This is our catalog of courses. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
Register today to learn to defend your Catholic faith with gentleness and reverence. We will study the roots of the “new atheism,” how to recognize propaganda, and why Catholics believe what we believe.
Total classes: 8
Prerequisite: This is a higher-level course. Students should be very familiar with apologetics in general before taking it. They should have successfully completed at least one high school-level apologetics class or a high school philosophy course.
Suggested grade level: 10th to 12th grade
Suggested credit: ½ semester Apologetics or Theology. For a full credit, add another theology course or add the optional reading list provided by the instructor.
Description
The advent of the “New Atheism” has unleashed a new virulent form of atheism in Western society. Students will learn what are the methods of propagation “new atheists” use and why their arguments ultimately fail.
Outline
Class 1: Atheism and the “New Atheists”
Class 2: Exploring the “Celestial Teapot” “God of the Gaps”
Class 3: Problems with Dawkins
Class 4: Problems with Harris
Class 5: Scientism and the “New Atheism”
Class 6: Morality and Immorality
Class 7: The New Atheists and the Twisting of History
Class 8: Missing the Forest Through the Trees: How the New Atheists Play on Ignorance
Materials and Homework
Course Materials: Required: Illogical Atheist: A Comprehensive Response to the Contemporary ‘Freethinker’ from a Lapsed Agnostic by Bo Jinn (Sattaw, 2013). The book is currently only available on Kindle (a free reading app is available from Amazon.com).
Homework: Students are expected to read selected sections from Illogical Atheist. We will discuss various sections from the book in class. There will be a final exam to review material from the semester. Quizzes and the exam are automatically graded by the computer so that students have immediate feedback. Students are encouraged to discuss course content with parents. Parents give the final grade.
Important Dates
Class dates: Thursdays, January 11 to March 7, 2024. (No class Feb. 15)
Starting Time: 11:30 AM Eastern (10:30 Central; 9:30 Mountain; 8:30 Pacific)
Duration per class: 55 minutes
Registration link
