Apologetics Initiative
Apologetics, broadly construed, is the attempt to understand and show how Christianity is good, true, and beautiful.
The mission of the Apologetics Initiative is to help the larger ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox University community see and savor the goodness, truth, and beauty of Christianity.
This is accomplished through three main strategies:
- Student-led endeavors Such as the newly formed Ratio Christi student club
- Curriculum enhancements A number of degree programs are being evaluated for the incorporation of apologetic materials
- Campus-wide events Such as Resonate Conference and seminars
Resonate
Learn more about Resonate events, including our 2025 conference on Christian wisdom in a technological world.
Philosophy and Apologetics Minor Requirements
18 credit hours
Complete the following:
This course is designed to introduce students to what it means to think and live philosophically. There are a number of different variations of this course. Each variation picks a different topic through which to explore how philosophy be a tool for interpreting, understanding and interacting with the world. Not only that, we will also examine how philosophy can shape the way in which we live out our lives. Each course includes some reading of Plato and at least one other major philosophy in the tradition. Examples of different variations of this course include: "God, Freedom and Evil", "Simplicity", "Socrates and Plato", "Land and Humans", and "Virtue and Faith".
Philosophy is an attempt to answer the Big Questions. In this course we will attempt to answer some of the big questions of religion. These questions are of immense importance; the course of millions of people’s lives rests on certain answers to these questions. Is there a God? What evidence is there for the existence of God? Does the existence of evil rule out God’s existence? If God existed, wouldn't it be more obvious? Could religious experience provide grounds for rational religious belief? Has science undermined reasonable belief in God and miracles? Is faith just inherently irrational as such? Apologetics is a defense of the Christian faith, and throughout this class Christian responses to these questions will be explained, interrogated, and defended.
Choose one of the following:
Logic involves a study of Aristotelian forms of deductive reasoning, including the syllogism, inductive reasoning, fallacies, and some aspect of symbolic logic, including Venn diagrams and truth tables. Its goal is to facilitate sound thinking that is both creative and critical.
This course will explore questions about how we ought to live and what kind of person we ought to be. Questions may include: What is the good life—the life worth living? What makes an action the morally right thing to do? Is there even such a thing as the morally right thing to do? And if there is, isn’t it all relative? What’s God or religion have to do with the good life and the right thing to do? Can we know right from wrong? How should we think about specific ethical dilemmas?
This course is an introduction to metaphysics, exploring questions about the fundamental nature of reality, including some questions that overlap with philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, and theology. Questions may include: What is the nature of being and existence? What is time and is time travel possible? What is human free will? What determines personal identity over time? Is the mind material? What is gender? Is there a necessary foundation to reality, and if there is, must it be divine?
This course is an introduction to epistemology, exploring questions about the nature of knowledge, and rational belief. Questions may include: How should ‘knowledge’ be defined? What can we know? What does cognitive science teach us about the rationality of our beliefs? Should we generally trust what people say? To what extent can reasonable people disagree? And does being intellectually virtuous have anything to do with knowing? Is faith opposed to knowledge or can we know religious truths?
Theology and Philosophy are vibrant and dynamic fields of study, with profound implications not only for communities of faith but also for the study of politics, literary studies, philosophy, history, and popular culture. This advanced course will focus on contemporary issues relevant to the research interests and specialties of ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox University faculty in theology and philosophy and will offer an opportunity for students and faculty to collaborate in the dual process of research and personal transformation. Specific topics rotate, and the course can be taken more than once with different topics.
Complete 9-hours of the following:
Courses below already used to meet a minor requirement cannot count towards the 9 hours of this requirement.
Using selected books and portions, the Old Testament will be studied with attention given to historic contexts, major religious themes, and literary forms of the Bible.
Using selected books and portions, the New Testament will be studied with attention given to historic contexts, major religious themes, and literary forms of the Bible.
The biblical basis and history of missions are considered, with a special focus upon the modern missionary movement of the last 200 years.
In this first part of a two-part sequence, students begin their journey into the breadth and depth of Christian theology, studying what Christians have believed and practiced. Emphasis is placed on major themes, figures, texts, and on students connecting their Christian practice with the intellectual traditions of the Church.
In this second part of a two-part sequence, students continue their journey into the breadth and depth of Christian theology, studying what Christians have believed and practiced. Emphasis is placed on major themes, figures, texts, and on students connecting their Christian practice with the intellectual traditions of the Church.
Logic involves a study of Aristotelian forms of deductive reasoning, including the syllogism, inductive reasoning, fallacies, and some aspect of symbolic logic, including Venn diagrams and truth tables. Its goal is to facilitate sound thinking that is both creative and critical.
This course will explore questions about how we ought to live and what kind of person we ought to be. Questions may include: What is the good life—the life worth living? What makes an action the morally right thing to do? Is there even such a thing as the morally right thing to do? And if there is, isn’t it all relative? What’s God or religion have to do with the good life and the right thing to do? Can we know right from wrong? How should we think about specific ethical dilemmas?
This course is an introduction to metaphysics, exploring questions about the fundamental nature of reality, including some questions that overlap with philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, and theology. Questions may include: What is the nature of being and existence? What is time and is time travel possible? What is human free will? What determines personal identity over time? Is the mind material? What is gender? Is there a necessary foundation to reality, and if there is, must it be divine?
This course is an introduction to epistemology, exploring questions about the nature of knowledge, and rational belief. Questions may include: How should ‘knowledge’ be defined? What can we know? What does cognitive science teach us about the rationality of our beliefs? Should we generally trust what people say? To what extent can reasonable people disagree? And does being intellectually virtuous have anything to do with knowing? Is faith opposed to knowledge or can we know religious truths?
A comparative study between Christianity and other prominent religions of the world, such as Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and contemporary kinds of alternative religion.
Theology and Philosophy are vibrant and dynamic fields of study, with profound implications not only for communities of faith but also for the study of politics, literary studies, philosophy, history, and popular culture. This advanced course will focus on contemporary issues relevant to the research interests and specialties of ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox University faculty in theology and philosophy and will offer an opportunity for students and faculty to collaborate in the dual process of research and personal transformation. Specific topics rotate, and the course can be taken more than once with different topics.
Meet the Director
Andrew del Rio, PhD
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Director, ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox University Apologetics Initiative
Faculty Fellow, ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox University Honors Program
Teaching and research interests
- Philosophy of Religion and Apologetics
- Epistemology
- Ethics
- Philosophy of Science
- Analytic Philosophical Theology
Andrew del Rio is a philosopher, trained in the analytic tradition. He grew up near St. Louis, MO where he was raised in a Christian family. As a teenager, Andrew began to wrestle with questions about the Bible. Should we actually trust this old book? Why think it holds the key to eternal life?
He was pointed to some apologetics books that were helpful, for the time being. In fact, Andrew enjoyed reading those books so much that he decided to study philosophy in college. The authors all studied philosophy.
But when Andrew arrived as a freshman in a philosophy of religion class, he wasn't prepared for what would happen. Ask him about it sometime. Suffice it to say that studying philosophy in undergrad, through seminary, and then through a doctoral program were all, in a way, tied to that freshman philosophy of religion class.
Apologetics and philosophy of religion are intricately linked in Dr. del Rio's personal journey of faith, which led him to live on the other side of the world, where he did cross-cultural ministry with his wife Stephani. Now the del Rios have four kids and are active members of Church of the Vine.