Applied Christian Apologetics: Advanced Cases, Worldview Analysis, and Long-Term Intellectual Engagement

An apologist who has mastered the standard arguments and basic objections will encounter more complex intellectual challenges: the coherence of theism given quantum indeterminacy, the historical-critical challenges to New Testament reliability, the sophisticated versions of the problem of evil in analytic philosophy, or the hard questions about religious exclusivism in a religiously plural world. This course is built for engagement at that level. By the end of this course you will be able to engage advanced philosophical objections to Christian theism with intellectual rigor and honesty, analyze competing worldviews using consistent evaluative criteria, situate your own apologetic approach within the broader landscape of contemporary philosophy of religion, and develop a long-term intellectual practice that continues to grow. What you will learn: - Advanced problem of evil: the Rowe evidential argument, the skeptical theism response, and the ongoing debate about its adequacy - Divine hiddenness: Schellenberg's argument, the major responses, and what the debate reveals about conceptions of God - Historical criticism and Christian faith: how to engage seriously with the results of historical-critical New Testament scholarship without deflection - Religious pluralism and exclusivism: the philosophical arguments of Hick, Plantinga, and others — and what the debate means for apologetic practice - Naturalism as a worldview: its strongest philosophical formulations, its internal tensions, and how to evaluate it on consistent grounds - Analytic theology: how contemporary philosophers of religion have developed Christian doctrine with rigorous logical tools - Intellectual virtue in apologetics: how honesty about uncertainty, genuine openness to revision, and charitable engagement constitute a form of intellectual faithfulness - Building a long-term reading and study practice: primary texts in philosophy of religion, key journals, and self-directed learning structures for sustained development The course is structured around close readings of philosophical arguments, comparative worldview analysis exercises, and written reflection essays. You will engage with actual texts from the philosophical literature, not summaries, and produce your own analyses. This course is written for those with substantial existing engagement in Christian apologetics who want to develop at a genuinely philosophical level. It is designed for those who take intellectual honesty as seriously as doctrinal fidelity. This course represents one perspective within a rich and contested field of inquiry.