We were unable to get organized in time for a January start this year. Our apologies to those who’ve been waiting. All three of our organizers have been significantly diverted by health challenges, work, and travel, but we anticipate clear schedules by the fall. We are tentatively planning to restart the course in September, and will make any announcements about future plans here.

Meanwhile, we strongly encourage you to attend the monthly meetings of the Austin chapter for Reasons to Believe at the Longhorns for Christ building on the UT campus. They consistently feature strong speakers on important topics. They typically meet on the second Saturday of every month, though sometimes the UT football schedule interferes with that. See their schedule here.

We also encourage you to join the Psalm 19 Astronomy Society, a sidewalk astronomy ministry with active members in Austin and Georgetown. Psalm 19 is organized by one of our past speakers, Ed LaBelle, who uses nighttime star parties to relate what’s in the sky to Christian faith. They typically meet once a month at various locations. See here for details.

We are tentatively planning to start the class again in January 2019, most likely on a different day than last time.

If you’re considering attending Defending Christianity classes, please use the contact form to let us know which days work best for you and which days don’t work at all.

We will post updates and a planned schedule when available. Looking forward to seeing you!

This week concluded our HCBC Defending Christianity course for the 2017-2018 year. We want to thank each and every one of you who attended our lectures, and hope that it strengthened and renewed your faith and further equipped you to minister to others.

We consider our first year a resounding success, with many speakers presenting on a wide variety of topics relevant to today’s believers, and a core audience of dedicated attendees. We will be featuring some of these lectures again in the next course, along with some exciting new topics and speakers. We’re also hoping to have a video crew to record the lectures and present them on the website.

We’ll begin the course again in Fall 2018. Check back here closer to September for announcements, or you can enter your email address in the subscription area of the sidebar to the right, and you’ll automatically receive announcements. If there are any topics or speakers you especially want to see in the next course, visit our contact page and let us know.

Blessings and gratitude from your HCBC Defending Christianity team,
Sarah, Dennis, and John

Please join us next week at Defending Christianity for Lecture 7 of the Theology and Evangelism Module, and the final lecture of this course until Fall 2018.

Details

“Genesis 2”
Dr. Martin Poenie

Tuesday, June 5, 2018
7:00 – 8:15 pm
Join us 7:00-7:15 pm for fellowship
Optional 30 minute Q&A to follow the lecture

Room 4.114 (use the NW lobby entrance)
Hill Country Bible Church
12124 Ranch Rd 620 N
Austin, TX

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Summary

In general, my presentation will be about the relationship between Genesis 1 and 2. These two chapters form the heart of the JEPD theory of the assembly of the Torah and have been used for more than a century, at least since Julius Wellhausen, to undermine the inspiration and authority of the Bible. We will show that if you let the words mean what they normally would, the relationship between Genesis 1 & 2 becomes completely plausible. Unlike conventional thinking, Genesis 2 is not a rehash of the creation story that ends up making the Bible contradict itself.

I will begin by asking the question, “who was Cain worried about when he says in Genesis 4:14 (NASB)  “Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” In the end, by analyzing the text, we can provide a plausible answer to this question.

Please join us next week at Defending Christianity for Lecture 6 of the Theology and Evangelism Module.

Details

“Leveraging apologetics in personal evangelism”
Chuck Barber

Tuesday, May 29, 2018
7:00 – 8:15 pm
Join us 7:00-7:15 pm for fellowship
Optional 30 minute Q&A to follow the lecture

Room 4.114 (use the NW lobby entrance)
Hill Country Bible Church
12124 Ranch Rd 620 N
Austin, TX

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Summary

This lecture will address some important questions for Christians who want to witness to others:

• What are the unchurched thinking today?
• What are my own attitudes toward others when witnessing?
• What are some ways I can leverage apologetics with the younger generation?

Note: There are no presentation slides or notes for this lecture.

Please join us next week at Defending Christianity for Lecture 5 of the Theology and Evangelism Module.

Details

“The six days of Genesis, part 2”
Sarah Salviander

Tuesday, May 22, 2018
7:00 – 8:15 pm
Join us 7:00-7:15 pm for fellowship
Optional 30 minute Q&A to follow the lecture

Room 4.114 (use the NW lobby entrance)
Hill Country Bible Church
12124 Ranch Rd 620 N
Austin, TX

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Summary

The question of the age of the universe has divided Christians for decades. Is the universe six days plus a few thousand years old as the Bible suggests or is it billions of years old as science claims? What if I told you that both views are correct? In this lecture, I’ll explain using the relativity of time how the universe is simultaneously very young and very old. This provides a firm basis for accepting Genesis as literal truth while also accepting modern science as a legitimate way to understand God’s creation.

