Christian Apologetics

The Evangelical Lutheran Synod’s Center for Apologetics and Worldviews sponsors a variety of opportunities for students to discover that Christianity is simultaneously a matter of faith and a matter of fact. The Christian religion is not merely a “belief system” or a “source of values.” Fundamentally, Christianity stands atop a foundation of unshakable facts, most notably, the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. From these signature events flow the real, not imagined, blessings of forgiveness for all sins and eternal life.

The College’s mission and vision announce a pursuit of “knowledge, truth, and discernment,” with all areas of learning to be examined through the “discerning lens of a Christian worldview.” Christian apologetics accordingly shapes the curriculum. The first of the College Objectives is that students will “Recognize that the historic Christian faith professes that God the Holy Trinity is the source of all knowledge and truth, and that His wisdom is most clearly revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” The faculty seeks to deliver on this promise by mentoring each student to “demonstrate a rational defense for the historical basis of the Christian faith.” (Academic Catalog, Aug. 2019, p. 5)

While some courses—such as RELG330 Christian Social Thought and RELG340 Apologetics—deal with apologetics quite directly, a biblical worldview permeates that entire curriculum and shapes all aspects of campus life. Bethany’s pledge to all students is “the comfort of the Gospel, the true knowledge of our world as revealed in Scripture and reflected in nature, and a personal mentoring relationship in higher education as preparation for a life of purpose and meaning.”