Miracle and Resurrection

APOL 220 MIRACLE AND RESURRECTION PAPER ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS OVERVIEW People have serious issues with Christianity. You dont need to be told this, as your experience may have alerted you to this fact long before you studied the alarming cultural trends of Late Modernism or addressed the accusations of intolerance, repression, and exclusivity from a friend in previous conversations. Still, you should be a bit more comfortable and better prepared to deal with these defeaters now; you will turn your attention to another common set of criticisms: the supernatural is a myth, miracles cannot be proven, the Bible is untrustworthy, and resurrection is impossible. Simple enough, yes? This type of philosophical naturalism and its implications are pervasive in Western culture, and the Christian apologist must be prepared to respond. Quoting Scripture at someone who struggles in this area is a non-starter so you will have to rely on your trusty friend the Inside Out method, which will enable you to address criticisms of skeptics like David Hume (Inside) and work up to the Minimal Facts approach of Dr. Habermas (Out), all while keeping your cool and hopefully winning a friend and a brother or sister in Christ. INSTRUCTIONS The friend you were talking to in the Inside Out Essay Paper is more open to Christianity now. However, they are still having trouble believing in miracles in general and the resurrection in particular. In this essay, make the most persuasive case you can to your secular friend. Keep in mind that if they do not believe in miracles, they likely do not believe in the Bible either so quoting verses alone might not help. However, use the Bible as a historical document to argue for the historicity of the resurrection. You must also be aware of your audience as well. Learn to meet them where they are, and use the Inside Out method to guide them out. Guidelines include: Paper length of 1000-1200 words (not including title and bibliography pages) submitted in a Word document You must use at least 3 citations from scholarly/academic sources, in addition to citations from Apologetics at the Cross and the Bible, for a minimum of 5 references Acceptable sources include scholarly journals, books, articles, and other published works o Consider the work of authors such as C.S. Lewis, Craig Keener, Gary Habermas, Tim Keller, and N.T Wright to be superior resources on miracles/resurrection, integrating them in an natural and useful way (instead of tacking them on to meet a requirement) o Avoid simply stringing quotes together at length, as this is not an effective way to persuade a friend You must use the four Inside-Out questions as a framework to organize your thoughts You may write in first, second, or third-person