel about that of which you are certain • A mind that has found solid ground produces a heart which can rest

  3. ASSENT: What is it? • Accepting a statement as true • Willingness to not keep doubting it • A necessary condition for certainty • Not a sufficient condition for certainty

  4. CERTAINTY’S ROLE IN OUR LIVES • Dispels anxiety • Brings stability • Refreshes the soul • Makes bold action possible • Grants nobility to the knower • Legitimizes personal sacrifice

  5. SUSPENDED JUDGMENT • The three possible responses when a truth claim is presented: • “Yes” • “No” • “I’ll get back to you on that” • Careful thinkers are comfortable with it • Too much thinking doesn’t lead to doubt • Wrong thinking does • Not thinking at all does

  6. FAMILIES OF DOUBT • Forgetting to Remember • Doubt from Ingratitude • Faith out of Focus • Doubt from a Faulty View of God • No Reason Why Not • Doubt from Weak Foundations • An Unsigned Contract • Doubt from Lack of Commitment

  7. FAMILIES OF DOUBT • No Sign of Life • Doubt from Lack of Growth • Overcome from Within • Doubt from Unruly Emotions • Scars from an Old Wound • Doubt from Fearing to Believe

  8. KEYHOLE THEOLOGY • “You spy through keyholes and from that you get this way of thinking, of drawing conclusions, as grand as they are false about the whole situation from some little thing you really see … You don’t always see enough to come to a conclusion, but once you’ve seen a little it’s difficult to resist trying.” – Os Guinness in God in the Dark • You take a few words out of context or draw big conclusions from one thing that you don’t even see that  clearly.

  9. KEPT WAITING • Doubt from Impatience or Giving Up • How long, O Lord? Psalm 6:3, 13:1, 35:17, 74:10, 79:5, 82:2, 89:46, 94:3, 119:84 – “How long must your servant wait?” • 1 Samuel 13: a case study on waiting

  10. WHAT FAITH ISN’T • A perpetual religious high • The absence of doubt • Mark 9:17-29

  11. DEALING WITH DOUBT • Decide whether or not you really want to believe • Go where faith is • Put faith-building materials into your mind • Clarify the object of your faith • Do what faith would do • Draw near to God in worship and prayer

  12. THE PURIFYING FIRE OF DOUBT • If faith never encounters doubt, • if truth never struggles with error, • if good never battles with evil, • how can faith know its own power? • If you have to choose between • a faith that has stared doubt in the eye and made it blink and • a naïve faith that has never known the firing line of doubt, • Which would you choose?*

  13. DOUBT AND JOB • 3:11 – “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?” • 3:20 – “Why is light given to those in misery?” • 3:23 – “Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?” • Job never saw the answer he wanted, but He saw the Answerer. – Job 42:5

  14. DOUBT AND ASAPH (PSALM 73) • My feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills.When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me …

  15. DOUBT AND ASAPH (PSALM 73) • Till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. • When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. …

  16. DOUBT AND ASAPH (PSALM 73) • Whom have I in heaven but you? • And earth has nothing I desire besides you. • My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. • Those who are far from you will perish … • But as for me, it is good to be near God.

  17. If you have a friend … • … who wonders, “Why isn’t the evidence clearer?” • Share with that friend this article • http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/evidence1.html

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