How to Teach Presuppositional Apologetics to Kids (3 Things to Consider)
Have you ever wondered why there aren’t more resources for parents and children on the subject of defending God’s truth God’s way? There seems to be a dearth of apologetics materials for kids, especially when it comes to a presuppositional approach.
If you are looking for guidance in instructing your kids to defend the Christian message in a presuppositional way, you’ve come to the right place.
Joel Settecase went on the Revealed Apologetics channel to talk about “Presup for the Kiddos” with Christian apologist Eli Ayala.
You can watch the episode here (it’s about two hours long, but it’s very good. Toward the end, be sure to catch the viewer questions and information on how to partner with Joel and the Think Institute).
Here are Joel’s notes that he took into the conversation. Most of the following talking points were discussed by Joel and Eli:
What is apologetics?
The term comes from 2 Peter 3:15 - apologia, a reasoned defense, or vindication.
As Christians we're defending our hope, and Colossians 1:27 defines our hope as "Christ in you, the hope of glory."
Christ is not probably Lord but definitely Lord. He is not only true but the Truth (John 14:6), so our apologia should defend the absolute certainty of Christ's Lordship and the truth of the Christian message.
What's the Biblical rationale for discipling our kids in apologetics?
God made your kids to serve and glorify Him (Psalms 100:3; Eccles. 12:13; Luke 1:74).
We all need to learn to know God, so we can serve Him the right way (as David instructs Solomon in 1 Chron. 28:9.
God has commanded fathers and parents to bring up our children in the teaching and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).
This means preparing our children to demolish arguments against Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
What should be our motivation for defending the faith—and teaching our kids to defend it?
The Lordship of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:15)
To receive a blessing by filling our quivers with children like arrows, ready to be sent out into the world.
"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons born in one’s youth. Happy is the man who has filled his quiver with them. Such men will never be put to shame when they speak with their enemies at the city gate" (Psalm 127:4-5).
What should be our goal in teaching our kids presuppositional apologetics?
To fulfill the Great Commission through discipling our children to become disciplemakers (Matthew 28:18-20).
To teach our children to reason biblically.
To prepare them to respond to challenges, doubts and unbiblical ideas.
This might sound like indoctrination… but whatever you do you're teaching. Might as well teach them the right thing.
You're not teaching them how not to think.
You're teaching them how to think the way God created them to think.
How to Teach Your Kids A Presuppositional Apologetic (3 Considerations)
It starts with the foundation, setting the child on his way (Proverbs 22:6).
I think of it in terms of three areas, three "Ds." These are the three things parents must consider.
Doctrine
Devotion
Defense
1. Doctrine. Teaching kids apologetics begins with teaching them the basic foundations of the faith..
The Biblical worldview—what the Bible says about the world, man, and God.
We do this through three methods
Taking them to church.
Home schooling, which includes biblically based virtue training.
Catechizing them.
We use Catakids! which might be helpful for you.
Or you could take it and make your own from it, using it as a basis.
There are other good ones out there.
2. Devotion is vital when teaching your kids to defend their faith. You want your kids to really know Jesus.
We want to teach them to really know and love God.
Our methods:
Family worship: daily Bible reading and discussion, prayer and a song.
Having them read their Bible daily (the ones who can read).
Prayer before bed and at other times; we teach them how to pray.
Lord willing by modeling authentic devotion ourselves.
Note: we're seeing this pay off. The kids are getting it.
Jojo, our three-year-old, recently saw a cross and said, "Jesus died on a cross!"
Jakob had made similar comments when he was a little guy. They recognize symbols in the real world and connect them to the doctrine they've learned.
3. Defense. Give them practice interacting with and defending against false ideas.
This is where we begin to introduce unbiblical ideas, taking opportunities to teach.
We do this in various ways.
"Stop the movie." We pause what they're watching and analyze the statements being made, so they aren't merely passively being entertained. The goal is for them to apply what they've learned through family worship and catechism time.
We answer their questions. Before bed, in the car, any time. We also pose questions to them and give them sparring practice.
"Explain the no." They have to obey us because we're their parents, but sometimes we'll give them insight into the reason why. [We didn't discuss this on the show]
Concluding Thoughts About Teaching Your Kids Presuppositional Apologetics
We want them to have a solid foundation.
This is the grammar phase in the Classical Education trivium (watch Joel's interview with Douglas Wilson on Classical Christian Ed here).
Next comes logic (where they fit ideas together), then rhetoric (where they articulate them outwardly and defend them). But there is going to be overlap between the stages.
But it all kinda blends together. It's really enriching and rewarding.