Confident Christianity

Much evangelism fails because it is done in monologue without opportunity for disagreement and discussion. This often leaves non-Christians frustrated in not being able to raise objections, clarify misunderstandings, and have their real questions answered. The apostle Paul's strategy was different. Using dialogue, he "reasoned" (Acts 17:17), "discussed" (19:9), "argued persuasively" (19:8), and "confronted" (13:46). He summed up his ministry by saying "...we try to persuade," (2 Cor 5:11), "... we demolish arguments and every pretension" (2 Cor 10:5). Confident Christianity is an evangelism and apologetics training course originally developed by the UK Christian Medical Fellowship to train doctors and medical students in the art of "dialogue evangelism." It is based on the apostles' own strategy as recounted in the book of Acts: the Gospel in words people understand, in a "seeker-friendly" environment, and with the opportunity for discussion. The course is highly interactive and is usually run in day-conference format with about 20-50 participants who become more and more involved as the day goes on. Teaching is in modules covering: Pre-evangelism, God's role and ours, What is the Gospel?, A Gospel outline, The role of dialogue, Seven deadly questions, Why do you believe?, Relativism, The circular argument, The Engle scale, and Getting practical. Confident Christianity is ideal "entry-level" preparation for Christians in one-to-one personal evangelism and for any other context where dialogue is a key ingredient. It can be easily adapted for student groups, professional groups and churches. Since 1990 CMF UK has held over 70 Confident Christianity day conferences, with over 2,500 participants. Attendees invariably come away more confident about what they believe and better able to defend it. This seminar presents a "cut-down version" of the course.