Ferrer, H. Mama Bear Apologetics Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 2019
The home is also an important area for teaching apologetics; This book targets mothers as teachers. Kinnman 2011 found that after age 15, 60% of young Christians had disconnected from their church. Napa 2012 found in the Jesus Survey that among Christian teens, that “60% are uncertain, unsettled or confused about whether the bible can be trusted and 70& express persistent measurable doubts about what the Bible says about Jesus can be true.” Ferrer also noted p 27-34 that of the teens who left church in college, only about half returned. “Some research indicates that up to 46% have spiritually checked out by the end of Middle school.” Most morals are set by age 9 and world views by age 13. Kevin Duffy of ratio Christi College Prep (RCCP) found that churches using the RCCP training materials saw Christian attrition levels falling from 75 % to as low as 13%. P.26 “Apologetics may not seam important until you witness firsthand the consequences of bad ideas” and bad philosophy as in Col.2:8. Your christian child may come home from college saying he/she no longer believes in God or the Bible. What does a mama bear do? You knew that if anyone or anything ever threatened your child, you would do whatever it took to deal with that threat. “That’s what mama bears do.”p.26. Early training of the child in critical thinking can help greatly. p.29 3 independent surveys by Josh McDowell, the Barna group and Mike Nappa found among self proclaimed Christian teens, that–
41% were uncertain that Jesus was physically resurrected
63% didn’t believe Jesus to be the son of the one true God
60% were uncertain, unsettled or confused about whether the Bible can be trusted.
70% express persistent measurable doubts that what the Bible says about Jesus is true.
Myth #2 p.31 Because my kids go to church, a youth group, or christian school, they will be OK.
These things are good. but not guarantees. Ken Ham found in a commissioned research study that common Sunday school was actually detrimental to their spiritual health. Kids who grew up with Sunday school were more likely to have a “secular world view” as opposed to a” biblical world view” than than those who didn’t have Sunday school. Coloring pictures of animals in an ark or acting out stories on a felt board doesn’t actually teach kids what you are saying is true. It often teaches them that these are just stories, not fact. Then as they get older christian kids go to youth groups that focus on games, entertainment, songs and prayer, with no apologetics or critical thinking taught.
Percy p 14 gave a Forward : in the book “you will gain wisdom to help you listen well to your children—to discern their thoughts and questions, and then guide them to thinking critically and biblically about the postmodern culture they will face”. “The greatest protection we can give our kids is to equip them to face the cultural lies-head on-, while remaining gracious, loving and winsome.”p17
I’m new to apologetics where do I even start? p.42 1. know your bible, 2. Gather some resources, Books, pod casts, web sites. 3. carve out a time for regular family study, Remember we aren’t teaching them to know all answers, just how to find answers.. 4 find some like minded mamas, 5. Practice see the mama bear blog Playground apologetics for suggestions.
“The art of discernment has 4 steps p.54:-7” 1. Recognize the message, 2. Offer discernment (affirm the good and reject the bad), 3. Argue ( give reasons for) the healthier approach), 4. Reinforce through discussion, discipleship and prayer.” All media,- movies, TV programs, adds, books, songs-music- have messages. It may be loose sex, freedom, autonomy, drugs to get high, easy wealth, pride, entitlement, you need this! Most messages are a mixture of good and bad. “The most potent lies are wrapped in partial truths”. After listing the messages, one then begins describing the good to the other and then, if they are ready, the bad. Describing the good builds bridges of trust, before one can remodel unhealthy beliefs. Lets take Communism-Marxism for example. One who believes this often is motivated by the corruption they see in large corporations. They may ache for the plight of the poor and want to help lift them up. These are things we can affirm to them, as we should stand against corruption and want to help the poor. Col. 2:8 says: “See that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy.” We are usually not dealing with enemies, but rather captives. One often needs to speak up, as what one tolerates today one accepts tomorrow. One also needs to watch for straw man arguments which exaggerate and misstate and issue.
She defines linguistic theft “refers to purposely hijacking words, changing their definitions, and then using those same words as tools of propaganda.”p. 63 To counter this we need to correctly define the words from the dictionary and then unpack the implications. The stolen words include Love, Truth, Tolerance Justice and Equality, and Bigot. For example, tolerance is defined in the oxford dictionary as- “the ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behavior that one dislikes or disagrees with” Thus for tolerance to exist there is dislike or disagreement. So are they asking for people to accept their belief as equally true or to live with them in peace despite disagreement?
She then gives chapters on hot issues: Naturalism, skepticism, moral relativism, pluralism, emotionalism, postmodernism, feminism, Marxism and new age spirituality.
The web site www.mamabearapologetics.com has a host of articles, blogs, podcasts, and audio materials designed for busy moms p 33,38.Other resources cited include the following:
https://saltandlightcouncil.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o78Y6idwRjU HS and college
https://foundationworldview.com/elizabethurbanowicz/ Home school curriculum 3rd -5th grade
https://www.deeprootsbible.com/ 1-4th grades
https://www.amazon.com/Apologetics-Tweens-Grade-Thomas-Griffin/dp/1947844032 1 yr 6th grade thru 8th.
https://christianmomthoughts.com/talkingwithyourkidsaboutgod/ book, web site, and blog