MS & HS Summer Youth Retreat

2025 Retreat

Outline
2025-05-20: Meeting Minutes

2023 Retreat

Outline
Introduction
Station 1: Introduction to Your Bible
Station 2: Where did the Bible come from?
Station 3: Do the Gospels contradict themselves?
Station 4: Does the Old Testament contradict the New Testament?

2022 Retreat

Outline
Day 1 Introductory Topic: Truth
Day 1 Station 2: Biblical View of Homosexuality
Day 1 Station 4: Holiness in Marriage
Day 2 Introductory Topic: Feminism
Day 2 Station 2: Does Feminism fulfill God's Will? (Abortion)
Day 2 Station 2: Mock Trial Script
Day 2 Station 3: Is Feminism fair to everyone?
Day 2 Station 4: Does Feminism Build Society

2021 Retreat

Outline
Day 1 - Station 2: Science

2025 Retreat

Outline

Key Verse

Registration

https://sro.breezechms.com/form/285ecb80

Goals

Are the Gospels Reliable
Is Jesus who He says He is (and who we say He is)

Resources

The Case for Christ - Lee Strobel
- The Eyewitness Evidence
  - Can the gospels be trusted (Ch 1)
  - Do the gospels stand up to scrutiny (Ch 2)
- The Documentary Evidence
  - Were the gospels reliably preserved? (Ch 3)
  - Is there evidence for Jesus outside of the Gospels? (Ch )4
- The Scientific Evidence
  - Archaeology (Ch 5)
- The Rebuttal Evidence
  - Is Jesus of History same as Jesus of Faith? (Ch 6)
- The Identity and Psychological Evidence
  - Was Jesus really convinced that He is the Son of God? (Ch 7)
  - Was Jesus crazy when he claimed to be Son of God? (Ch 8)
- The Profile and Fingerprint Evidence
  - Does Jesus fulfill the attributes of God? (Ch 9)
  - Did Jesus - and Jesus alone - match the identity of the Messiah? (Ch 10)
Evidence that Demands a Verdict - Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell
Timeless Truth in Truthless Times - George Bassilious

Stations

Introduction

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C0-aYx7nh3ruQClDvdOZPGW1SJKy0dh-8Syg7A1DhU4/edit?tab=t.0
A Short movie about a youth who attends church but doesn't really pay attention... then, at school, he's challenged with questions about what the Gospels are, and who Jesus is. He doesn't know how to answer. He decides to commit himself to answering those questions in preparation for "the final debate"
He will document his findings in a notebook called "The Case for Christ"

The Notebook

Servants:
- Emily Guirguis

Station 1: The Eyewitness Evidence

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16WsKes1g0Nk7OdMCDefYRNsy2PAsokjD29HUfZ8eWW8/edit?tab=t.g86rjx3nh647
- Document has several tabs
Servants:
- Philopateer Ayad (prep)
- Youssef Isshak (prep)
- Carine Hanna
- Mathio Marzouk
- Andrew Gouni
- Maryam Mekhail
- Sarah Gouni
Based on Chapters 1-2-3 of Case for Christ
- Can the Biographies of Jesus be trusted?
  - Were they really written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
  - How early were they written and is that close enough to the actual events
  - "We did not follow cunningly devised fables"
- Do the Biographies of Jesus stand up to scrutiny?
- Were the biographies of Jesus reliably preserved for us?
Format: Escape Room
- Finding manuscripts (ch 3)
- Finding extra-biblical sources like Papias of Hierapolis (ch 1)
- Putting them all together... maybe in an evidence board
- Board summarizes everything at the end
- Take an "escape room" picture with the board at the end
Notebook Relation:
- The pictures get printed for their notebook
- They can "take home a manuscript" (e.g. P52 because it's tiny)
- Printed out version of the evidence board that can be pasted in notebook and folds out (because it's big)
- Summary Sheet

Station 2: The Corroborating Evidence

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-4Q3XW0UL0ZzNa5qw6Z7UedrNstRO1wEbgq05XKRDe0/edit?tab=t.0
Servants:
- Carole Hanna
- Mena Ibrahim
- Youssab Mena
- Sara Ayad
Based on Chapters 4-5 of Case for Christ
- Is there Credible Evidence for Jesus outside His Biographies?
- Does Archaeology Confirm or Contradict Jesus' Biographies?
Court Case
- Different youth could be "expert witnesses" on various topics
- The boys and girls can take turns being the "panel of judges" (three at a time?) for each "charge" to judge the evidence at the end and give a verdict
- Or the boys and girls can be jury
Notebook Relation:
- As a jury you can note the evidence - worksheet style (like SM HEMY Topics but better)

Station 3: The Identity and Psychological Evidence

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mX84dH84UISFpQn7Qve-_bbJlzWahyRjkVGPEVpfbFQ/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.6q7canpp7fik
Servants:
- Mirolla Hanna
- Daniel Mena
- Daniel Mansour (Mon)
- Youssif Ibrahim (Wed)
- Maria Awad
- Julianna Dimetry
Based on Chapters 7-8 of Case for Christ
- Who did Jesus say that He is?
- Was He convinced that He is the Son of God?
See Also: Fr Reweis' sermons during Pascha this year covered this topic in depth
Format:
- Podcast
  - Need someone who is good "off the cuff" / "on their feet" to be one of the "hosts"
  - Use the kids if possible
    - Doctors
    - Bible Experts
  - Intro and then talk to the audience
- Skit
  - Like a medical case - finding a diagnosis
  - Two folders - each has papers of symptoms, details, etc. relevant to diagnosis
  - Individual A: Signs that show some disorder (bipolar, identity, etc.)
  - Individual B (Christ): Evidences that Lee Strobel outlined that show Christ was completely sane
    - e.g. "This person made bold claims like..."
  - Kids' job is to diagnose the case

Station 4: The Fingerprint Evidence

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14znGpm18Bjsx1ieLUq-mq7vdkfM54GtfHRKlYbqnrKI/edit?tab=t.9tylvudwltw
Servants:
- Emily Guirguis
- Ehab Khalil
- Monika Awad
- Mark N Ibrahim
Based on Chapters 9-10 of Case for Christ
- Did Jesus and Jesus alone match the identity of the Messiah?
- Did Jesus fulfill the Attributes of God?
Format: Iconography Station
- Give an outline of an icon of Christ (in the notebook)
- They need to write some attributes of God that we recognize in the Lord Jesus Christ in different colors to color the icon

Conclusion

Format: "Surrounded" by Jubilee
Servant: Susie Zambrano

2025 Retreat

2025-05-20: Meeting Minutes

New Ideas

Surrounded (by Jubilee)
- Potentially a "Debate Station" at the end
Give students a notebook so they can write their own "Case for Christ"
- Structured
- Print out "Case for Christ by: ________ (Name)"
Podcast
- Needs more structure
- Less hosts
Stations:
- Combine Documentary and Archaeology (Scientific) into a station
- Important nowadays is: "Jesus never said He was God" (Psychological)

Action Items

Intro and Conclusion Station:
- Write Script for movie/skit
- Potential Introduction
  - Orthodox Youth whose ["best friend", "family member", etc.] is [unbeliever, doubting, falling away, lost sheep, just 'following what they learned' etc.] - he wants to convince him that Christianity is right (and to make his faith personal), but he's been "sleeping" in sermons, skipping Sunday School, etc. his spiritual life is empty
  - What's the convo between the two youth?
    - Casual - Could be that the youth is just struggling with "why do we have to keep doing this" - "why are we 'wasting' all this time"
- Conclusion
  - Being able to ask questions in a moment of doubt; learning these things: allows me to enhance and grow my personal relationship with God
Finalize Which station topics we want to discuss
Attach format to each station

2023 Retreat

Outline

Key Verse

Goals

To reintroduce the youth to the Scripture in an interactive and memorable way
To answer questions related to the Scripture: origin, inspiration, inerrancy, canonicity, etc.
Day 1 (6/19) is Middle School Boys and Girls
Day 2 (6/20) is High School Boys and Girls

Resources

Timeless Truth in Truthless Times - George Bassilious
- Chapter2 27-35 specifically deal with "Questions about the Bible"
ACTS Biblical Apologetics Course
- https://notes.morcous.com/books/acts-3023-biblical-apologetics/page/contents
Floods, Plagues, Wars... and a Loving God? - Fr Gabriel Wissa
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/b1clu7stqpi5e7x/Flood%2C%20Plagues%2C%20Wars%20and%20a%20Loving%20God%20-%20Fr%20Gabriel%20Wissa.pdf?dl=0
Article on Canonization of Scripture
- https://www.lacopts.org/orthodoxy/our-faith/the-holy-bible/the-canonization-of-scripture/

Stations

Station 1: Introduction to Your Bible

What are the books of the Scripture?
How are the books categorized? Which books fall into each genre?
When/how are the books used by the Church (e.g. in the Lectionary)
Who wrote these books?
What is inspiration? What does it mean that the Holy Spirit "wrote" the Bible?

