Posted by Anthony on October 26, 2008
The Athanatos Online Apologetics Academy is enrolling now. It is almost too late to enroll in the “Introduction to basic Biblical Greek” course but it can be downloaded as an e-book in expanded fashion from here. (Good for home schoolers, self-study, small groups, Bible study groups, etc)
Beginning on Nov. 3 is the course on “The Reliability of the New Testament Documents.” This course is useful for those who want to understand why we believe the books we have in the New Testament are what was really written.
Beginning on Nov. 17 is the follow up course, “The Formation of the New Testament Canon.” This course goes the additional step of describing how the books in the New Testament came to be included and how others were excluded. No conspiracy theorist or skeptical nonsense here. Get the facts in this course.
Also beginning on Nov. 17 is the course “Studies in Atheism.” This survey of atheistic thought starts in Greek philosophy and charts its way through Hume, Bertrand Russell, Antony Flew, Ayn Rand, etc, before culminating in an examination of the so-called ‘New Atheists’ such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Dan Dennett. This course is excellent for those wishing to understand the atheistic/secular/humanistic threat to Christianity and the Christian worldview.
Direct inquiries to admissions@academyofapologetics.com.
Enroll in the Athanatos Online Apologetics Academy Today!
Posted by Anthony on October 3, 2008
Many people are intimidated by the pompous declarations of those like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. Many people think that becoming a Christian means checking your brain at the door. Some think that it would take endless study to be able to stand up to the challenges against Christianity. Let us be clear: it does take some work, but it need not be all at once and you can do a little at a time. The Athanatos Online Apologetics Academy offers short modules that do not require massive amounts of your time. At the same time, you’ll gain resources to use for further study and you’ll probe some of the truly foundational aspects of the Christian faith.
———-
The staff at the Athanatos Online Apologetics Academy are ready to release the details of the fall session. I should note first of all that the academy now resides at its own domain at www.academyofapologetics.com Old links will not work, but your old login information should.
At present, we are offering four courses, beginning on October 27th. Here are the courses:
Basic New Testament Greek — Begins Oct. 27th (3 week course)
Reliability of the New Testament Documents — Begins Nov. 3rd. (2 week course)
Formation of the New Testament Canon — Begins Nov. 17th. (3 week course)
Studies in Atheism — Begins Nov. 17th. (3 week course)
I recommend taking the Reliability and Formation classes in tandem. Between the two of them you defeat numerous challenges to the Christian faith. On the one hand, you improve your understanding of why we believe that what we have is what was originally written and on the other hand you understand why the books of the New Testament were really chosen, as opposed to accusations made in the Da Vinci Code and skeptics who insist that early Christianity embraced gnosticism such as we see in the Gospel of Thomas.
The Basic New Testament Greek course will teach you the Greek alphabet, how to distinguish between nouns, verbs, and definite/indefinite articles, and equip you with the ability to figure out what the actual Greek words are behind your English translation. You will be amazed at how your Bible studies are transformed.
The Studies in Atheism course is one I’m really looking forward to presenting. We will trace atheism from ancients like Democritus through influential atheists like Hume, Russell, Rand, and Flew. We will end with an examination of the ‘new atheists’ like Richard Dawkins. The course is designed to explore atheism not to answer atheism. Nonetheless, the participant will be pointed in some helpful directions.
We are enrolling in these courses now. Please visit www.academyofapologetics.com for more information and click here if you want to go right to the enrollment and courses page. Additional courses may yet be offered.
Posted by Anthony on April 25, 2008
Beginning on April 30th, 2008, Athanatos Online Academy’s course “Studies in Atheism” will begin. This three week course will give a brief history of atheism through the centuries and then leap to a discussion of more modern atheists such as Bertrand Russell, Antony Flew, and the so-called ‘New’ atheists: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and so on.
Why should anyone care? Why should Christians care? Trends in atheism are as discernible as trends in anything else and many agree (even ‘moderate’ atheists will sometimes agree) that the current trends are ominous. Moreover, if Christians want to reach out to their atheistic or agnostic friends, they will need to know what their friends are reading.
The “Studies in Atheism” course allows atheists to speak for themselves. Some response is given but it is primarily about understanding the forces and influences driving the ‘New Atheists’ along with systematically describing the views which atheists tend to have in common.
Beginning two days before the Atheism course, AOA will be offering courses on “Basic Christianity,” the “Reliability of the New Testament Documents,” and the “Formation of the New Testament.” These courses begin on April 28th.
If “Studies in Atheism” let’s atheists speak for themselves, Basic Christianity is offers an objective presentation on ‘mere Christianity,’ allowing Christians through the centuries to speak for themselves. What do the billions of Christians have in common in their beliefs? Why do they believe what they believe? How are those beliefs derived? This three week course is a broad overview and introduction to the foundations of the Christian faith and will help anyone who aims to understand what Christianity really is, rather than a caricature.
The “Reliability of the New Testament Documents” and “Formation of the New Testament” course make use of the books by the high powered Biblical scholar FF Bruce. For those who do not have the books, as much information from the Internet that can be used will be made available, as well. (this is true for all the courses). Anyone who wants to go beyond Sunday School explanations for why Christians worth their salt trust the Bible and the New Testament in particular will find these courses useful.
Many of the courses make use of Youtube presentations of important voices in Christian scholarship and in some cases video lessons by yours truly are used, as well.
To participate in the courses,
Then get ready to learn!
