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Apologetics Table of Contents
APOLOGETICS TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. 1
RUNNING AN APOLOGETICS CLASS ................................................................................................................. 3
HOW TO USE THIS CURRICULUM ................................................................................................................................. 3
LESSON 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 5
1. WELCOME .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
2. LECTURE ................................................................................................................................................................ 5
3. ASSIGNMENT .......................................................................................................................................................... 6
LESSON 2: RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................................ 7
1. WELCOME .............................................................................................................................................................. 7
2. LECTURE ................................................................................................................................................................ 7
3. ASSIGNMENT .......................................................................................................................................................... 8
LESSON 3: CARD WRITING ................................................................................................................................... 9
1. WELCOME .............................................................................................................................................................. 9
2. LECTURE ................................................................................................................................................................ 9
3. ASSIGNMENT ........................................................................................................................................................ 10
LESSON 4: THE BOX .............................................................................................................................................. 11
1. WELCOME ............................................................................................................................................................ 11
2. LECTURE .............................................................................................................................................................. 11
3. ASSIGNMENT ........................................................................................................................................................ 12
LESSON 5: COMPETING ....................................................................................................................................... 13
1. WELCOME ............................................................................................................................................................ 13
2. LECTURE .............................................................................................................................................................. 13
3. ASSIGNMENT ........................................................................................................................................................ 14
LESSON 6: THE UNPREPARED SPEECH .......................................................................................................... 15
1. WELCOME ............................................................................................................................................................ 15
2. LECTURE .............................................................................................................................................................. 15
LESSON 7: USING THE UNIQUE ......................................................................................................................... 17
1. WELCOME ............................................................................................................................................................ 17
2. LECTURE .............................................................................................................................................................. 17
3. ASSIGNMENT ........................................................................................................................................................ 18
LESSON 8: CARD EDITING WORKSHOP ......................................................................................................... 19
1. WELCOME ............................................................................................................................................................ 19
2. WORKSHOP .......................................................................................................................................................... 19
3. LECTURE .............................................................................................................................................................. 19
LESSON 9: THE CLUB MINDSET ........................................................................................................................ 21
1. WELCOME ............................................................................................................................................................ 21
2. LECTURE .............................................................................................................................................................. 21
3. ASSIGNMENT ........................................................................................................................................................ 21
LESSON 10: GLORIFYING GOD .......................................................................................................................... 23
1. WELCOME ............................................................................................................................................................ 23
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2. LECTURE .............................................................................................................................................................. 23
3. ASSIGNMENT ........................................................................................................................................................ 24
LESSON 11: CHRISTIAN/NON-CHRISTIAN AUDIENCE ............................................................................... 25
1. WELCOME ............................................................................................................................................................ 25
2. LECTURE .............................................................................................................................................................. 25
3. ASSIGNMENT ........................................................................................................................................................ 26
LESSON 12: DISCUSSING THEOLOGICAL STUDIES .................................................................................... 27
1. WELCOME ............................................................................................................................................................ 27
2. DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................................................................... 27
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Running an Apologetics Class
If Apologetics is new to you and you bought this curriculum hoping that it would give you
some kind of direction, you’re not alone. Coaches call the Monument Publishing offices
regularly to tell us that they’ve been roped into coaching a speech or debate club, and they
have no idea what they’re doing. Whether you have many years of experience behind you
or if you are starting a brand new club in an area with few speech and debate clubs, we
hope that the Apologetics Curriculum will give you the tools you need to help your
students along.
The ultimate goal for Apologetic coaching is to train students to live lives that bear the
image of our God and Savior, giving all glory to Him, leaving nothing on the table,
investing into the lives of God’s people to change a generation. A thought we hold to is
that it takes one person to change a generation, and one generation to change a nation.
Coaching gives you the opportunity to aid in this process for this cause that God is
working in the hearts of youths.
The best coaching a person can give is coaching that will last a lifetime. If you structure
your Apologetic club under such an auspice and teach with this in mind, God’s blessing
and success will follow (and I do not merely mean in trophies that will collect dust
someday, but in the golden character you grew in your student’s hearts).
You have a big responsibility in teaching apologetics to high school students. The way
you explain things can have a huge effect on their faith. Please do not let doctrinal
differences divide a club. Truly, it saddens us to hear of non-crucial division among God’s
people. How do you think God feels about his children separating over bickering and
contentious arguing? (Proverbs 6:12-19; 1 Corinthians 12:25)
How to use this curriculum
This is a companion to the C.S. Lewis Edition Silver Book. The curriculum walks through
the Bible, several CS Lewis works, and Mark Mittelberg’s Questions Christian Hope No
One Will Ask. This edition works through these resources through a 12 week plan.