Station 2: Where did the Bible come from?

What is canonization? Who decided which books go into the OT? And the NT?
What about translation? Do some things get lost in translation? Are some translations better than others?
What about chapters and verses?
How do we know that we have the right words that were actually spoken by Christ?
Idea
- This station can be presented as a "museum" or a "showroom" that includes several archaeological findings that support details written in the Scripture, as well as some examples of manuscripts

Station 3: Do the Gospels contradict themselves?

Why is there differences between the Gospels? Does that affect the authenticity of the Gospels?
Did the Lord Jesus cleanse the temple on Sunday or Monday?
Did the Maries go to the tomb while it is dark or at dawn?
etc.

Station 4: Does the Old Testament contradict the New Testament?

Is God, "a man of war" (Exodus 15:3) or "the Lord of peace" (2 Thessalonians 3:16)
How are we to understand the stories that take place in Joshua and Judges? Did God really command them to kill whole cities?
This stems from a common attack nowadays which takes difficult passages like those in the Book of Judges and asks for an explanation, or takes some verses out of context to present a distorted image

2023 Retreat

Introduction

Visual Aid

https://www.dropbox.com/s/j1rkdi54tb21tq6/Introduction.pptx?dl=0

Convention Introduction

Welcome to our third annual HS & MS Youth Summer Apologetics Convention
This is our third year holding this convention in June with a focus on Apologetics

Introduction to Apologetics

Can anyone remind me of what the word "Apologetics" means? To give a defense
And this comes from Scripture in 1 Peter 3:15 - "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" - give a defense in Greek is ἀπολογία - "Apologia" - the root of the word Apologetics
The first year, we took a very high level and a very classical apologetics approach - We discussed Evolution, Big Bang Theory, the Resurrection, Authenticity of the Bible, etc.
Last year, we decided to focus on a fundamental concept in Christianity and in Apologetics which is Truth - and we took it through two topics: Homosexuality and Feminism/Abortion
This year, we are going back to basics and our theme is Biblical Apologetics

Levels of Apologetics

As we discuss every year, there are three levels of Apologetics that we can categorize:
- Level 1 - Does God Exist?
  - At this level, you will be talking to someone who is atheist or agnostic, who does not believe that God exists in the first place
  - Here is a lot of Philosophical Arguments, as well as Scientific Arguments
  - If you are talking at this level, are you going to quote the Bible? For example, can you say "Well God exists because Genesis 1:1 says "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"? Definitely not because you are dealing with people who don't believe in Scripture.
- Level 2 - God Exists. Which God?
  - At this level, you may be talking to someone of another religion who believes that there is a god or multiple gods, or you may be talking to an agnostic who isn't sure yet if God exists or not.
  - Here we have Comparative Theology, Biblical Apologetics
  - At this level, you generally can't use Bible verses to support your arguments
- Level 3 - God Exists. The Christian God. Apostolic or non-apostolic Christianity?
  - At this level, you are talking to Protestants.
  - Here we have discussions about sacraments, intercession, Church Authority, salvation, etc.
  - At this level you will mostly be dealing in Bible Verses and Patristic writings
We can fit all our previous topics in this structure
- Evolution and Big Bang Theory are Scientific Arguments at Level 1
- The Resurrection is a Level 2 topic
- Truth is a Level 1 Philosophical Arguments topic
- This year, we will focus on Biblical Apologetics which falls under Level 2

Introduction to Biblical Apologetics

Defense of the text, context, interpretation, themes of the Scripture
It involves knowledge in a vast range of domains
- Biblical Studies
- Biblical Languages
- Biblical History and Archaeology
- Biblical Texts and Manuscripts
- Philosophy
- Science History
It is not Biblical Exegesis
- It is not about asking "how can I benefit from this story" or "what can I apply in my life from the Bible"
It is not Biblical Theology
- It is not so concerned with knowing WHO God is

The Bible

What is the Bible?
- To some people, the Bible is just another book that goes on their shelf - they might even consider it a classic like "Romeo and Juliet"
- To Christians, the Bible is the word of God
- To Atheists, the Bible is a "book of fairy tales"
The Uniqueness of the Bible
- Unique in its Time Span
  - The Bible is exceptional in comparison to other literary and historical works in that it was written and assembled over a vast number of generations (~1500 years),
- Unique in its Geographical Production
  - The Bible did not just come out of one place, but parts of it come from several different places: from Rome, from Egypt, from Mesopotamia and of course from Israel
- Unique in its Authorship
  - Authored by approximately 40 different people
- Unique in its Literary Genres
  - Something like Song of Songs is a single genre (poetry)
  - Something like Exodus is a mix of historical account, laws and instructions, poetry, and other genres
- Unique in its Languages
  - Hebrew
  - Aramaic
  - Greek
- Unique in its Teachings
  - The Bible's message is unique from any other worldview - the message that God is love, God loves us and came down and took our form in order to die for us
- Unique in its Circulation and Translation
  - No other book has been translated as much as the Bible or reached as far as the Bible has
- Unique in its Survival and Resiliancy
  - No other written work has been so attacked, scrutinized, persecuted as much as the Bible - by Emperors, Monarchs, Dictators; by Scholars and Intellectuals and Scientists; and yet survived
- Unique in its Impact on Western Civilization
  - Government and Law
  - Science and Education
  - Art, Literature and Music
  - Societal Norms and Values
  - "Almost all of the good things of life that we take for granted bear the stamp of the Bible's influence: marriage, family, names, calendar, institutions of caring, social agencies, education, benefits from science, uplifting books, magnificent works of art and music, freedom, justice, equal rights, the work ethic, virtues of self-reliance and self-discipline" (Pudaite and Hefley)

Why did we choose this topic?

"One reason Christianity has failed to exert much influence on the major intellectual institutions of America is that too many Christians hold their beliefs in an uninformed and precarious fashion. Instead of pursuing answers to the toughest questions an unbelieving world can marshal, they attempt to preserve certainty through ignorance and isolation, relying on platitudes rather than arguments." - Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics
Many youth these days simply DO NOT KNOW THEIR BIBLE
- If faced with an argument against your Bible, or even against your God, you may not know how to answer it; you may not even know to question it - and it may completely shatter your faith.
- To be frank, some of the youth don't even know the names of the Bible Books, or don't know where to find them or how the Bible is organized
- “If you ask them who was Amos or Obadiah, or what is the number of the Prophets or Apostles, they cannot even open their mouth; but for horses and charioteers, they compose excuses more cleverly than sophists or rhetoricians” - “Is it not strange that those who sit in the marketplace tell the names, and races, and cities and talents of charioteers and dancers, even accurately state the good and bad qualities of horses, while those who assemble in the church understand nothing of what is taking place here and even are ignorant of the number of the sacred Books?” (St John Chrysostom, Homily 32 on John)
These questions are the very common in today's society
- In a country where the main form of Christianity is Protestantism, and where Protestantism focuses on Sola Scriptura, then it is the "Scriptura" that will be attacked the most
- You may have some of these questions; you may have doubts... or you may run into people who have doubts
Understanding your Bible can be key to engaging you in the Bible
- Many youth say they don't read the Scripture because they don't understand it - and some of the passages we'll be talking about today are those difficult to understand passages.
- Let this be an opportunity for you to overcome some difficult passages, learn some of the strategies that we use to understand these difficult passages, and make your reading of Scripture more enjoyable and more intellectually stimulating (if it's not already).

Stations

In Station 1, you will be re-introduced to your Bible
- How many books are there in the Old and New Testaments?
- How are the books organized?
- Why are some of our Orthodox books missing from the printed bibles?
- What are the different versions of the Bible?
In Station 2, you will learn where your Bible comes from. You'll be visiting a museum and taking a look at three exhibits: Manuscripts, Translations and Canonization.
- What is canonization?
- Who decided which books go into the OT and the NT?
- What about translation? Do things get lost in translation? Are some translations better than others?
- Where did chapters and verses come from?
- How do we know that we have the right words that were actually spoken by Christ?
In the second half of the day, we'll focus more on some of the arguments that usually come up against the Bible
In Station 3, we'll focus on whether the gospels contradict each other
- Why are some stories in some gospels and not others?
- Why are the Synoptic Gospels so similar?
- Why might one gospel be missing details that another one has?
- What are the differences between the Gospels?
- Do these things affect the authenticity of the Gospels?
In Station 4, we'll focus on whether the Old Testament contradicts the New Testament
- Is God of the Old Testament different from God in the New Testament?
- Why did God send a flood in the days of Noah and wipe out mankind?
- Why did God say "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" in the OT and then take it back in the NT?
- What does it mean that God hardened Pharaoh's heart?
Finally, our craft will relate to the canonization of Scripture and you'll understand why after taking Stations 1 and 2

2023 Retreat

Station 1: Introduction to Your Bible

1. What are the books of the Scripture?

How many?
Canonical books
- Why missing from versions of the Holy Bible
- Print Press (Protestants)
Different versions of the Holy Bible
- Which to reference

Sources:

2. How are the books categorized? Which books fall into each genre?

Old Testament
- Pentateuch
- Historical Books
- Wisdom
- Prophetic Books
  - Major
  - Minor
New Testament
- Gospels
- Historical
- Pauline Epistles
- Catholic Epistles
- Prophetic

Sources:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vyg0atmc03machy/New%20Testament%20101%20Ppt.pdf?dl=0
(The above link is Seminary level presentation - it should not be used as is )

3. When/how are the books used by the Church (e.g. in the Lectionary)

Gospels
Epistles
Acts
Tobit
Job
Revelation
etc

Sources:

4. Who wrote these books?

Authors
Who were they?
Main Author

Sources:

https://www.suscopts.org/q&a/index.php?qid=812&catid=188

5. What is inspiration? Inspiration Vs Dictation

What is inspiration?
Holy Spirit wrote the Bible?

