Dear Aby – Letters to my Granddaughter #1

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Dear Aby,

It was nice to see you at JJ’s game on Saturday and to visit briefly. As I said, I have been thinking about you recently as I have been listening to several lectures on apologetics. (Apologetics simply means giving a defense, or a reasonable argument, for your faith.). One of the speakers mentioned that 7 out of 10 young people walk away from their faith when they go to college. To which you replied that you plan to be one of the three that doesn’t!!! Good for you 😉

I want to support you in that commitment by sending you some information that could prepare you to deal with questions and issues that may come your way in a university setting. You may be challenged by professors and fellow students about your faith in ways you haven’t been during your high school years.

1 Peter 3:15 tells us that we are always to be prepared “to give an answer (make a defense) to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that is in you.”

If you have a test coming up in a course, but you know ahead of time what questions will be, you will have no problem with the test. You can look up the answers ahead of time and be confident when exam time comes. So, I want to give you some of the questions ahead of time. Hopefully, some of my input will help you think about these issues.

Maybe you have thought about some of these things already and you are more prepared than I think, If so, then my input will be a good review for you and a confirmation of things you already know.

Every person has a way in which they interpret and view the world they live in. It is called their Worldview. You have grown up with a Christian Worldview. You interpret your world from the perspective of Christian values and teachings found in the Bible. As you know, many people in our culture no longer have a Christian worldview. They have a secular or humanistic view of the world.

Every worldview seeks to answer four big questions, as I told you on Saturday. They are the question of:
  1. Origin  – Where do we come from?
  2. Meaning – Why are we here?
  3. Morality – What’s right and what’s wrong?
  4. Destiny – Where are we going?

So, let’s start with the big questions and then look at some other ones later. How would you answer these four questions and how do you think a secular humanist would answer them? Why do you think your answers are reasonable and why are they superior to a secular worldview? You might want to consider writing out your answers to make them more concrete in your mind.

I will send you my thoughts about these questions in my next message. Until then, happy thinking!!!!

Grandpa Larry

Note from Larry Ballard on these letters:
Dear friends,

Thank you for your interest in these letters I am sending to my granddaughter in preparation for college. You are welcome to use them in any way you wish. You can alter them by adding or deleting from the text. There is no need to give any credit to me. You can personalize them or forward them on as written. These letters were not written with a wider audience in mind. In one sense, I am letting you listen in on my communication with Aby. These messages will be brief and focused, rather than exhaustive. I do not claim to be an apologist. However, I do claim to be a caring grandfather with a desire to help my granddaughter be able to “defend” her faith as she transitions from home to college.
Most of what I have included in these letters comes from respected Christian apologists: Ravi Zacharias with RZIM, Greg Koukl with Stand To Reason, Josh McDowell, etc.  
Blessings, 
Larry