The following is an outline of a presentation that I delivered at a conference entitled “How To Be An Effective Apologist Right Where You Are” or “How to Integrate Apologetics into Your Personal Ministry.”  It is here to help you see a logical approach to presenting apologetics.  Please feel free to use it in a class or study.

1. The Foundations and Tools for Effective Apologetics
   1. Salvation and Spiritual Maturity
      1. Salvation
         1. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:28; 4:1-6; 5:1; Gal. 2:16, 21
      2. Spiritual Maturity
         1. Spiritual disciplines: studying the Word (2 Tim. 2:15), worship, prayer, Bible study, etc.
            1. Memorize Scripture!
         2. Fruit of the Spirit: love, patience, and gentleness (Gal. 5:22-23).  It is all one fruit according to the Greek.
      3. Recommended Resources
         1. The Bible
            1. The Bible must be the first and only standard of absolute truth. Defend the Bible. Teach the Bible. It is the word of God and everything we do and teach must be consistent with what it already reveals.
         2. Bible commentaries and dictionaries
   2. Critical Thinking
      1. The Foundational Tool
         1. “And He said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” (Matthew 22:37).
         2. How you think will affect how you do theology, evangelize, do apologetics, etc.
            1. Philosophy: the great synthesizer of all major disciplines.  It is a form of logic and is worth studying.  But only in subjection to God’s word.
            2. Philosophy: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ,” (Colossians 2:8).
         3. Understand Christianity as a worldview.
            1. A worldview is a set of presuppositions that you hold by which and with which you judge what is true, morally acceptable, and how we relate to the world.
         4. Formal debates exhibit the importance of critical thinking.
            1. Debating people is always important because it solidifies your thinking. It helps you formulate your ideas. There can be formal debates and informal discussions. Both are very useful. But, not all people can do this and that’s okay. Informal discussions are were most people defend the Christian faith.
      2. Advice
         1. Learn the basic logical fallacies.  There is an article on CARM called Logical fallacies or fallacies in argumentation.  Check it out. It will be very useful.
         2. Take a class on logic if it is possible.  Or, you can take the critical thinking course on CARM at learn.carm.org.
         3. Buy a good logic and/or critical thinking book.
      3. Resources
         1. Come Let us Reason by Norman Geisler, et. al.
         2. Introduction to Philosophy by Geisler and Feinburg.
         3. CARM Critical Thinking School and Manual.
         4. CARM.org website.
   3. Sound Theology
      1. The Importance of Theology
         1. You need to know what faith you are defending before you start defending the faith.
         2. You must understand the doctrine of the Trinity, the hypostatic union, justification, sanctification, imputation, faith, and grace.  Each of these can be understood simply and yet also more deeply. Develop a notebook by which you increase your knowledge in these areas.
      2. The foundational doctrines.  These are just categories to study.
         1. Bibliology – Is the Bible authoritative and inspired?
         2. Theology – Who is God?
         3. Christology – Who is Jesus?
         4. Anthropology – What is the nature of man?
         5. Soteriology – How is man saved?
      3. Advice
         1. Study the Bible seriously: write in your Bible, write your own Bible commentary, write your own systematic theology, write your own questions journal, etc.
         2. Talk with Christians who are more knowledgeable than you.  Take notes. Arrange them in outline form.
         3. Purchase a really good systematic theology book.
         4. Talk with cultists.
         5. Talk with unbelievers.
      4. Theology
         1. Bible
         2. You can learn your theology by defending it in such places as Paltalk.com, discord, facebook, gab.com, mewe.com, twitter.com, instagram. It can be intimidating but doesn’t take long to start learning by defending the Christian faith.
         3. Norman Geisler’s  Systematic Theology (4 Volumes)
         4. Wayne Grudem’s  Systematic Theology (1 Volume)
         5. CARM Theology School
         6. CARM.org Website, Discussion Forums, and Chat Rooms
      5. Bible Survey
         1. A Popular Survey of the Old Testament by Norman Geisler
         2. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction by Gleason Archer (more advanced)
         3. An Introduction to the New Testament by D.A. Carson, et. al.
         4. New Testament Introduction by Donald Guthrie (more advanced but worth it!)
   4. Apologetics
      1. Apologist  (Salvation + Critical Thinking + Theology = Apologetics)
      2. Resources
         1. Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig
         2. Christian Apologetics by Norman Geisler
         3. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics by Norman Geisler
         4. CARM Apologetics School
         5. CARM.org
2. How and Where You Can Use Apologetics
   1. Your Family
      1. The Importance of the Family
         1. Your family is one of the best places to teach theological perspectives. You don’t have to get too deep. But, the immediate members of your family are often great sounding boards. However, sometimes your family may not be believers. But, running things by them can help.
         2. Also, your family can be a great prayer support as you learn how to teach and defend the faith.
      2. The Parent’s Role in the Family
         1. Lead devotions in your family if you are a parent.
         2. Talk with your kids about God.
         3. Make sure your children receive an excellent education.
         4. Public vs. private vs. homeschooling.
   2. Your Church
      1. The Importance of the Church
         1. the church is where we go to get fed, learn, fellowship with other Christians, and even be corrected in our errors.
         2. The church is what God has provided for us. It is very beneficial to attend.
      2. The Pastors
         1. Reinforce the role of the family.
         2. Teach and preach apologetic sermons.
         3. Systematic theology and current issues.
         4. Have a resource list for further study.
         5. Have well-equipped leaders: (elders, small group leaders, ministry team leaders, etc.).
         6. Have conferences.
         7. See that your congregation gets discipled.
      3. The Lay People
         1. Teach Sunday school classes or Bible studies.
            1. Go through the CARM website. There is a lot there.
            2. Go through Lee Strobel’s books (The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, The Case for a Creator, etc.).
         2. Go through CARM’s Theology School (learn.carm.org)
         3. Disciple and equip others (especially the youth) and get discipled and equipped yourself.
   3. Your School and University
      1. The Importance of Education
         1. Elementary, Middle, and High Schools.
         2. Colleges and Universities.  Of course, this is generally a good idea no matter what you do. However, not all people go to college. That’s okay. Our goal is to study God’s word you don’t need college for that.
      2. Suggestions
         1. Become a professor or teacher.
            1. Christians need to be out in the secular realm spreading their ideas.
         2. Get involved with student ministries: speakers, Bible studies, evangelism, etc.
   4. Your Job
      1. The Importance of the Workplace.
      2. Suggestions
         1. Have a Bible study.
         2. Have a Spiritual discussion group.
         3. Have a book study group.