You’ll find the Silver Book a needed reference in coaching. In it, we give in-depth
commentary on every question asked in your league, with quotations and book
recommendations. With this as a companion, you can go through the lesson plans and
create a dual lecture each week. The first lecture is written in this book, giving basic
instructions in Apologetics competition, and the second lecture is one that you’ll be able to
develop using our simplification of the 100 questions into 12 basic topics.
There are two leagues that offer apologetics as a competitive event: Stoa and NCFCA.
Silver Book caters to both leagues, but the leagues do change their questions before the
competitive year gets going. We encourage apologists to study the content as if the
questions will not change, but download the free midseason supplement for Silver Book.
We will release an addendum by the end of the year that accounts for any changes that the
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leagues may release. This way your students will have plenty of time to prepare for
qualifying tournaments.
As you teach your students, remember that you are training up young warriors for Christ.
You hold in your hands the tools your students need to answer difficult questions for
themselves. Be excited about this opportunity, and be eager to foster a club of students
who work together well, building each other up in love.
Blessings in your coaching this year!
Luis Garcia ([email protected]) and Cynthia Jeub ([email protected])
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Lesson 1: Introduction
Goals 1. Understand Apologetics
2. Get started with a healthy mindset toward competition
Agenda 1. Open with prayer
2. Lecture: An intro to Apologetics
3. Assignment
Homework 1. Buy cards and boxes
Assignment #1
2. Bring your to-do list next week
1. Welcome
Open in prayer. Go around the room and have students introduce themselves and explain why
they are interested in Apologetics.
2. Lecture
Part 1: General
Mindset: The right attitude is necessary when approaching Apologetics competition. Encourage
your students to go into this event with humility. The goal is to grow closer to God. Answering
questions about Christian belief is not so that they can sound smart, it’s so that they can have a
way to answer difficult inquiries for themselves. Explain that many young people walk away
from Christianity when they reach the end of high school or college. Theoretically, this is
because the students don’t know how to research the answers for themselves, relying on their
pastors and teachers to figure things out for them. That’s not what Apologetics competition is
about. Your students are here to learn to dig for the answers to the questions for themselves.
Terms: A “card” is one or more 4x6 cards that have an outline for a speech written on them.
Cards include notes, an outline, verses and/or quotations to be used in the speech given.
Rules: Failure to adhere to the rules can get you disqualified. You as the coach should look up
the rules from your league and read them over. Below are the “ten commandments” of
Apologetics rules:
1. When you walk into the room, you may have your Bible and Box of 4X6 index cards. No
outside sources, besides those which you have typed/written on the cards. That means no other
books and no electronic devices. A pen or pencil is allowed.
2. When you speak, it’s only you and the cards. Nothing else can be taken up with you.
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3. During a round, you shall be given three random topics, and of them you shall select one to
prepare a 6 minute speech with 4 minutes of preparation time.
4. Speak from the Topics. Don’t give a speech on a topic other than one you have chosen.
5. State the Topic. The judges will want to know where the student is going with the speech, so
let them know within the first minute of the speech what your topic is.
6. Stay on Topic. The number one complaint that limited-prep students receive on their ballots is
that their speech didn’t relate closely to the topic.
7. Give a presentation that is an original work, using Scripture, Outside Sources, and Analysis.
Keep it balanced between rhetoric, Scripture, and non-Scripture selections, as this gives a well-
versed impression.
8. Cite your sources ethically.
9. Own your own Box. During a tournament, box sharing is not permitted.
10. In your box, you may have prepared cards for the topics to use as you speak and extra blank
cards to write whatever further notations you wish during your prep. time.
Part 2: Topic-specific – God’s nature
Discuss with the students why it’s so important that we believe correctly about God. The A.W.
Tozer quotation is a question to be addressed here. Be sure to point out that some beliefs are
crucial to salvation, while others are secondary. Bring up the trinity and the omni- questions, like
“explain the meaning and significance of the omniscience of God.”
3. Assignment
Because each of the students needs to take responsibility for their own boxes, they should have a
game plan for the next several weeks. How many of the questions do they plan to cover by
writing speeches? How much time do they plan to spend on each card they write? Will they be
able to accomplish all of this in time for their first tournament, or will they set goals for each
tournament this year? Have them bring their ideas back next week.
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Lesson 2: Research
Goals 1. In-depth discussion on how to research for Apologetics
Agenda 1. Opening discussion
2. Lecture on research and the existence of God
Homework 1. Bring a list of books you found helpful when going through the
Assignment #2 Apologetics topics
1. Welcome
Open in prayer. Ask each of the students: when you have a question or a topic for a paper to
write, where do you turn for help? Examples: library books, internet, parents/church teachers,
thinking it through. Go over the “game plans” that the students were assigned last week. Point
out the first tournament of the season, and help them to determine which goals are realistic for
them to meet before the event.
2. Lecture
Part 1: General
When getting started on research, first study the topics in general. Read through them. Get a
good feel of what is being asked, and take notes on how you would like to respond to them.
