Primary Authors & Sources
APOL-101 builds its reading list from required primary and classical sources in rational arguments for god's existence and revelation. The authors below are read as teachers across the centuries, not as entries in a bibliography. Stephen Charnock expounds the attributes of God with philosophical rigor and worshipful tone, training the mind to think and the heart to adore, notably in The Existence and Attributes of God. Joseph Butler contributes The Analogy of Religion, offering firsthand access to the arguments, methods, and assumptions that shaped this period of study. John Owen writes with Puritan depth on Christ, the Spirit, and the life of faith, combining doctrinal precision with devotional warmth, notably in The Reason of Faith. Archibald Alexander contributes Evidences of the Authenticity, Inspiration, and Canonical…, offering firsthand access to the arguments, methods, and assumptions that shaped this period of study.
Taken together, these readings form a coherent conversation across centuries — students encounter real arguments, not flattened summaries. Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield defends the historic Christian doctrine of Scripture with learning and clarity, grounding faith in revelation rather than sentiment, notably in Revelation and Inspiration. Moses Stuart contributes Critical History and Defense of the Old Testament Canon, offering firsthand access to the arguments, methods, and assumptions that shaped this period of study. James Orr contributes The Christian View of God and the World, offering firsthand access to the arguments, methods, and assumptions that shaped this period of study. William Shedd contributes Theological Essays, offering firsthand access to the arguments, methods, and assumptions that shaped this period of study. John Newman contributes An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent, offering firsthand access to the arguments, methods, and assumptions that shaped this period of study.
What You Will Study
Students read classical apologetic works defending God's existence, the trustworthiness of Scripture, and the rational coherence of Christian revelation before modern and postmodern objections. Texts span natural theology, historical argument for resurrection, the problem of evil, and the relationship of faith and reason in Augustine, Aquinas, Butler, and Reformed evangelical apologists. The course treats apologetics not as winning debates but as serving love of neighbor and the honor of Christ. Students examine both cumulative-case and presuppositional approaches within a confessional framework that refuses to surrender revelation to autonomous reason. Assigned apologetic texts from the BCFK reading list address cosmological, moral, and historical arguments alongside responses to objections raised by modern atheism, Islam, and religious pluralism in the Florida Keys mission field.
Course Objectives
Objectives include summarizing major classical arguments for God's existence and Christian truth claims, identifying the strengths and limits of each apologetic method, evaluating objections from skepticism, pluralism, and scientism, and presenting Christianity winsomely in written and conversational form. Students will articulate the relationship between general and special revelation, distinguish evidence from proof in historical apologetics, and integrate apologetic skill with pastoral sensitivity. The course aims to produce intellectually serious believers who can engage university-level objections without compromising confessional integrity. Students will practice framing classical arguments in accessible prose for seekers while avoiding both rationalistic reduction of faith to proof and fideistic refusal to give reasons for hope.
Ministry & Life Application
Apologetic training equips believers to give a reason for the hope within them with gentleness and reverence, strengthening evangelistic witness in secular and pluralistic settings. Graduates can answer common objections to Christianity without resorting to shallow proof-texting or defensive hostility. The course prepares house church leaders to disciple seekers who bring honest intellectual questions about science, suffering, and religious diversity. Pastoral ministers gain tools for counseling doubters and equipping members to engage neighbors on the islands and mainland of the Florida Keys. Confident, humble apologetics supports the church's calling to proclaim Christ as the wisdom and power of God in every conversation and public witness.