Sources:

2023 Retreat

Station 2: Where did the Bible come from?

Questions to Answer

What is canonization? Who decided which books go into the OT? And the NT?
What about translation? Do some things get lost in translation? Are some translations better than others?
What about chapters and verses?
How do we know that we have the right words that were actually spoken by Christ?

Presentation

St Pishoy classroom will be converted into "The Museum of Biblical History" with three exhibits. The presenting servant will be a museum tour guide who will conduct a tour of the museum's exhibits.

Exhibit 1 - Canonization

What is the Bible?
- The Inspired Word of God
Station 1 Covers Inspiration and what it is
How do we know which books or letters or scrolls are inspired by God? This is through a process called Canonization
Canonization comes from the Greek κᾰνών meaning "rule" - it refers to the Biblical Canon which is the list of books considered to be inspired by God
Canonization happens in three steps:
- The Events Happen
  - Abraham lived in 1800 BC and there are many stories from his life
  - These stories are preserved in an oral tradition and passed down from generation to generation
- The Events are Written Down
  - Moses lived in 1250 BC and he wrote down the stories of Abraham in the Book of Genesis
  - But these books were not considered "The Word of God" or "Canonical" or "Inspired" until much later
- The Writings are Considered Scripture
  - During the Babylonian Exile (~500 BC), the Jews started to read the writings of the Torah and turned to them as much more important. They had lost their Temple, their city, their land - so they turned to the Torah for comfort. They started to see the writings as holy and sacred Scripture.
  - When they returned from Captivity (~400 BC), they considered these writings to be the word of God.
Canonization of Scripture
- This exhibit will be at the white-board side of St Pishoy, so it would be good to use the whiteboard to diagram out the timeline of Canonization while speaking to some points
- We have to examine Canonization of the OT separately from the NT
- Tanakh
  - TaNaKh is the name of the Hebrew Bible
  - It comes from three words “TNK” – “Torah – Nevi’im – Ketuvim” – “Law Prophets Writings”
    - The Torah or the Law is the five books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
    - The Nevi’im is eight books – Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve
    - The Writings is basically everything else
  - Scholars and academics believe that the Torah was canonized during the Babylonian Exile and the Prophets AFTER the Babylonian Exile
  - We know that at the time of the Lord Jesus Christ, throughout the Gospels, what is mentioned is “The Law and the Prophets” – so this is what they considered Scripture. The Pharisees did. The Sadducees and the Samaritans did not believe the Prophets to be Scripture
  - The last part of the Hebrew Bible (the Ketuvim or the Writings) was not considered to be Sacred until well after the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 70 AD, the Temple was destroyed, the system of ritual sacrifice was gone, the Sadducees were gone, and all that was left was the Synagogues and the Pharisees. The Jews are now in contention with the Christians and will reject anything that seems “Christian” – including the Septuagint. So they decide by consensus which books of the Ketuvim (Writings) are inspired, they took out what they could from what the Christians were using (to separate and differentiate themselves from the Christians), and they closed the canon of the Hebrew Bible.
  - What was being canonized here were Hebrew Texts and the Hebrew in them was an ancient Hebrew Alphabet (called Paleo-Hebrew) that only had consonants, no vowels. In Hebrew, vowels are indicated by diacritical marks (tashkeel). And so sometimes there is some ambiguity. The reason this is important is because around 1000 AD, a new version of the Hebrew Bible was born. It is called the Masoretic Text. It was written by a group of scribes and Torah scholars who worked in the Middle East between the 7th and 11th Centuries. So we can date the Masoretic Text to about 1000 AD.
- Masoretic Text
  - The Masoretes took the Hebrew Bible that they had, represented by many different scrolls and manuscripts, and they wanted to standardize the Hebrew Bible. So they made several changes. Among them:
  - They added vowel points (or tashkeel)
    - This can completely change the meaning of something, and this standardizes the interpretation that was formerly not standardized
    - CT can be “cat” – “cut” – “cot” – “city” – “cute” – “cite”
    - There was a certain level of ambiguity in the original text of the Old Testament, which left some passages up to interpretation
    - The Masoretes INVENTED a system of diacritics that they could use to indicate vowels and they used it to standardize the interpretation of the Hebrew Scripture
  - They included some changes based on an anti-Christian bias
    - Who would give them the authority to make changes?
    - How would anyone allow them to make changes?
    - Imagine if you have several sources in front of you and some of them have mistakes or differences from each other. Which one would the Masoretes pick? The one that the Christians are using? Or the other one?
    - So they would simply pick the one that is not used by Christians and claim that is what the manuscripts say.
  - This is the text that is currently used by the Jews for the Hebrew Bible; and it is also the text that Martin Luther decided to use when he split from the Catholic Church. All Protestant Bibles are based on the Masoretic Text.
- The Septuagint
  - We, however, use the Septuagint for our Old Testament. The word Septuagint means “70” and refers to the 70 who were commissioned by Ptolemy of Egypt to translate the Hebrew Scripture into Greek in the 3rd Century BC. We use the Septuagint because:
    - It is what the Lord Jesus used and quoted from; as well as the apostles
    - It is from before Christ, and thus it is free from anti-Christian bias
    - It is what the Church has used since the beginning
  - The Septuagint includes the books that were removed by the Jews later on – Tobit, Judith, Baruch, etc. The Septuagint is written in Greek.
  - So from the beginning of the Church, it is known to us what the Old Testament Canon is. It is what is represented by the Septuagint.
- The New Testament
  - The New Testament underwent a completely different process to canonization.
  - At first, there was no need to make a New Testament or to canonize any specific writings – the Church had a lectionary and was using specific books in the Liturgy. No one had their own Bible at home, it was very rare for anyone to even have one book of the Bible in their home. The Church did not have a complete Bible – might have had some books or epistles. But the Scripture was read in the context of the Lectionary.
  - The New Testament books were considered inspired by each Church based on what was passed down to them
  - If we wanted to give a date, we would give the date of 367 AD – this is the year that St Athanasius sent a Festal Encyclical on Easter and took the opportunity to list the Books of the Scripture and he listed the 27 Books of the New Testament that we use today. He was not SETTING the Canon, but rather he was telling to his Church what the Canon is and what is agreed upon by the Church as a whole.

Exhibit 2 - Biblical Manuscripts

Visual Aid

We will have printouts of the following manuscripts (in reverse order of how old they are):
- Masoretic Text (Codex Leningradensis)
- Four Great Uncials (Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus)
- Bodmer Papyri
- Chester Beatty Papyri
- Magdalen Fragments
- Oxyrhynchus Papyri
- Rylands Papyrus
- Nash Papyrus
- Dead Sea Scrolls
Each of the Manuscripts will have a card as a label for it to give quick info and a QR Code to more info
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/dtzcl9oxhkl41d5/Manuscript%20Labels.pdf?dl=0
We will have the the following as posters:

