Apologetics in Manchester
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November 2012: Jesus Christ - Unique Saviour or just another good leader?

Philip Lewis and Jon King led an interactive session looking at Christ's claim to be the only way to God; does the case for Christ stand up to scrutiny?
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Session 22: Apologetics in Practice

Saturday 30th June 2012: 

Philip & Brenda Lewis and Jon King led a session looking at the practical role and use of apologetics.

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Session 21: Bible Difficulties

Saturday 24th March 2012: 

Rev. John Allister led a session looking at how to tackle apparent difficulties posed by Biblical texts.

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Session 20: Justice

Saturday 24th March 2012: 

Jon King led a session looking at justice from an apologetic perspective
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Session 18: Doubt

Saturday 14th January 2012: 

Rev. John Allister led a session looking at doubt, and its role in relation to both faith and apologetics.



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Session 16: How can a God of love send people to Hell?

Saturday 29th October 2011: 10am - 12noon

Rev. Simon Gales, vicar of St. John's in Lindow, Wilmslow, led a session looking at a common objection to faith: how could a God who claims to lover everyone send people to Hell?

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Session 15: Reasons for the hope within us: apologetics for all
Christians

Saturday 24th September   2011: 10am - 12noon


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Session 14: Why don't we see more of a change in Christians?


Saturday 4th June 2011: 10am - 12noon
 The Cafe, Nazarene Theological College
 Dene Road, Didsbury
 Manchester, M20 2GU

Mahatma Gandhi once said that "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." 

Dr. Philip Lewis led an interactive session looking at why this might be the case and what the implications are.

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Session 13: Doesn't religion lead to war?

Saturday 4th June 2011:

From the crusades to the Middle East, religion is charged with having caused war and 
conflict through the ages. 

Brenda Lewis lead a session looking at whether or not such a view is justified and how we can respond to those who hold such a view.


The slides from the session can be downloaded by clicking below:
is_god_a_warmonger.pptx
File Size: 1265 kb
File Type: pptx
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Session 12: Pluralism: Don't all religions lead to God?

Saturday 14th May 2011:

The Dalai Lama said that "Religion is important for humanity, but it should evolve with humanity.  The first priority is to establish and develop the principle of pluralism in all religious traditions."

Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer said that "I believe that pluralistic secularism, in the long run, is a more deadly poison than straightforward persecution".

John and Lydia Allister led a session looking at the challenges posed by Pluralism and how we can respond.

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Session 11: Did Christ rise from the dead?

Saturday 16th April 2011:


Paul, in his first letter to the church in Corinth, noted that "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain". Two thousand years later, it is widely assumed that the resurrection of Christ is a subsequent invention rather than an historical fact.

Yet it is a question which warrants investigation. Lawyer Frank Morrison set out to write out a book to dispel the mythical story of the resurrection, but ended up becoming a Christian instead.

Josh Thorp led an interactive session looking at the evidence for the resurrection.


Josh's PowerPoint slides will be available for download here shortly. 

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Session 10: Reaching Muslims
Saturday 12th March 2011:


Nick Chatrath joined us from Oxford to lead our training session looking at: "Reaching Muslims"

Nick Chatrath, a researcher at the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Oriental Studies, and a Zacharias Trust associate, joins us to lead a session looking at how we as Christians can engage with Muslim colleagues,  friends and relatives. Starting from an assumption of zero-knowledge, and zero-relationships with Muslims, Nick will cover essential background information needed to engage with Muslims as well as practical tips for doing so.

Nick's recent book "Reaching Muslims - a one-stop guide for Christians" (Monarch, 2011) has received widespread acclaim:

  • "Absolutely brilliant. If you desire is to reach a Muslim for Jesus Christ, this is your book. I cannot imagine a better book on this subject: utterly compelling, it is as good as it gets." R.T Kendall
  • "Quite outstanding and a wonderful introduction to ministry amongst MUslims. I recommend it witrhout hesitation." Canon Andrew White, the "Vicar of Baghdad"
  • "As a former Muslim and an Imam I was particularly impressed by the deep understanding of Islamic culture demonstrated by the writer." Abu-Bakr Al-Muhsin Mulumba AWM Advisor on Christian-Muslim Relations, Oxford.
  • "Outstanding... full of essential information, wisdom and grace." Dave Devenish, Newfrontiers.


