FAQ
Literary Apologetics Certificate Program
Jan 23rd
This apologetics academy is hosted by Athanatos Christian Ministries. This ministry has a unique approach to apologetics: it believes that the culture itself has a tremendous impact on what one believes and that the culture in turn is heavily influenced by the arts. Christianity is often undermined by cultural undercurrents, but historically Christians themselves have been highly involved in contributing to the cultural conversation. ACM hopes to help renew that involvement by encouraging Christians to enter the public sphere in a knowledgeable fashion. Criticism has rightly been levied against the ‘Christian ghetto,’ but that doesn’t mean we should dilute- or worse, jettison- our Christian faith in a quest to be accepted by non-Christians. Rather, our goal should be to understand that there is a relationship between the culture, arts, and one’s worldview, whether we like it or not. Hence, it is necessary at all times to understand how our own faith impacts our creations while being sensitive to the realities that exist in our largely unbelieving culture.
ACM’s Literary Apologetics Certificate Program is designed to ensure that our artists are theologically informed, alert to modern challenges to the faith, and understand that having a genuine Christian faith is no substitute for the need for excellence in our writing, music, etc.
At this time, ACM’s emphasis is on literature. In due time, other artistic forms may be added.
Program Director
ACM is pleased to announce a partnership with Hieropraxis, led by Dr. Holly Ordway, who has agreed to be ACM’s Literary Apologetics Program Director.
Dr. Ordway has a doctorate in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an MA in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MA in Christian Apologetics from Biola University. Dr. Ordway’s book Not God’s Type: A Rational Academic Finds a Radical Faith (Moody Publishers, 2010) chronicles her intellectual and emotional journey from atheism to faith in Christ as her Lord and Savior.
Dr. Ordway understands on both a personal and academic level the power and impact of great art on the human soul and has the expertise to guide artists in their quest to hone their craft. She understands the objections that the world has to Christ. She is well suited to show how the arts and belief tie together, either to the benefit, or harm, of individuals in our society. She looks forward to bringing her expertise and experiences to our academy participants, especially those who are accepted into ACM’s Literary Apologetics Certificate Program.
For more information about Dr. Ordway’s vision for ‘literary apologetics’ please read this essay. More information about ACM’s other literary apologetics activities, please visit their website: www.athanatosministries.org
Use the form below to Contact Dr. Ordway.
Program Requirements
In order to successfully obtain the Lit. Apol. Certificate, one must complete four courses in four different areas for a total of sixteen courses. What follows is subject to revision.
The four areas are:
General Theology
General Apologetics
Literary Apologetics
Writing and the Arts
General Theology:
- New Testament: The Gospels
- New Testament: The Epistles
- Survey of the Old Testament Part 1 (Genesis-Deuteronomy)
- Christ Promised in the Old Testament
General Apologetics:
- Accessible Apologetics (or equivalent survey course)
- Apologetics related Elective
- Apologetics related Elective
- General Theology/Apologetics related Elective
Literary Apologetics:
- Principles of Literary Apologetics
- The Fiction of Dorothy Sayers, GK Chesterton, and Charles Williams
- Studies in Myth (CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, George MacDonald)
- Studies in Poetry (Shakespeare, Marlowe, Donne, Herbert, Eliot)
Writing and the Arts:
- Writing related Elective
- Writing related Elective
- Wordsmithing
- Writing for Publication
Course Descriptions
[You can take these courses without being enrolled in our certificate program]
Click here for course descriptions related specifically to the literary apologetics program.
Cost and Payment Plan
- $2,000 if a single payment is made (must be paid prior to beginning the program).
- $2,300 if 2 payments are made (must be paid within 15 month time frame).
- $2,500 if 4 payments are made (must be paid within 24 month time frame).
Application Process
Not all applicants will be accepted. Please fill out the contact form below to begin the process. Your inquiry will be directed to Dr. Ordway and other academy staffers.
General requirements for applicants include:
- An orthodox Christian faith.
- A willingness to learn.
- The ability (eg, the applicant has the necessary time available) to complete the program.
Request Information
Sep 2nd
Complete this form to receive more information. For information pertaining specifically to ACM’s Literary Apologetics Certificate, please use the form on this page.
Overview
Jul 23rd
- The courses are modules- 3 to 5 week sessions.
- They generally require about five hours of activity per week.
- Course costs begin at $34.95 each.
- The next session will begin the first week of October, 2011, and we are enrolling now.
Our modules are designed with the Christian in mind but can be useful for anyone interested in learning more about the foundations of the Christian faith. Who might be interested?
- The youth director who wants to be able to answer the hard questions put to him.