Topics of Discussion

Introduce the station by talking about the posters
- Poster 1a: There are a lot of manuscripts of the Bible. A LOT. Let's take a look at the Old Testament first. In the Old Testament, we have 42,300 Manuscripts that we have found so far, of the Old Testament. And for the New Testament we have 23,986. The reason that the Old Testament has more, despite being older, is obvious - first because it is older, so has been around for longer, there are more copies, etc. And second because it is preserved by Jews and Christians!
- Poster 1b: This chart shows all the languages that these New Testament manuscripts are found in and obviously those are all translations of the original. Because the original was in Greek. So if we take just that Greek number - the number of manuscripts of the New Testament in its original language, it's 5,856. How does that compare with manuscripts of other historical documents?
- Poster 2: The fact is that we have more manuscripts for the New Testament than any other ancient document. The other fact is that our closest manuscripts are from only 30 years after the original.
- If you compare with Homer's Iliad, for example - it has a lot of manuscripts, but the earliest one is 400 years after the original. Or something like Tacitus' Annals we have very few manuscripts and the earliest one is 750 years after the original.
- Poster 3: But we also have tens of thousands of Patristic references to the New Testament which are all within the first Century after Christ from all around the world - and none of them disagree with the text of the New Testament. Justin Martyr lived in Rome, Irenaeus in Asia Minor, Clement and Origen in Alexandria, Tertullian in northern Africa, Hippolytus in Rome, Eusebius in Caesarea
So what do these Manuscripts look like? Today you will have a chance to see and feel them. We'll look at them from the newest to the oldest.
The Masoretic Text
- Language: Hebrew
- Date: 11th Century AD
- Format: 491 Pages on Vellum Parchment (i.e. animal skins)
- Contents: The Hebrew Bible (TaNaKh)
- Naming: Written by the Masoretes (group of Jewish scholars between 7th and 11th Centuries)
- More Info:
  - Represented by two major manuscripts: Codex Leningradensis and Codex Aleppo
  - Codex Leningradensis is the oldest complete manuscript of the Masoretic Text and lives in St Petersburg in Russia.
  - The Masoretic Text was composed in the 9th Century and is the Hebrew Bible that is used for most Protestant Translations of the Old Testament.
  - The Masoretic Text is in Hebrew, and very notably it was the first time that vowels, pronunciation and stress accents were added to the Hebrew Bible in the form of Diacritic Markings (tashkeel).
  - Orthodox Christians do not use the Masoretic Text, but we use the Septuagint because:
    - That is the translation of the Old Testament that was used and quoted by Christ and the Apostles
    - It is over 1,000 years older than the Masoretic Text
    - The Masoretic Text was made by Jews AFTER Christ and added interpretations to Hebrew words that may have not been there before
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masoretic_Text
- Digitized: https://archive.org/details/Leningrad_Codex/mode/2up
The Great Uncials
- Uncial is a majuscule script - written entirely in capital letters (common in 4th-8th centuries CE)
- Scriptio Continua - words without any spaces between them
- Codex Vaticanus
  - Language: Greek
  - Date: 4th Century AD
  - Format: 759 Leaves on Vellum Parchment
  - Contents: Old and New Testament
  - Naming: Kept in the Vatican Library
  - More Info:
    - Uses the oldest system of textual divisions in the Gospels.
    - The oldest extant manuscript of the Greek Bible (Old and New Testament).
    - The Codex is named after its place of conservation in the Vatican Library, where it has been kept since at least the 15th century.
    - It is written on 759 leaves of vellum in uncial letters and has been dated paleographically to the 4th century.
    - The manuscript became known to Western scholars because of correspondence between Erasmus and the prefects of the Vatican Library
  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Vaticanus
  - Digitized: https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1209
- Codex Sinaiticus
  - Language: Greek
  - Date: 4th Century
  - Format: 347 leaves on vellum parchment
  - Contents: Entire Greek OT and NT, Epistle of Barnabas, Shepherd of Hermas
  - Naming: Preserved in St Catherine Monastery, Mount Sinai
  - More Info:
    - Written in the 4th Century, oldest surviving complete New Testament and one of the two oldest manuscripts of the whole Bible
    - It also stands out as a complex and beautiful artefact. It is one of the most important texts for studying ancient Greek translations of the "Hebrew Bible", and for the study of the New Testament and the two other early Christian writings it contains, the "Epistle of Barnabas" and the "Shepherd of Hermas.”
    - Scriptio Continua
      - There are no spaces between the words or paragraphs. It is continuous text in all uppercase letters.
    - Includes entire Greek Old and New Testament as well as Epistle of Barnabas and Shepherd of Hermas
    - Preserved for centuries in St Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai
    - Complex and beautiful artifact: one of the most important texts for studying ancient Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, and for the study of the New Testament
  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Sinaiticus
  - Digitized: https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_ms_43725_f001r
- Codex Alexandrinus
  - Language: Greek
  - Date: 5th Century AD
  - Format: 773 leaves on vellum parchment
  - Contents: Entire Greek OT and NT, 1 Clement, 2 Clement
  - Naming: Originated in Alexandria
  - More Info:
    - The most valuable Greek manuscript of the Old and New Testaments, so named because it was brought to Europe from Alexandria and had been the property of the patriarch of that see.
    - It derives its name from Alexandria where it resided for several years before it was brought by the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Cyril Lucaris from Alexandria to Constantinople.
    - Today, it rests along with Codex Sinaiticus in one of the showcases in the Ritblat Gallery of the British Library.
    - Written in the 5th Century
    - Scriptio Continua
    - Includes entire Greek Old and New Testament as well as 1 Clement, 2 Clement
    - Also included some apocryphal/pseudepigraphal books like Psalms of Solomon, but those pages are missing (except for in an index)
    - From Alexandria and resided there until it was brought to Constantinople. Today, it is in the British Library
  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Alexandrinus
  - Digitized: https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=royal_ms_1_d_viii_fs001r
- Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
  - Language: Greek
  - Date: 5th Century AD
  - Format: 209 leaves on vellum parchment
  - Contents: Some parts of the OT, most of the NT; missing 2 John, 2 Thessalonians
  - Naming:
  - More Info:
    - Written in the 5th Century
    - Scriptio Continua - The uncial writing is continuous, with the punctuation consisting only of a single point, as in codices Alexandrinus and Vaticanus.
    - Fifth-century Greek manuscript of the Bible.
    - Then, in the 12th Century the ink was washed off the surface (as best as it could be) so that the paper could be re-used (palimpset) for 38 treatises composed by St Ephrem the Syrian - which is where it derives its name
  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Ephraemi_Rescriptus
  - Digitized: https://manuscripts.csntm.org/manuscript/View/GA_04
Bodmer Papyri
- Language: Greek and Coptic
- Date: 3rd Century AD
- Format: 22 Papyri
- Contents: Four Gospels, Pagan texts (e.g. Homer's Iliad), Apocrypha (e.g. Infancy Gospel of James)
- Naming: Bought by Martin Bodmer in 1950s
- More Info:
  - Greek and Coptic
  - 3rd Century
  - Found in 1952 at Pabau near Dishna, Egypt; they were smuggled to Switzerland and bought by Martin Bodmer
  - 22 Papyri
  - Includes some pagan texts (like Homer's Iliad), some Apocrypha (like Infancy Gospel of James) and the four Gospels - oldest testimony of the Gospel of John
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodmer_Papyri
- Digitized: https://bodmerlab.unige.ch/fr/constellations/papyri
Chester Beatty Papyri
- Language: Greek with some Coptic notes in the margins
- Date: Early 2nd Century to late 4th Century AD
- Format: 80 papyri (126 leaves)
- Contents: Portions of the OT, Portions of the NT, Portions of the apocryphal Book of Enoch
- Naming: Acquired by Chester Beatty in 1930
- More Info:
  - Found near Memphis, on the banks of the Nile, acquired by Chester Beatty in 1930;
  - 126 leaves
  - Valuable because they showed that the use of codex form for the Bible antedated the 4th Century and even the introduction of parchment
  - Portions of three NT manuscripts, designated P45, P46, and P47, which comprise 126 leaves, partially mutilated, and afford valuable additional early textual evidence utilized in more recent critical editions of the Greek NT.
  - Said to have been found near Memphis, on the banks of the Nile, these papyri were acquired by Mr. Chester Beatty from a dealer in Egypt about 1930.
  - They are thought to have come from the Fayum.
  - At the same time some other parts of the same collection found their way to the University of Michigan and to the John H. Scheide papyrus collection in Princeton University.
  - By generous collaboration between the various owners the papyri have been published as units. They range in date from the early 2nd cent. to the late 4th, and include examples of Biblical, apocryphal, and early Christian homiletic writings.
  - They played an important part upon their discovery and publication, showing that the use of the codex form for the Christian book antedated the 4th cent. and the introduction of parchment on a wide scale.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Beatty_Papyri
- Digitized: https://brentnongbri.com/2019/04/10/kenyons-editions-of-the-chester-beatty-biblical-papyri-online/
Magdalen Papyrus
- Language: Greek
- Date: ~1st Century to 4th Century AD
- Format: 6 fragments of one leaf on papyrus
- Contents: Matthew 26:23-31, 33-39
- Naming: Presented at Magdalen College in Oxford
- More Info:
  - Found in Luxor, Egypt in 1902 and presented at Magdalen College in Oxford
  - Purchased in Luxor, Egypt in 1901 by Reverend Charles Bousfield Huleatt (1863–1908), who identified the Greek fragments as portions of the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 26:23 and 31) and presented them to Magdalen College, Oxford.
  - No evidence on how he acquired them. They dated to the 3rd cent. (As given by Charles)
  - Known to the some as the “Jesus Papyrus.” Due to the relation of the texts to the events of the Lord Jesus (Matt 26)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalen_papyrus
- Digitized: https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/29fc0a57-e9f0-466b-b225-a697022c8de6/surfaces/9abb5d42-491c-4585-a08b-f3d72461ab59/
Oxyrhynchus Papyri
- Language: Mostly Greek. Some Egyptian (Hieroglyphs, Hieratic, Demotic, mostly Coptic), Latin, Arabic. Very few in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Pahlavi
- Date: 3rd Century BC to 5th Century AD
- Format: Estimated over 500,000 papyri
- Contents: Administrative texts, secular texts, much of the OT, some of the NT, some apocrypha
- Naming: Found in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt (El-Bahnasa)
- More Info:
  - Since 1898, 5,000 documents have been conserved, transcribed, deciphered, and catalogued. There are at least 500,000 papyri left.
  - A group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell3 and Arthur Surridge Hunt4 at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus (Al Bahnasa) in Egypt.
  - Date to the 3rd cent. and the Roman periods in Egypt.
  - Most of the papyri found seem to consist mainly of public and private documents: codes, edicts, registers, official correspondence, census-returns, taxassessments, petitions, courtrecords, sales, leases, wills, bills, accounts, inventories, horoscopes, and private letters.
  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyrhynchus_Papyri
  - Digitized: https://portal.sds.ox.ac.uk/search?groups=35280
Rylands Papyrus
- Language: Greek, Egyptian (Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, Demotic), Coptic, Arabic
- Date: 2nd Century BC to 5th Century AD
- Format: Thousands of papyrus fragments
- Contents: Religious, Devotional, Literary, Administrative Texts. Includes earliest Gospel fragment and earliest Septuagint fragment.
- Naming: Held in the John Rylands Library in the UK
- More Info:
  - A collection of thousands of papyrus fragments and documents from North Africa and Greece housed at the John Rylands University Library, Manchester, UK. The collection includes the Rylands Library Papyrus P52, also known as the "St John's fragment", a fragment from a papyrus codex, generally accepted as the earliest extant record of a Canonical gospel.
  - The collection includes 7 hieroglyphic and 19 hieratic papyri which are funerary documents dating from the 14th century BCE to the 2nd century CE.
  - The collection also houses about 500 Coptic papyri, and around 800 Arabic papyri consisting of private letters, together with tradesmen's and household accounts. Among the roughly 2,000 Greek papyri are the famous fragments of the Gospel of St. John and Deuteronomy, the earliest surviving fragments of the New Testament and the Septuagint (Papyrus 957, the Rylands Papyrus iii.458) respectively; Papyrus 31, a fragment of a papyrus manuscript of the Epistle to the Romans; and Papyrus 32, a fragment of the Epistle to Titus. Also held in the collection is Papyrus Rylands 463, a copy of the apocryphal Gospel of Mary in Greek, and John Rylands Papyrus 470, a prayer in Koine Greek to the Theotokos, written about 250 CE in brown ink, the earliest known copy of such a prayer. It was acquired by the library in 1917.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rylands_Papyri
- Digitized P457: https://www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/MS-GREEK-P-00457/1
- Digitized: https://luna.manchester.ac.uk/luna/servlet/view/all?sort=reference_number%2Cimage_sequence_number%2Cimage_title%2Cimage_number
Nash Papyrus
- Language: Hebrew
- Date: 2nd Century BC
- Format: 4 Papyrus fragments
- Contents: Ten Commandments and Schema Prayer
- Naming: Acquired by WL Nash and presented in 1903
- More Info:
  - A collection of four papyrus fragments acquired in Egypt in 1902, inscribed with a Hebrew text which mainly contains the Ten Commandments and the first part of the Shema Yisrael prayer (Deuteronomy 6:3), in a form that differs substantially from the later, canonical Masoretic text and is in parts more similar to the chronologically closer Septuagint.
  - It has been suggested that the text might have been the daily worship of a Jew living in Egypt at the time
  - Acquired by Walter Llewellyn Nash, the secretary of the Society of Biblical Archaeology. He presented them to Cambridge University Library in 1903.
  - Dating to the Second Century.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_Papyrus
- Digitized: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-OR-00233/1
Dead Sea Scrolls
- Language: Hebrew, Some Aramaic, some Greek
- Date: 3rd Century BC to 1st Century BC
- Format: 25,000 Fragments on Parchment and Papyrus
- Contents: Old Testament including Deuterocanonicals
- Naming: Discovered in Qumran Caves on the shore north of the Dead Sea
- More Info:
  - One of the most important archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century occurred by the Dead Sea in 1947. A young shepherd tossing stones in a cave struck old clay jars. He had discovered ancient treasure hidden in the caves of Qumran.
  - Between 1947 and 1956, scrolls and fragments from twelve caves were unearthed—now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Over 900 texts in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek were found, including every book of the Hebrew Bible, except Esther and Nehemiah. The largest biblical scroll was an almost complete text of the book of Isaiah!
  - The Dead Sea Scrolls were 1,000 years older than what had previously been considered the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. Many closely resemble the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible preserved by Jewish scribes over the centuries.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls
- Digitized: http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/