This topic will be covered over two lectures. In part 1, I reviewed the relative nature of time. In part 2, I’ll show how relativity resolves the question of the age of the universe.

In lieu of providing the presentation slides, I’m providing a very detailed slideshow that takes you step by step through the argument for reconciling six Genesis days with billions of years.

Please join us next week at Defending Christianity for Lecture 4 of the Theology and Evangelism Module.

Details

“The six days of Genesis, part 1”
Sarah Salviander

Tuesday, May 15, 2018
7:00 – 8:15 pm
Join us 7:00-7:15 pm for fellowship
Optional 30 minute Q&A to follow the lecture

Room 4.114 (use the NW lobby entrance)
Hill Country Bible Church
12124 Ranch Rd 620 N
Austin, TX

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Summary

The question of the age of the universe has divided Christians for decades. Is the universe six days plus a few thousand years old as the Bible suggests or is it billions of years old as science claims? What if I told you that both views are correct? In this lecture, I’ll explain using the relativity of time how the universe is simultaneously very young and very old. This provides a firm basis for accepting Genesis as literal truth while also accepting modern science as a legitimate way to understand God’s creation.

This topic will be covered over two lectures. In part 1, I’ll review the relative nature of time. In part 2, the following week, I’ll show how relativity resolves the question of the age of the universe.

See part 2 for the lecture slides.

Please join us next week at Defending Christianity for Lecture 3 of the Theology and Evangelism Module.

Details

“What do Christians believe? Part 2”
Victor Vigorito

Tuesday, May 1, 2018
7:00 – 8:15 pm
Join us 7:00-7:15 pm for fellowship
Optional 30 minute Q&A to follow the lecture

Room 4.114 (use the NW lobby entrance)
Hill Country Bible Church
12124 Ranch Rd 620 N
Austin, TX

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Summary

Is belief in the Trinity and the divinity of Christ essential for salvation?  How did Christ’s death and resurrection make atonement possible?  What is the relationship between forgiveness of sins and regeneration?

These themes form the doctrinal core of the Christian faith.  Many believers have a sufficient grasp of these central doctrines when assessed individually, but struggle to explain the inner logic that binds them together.  Come and explore with us the beautiful inner workings of God’s redemptive plan in part 2 of this series. (See here for part 1.)

Please join us next week at Defending Christianity for Lecture 2 of the Theology and Evangelism Module.

Details

“What do Christians believe? Part 1”
Victor Vigorito

Tuesday, May 1, 2018
7:00 – 8:15 pm
Join us 7:00-7:15 pm for fellowship
Optional 30 minute Q&A to follow the lecture

Room 4.114 (use the NW lobby entrance)
Hill Country Bible Church
12124 Ranch Rd 620 N
Austin, TX

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Summary

Is belief in the Trinity and the divinity of Christ essential for salvation?  How did Christ’s death and resurrection make atonement possible?  What is the relationship between forgiveness of sins and regeneration?

These themes form the doctrinal core of the Christian faith.  Many believers have a sufficient grasp of these central doctrines when assessed individually, but struggle to explain the inner logic that binds them together.  Come and explore with us the beautiful inner workings of God’s redemptive plan in part 1 of this series. Part 2 to follow next week.

Please join us next week at Defending Christianity for Lecture 1 of the Theology and Evangelism Module.

Details

“Morality and the problem of evil”
John Weber

Tuesday, April 24, 2018
7:00 – 8:15 pm
Join us 7:00-7:15 pm for fellowship
Optional 30 minute Q&A to follow the lecture

Room 4.114 (use the NW lobby entrance)
Hill Country Bible Church
12124 Ranch Rd 620 N
Austin, TX

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Summary

The problem of pain is arguably the greatest stumbling block to belief for Christians and non-Christians alike. Is there any good reason for God to permit evil and suffering? From a biblical perspective, we will examine God’s purposes in allowing suffering.

Are the concepts of good and bad even meaningful unless we have God to legislate morality? From a philosophic and apologetic perspective, we will briefly examine views on morality.