Introduction to African Christian Apologetics

The task of Christian apologetics is to open the door of faith to inquirers and to help remove their mental barriers to the Christian faith. However, much of the material available for Christian Apologetics is based on Western epistemology, and they are sometimes found inadequate for defending the Christian faith in a non-western context. Given the apparent problems of injustice, poverty, insecurity, social inequity, human trafficking, malnutrition, physical and sexual abuses, exploitation and bigotry on the continent of Africa, the apologetic endeavour that will effectively appeal to Africans must also consider the social, economic and political situations of Africans.

African Christian Apologetics is the application of the socio-cultural, religio-cultural, socio-economic, and socio-political realities of Africans to the art and science of apologetics.

This course surveys the basic issues in apologetics, such as the biblical basis for apologetics, the relationship between apologetics and evangelism, and the tasks and values of apologetics. Then it turns to consideration of various apologetic issues in Africa, including the inerrancy of the Bible and the sufficiency of Christ's death and resurrection, spirits and demons, idols, participation in community and family activities that involve animism, ancestral worship, reincarnation, amulets and charms, cultism, syncretism, plutolatry, simony, and how a Christian should respond to them.

This course is broken down into three levels of learning: the beginners, intermediate and advanced levels.

The Beginners' level contains:

• Videos that unpack the lessons' topics

• Quiz questions to help you recall what you learned

• A reflection question to help you understand the material more deeply

• An application question to help you integrate the material into your life

The Topics covered in this level include:

• General Introduction to Christian Apologetics

• Biblical Basis for Christian Apologetics

• The Tasks and Values of Apologetics

• Apologetics as Pre-evangelism

• Commonly Used Terms in Christian Apologetics