Exhibit 3 - Translations and Versions

Visual Aid

This portion of the station will be on the TV wall in St Pishoy
We will have a table that contains several Bible Translations including:
- KJV
- NKJV
- ESV
- RSV
- NRSV
- NIV
- NLT
- GNT
We will have the TV turned on with a powerpoint that contains the two below charts

Topics of Discussion

What is the Process of Translation
- First step is transmission - the original is transmitted to us in the form of manuscripts and scrolls as you saw in our last exhibit.
- Those manuscripts are analyzed - people do PhD Dissertations on one single manuscript. Everything about it is analyzed in an attempt to verify it, date it, compare it, etc.
- See Chart 1
- Out of those Manuscripts, a number of texts is established.
  - The Critical Text is a combination of all the Manuscripts that represents "What we think the original author actually wrote"
  - The Majority Text is a combination of all the Manuscripts that represents "What a majority of the manuscripts have"
  - The difference between them is basically weight and count. Majority Text is based on count. Critical Text is based on weight. "We see that more manuscripts have this part, but it is more likely that the author meant this other one"
- Now that text must be translated. And when you go to translate something, there are three ways to translate it:
  - Formal Equivalence: A literal translation that is word for word
  - Dynamic Equivalence: A translation that is "thought for thought" or "phrase for phrase"
  - Paraphrases
  - See Chart 2
Omitted Verses
- Everyone open Matthew 17:21
  - Half of the Bibles will have it and half will not
  - Some will include the text of it in the footnote
  - Some will include just the footnote
- This is called an Omitted Verse
  - Because this verse isn't in all manuscripts or a majority of the manuscripts, it is omitted from many Protestant Bibles today
  - We, as Orthodox, we have witness to these verses being used since the early Church in the Lectionary, in the hymns, etc.
- Omitted Verses in modern translations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_Testament_verses_not_included_in_modern_English_translations
Funny Verses
- Psalm 23:1 (GNT)
  - "The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need"
Differences between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint
- Genesis 47:31 - "Jacob leaned on his staff" (LXX), "Jacob leaned on his bed" (MT); but St Paul in Hebrews 11:21 says "By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff." - so which version of Genesis was St Paul using?
- Isaiah 11:2-3/4 - LXX includes seven "Spirits", MT includes only six. Church Fathers commenting on Revelation 1:4 "Seven Spirits of God" will reference Isaiah 11... so which version of Isaiah were they using to make that interpretation?
Recommended Bible Versions
- Acceptable to read RSV, NKJV, KJV
- Stay away from more dynamic translations like NIT
- NRSV has some issues since introducing "gender neutral language" (i.e. "the person walked" instead of "the man walked")
- Stay away from heavily dynamic like "Good News Bible" - "Easy to Read Translation" - "New Living Translation" etc.
New King James Version
- The New King James Version is preferred by the Orthodox Church
- The KJV was commissioned by King James when he united England and Scotland under the United Kingdom. He wanted a translation that was approved by both Catholics and Protestants and so he commissioned it to be made by them both. For this reason, KJV does not take a heavily Protestant translation to the words of St Paul, and also includes translations of the Deuterocanonical Books (though it was included in an appendix titled Apocrypha).
- The NKJV is an update to the KJV to change the "thee" and "thy" to "you" and "your" (modern English)

Resources

Canonization

Book of Enoch

https://www.suscopts.org/q&a/index.php?qid=30

Bible Chapters and Verses

Bible Translations

Jesus' Actual Words

2023 Retreat

Station 3: Do the Gospels contradict themselves?

Objective:

Give an introduction to each of the gospels (including the targeted audience)
Explain the writing style for each of the evangelists
Explain the synoptic Gospels
The gospels do not contradict each others but rather compliment each other

Sources

Memory verse:

Outline:

Introduction to each of the Gospels - see commentary
What are the synoptic gospels
Why is there differences between the Gospels? Does that affect the authenticity of the Gospels?
Exercise on how the Gospels compliment each other
- The Baptism of the Lord Jesus
- Read and compare the info gathered from every gospel
- Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-23
Some examples to explain
- Did the Lord Jesus cleanse the temple on Sunday or Monday?
- The words of Christ on the Cross
- Did the Maries go to the tomb while it is dark or at dawn?
- etc.

