Learning goals: (a) study the rational, scholarly wing of evangelicalism (Common Sense realism), (b) analyze its weaknesses, and (c) look at practical examples in apologetics of pointing out a nonbeliever’s inconsistent worldview

Wikipedia Definitions

Baconianism: careful observation à generalization only from the facts à maybe gather additional data? (emphasis on empirical data)

Empiricism: a theory that states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience (empirical evidence based on sensory observations) rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation

Naturalism: the "idea or belief that only natural (as opposed to supernatural or spiritual) laws and forces operate in the world." Adherents of naturalism (i.e., naturalists) assert that natural laws are the rules that govern the structure and behavior of the natural universe, that the changing universe at every stage is a product of these laws

Lecture Outline:

1. Introduction: Recap on the Wings of Evangelicalism
2. The Rational Wing of Evangelicalism
   1. Introduction to Common Sense Realism: Self-Evident Truths + Baconianism
   2. Baconianism and Hermeneutics
   3. Weaknesses of a Baconian Hermeneutic

• Practical Examples in Apologetics

*We’ve been following Nancy Pearcey’s Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity for this series. This handout has been adapted from her book.

Pearcey, Nancy. Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity. Crossway Books, 2008.