teaching

The Teaching Ministry of Dr. Richard G. Howe

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to
everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."
1 Peter 3:15

"… contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. "
Jude 1:3

Test all things; hold fast what is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:21

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether
they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1

Study Sessions by
Richard G. Howe, Ph.D.

Norman L. Geisler, Ph.D.
Author and Co-Founder of Southern Evangelical Seminary
Charlotte, North Carolina

Rev. Tim Fortner
Pastor Emeritus, Lawndale Presbyterian Church, PCA
Tupelo, Mississippi

Tim Wildmon, President
American Family Association

• The Defense of the Christian Faith - A thorough presentation of the evidence for the Christian Faith. This study treats the historical evidence of the origin, transmission, integrity, and reliability of the Bible, and what it has to say about who Jesus is and what He taught about Scripture. The presentation can be conducted as a multi-part series, or any particular part can be presented as a unit in a one-time situation. The contents are:

1. Introduction to Apologetics
2. The Integrity of the Bible
3. Historical Reliability of the New Testament
4. The Canonicity of the New Testament
5. Who is Jesus Christ?
6. What Did Jesus Teach about the Bible?

• How Do We Know God Exists? - A look at the philosophical, moral, and scientific evidence that the universe was created by a transcendent God a finite time ago. Material can be summarized to fit a one-time situation. The material can also be expanded to a multi-part series. The contents are:

1. The Cosmological Argument
2. The Design Argument
3. The Moral Argument

• Answering the Village Atheists: The Four Horsemen of the "New Atheism" - An analysis of the "new atheism" of Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion), Sam Harris (The End of Faith; Letter to a Christian Nation), Christopher Hitchens (God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything), and Daniel Dennett (Darwin's Dangerous Idea; Breaking the Spell).

• Creationism - A summary study of the issue of Creationism both scientifically and theologically. Each can be done as a one-time session. The presentation on the Science of Creation can take several sessions if more details are desired.

1. The Science of Creation
2. The Theology of Creation

• What About Those Who Have Never Heard the Gospel? - A one time examination of the problem of the unreached. The conclusion maintains that no one goes to heaven without knowingly trusting Jesus as Savior, but tries to show how this works out for those who have never heard the specifics of the Gospel.

• World Views - A series examining the teachings of the major world views, including atheism, pantheism, deism and their differences with Christian theism.

• Contemporary Moral Issues - A summary study of three major contemporary moral issues facing the Christian in society. Each can be presented as a one-time session. The contents are:

1. Abortion
2. Capital Punishment
3. The Myths of Homosexuality

• A Study of the Cults - A thorough examination of the teachings of various contemporary cults and how they differ from historic, orthodox Christianity. The presentation can be done as a series or any particular cult can be done in a one-time situation. The contents of the presentation are:

1. The Marks of a Cult
2. Mormonism
3. Jehovah's Witnesses
4. New Age Movement
5. Holistic Health
6. Betty J. Eadies’ Embraced by the Light
7. The Religion of Star Wars
8. Scripture Twisting: How the New Age Movement Uses the Bible
9. New Age Influences in the Church: The Seduction of Christianity
10. The Occult
11. Halloween and the Occult
12. Satanism and the Occult
13. Witchcraft and the Occult
14. Jesus Christ, the New Testament, and the Da Vinci Code

• Aberrant Theologies - An examination of the increasing influence of aberrant and heretical teachings upon the Christian landscape from The Word of Faith Movement in the teachings of such individuals as Kenneth Copeland, Charles Capps, Benny Hinn, and others.

• World Religions - An examination of the basic history and teachings of the major world religions and how they compare and contrast with Christianity. The contents are:

1. Hinduism
2. Buddhism
3. Taoism
4. Islam
5. Judaism

• Philosophy - An examination of the basic ideas of philosophy including logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and philosophy of religion and their bearing on the Christian world view.

• Out of Context Verses - A challenging look at verses of scripture that are commonly misinterpreted because of an ignoring of the context—either the immediate context, the original language context, the cultural context, or the theological context. The study includes a look at Genesis 2:15; Psalm 118:24; Proverbs 23:7; Isaiah 55:8-9; Matt. 18:19-20; Romans 8:16; 1 Cor. 2:2; Eph. 4:26; James 2:17 and others.

• Do You Know God? - A one-time study taken from First John on how a believer can evaluate the quality and depth of his own relationship with God, without seeking to instill in the believer a doubt about his own salvation. The perspective taken, sometimes referred to as the "tests for fellowship view," is one that maintains that one can truly have eternal life and yet still, in some sense, not "know" God, just as a married person can truly be married and yet not "know" his spouse.

• Once Saved Always Saved - A systematic one-time, or multi-part Bible study dealing with the scriptural evidence that once a person has eternal life he cannot lose it. The study also deals with problematic verses.
• How Is a Sinner Justified Before God? - Taken from the debate the Dr. Howe had with a Roman Catholic apologist, this session lays out the fundamentals of the gospel of justification by grace through faith alone.

• The Book of James - A verse by verse study of the epistle of James. The approach taken is that the epistle was written to Christians to warn them, among other things, to be wary of the dangers of sin in their lives and how to know whether, as Christians, their own faith was dead or alive. The study maintains that James' theology is easily reconciled with the gospel of salvation by grace through faith apart from works, without taking the traditional view that the "dead faith" of James is a reference to someone who was never saved in the first place.

• The Book of First John - A verse by verse study of the epistle of First John. The approach taken is that First John offers tests for fellowship rather than tests for faith. This means that the epistle was written to Christians in order to help them examine the quality and the depth of their personal relationships with God.

• Decision Making and the Will of God - Based on the book by theologian, Garry Friesen, this study examines the biblical alternative to the traditional view about God's will. The study seeks to demonstrate that the will of God is clearly delineated in the text of Scripture in the moral precepts of the Bible, and that decisions that are of a non-moral nature, such as vocation, marriage, and giving, are to be based on biblically informed wisdom.

• Love Your God With All Your Mind - Based on the book by the Christian philosopher, J. P. Moreland, this study examines "the role of reason in the life of the soul." Moreland traces the trends in recent American Christianity that have led to the devaluation of reason and sound doctrine and an over-emphasis of emotion in the Christian life.

• True For You But Not For Me - Based on the book by the Christian philosopher, Paul Copan, this study examines how to "deflate the slogans that leave Christians speechless." Copan answers such charges as "If you were born in India, you'd be a Hindu;" "Your values are right for you, but not for me;" "You're just using Western logic;" and others. This presentation can be conducted as a series in individual parts.