Core, Philosophy

Approaches to Defending the Faith

Taught by Dr. Joseph Minich
Difficulty: Introductory
Runs 9/25 – 12/9/23
$225.00 – $399.00
Syllabus

Apologetics is often viewed as a matter of mere arguments. This course, whilst surveying the major schools of apologetics, will reframe apologetic encounters as occurring between whole persons, with many persuasive tools coalescing to persuade one’s interlocutor. Students will learn how to cultivate tools and habits of soul in order to be more effective Christian witnesses.

Deadline to register: Wednesday, September 13th

 

 

ENROLLMENT OPTIONS

Auditing ($225):

participate in readings and live class sessions, but no graded assignments and no course credit

Full course (Full-Time Discount) ($275):

for-credit courses (at least four per term) toward our Certificate or M.Litt in Classical Protestantism

Full course ($399):

individual classes on a for-credit basis; you can later apply them toward a Certificate or Degree

 

ENROLL NOW

Description

This Core/Philosophy course will be taught by Dr. Joseph Minich, and will run from September 25th through December 9th. The syllabus is available here. 

There are as many arguments for the Christian faith as there are Christians to believe them. In this course, we take a rhetorical approach to defending the faith. While we give pride of place and deference to the classical school of apologetics, the actual apologetical encounter is fundamentally an encounter between whole persons. And it is all the tools of persuasion which coalesce to persuade one’s interlocutor. This course functions to train Christians to learn how to cultivate all these tools (and habits of soul) in themselves in order that they might be more effective witnesses for the Lord in their own community. The major apologetical schools will be surveyed, and their strengths and weaknesses discussed.

Dr. Joseph Minich (Ph.D, The University of Texas at Dallas) is a Residential Teaching Fellow at The Davenant Institute in Landrum, South Carolina. He is the author of Enduring Divine Absence and Bulwarks of Unbelief, the editor of several works with The Davenant Press, as well as the founding editor of Ad Fontes. He is also a host of The Pilgrim Faith Podcast.

Details

Online only, runs 10 weeks, meeting 2 hr./wk. via Zoom. Students will also have the option to participate in class discussion on the Davenant Common Room Discord server. Register to reserve your spot and schedule will be set after a poll of participating students; if the class time does not fit your schedule, you will be eligible for a full refund.

This is a graduate-level course. Although a BA is not a necessary pre-requisite for this course, students should come prepared to do graduate-level work.