- The high school senior looking for reliable material to share with classmates.
- The college student confronted with secular challenges to his faith and wondering why one earth he didn’t learn anything useful in Sunday School for dealing with hard nosed professors.
- The parent who knows that if he doesn’t pass along the facts of the faith to his children, no one will.
- The pastor who knows that apologetics is important but doesn’t know where to start.
- The Bible student who wants to go deeper.
When you enroll, the courses will appear to be empty. Content will be visible at the appropriate time.
You may enroll in as many courses as you like however a maximum of two is suggested. For those enrolled in our certificate program, please see the maximum courses allowed here. Generally, a minimum of 5 participants is required for a course to go forward. A course enrollment fee will be refunded, or applied to a different course if so desired, if there are not enough participants. There is a maximum of 30 participants per course. If necessary, new sections of the same course will be added.
We would be happy to offer courses to whole congregations or organizations at group rates. Take your whole community through the courses at the same time.
We are looking for more modules to add. Suggestions are welcome. If you are a competent teacher and would like to propose one we’d like to hear that, too.
We also offer a ‘private group course’ program where a group has a particular group all to itself. Youth group leaders will find this option to be especially appealing. In the closed setting of the course, young men and women can interact with their youth group leader and one of our trained facilitators. We can arrange to offer the class at a time most convenient to the group. Because of the higher demands on the facilitators and administrators, there is a slightly higher cost.
Faith Statement
Jul 23rd
ACM upholds that the Scriptures are true and inspired and without error in their original autographs.
Salvation comes through faith alone but ‘works’ ought to follow. ACM accepts the three ecumenical creeds: Apostle’s, Nicene, and Athanasian. Which means essentially:
- Belief that Jesus was both completely God and completely man.
- God is trinitarian in nature.
ACM upholds the fact of the resurrection as the basis on which Christianity rises or falls.
ACM upholds that God created the heavens and the earth.
Nearly all of those affiliated with ACM believe in a literal, 6 day creation not very long ago. It is firmly believed that there are consequences to believing other things, however ACM prefers to emphasize the fact of the resurrection. The latent philosophical naturalism that undergirds evolutionary objections to a young earth position also undergird objections to the resurrection so why not just talk about the resurrection and philosophical naturalism?
Enrolling
Jul 23rd
Enrolling is easy.
- First, figure out which course(s) you would like to take. You can see the Fall semester list here and then go to the academy home page to view full summaries of all available courses.
- Second, register for an account with our academy software.
- Then, validate your account by checking your email inbox for a confirmation email. Follow the instructions. Note: Yahoo and Gmail accounts are unreliable! Check your spam box!
- Now, login at the academy.
- Finally, go to the course you want to enroll in and follow the steps it gives you. You will be taken through the Paypal process which will allow you to pay either via Paypal or via credit card even if you don’t have a Paypal account.
That’s it, you’re enrolled in our academy and one of our courses! Await further instructions from your course facilitator.
Apologetics Certificate Program
Jul 23rd
The Athanatos Online Academy Apologetics Certificate aims to equip the student with the critical information to help them understand why Christianity is reasonable and respond to the challenges posed by the world at large, while laying the groundwork for future, independent learning.
Students pursuing the certificate program must take 14 courses (up to 16 are included in the program fee). A minimum of 4 courses need to be at the 300 level. They may take a maximum of 4 courses at the 100 level. They must take Introduction to Biblical Greek. Remaining courses can be at the 200 or 300 levels. ACM will assist the student in course selection based on the student’s goals and objectives. A student may take a maximum of 5 courses per session.
Students in the certificate program will also enjoy heightened interaction with the facilitators. While the academic standards are the same for those in the certificate program as regular participants, facilitators will apply more challenging questions and projects to those in the certificate program.
Lastly, a final integrative paper will be written by the student which takes the students Apologetics training and integrates it with their intended goals and objectives. More details on the final paper will be given for those who submit inquiries about the certificate program.
The cost of the program depends on how many payments that are made.
- $2,000 if a single payment is made (must be paid prior to beginning the program).
- $2,300 if 2 payments are made (must be paid within 15 month time frame).
- $2,500 if 4 payments are made (must be paid within 24 month time frame).
To apply for the certificate program you must contact the director to begin payment options and discuss goals and objectives. Do not enroll for any classes. Your enrollment will be handled directly by AOA staff. However, if you would like to ‘sample’ our programs, first, you may take up to two courses at the normal rates and the tuition you pay for them will be credited towards the certificate program.
This certificate can be obtained within 12 months if a student is diligent, but 18 months is more realistic. Participants have 3 years to obtain their certificate.
