The Need of Undergraduate Christian Students to Defend Their Faith: An Assessment and an Apologetics Curriculum

We North Americans who follow Jesus Christ live in a post-Christian society that has undergone major cultural upheavals during the past few decades. The Judeo-Christian value system that was the very fabric of our culture since the pilgrims landed on our shores can no longer be taken for granted, for the pluralism that has distinguished this nation has shifted from being a melting pot toward a multi-culturalism that has left us splintered ideologically and without a moral compass. In the name of “tolerance” and relativism, the idea of truth has been ignored, vilified, or redefined so that everyone may believe as he or she pleases with impunity—unless you are a Bible-believing Christian!
This state of affairs poses some distinctively new challenges to the church’s mandate for evangelism, for Christian evangelism assumes that there are certain truths that cannot be compromised. Believers who are bold enough to be open about their faith are encountering an audience that is immersed in an entirely different worldview, is ignorant of even the basic fundamentals of the Christian faith, and is often either hostile to Christians or, at best, suspicious of their intentions. More than ever, Christians in the West must know what they believe and why they believe it. Unfortunately, too many of our churches have remained naive to the changes around them or unwilling to grapple with new ideologies, and our youth grow up and leave home ill-prepared to become pro-active witnesses for Christ in the world. This dissertation project seeks to address that problem.