Understand what is being asked by looking up any words you don’t know. Second, group the
questions. How many can be addressed with the same card outline? Depravity of man and
original sin are two separate topics, but if you choose one or the other, basically the same speech
could be given for both. It’s recommended that as the students get more advanced, they make as
many topic-specific cards as possible, not general “one-size-fits-most” speeches.
As the research begins, look for ways to read about the general categories that were produced in
the last step. One great way to start is by looking at the definition questions (“explain the
meaning and significance of…”), or by highlighting the questions that are the most interesting or
least understood by the student.
Once the student has chosen where to start, research takes a majority of the time involved in this
competitive event. Encourage reading books on the topics, and working through the Silver Book
as they study them.
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Part 2: Topic-specific – The Existence of God
The existence of God is something that many people question. Discuss with your students what it
means for God to be beyond space and time, and why He is still at work though we can’t see or
touch Him. Also discuss atheism, and ask if some people are atheists because they have a
misconception of what God is like, or have been hurt by religion.
3. Assignment
Bring to the next meeting a list of the books you found, some notes you took or quotations you
gathered, and how they apply to one of the topics.
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Lesson 3: Card Writing
Goals 1. Understand the elements of a good card, and how to use them
Agenda 1. Opening discussion
2. Lecture on card writing, God’s perfection
Homework 1. Bring a completed speech to the next meeting, ready to perform
Assignment #3
1. Welcome
Open in prayer. Ask the students for the resources that they found helpful while researching their
cards. Ask them: Do you feel prepared to start writing a speech? How many speeches do you
think you could write using what you’ve gathered? Would you like to do more work in this area?
Did you learn anything new that you’d like to share with everyone?
2. Lecture
Part 1: General
A card outline ought to include what is needed to give a focused speech. Too much text on the
notes will force the speaker to spend more time reading off of the card instead of presenting
extemporaneously. Conversely, not enough content will make the speech too short. The solution
is to encourage your students to practice at home for their parents or by themselves with a timer,
and to perform for the club.
A good speech
Introduction: as breakfast is the most important meal of the day, the introduction is the most
important part of the speech. It won’t contain the most in-depth thought of the speech or the
climactic logical conclusion—it’s most important because to do it poorly is to begin with little
credibility. Begin with a unique story, quotation, or idea. Don’t waste this time by rushing
directly into stating the topic. Have fun with it, or draw your audience in emotionally. Your goal
here is to grab the attention of your audience, and get them thinking about what the climactic
conclusion might be that you have in store. Though it is at the top of your card, the introduction
doesn’t have to be the first thing you come up with. Also, leave room for yourself: always make
the introductory example something that can be told in about forty to forty-five seconds, so that
there is room to state your topic and give an outline for your speech before moving along.
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Map: The three parts of the speech are often lined up like this: tell them what you’re going to say
(map), tell them (meat), and tell them what you’ve told them (memory). This part of the speech
is only about ten or fifteen seconds long, just giving a brief preview of what you’ll be spending
most of your speaking time on.
Thesis: Tell your judges in one sentence what the speech is all about. Why is the answer to this
topic important to you? Answer with only a few words. The thesis needs to be clear and simple,
something that is closely related to the topic but is not the topic itself. Make it profound, if
possible. Phrase the thesis in a way that makes your audience stop and think. If you’re not sure
what will make people thoughtful, try giving the thesis statement to your parents at home, and
ask them if they’re intrigued.
Meat: There are three ingredients in the meat of the card, and they are Scripture, Analysis, and
Sources. Sources are quotations or ideas from books, websites, or other sources that pertain to
the topic. Like Scripture, your Sources will be written down with citations word-for-word on the
card. Analysis, however, will not be written down exactly. Instead, write just a few words to
remind yourself what you’re going to say, and improvise it in your speech. Those are the
ingredients, and once these are gathered, it’s simple to categorize them into two or three points,
and prioritize those points. To put the three points in order, make it build up to a climax: the third
point should be the strongest and most profound, while the first point builds, and the second
point is the least significant one that connects the other two.
Memory: This is just going over your outline again.
Conclusion: Like the introduction, you want your conclusion to be smooth and concise. Leave
yourself about a minute to finish up, and to refer back to your introductory thought. A good rule
of thumb is to conclude with a memorable one-liner, whether it be from your own head, a
quotation, or a memorized bible verse. Your goal is to let the last bit of what you say hang in the
air nicely when you leave the room.
Part 2: Topic-specific – God’s Perfection
Among the questions asked on God’s perfection are those of holiness and goodness. Ask the
students whether God is above all, and if there’s any way for there to be something more perfect
or complete than God is. Let this basic philosophical question lead into how humans measure up
to God’s ultimate perfection, and what it means about grace. As a bonus for this discussion,
consider reading The Grace and Truth Paradox by Randy Alcorn.
3. Assignment
Bring a completed speech to the next club meeting, ready to perform.
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