Those enrolled in the certificate program are required to purchase Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli’s Handbook of Christian Apologetics: Hundreds of Answers to Crucial Questions and James Agresti’s Rational Conclusions.
Core courses:
These courses are required for those in our certificate program:
- Introduction to Greek 1 & 2
- Survey of the OT parts 1, 2, 3
- Basic Christianity
- The Gospels
- The Epistles I (The Pauline Epistles)
—–
Along with this, the student is required to take at least 6 electives, and can take up to 8.
REQUEST INFORMATION
Tuition
Jul 23rd
Course costs are designed to be as affordable as possible.
- 100 level courses cost $34.95 and last 4-5 weeks.
- 200 level courses cost $49.95/$59.95 and last 4-6 weeks.
- 300 level courses cost $59.95 and last 4-6 weeks.
Costs do not include materials.
Academy Semester Calendar
Jul 23rd
Our academy school calendar consists of 3 semesters a year. Semester courses will generally begin within the following range of dates. They will end depending on their length of time (3-5 weeks).
Fall Semester – Begins Mid-September to Mid-October
Winter Semester – Begins Mid-January to Mid-February
Spring Semester – Begins Mid-April to Mid-May
Course Catalog
Jul 23rd
Courses are not always available but can be made available for an upcoming session if there is sufficient interest.
To see courses actually offered this session, please go right to the academy course page.
The following courses are offered at various times depending on factors such as facilitator availability. The list is also useful if you want register for a private course and want to know what courses are available.
Note about Level of Courses: Generally speaking, for private courses the courses can be adapted to be accessible to each age group. In some cases, courses can be simplified to be accessible by students as young as 14 years old.
- 100 Level courses: For age 16 and up.
- 200 Level courses: For age 19 and up.
- 300 Level courses: For age 21 and up.
Interactive courses are courses that are facilitated by a staff member of Athanatos Christian Ministries and invite interaction with other participants. Self-directed courses are constructed by staff but designed for participants to work through the material on their own. The courses listed below are general academy courses. To see courses that pertain specifically to the Literary Apologetics Certificate go here.
Courses Offered:
100 Level:
- Mere Christianity [CORE]
- Basic New Testament Greek 1 [CORE]
- Basic New Testament Greek 2 [CORE]
- Jesus According to…
- Christ Promised in the Old Testament
- Study in Alleged Bible Contradictions / Principles of Interpretation
- Reliability of the New Testament Documents
- Historicity of the Resurrection
- Cults and World Religions
- The Problem of Pain and Suffering
- Guided Tour of the Rise of the Christian Church
- Guided Tour of the Old Testament
- Guided Tour of the Gospels
- Major Archeological Corroborations of the Bible
200 Level:
- Survey of the Old Testament 1 [CORE]
- Survey of the Old Testament 2 [CORE]
- Survey of the Old Testament 3 [CORE]
- Gospels [CORE]
- Pauline Epistles [CORE]
- General Epistles
- Studies in Atheism
- Introduction to Logic 1
- Introduction to Logic 2
- The Truth of the Bible and Its Inerrancy
- History of the Creeds and Christian Conflict
- Formation of the New Testament Canon
- History of the Christian Church 1
- History of the Christian Church 2
- History of the Christian Church 3
- Historicity of the Resurrection 2
- Introduction to Islam
- The Historical Jesus: A Survey of Evidence Arguments
- Defending the Faith: The Accessible Apologetics Workshop
300 level:
- Principles of Textual Criticism
- Intelligent Design
- Theories of Origins: Creation
- Theories of Origins: Evolution – A Critique
- Mormonism and Christianity
- Islam and Christianity
- Defending the Faith: The Accessible Apologetics Workshop
- Approaches to Apologetics (Evidentialism versus Presuppostionalism, etc)
Other 300 level courses will be offered as the academy begins to grow and develop with more student enrolling in the Certificate Program. Please E-mail the director if there are any specific topics you would like to see offered at any level.
Scholarships
Jul 23rd
A limited amount of scholarships are available. If you or your organization would like to sponsor more students by providing for more scholarships, please Email us. Advertising placement is possible.
How to Apply for a Scholarship:
You must first enroll and pay for one of the modules. Realize, your application may not be approved, so be prepared for that and be ready to pay for your courses. If you are approved for a scholarship, your tuition will be refunded for that class.
Criteria:
Please only apply if you have a genuine financial need. The courses are already affordable and should be attainable to nearly everyone who is able to access the Internet.
Send the Application:
After you have enrolled in a module and paid for it, send email us with a two paragraph introduction to yourself, your situation, and why you think you are a good candidate to receive a scholarship.