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Session 8: Has history disproved Christmas?
Saturday 27th November 2010:


An apologetics training session with a festive twist; we will be looking at the truth and reliability of the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus Christ, along with some responses to common challenges to the historical accuracy of the gospel account. We will also look at practical  evangelism with a Christmas theme.

Notes from the session can be downloaded by clicking on the links, below:

john_allister_-_christmas__the_census_problem.ppt
File Size: 536 kb
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philip_lewis_-_jesus_through_palestinian_eyes.pptx
File Size: 679 kb
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brenda_lewis_-_when_did_the_church_start_celebrating_christmas.pptx
File Size: 54 kb
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Session 7: Has science disproved God?

Saturday 30th October 2010
 
Rev John Allister, curate of Holy Trinity, Hurdsfield, looks at the charge that science has long since disproved the existence of God.
 
John studied Physics at Cambridge and Theology at Oxford, both times getting first class honours. He taught Physics for 5 years and is now an ordained minister. He is currently writing a book on science and theology and so is in a unique position to talk on this subject.
 
Notes from the session can be downloaded by clicking on the link, below:
john_allister_-_science_and_religion.ppt
File Size: 547 kb
File Type: ppt
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Session 6: Does suffering disprove God?

Saturday 25th September 2010: 10am - 12 noon
Nazarene Theological College, 
Dene Road, Didsbury, 
Manchester, M20 2GU

“The simple reason that the all-loving all-powerful God of the Bible did nothing to prevent the suffering of innocent humans is that He does not exist”

Often described as the single biggest challenge faced by those seeking to explain and defend their faith, the existence and scale of pain and suffering is widely assumed to demonstrate that God is not there and we need not bother looking for Him.


Jonathan King, a Manchester-based barrister, examines the charges and asks: does the case against the God of the Bible stand up?
aim_-_25th_september_2010_-_presentation.pptx
File Size: 2985 kb
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Session 5: Skeptics rule, OK? Why is belief a problem to modern man?

Saturday 3rd July 2010: 10am - 12 noon
Nazarene Theological College, 
Dene Road, Didsbury, 
Manchester, M20 2GU

Dr. Philip Lewis shall be tracing the pathway by which scepticism has become the prevailing philosophy leading the "man in the street" to believe that faith is irrational and not compatible with a scientific outlook. How can we can deal with this in ourselves and in those we meet? Do we actually have a reason for our hope or is our faith hopelessly blind?


The slides can be downloaded by clicking on the link below 
skeptics_rule_ok.ppt
File Size: 1421 kb
File Type: ppt
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Session 4: How do you see the world? Examining Worldview.

Saturday 5th June 2010: 10am - 12 noon
Nazarene Theological College, 
Dene Road, Didsbury, 
Manchester, M20 2GU

Josh Thorp will lead a session looking at how our beliefs colour the way that we look at the world and how, as Christians, we can help others who are not yet Christians to see theirs.


The slides can be downloaded by clicking on the link below (note: 4.5 MB file)
how_do_you_see_the_world.pptx
File Size: 4629 kb
File Type: pptx
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Session 3: How much can we trust the Scriptures? Saturday 8th May 2010: 10am-12noon

Notes from Saturdays session can be downloaded by clicking on the file below:
how_much_can_we_trust_the_scriptures.pptx
File Size: 110 kb
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Session 2: Conversational Apologetics; not only is faith reasonable, it's worth talking about: Saturday 20th March 2010: 10am - 12

The PowerPoint slides for the talk can be downloaded by clicking on the link below. 

aim_session_2_notes_-_conversational_apologetics.doc
File Size: 158 kb
File Type: doc
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Many people long to share their faith with their friends but dread being asked a question that they cannot answer. This session aims to provide a practical toolkit for responding to difficult questions about the Christian faith. Looking closely at the examples of Jesus and Paul, we will look closely at some principles and practical pointers for how we can engage our friends in conversations about Christ. This will be in part an interactive session which we hope will give you greater confidence in sharing your faith. 

An interactive session led by Lydia Asker, associate with the Zacharias Trust
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Session 1: "Only an idiot would believe in God"
Thanks to those who joined us on Saturday 6th February 2010 at The Cafe, Nazarene Theological College, Didsbury
We hope to make the audio of the talk available - please check back soon for details.
The PowerPoint slides for the talk can be downloaded by clicking on the link below.

aim_session_1_-_only_an_idiot_would_believe_in_god_-_powerpoint_slides_for_website.pptx
File Size: 662 kb
File Type: pptx
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