Apologetics Conference for Teens Answers Toughest Questions of Christian Faith
Tonight marks the beginning of a one-night, one-day event that organizers are calling the nation’s “strongest” apologetics conference.
Nearly 1,500 teens, parents, and church leaders have registered in advance for the sold-out event aimed to help teens to understand and defend the Christian worldview in a secular society, while more than 500 had to be turned away.
“With two out of three teens evacuating the church completely after they graduate from high school, we must do a better job of providing the answers teens need to make their faith their own,” explained Focus on the Family, which planned the Aug. 26 – 27 “Dare 2 Dig Deeper: Big Dig Apologetics Weekend Conference” in Colorado Springs, Colo.
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According to several studies, a majority of the teens attending church will forsake their faith by their senior year of college. The loss of youth is frequently cited as one of the top five issues facing the church today.
“That's why we've gathered top apologists from around the country,” Focus on the Family explained in a statement.
Although apologetics – the study of explaining Christianity using logic, science, and history – died out early last decade, apologists say it became popular in recent years as churchgoers increasingly lost their grasp of the message.
Conference director Alex McFarland, said his eyes were opened three years ago when he read a Time Magazine article by the Associated Press's religion writer, Richard Ostling, who wrote: “Not only has the church in North America failed to convey its message to the young generation, but the church seems increasingly unsure what its message is.”
During this weekend’s apologetics conference, some of the nation’s leading apologetics experts will teach some of the most exciting issues in the Christian worldview debate today. They will demonstrate the facts on the Bible’s authenticity, provide evidence for Christ’s resurrection and life, propound on the existence of absolute truth and the dangers of moral relativism, and explain the difference between creation and evolution. The conference will help people understand and overcome spiritual doubts, reach skeptics with the Gospel, have a Christian response to Islam, respond to atheism and agnosticism, debunk The Da Vinci Code, and expose wicca, witchcraft and the occult.
The one-night, one-day conference features eight speakers including internationally-known Josh McDowell, author of More Than A Carpenter and famed atheist turned Christian, Lee Strobel, author of Case for Christ. Combined they’ve published 15 million books.
Also speaking will be Erwin Lutzer, Pastor of Chicago’s Moody Church; Gary Habermas, a world-renowned expert on Christ's resurrection who leads the Apologetics Christian World View program at Liberty University; Frank Turek, who authored I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist; and David Noebel, who founded Summit Ministries and authored the classic seminary text, Understanding the Times.
Rounding out the group are two others from Focus on the Family – the executive vice president, Del Tackett, who produced the upcoming worldview DVD series The Truth Project, and Alex McFarland, who serves as the teen apologetics director and hosts the radio show Truth Talk Live.