2023 Retreat

Station 4: Does the Old Testament contradict the New Testament?

Introduction

In the first Canticle, we chant "The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea" (Exodus 15:3) - we oftentimes don't consider the words that we are saying. The Lord is a man of War.
At the end of that same Midnight Praise, we chant "O King of Peace grant us Your peace establish for us Your Peace and forgive us our sins" - The Lord is the King of Peace. We read in the New Testament that God is "the Lord of Peace" (2 Thessalonians 3:16)
Are these two statements at odds with one another? Are they talking about two different Persons? Two different gods?
It is common for Atheists to make similar claims regarding "the God of the Old Testament"
- Famed atheist Richard Dawkins wrote: "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." (The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins p31)
- This is not a new idea - in the 1st Century, Marcion rose up and claimed Jesus is a separate god sent by the god of Israel, who had created the world, and who was vengeful. Marcion made his own biblical canon, wrote his own gospel, and was excommunicated by the Church in 144 AD.
"The God of the Old Testament" question usually arises with an example of one of the following:
- Things done by characters in the Old Testament
  - Lot offering his daughters to the men of Sodom
  - The whole book of Judges but especially:
    - The Levite's concubine
    - Jephthah's daughter
- Things God commanded the Israelites to do in the Old Testament
  - Conquest of Canaan
- Things God, Himself, did in the Old Testament
  - The Flood
  - The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
  - The Plagues in Egypt (and especially the death of the firstborn)
- Things God SAID in the Old Testament (i.e. the Law)
  - Laws concerning women
  - Laws concerning slaves
  - An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
Although we may see these passages as problematic in the 21st Century, the Fathers of the Church did not hesitate to speak about them. Given a proper interpretation of these events in their cultural, historical, literary context, as well as by reading God into the passage (as opposed to reading the passage into God) we can gain an understanding of what was really going on.
We will take 3 examples which represent the most common arguments heard by Atheists.

Example 1: An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth

²³But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, ²⁴eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

(Exodus 21:23-24)

We read the above commandment from God in the Old Testament, and then the below from the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament during the Sermon on the Mount.

³⁸“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. ⁴¹And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴²Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

(Matthew 5:38-42)

How do we reconcile the fact that God is unchanging, and that God in the Old Testament is God in the New Testament and is the Lord Jesus Christ - with this seeming contradiction?

Sources:

Long Form Outline
Chapter 5 in Floods, Plagues, Wars... and a Loving God? by Fr Gabriel Wissa.

Example 2: The Conquest of Canaan

When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.

(Deuteronomy 7:1-2)

But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you

(Deuteronomy 20:16)

Joshua turned back at the time and took Hazor, and struck its king with the sword; for Hazor was formerly the head of all those kingdoms. And they struck all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was none left breathing. Then he burned Hazor with fire.

(Joshua 11:10-11)

The Lord, in the Old Testament, commanded the conquest and annihilation of the Canaanites by the Israelites and it seemed to have been carried out by Joshua to the letter of the command. And yet the Lord, in the New Testament, commands us to love our enemies...

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you

(Matthew 5:44)

How do we reconcile the fact that God is unchanging, and that God in the Old Testament is God in the New Testament and is the Lord Jesus Christ - with this seeming contradiction?

Sources:

Long Form Outline
Chapter 31 in Timeless Truth in Truthless Times by George Bassilios.
Chapters 7 in Floods, Plagues, Wars... and a Loving God? by Fr Gabriel Wissa.
Lesson 2.9 of ACTS 3023 for a Comprehensive Undertaking of the Canaanite War

Example 3: The Flood

Genesis 6-9 is the story of Noah and the Ark and the Global Flood brought about by God to wipe out all of Creation (with the exception of Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark). This story has many different realms in Apologetics:

Scientific: Did the Flood actually happen?
Biblical: Other ancient civilizations have a flood narrative... did Moses just borrow a fairy tale he learned growing up?

The focus of this station is neither of those but rather on:

Why would God send a flood to destroy Creation? Where is God's mercy?
How could God regret making man? Did God make a mistake? (Genesis 6:6-7)

Sources:

Long Form Outline
Chapters 2-3-4 in Floods, Plagues, Wars... and a Loving God? by Fr Gabriel Wissa.
Lesson 2.8 of ACTS 3023 for a Comprehensive Undertaking of the Flood

Resources

Long Form Outline
- https://notes.morcous.com/books/apologetics-level-2-god-exists-which-god/page/god-of-the-old-testament
Timeless Truth in Truthless Times - George Bassilios
- The Relevant Chapters are photographed and provided here: https://notes.morcous.com/books/timeless-truth-in-truthless-times-george-bassilios
Floods, Plagues, Wars... and a Loving God? - Fr Gabriel Wissa
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/b1clu7stqpi5e7x/Flood%2C%20Plagues%2C%20Wars%20and%20a%20Loving%20God%20-%20Fr%20Gabriel%20Wissa.pdf?dl=0
ACTS 3023 - Biblical Apologetics

2022 Retreat

Outline

Key Verse

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
(John 8:31-32)

Goals

Give them an opportunity to discuss, vent, and ask questions related to the modern day push of homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, etc.
Day 1
- Provide a structure of defense against the issue of homosexuality in society
- Provide some answers about where homosexuality comes from, the history and negative social effects
- Address Current Events (e.g. House Bill 1557 "Don't say Gay Bill", Disney Supporting it, Schools Protesting it, etc.)
Day 2
- Clearly detail the role of men and women and their equality in God's eyes and in the Church
- Provide a structure of defense against the issue of abortion in society
- Address Current Events (e.g. Roe v Wade overturning)

Day 1 - Homosexuality

Resources

2022 SMF College book
HG Bishop Youssef on Truth
- Truth - HG Bishop Youssef
- Very systematic lecture about the Truth, how the Truth is defined, how to deal with someone sick with homosexuality, etc.
HG Bishop Youssef on Homosexuality
- Homosexuality - HG Bishop Youssef
- Listen to Synodical Committee Seminar for Addiction Prevention & Psychological Health ~ Lecture & QA (Arabic), a playlist by HE Metropolitan Youssef ~ عظات نيافة الانبا يوسف on #SoundCloud
  https://on.soundcloud.com/K9UJ2
Fr Antony Paul on Homosexuality
- https://stbasil.net/the-st-basil-podcast/2015/10/30/homosexuality-and-the-orthodox-church
- This lecture has a discussion on the role of "Nature" vs "Nurture" in homosexuality (among many other things)
Dr Julie Harren Hamilton
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C54CIxm-w44
- This lecture discusses the psychological aspects of why someone may develop homosexual tendencies. How does genetics play a role (i.e. only in the sense that your genetics may make you more sensitive). How does early childhood development play a role? Etc.
Voddie Baucham
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkL3lT95vOU
- Dr Voddie Baucham is a Protestant Pastor who has been outspoken about the harm of Homosexuality, the fact that it is sin, and spoken against Christians who accept it
- This lecture is about the political side of the argument, and why Christians should not support them, and more importantly HOW TO ANSWER the common arguments that come from that side
Voddie Baucham
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJG9CtaBXeM
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2nPRV8dmOk
- These two videos are about how homosexuality harms society, children/families, persons practicing it, etc.
Serving the Lost Sheep (STLS) 2019 Convention Material
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHD5sSnvcwQ
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oySpetaj6c
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMuFjGPZg18
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/n6s88x23hazmtip/Understanding%20Same-Sex%20Attraction-STLS.pdf?dl=0
- Fr Makary Ibrahim (may the Lord repose his pure soul) presented these slides at the convention

