M SA E PL Is Christianity Arrogant? ISBN: 9780892651269 2009 Randall House Copying, distributing, or sharing this study beyond the use of the purchasing church or single campus site is a breach of ethics and illegal. It is also a breach of the license agreement to remove this statement from the study or from any customized or derivative study. To purchase this study or others like it, visit http://accessbiblestudies.com
INTRODUCTION Your role is to help facilitate discussion among your group members. You will also help them identify ways in which they experience this truth tension in their own lives, and in their relationships with other people. This study will help them understand why the claims Jesus made are most reasonable and should not be interpreted as arrogant in any way. You will also lead them into a discussion of ways in which Christians are sometimes arrogant in their communication and transmission of the truth, and what can be done to correct that error. Session 1: The Battle for Truth Group members will discuss the tension that exists between the Modern and the Postmodern mindsets regarding truth. Session 2: The Elevator Participants will discuss the physical and non-physical realms and learn how to talk to non-believers about things that cannot be seen. Session 3: True North This session will equip your study group to have confidence that God has revealed His truth, and it can be known. E PL Is Christianity Since Jesus Christ claimed in John 14:6 to be THE way to God (the Father), many non-christians perceive His exclusive statements to be the pinnacle of presumption and pride. People who follow Jesus teachings are believed by some to be intolerant or arrogant because they insist that Jesus is the only way. M SA Arrogant? Many people believe you cannot really know truth. The postmodern mindset embraces a skepticism about the ability to know truth and objective reality. Spiritual truth claims are especially suspect in the minds of most Americans. Session 4: The Humble Truth In this session, group members will learn how to share their faith with others in a way that is truly humble and Christlike. Access Downloadable Curriculum Introduction
Session One The Battle for Truth Scripture: John 8:31-32 MATERIALS NEEDED Copies of student handout Bibles Pens, pencils Lesson notebooks to make study notes LESSON OBJECTIVE Group members should understand the tension that exists between the Modern and the Postmodern mindsets regarding truth. They should understand that the Christian worldview is in conflict with both of these positions. They should learn to identify the difference between claiming to know the truth on a matter, which is not arrogant, and being haughty in the presentation of that truth, which is arrogant. CONNECT Ask a volunteer to pass out the student handouts for this session and lead off with this humorous anecdote: A man once told a little boy, Young man, in life, you can t be certain about anything! To which the boy replied, Are you ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN about that? Explain that the claim to absolute uncertainty is self-refuting. You disprove it when you attempt to prove it because you are claiming to have certain knowledge about the topic of uncertainty. Direct group members to look at the time line on their handout sheets. Ask: Are you familiar with the terms: Modernism & Postmodernism? Reassure the group that the purpose of this lesson is not to try to fully explain and understand those terms, but rather to identify the primary change in thought that has taken place over the past couple of centuries. Encourage group members to write in their student notebooks some of the following key words that are identified with Modernism: Institutional, rational, empirical, scientific, logical, mathematical, pragmatic, predictable, corporate, organization, testable, repeatable, mass-production, formal, structured, dogmatic, certainty, constant, objective, absolute, and rigid. Ask group members to explain, based on these keywords, ways in which they can see Modernism s influence on the American church. Encourage group members to write in their student notebooks some of the following key words that are identified with Postmodernism: Community, relational, narrative, emerging, evolving, change, casual, relativism, subjective, organic, flexible, personal, experience, pluralism, multicultural and tolerance. Ask group members to explain, based on these keywords, ways in which they recognize Postmodernism s influence on the American church.
Ask group members to describe whether they are personally more inclined toward the tenants of Modernism or Postmodernism. Encourage them to explain the reasons for their answer. Read John 1:14, 17 aloud to the group. Explain to them that Jesus was the perfect embodiment of the ideals of both the Modern and Postmodern seeker. He was full of grace (relating to others with love and understanding), and truth (not leaving his hearers hopeless and full of doubt). Say: Approximately eighty times in the gospels, Jesus uses the Greek word, amen, which is often translated, Truly I say, or I tell you the truth. In the gospel according to John, He uses the term twice in a row, giving a double emphasis: Truly, truly I say. Jesus wasn t merely telling us His opinion, He was declaring truth. CONSIDER Ask a volunteer to read John 8:31-32. Then lead the discussion with the following questions: Was Jesus referring here to the ability to know merely scientific truth, or all truth? In order to live a normal life, we must accept as a given that some things can be known with certainty. Ask the group to identify truths about which most people agree (example: the Law of Gravity, the earth is round, 2+2 = 4, etc.). Ask the group to identify truth claims about which some people are skeptical (example: Chocolate ice cream is better than vanilla, the music of Bach is better than the Beatles, etc.). Ask the group why they feel some truth claims are nearly universally accepted, while others are not. Explain that some people accept as truth only things that can be proven mathematically or scientifically. People call these truths facts. Things that cannot be proven through those means are rejected as mere preferences. Ask the group to describe ways in which spiritual issues are considered by many to be preferences rather than facts. COMMIT Ask the group members to write a list of ten things in life they believe are true objective facts and a list of ten things that are mere personal preferences. Share your own list. For humor add your favorite sports team as being the world s greatest team under your list of facts. Be willing to scratch it off when members of the group protest. Ask a few others, if time allows, to read their list. Next, ask the group to record a list of ten theological beliefs or practices held by some churches they consider to be mere preferences, rather than objective truths. To avoid potential conflict within the group, ask the members to keep this list for their own personal reflection. Then have them write down a list of ten doctrines they believe are essential, nonnegotiable facts. Share an example such as There is a God. When they have finished, ask them to personally consider whether some Christians from others churches may consider their list to be mere preferences, rather than objective truths. Finally ask them to take time this week to study the Scriptures regarding each of those 20 theological points they wrote down to see what specifically the Bible has to say about each point. Ask a volunteer to read 1 Peter 3:15.
End the lesson by stating that as Christians we need to know what we believe, why our beliefs are true, and have the ability to communicate those beliefs in a spirit of meekness and respect. Close in Prayer
Session One Student Handout 1 Understanding the Battle for Truth: Modernism & Postmodernism Modernism is the term given to a system of thought (a worldview) that dominated Western culture following the Enlightenment. Modernism began in 1859 with the publication of Charles Darwin s book, Origin of Species. Modernism embraced the view that only mathematical or scientific facts or truths could be trusted. Modernism was a reaction against the superstitions of the dark ages. Postmodernism embraces a view of skepticism against all objective knowledge. Especially in moral issues, it prefers instead relative personal truths or things that are true for you rather than objective moral truths that apply to all people, in all places, at all times. Postmodernism began in the late 1950s and has endured into our present day. A Christian worldview conflicts with modernism and postmodernism.