The journey that has brought me to the role of teacher is one littered with evidence of God's divine plan prevailing over my arrogant pursuits of what I believed was best. Being a teacher in general still blows my mind, 9 years in and I can't help but laugh at how very adamantly opposed I once was to the idea. I was an architect, who happened to have an art degree on the side, teaching was never on my radar. Yet here I am an art teacher who happens to love talking about God, the bible, and all things faith related. So, just as my journey to becoming a teacher was nothing short of God's miraculous intervention, the path to teaching a class on apologetics is no different. This unique opportunity came from a long held desire to pursue a Masters in Biblical Studies. In that way that only God can, this class was presented to me as a way to fulfill His plan. It doesn't hurt that I have always loved "teaching" scriptural truths in the visual arts classroom. Although the structure of this class will be more stringent, it still remains a place to explore process as much as end products and a class for freedom of thought and expression coupled with compassionate disciple and redirection when necessary.
So here I am in the first instalment of this joint student/teacher blog hoping to bring some transparency about this class and my role within its structure. (All of which I am still very much praying over and trying to prepare for on this website, I appreciate your grace!) Let me be clear that my hope in this post is to invite you into an exploration that is guided by me but is equal parts of learning for all of us. Because truthfully I myself needed to start with an extensive exploration of apologetics before I could even tackle what to cover and how. I also had to face a convicting truth and confess that my own apologetic understandings were shallow at best and non-existent at worst. Many areas that I have prayed over covering during our semester come from my own lack of depth in my ability to answers questions surrounding them. Which has led me to a couple of conclusions that will guide or class. First and most importantly, the bible must be our guide above all else. Every topic we cover, without exception, will start, end, and reference back to scripture. With the variety of interpretations, commentaries, and sermons available in this age of information we have no choice but to keep ourselves rooted in scripture, least we become enticed into a self serving truth. Secondly I believe my greatest desire is for each of you to leave excited to share about who God is, why you follow Him, and how He has changed your life! A lot of the information about apologetics centers around a negative "debate" format that encourages Christians to be able to show people up or put them in their place. But I don't see this to be a beneficial exploration and can honestly see it being a foothold to the hardening of your own heart toward those who think differently. I have instead tried to format a class that asks hard questions, shows how to find and seek out answers to those questions, encourages reflection and refinement of the answers, and lastly provides opportunities to practice and rehearse conversations that might require the answers be given. The original Greek word apologeomai that is used in 1 Peter 3:15 calls us to reason from solid proof, and that will be our guide to the books, articles, videos, and guest speakers we hear from and reflect on throughout the semester. Truthfully I have not been this excited to teach in a long time. I am very much looking forward to the facilitation of spiritual growth in all who are willing to engage and challenge themselves. I truly believe that, as I partner with you, my own apologetic rhetoric is going to grow and change more into alignment with scripture and God's purposes for this knowledge. I invite you each to pray and reflect over this class, asking the Holy Spirit to guide you towards right pursuits as it pertains to seeking answers to tough questions.
6 Comments
|
AuthorS
This blog serves as a collection of thoughts, journal entries, pictures, debates, transcribed conversations, and anything else that might help us, as well as others outside of the class, engage with the questions that arise during our apologetic explorations. Archives
March 2018
Categories |