Outline

Introductory Topic: Truth
- Responsible Servants: Morcous
- What is Truth? What is Absolute Truth? Where do we get Truth?
- What about "that's just your opinion"?
- The goal is not to convince you that homosexuality is a sin - most of you are already convinced of that. The goal is to equip you with the tools and information needed to support your stance and to give a defense for your faith.
- Outline of the Day
Station 1: Where does Homosexuality Come From?
- Responsible Servants: Lisa, Maria, Andrew
- Nature vs Nurture
- How does genetics play a role?
- How does the role of parents play a role?
- How does society and the media play a role?
- Is there a spectrum of sexuality?
- Don't forget to include Bisexuality and Transgenderism in this discussion
Station 2: Biblical View of Homosexuality
- Responsible Servants: Morcous, Christy, Mark
- What is Sin?
- Homosexuality in the Old Testament
  - A common argument is that Christians "pick and choose" from the Old Testament. HG Bishop Youssef addresses this in the "Truth" Q&A and Voddie Baucham in his lecture
- How is it addressed in the New Testament?
  - A common argument is that the New Testament Greek words for homosexuality are a bad translation and should be "pedagogy" or "paedophilia"
Station 3: Social Effects of Homosexuality
- Responsible Servants: Mina, Reham
- Many people use the argument now of "it's not hurting you"
  - - Homosexuality DOES hurt everyone; it hurts the person practicing it, it hurts the children and families (homosexuals and heterosexuals), and it hurts the whole society.
  - Homosexuality harms the person practicing it (check SMF college book)
    - Spiritual harms
    - Social harms
    - Physical harms
  - Homosexuality harms children and families
    - Distorting the meaning of a family
    - Many homosexuals end up alone or without a family due to their lifestyle
    - Preventing children from having the benefit of Father and Mother
    - Imparts homosexuality in the minds of their children
  - Homosexuality harms society
    - Oversexualizing society and pushing their agenda
    - When the idea of a family is distorted, moral values are also distorted
    - Advocating and enticing many to sin under the idea of "finding their identity"
- Now that we know the harms of homosexuality .... what should we do?
- How do I hate the sin and love the sinner?
  - How about supporting the sin? (Romans 1)
  - By not being dragged into the claims that victimizes homosexuals
  - There are some ways that we support the sin without knowing (e.g. by putting pronouns on our profiles)
  - Marching for causes we do not understand (i.e. school marching against Do not say Gay bill)
  - Supporting celebrities/movies/shows with homosexual agenda
Station 4: The Holiness of Marriage
- Responsible Servants: Jimmy, Mirolla, Ehab
- Definition of Marriage
- Biblical Marriage (Genesis + the Lord quoting Genesis)
- Church Rituals about Marriage
Closing Topic: Final Debate and the Apologetics of Homosexuality
- Responsible Servants: Susan + All Servants Participation
- Common arguments and fallacies and how to answer them
  - Starting at 40:36 in the Voddie Baucham Video
- We should prepare certain questions to ask them and await their response
- If they are unable to answer, then we will give them the answers and the way to respond to them
- How to deal with the ad hominem fallacy

Day 2 - Feminism

Resources

Feminism and Tradition - Fr Lawrence Farley
St Mary & St Phoebe Consecrated Sisters
- https://sisters.suscopts.org/2016/04/06/a-response-to-feminism-2/#
St Mark ATL Lectures
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bFj9Nn88kc - The Role of Men and Women
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRF593rNNtM - St Paul's Attitude Towards Women
- https://youtu.be/4FS5GBExt7U
- Third video to come 5/29
- This is a very good series from St Mark Atlanta titled "The Church has a Woman Problem??"
- It is very basic about the equality of honor and dignity, and the difference in roles
Stephanie Gray
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGPudL_GQ3Y
- Abortion Apologist
- Most Anti-Abortion arguments center around the fact that the Embryo is a living human being and terminating him/her is murder. Unfortunately, now many pro-abortion people are saying "yes the Embryo is a living person, but the right for bodily autonomy is more important" - how do we answer that? - Stephanie Gray addresses that here

Outline

Introductory Topic: Introduction to Feminism
- Responsible Servants: Morcous
- Relate Homosexuality to Feminism via Transgenderism - many feminists are supporting Transgenderism even to the point of not being able to "define woman"
- What is Feminism
  - Feminism is defined as "Advocacy for women's rights" and yet it has devolved to oppressing women...
  - They want men who call themselves women to use girls bathrooms, to play in girls' and women's sports, etc.
  - They want abortion and argue that it is a fundamental right and they can't function without it
- Importance of studying the topic of Feminism for Boys and for Girls
- Outline of the day
Station 1: Does it fight for women's rights?
- Responsible Servants: Lisa, Mark, Mina
- God made man and woman
- The role and equality of man and woman designed by God in the church
- Priesthood only for men?! Deaconship only for men?!?!?
  - The apostles would go to St. Mary for prayers and blessings, but St. Mary would go to them for Eucharist. I feel that if the servants and the youth have this concept clear in their minds, it's a good door for the rest of the topic
  - And this is the equality God has for us. And equality doesn't delete the fact that women has a role as well as men. No person on earth was/is greater than St. Mary, but she was never a priest, never administered any sacraments. The apostles also know and appreciate St. Mary so much that they would go for her opinion/blessings/prayers. St. John never left Jerusalem until her body's assumption.
  - God picked men to be the apostles, but also the women to anointed his body.
    But He also picked EVERYONE to be His disciple (you mentioned this part)
- Similarities and differences in men and women
Station 2: Does it fulfill God's will?
- Responsible Servants: Morcous, Mirolla, Andrew
- Feminism is the advocacy of women, and God's will is for the equality of men and women... so is feminism fulfilling God's will?
- This station should focus on the topic of Abortion
- Some believe that abortion is fundamental to the functioning of a woman... (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZYQpge1W5s 12:00 "I think abortion rights are fundamental to women being able to function as full humans in society") and they call this feminism
- Some people ask why do we let a person live without a father? abortion is a solution for this. Why would someone that got raped live with a baby that she didn't want? abortion is a solution
  The real answer for these is that God has a plan (even if it seems unclear)
Station 3: Is it fair to everyone?
- Responsible Servants: Rafeek, Maivel, Maria
- Historically, Christianity was the first institution in the world to be openly for women and liberating to women...
  - Jesus accepted women to be His disciples, they had a very specific ministry (i.e. Luke 8) in providing financial support, meals, etc. He appeared to them first after His Resurrection
  - Christianity was open about accepting women and this attracted many women to join the faith in the Early Church
  - "There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28)
- The feminist movement disregards all of this and calls the Church unfair to women and oppressive to women
- The feminist movement is unfair in its judgmental attitude towards the church
Station 4: Does it help build society?
- Responsible Servants: Jimmy, Christy, Ehab
- Promotion of independence and individuality
Closing Topic: Final Debate
- Responsible Servants: Susan + All Servants Participation

2022 Retreat

Day 1 Introductory Topic: Truth

Visual Aid

See Attachments on the Left

Convention Introduction

Welcome to our second annual HS & MS Youth Summer Apologetics Convention
As we said last year, we will hold this convention every year in June with a focus on Apologetics
Can anyone remind me of what the word "Apologetics" means? To give a defense
And this comes from Scripture in 1 Peter 3:15 - "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" - give a defense in Greek is ἀπολογία - "Apologia" - the root of the word Apologetics
Last year we took a very high level and a very classical apologetics approach - We discussed Evolution, Big Bang Theory, the Resurrection, Authenticity of the Bible, etc.
Many of you, since that time, have had one or two interactions with people where you were called to give a defense - maybe more, maybe less.
Probably the most fundamental concept in all of Apologetics is Truth. The Truth.

The Truth

Is there such thing as Truth?
- Many people today will say something like "well tell me YOUR truth" or "MY truth is this or that"
- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yVnfS2m2VbA
What is the Truth?
- Truth is reality - what is real
- The Lord Jesus Christ said "I am the way, the truth and the life"
  - What does this mean?
  - It means that all of His Words are True - all of His Teachings, His promises about the Kingdom, His Promise about the Second Coming, His Judgment - are all true.
  - It means that if we want to know the Truth, we should seek Him and seek the truth through Him
  - "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)
What the Truth is NOT
- Truth is NOT whatever works
  - The ends don't justify the means
  - If I don't want to get in trouble, so I lie to my parents and they believe me, and I don't get in trouble... my plan worked! But that doesn't make it Truth. Still, whatever I told my parents was a lie. Just because it worked doesn't make it true.
- Truth is NOT what is understandable
  - We don't understand how the human brain works - but that doesn't mean it's not true.
  - We don't understand the Trinity and how can Three in One and One in Three - that doesn't mean it's not true.
  - We don't understand how the bread and wine becomes Body and Blood - that doesn't mean it's not true.
- Truth is NOT what makes people feel good
  - Bad news can be the truth
  - If I come and tell you that your grandmother has departed - you won't feel good... but it's the truth.
  - If you get a bad grade on a math test, you won't feel good... but it's the truth
  - "Facts don't care about your feelings"
- Truth is NOT whatever the majority says
  - In the time of Noah, when everyone reached the conclusion that there is no flood - they were wrong.
  - In the time of Lot, when everyone stayed in Sodom and Gomorrah - they were wrong.
  - In the time of Nazi Germany, the majority of people in Germany contributed to the persecution of Jews - they were wrong.
- Truth is NOT what is intended
  - Those who support homosexuality always think they are doing it "out of love" - they might have good intentions but they are uninformed. No matter how good their intentions, it doesn't make it true.
  - Those who support abortion always think they are doing it "to liberate women" - they might have good intentions but they are uninformed. No matter how good their intentions, it doesn't make it true.
- Truth is NOT what is believed
  - Someone can sincerely believe a lie
  - If you have a key in your hand and you sincerely believe it's the right key for the door. You have no doubt in your mind. But it's the wrong key... No matter how sincerely you believe it's the right key, it's not the truth.
  - If you have a bottle of poison and you sincerely believe it's juice. No matter how sincere your belief, if you drink it you will die. That's the truth.
- Truth is NOT what is publicly proved
  - For example, I have the password to my computer at work. I am the only one in the world who knows what it is. And yet, it is true.
  - The location of a hidden treasure... it doesn't have to be public knowledge to be true.
Attacks on the Truth
- You will be accused of being narrow-minded
  - The math teacher who holds the belief that 2+2=4 - is he narrow minded?
  - To be open minded, does he have to say that 2+2 can be 5 or 8?
  - The Truth is the Truth.
- You will be called arrogant
  - Is the math teacher who then INSISTS that there's only one right answer to 2+2 - is he arrogant?
  - The Truth is the Truth.
- You will be accused of excluding people
  - If the math teacher doesn't allow another teacher in his class to come and teach that 2+2=5 - is he excluding people?
  - The Truth is the Truth.
- You will be accused of being offensive and divisive
  - I took this video from a portion of this new documentary about Transgenderism called "What is a Woman?"
  - Lisa and I were watching it and this part had me completely dumbfounded so I wanted to share it with you.
  - The interviewer is Matt Walsh who is a talk show host, and he's interviewing a College Professor of Gender Studies.
  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e77nDWpq3eQ
The Truth has Consequences
- If I take the wrong amount of medication, it could kill me
- If I choose the wrong investment, it could make me poor
- If I board the wrong plane, I will end up in the wrong destination
- If I follow a lie, or support a lie, or participate in a lie... I risk my eternal life.

Why Discuss Homosexuality?

When I was in Middle School, there was no such thing as gay. We didn't know about homosexuality. We didn't hear about it anywhere - not even at church. Not a single person in my school was a homosexual. And I didn't live in Egypt. I didn't live out in the country or in the midwest... I went to Meadow Woods Middle School and my brother and sister went to South Creek Middle School. The same Middle Schools that some of you went to or go to.
When I was in High School, we had one homosexual in our school who had "come out" and two more who were "in the closet."
We're not talking about 50 years ago. That was just 13 years ago. Now raise your hand here if you have seen homosexuality in your school.
How did a change this big happen? How did those who are against the Truth, convince so many people to believe in a lie?
- The Scriptures told us that this would happen.
- In St Paul's Epistle to the Romans, he mentions many sins and homosexuality is one of them, but he summarizes them as: "who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." (Romans 1:25)

How did Homosexuality Become so Prevalent in our Society?

If Homosexuality is so wrong, why do so many people follow or support it? Why is the majority behind it? How could this happen?
In 1987, an article called "The Overhauling of Straight America" was published in a magazine
- https://library.gayhomeland.org/0018/EN/EN_Overhauling_Straight.htm
- The article had 6 points
  1. Talk about gays and gayness as loudly and as often as possible
  2. Portray gays as victims, not as aggressive challengers
  3. Give protectors a just cause
  4. Make gays look good
  5. Make the victimizers look bad
  6. Solicit funds
- The article talks about how to get into politics, how to get into advertising, how to put favorable gay characters in movies and shows, how to convince celebrities and athletes to come out as homosexual, how to compare those who are against homosexuality to Nazis or KKK, how to present a commercial, etc. All of this is written down in an article from 1987 - before I was born! Before any of it actually happened.
In 1989, a book was published called "After the Ball: How America Will Conquer its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90s"
- It took all of those points and dropped them into three categories
- Desensitization
- Jamming
- Conversion
And this is exactly how it played out in the 90s and 2000s

Desensitization

"Inundate them in a continuous flood of gay-related advertising presented in the least offensive fashion possible. If straights can't shut off the shower, they may at least get used to being wet."
Prevalence in Hollywood
- Movies, TV Shows, Commercials
- Every movie nowadays needs to have at least one homosexual character or it gets attacked
- Many shows that ran for a long time all of a sudden have a gay character
- TV Shows are showing men with men or women with women
- Homosexual character in the Movie/TV Show is always the best dressed, smartest, wittiest, funniest, doesn't make a mistake, etc.
- Athletes and Actors who "come out" - they become the image of the movement
- When you see a gay character on a show, maybe you don't even get offended anymore. It's just there.
- Hollywood is lying to us. They are not saying the Truth.
- Raise your hand if you've seen homosexuality in movies and shows.
Prevalence on Social Media
- All over TikTok there are videos of people talking about "well my pronouns are they and them or ze and zer" and "I'm pansexual" or "I'm asexual" or whatever
- The videos usually have someone who has modified his or her body - lots of piercings, crazy hair coloring, tattoos, tons of makeup... someone who no longer looks human.
- The algorithm works to push these things to the top and to flood your feed with them
- All of this is a lie! It is not the Truth
- Raise your hand if you've seen homosexuality on social media.
By shoving homosexuality down our throats, we start to become desensitized. Desensitization.

Jamming

Accuse religious people
Portray anti-gay institutions as "backwards" and "antiquated" and "out of step with the times"
Take two contradictory images and juxtapose them
- Christians hate Nazis and Skinheads and KKK
- You portray people against same-sex marriage as being akin to Nazis, Skinheads and KKK
- Since no one wants to be accused of being a Nazi, Skinhead or KKK - eventually, no one will want to be accused of being against same-sex marriage
Prevalence in the Press
- In March of 2022, Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida signed a bill called House Bill 1557 - Parental Rights in Education
- The Bill did many things:
  - Prohibits Classroom introduction on sexual orientation and gender identity for students in KG through 3rd Grade. After 3rd Grade, the conversations need to be age-appropriate.
  - Requires schools to notify parents about any healthcare services that the school provides and gives them the right to decline it for their children
  - Requires any questionnaires or health screenings given to students in KG-G3 to be given to the parents FIRST
- Does anyone here think that this is unreasonable? That this is harmful? Would anyone disagree with this bill? Do you think that this bill is anti-gay or anti-trans?
- Let's look at how the Media reported on this Bill
  - They called it "Don't say gay"
  - They called it "Cruel and Dangerous"
  - They claimed LGBTQ Students are being "Terrorized" and this Bill would make it worse
- The Media is lying. The Media did not say the Truth.
- Raise your hand if you've read about this or heard about this

Conversion

"It isn't enough that anti-gay should be confused or even indifferent about us. We are safest in the long run when we can actively make them like us."
Prevalence in Corporation
- In June every year, we see lots of companies - restaurants, home shops, credit card companies, military contractors, even the US Armed Forces change their logos and post about "Pride" and do a bunch of random things to "Support" the LGBTQ movement
- Those same companies, on their Middle East branches would never dare to do that
- The companies post about Love and #LoveWins and talk about Pride being a good thing
- They put Pride stickers on their doors and say "it can bring more customers"
- The Companies are lying. The Companies are not saying the Truth.
- Raise your hand if you've seen homosexuality in companies
We find ourselves in a society that is caught off guard. Converted by a radical ideology. Conversion.

Conclusion

So we see Homosexuality become prevalent in our society in the last 20 years because of a conscious attack in our country through three steps that were outlined and defined 30 years ago:
- Desensitization through the Media and Hollywood
- Jamming by attacking those who oppose it
- Conversion
So why are we discussing Homosexuality?
- Because it is an attack on the Truth. And we care about the Truth.
- It is a lie that is being exchanged for the truth of God, that is indoctrinating our society and our youth and children and desensitizing us to what sin is. And we care about our Youth and Children.
- Because you all have asked about it and discussed it and seen it with your eyes
Our Purpose in Life is to Know God and to make God known to others. So our Goal in the next two days is for you to:
- We want you to KNOW the Truth - that Homosexuality is sin. No matter what the majority or the media try to teach us. No matter what makes people feel good. No matter what the intentions are. Sin is sin.
- We want to equip you with the answers to be able to give a defense.
- We want to help you show the love of God and be a light in the world even when surrounded by all this darkness
  - What does it mean to hate the sin and love the sinner?
  - How can I love the person who is struggling with homosexuality?
  - How can I practically SHOW this love?
  - How can I "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15)

Day 1 Outline

On the first day, we will have four stations that answer four questions:
- Where does Homosexuality come from?
- What does the Bible really say about Homosexuality?
- Why do we care so much about Homosexuality if it's not hurting us?
- What is God's intention for sexuality?
At the end of the day, we will have a section for a Final Debate - we'll pose the arguments to you in the way that we see them - at work, in the media, on the internet, etc. and YOU will have to give a defense. You will become the Apologist.

2022 Retreat

Day 1 Station 2: Biblical View of Homosexuality

Visual Aid:

See attachments on left side

Goals:

To make a convincing argument that Homosexuality is sin according to the word of God
To answer common arguments against the Old and New Testament verses pertaining to homosexuality
- Old Testament: Many people accuse Christians of "picking and choosing" especially from Leviticus
- New Testament: Many say the Greek word used for homosexuality is a "bad translation" and should really be "pedagogy" or "paedophilia"
- To address "supporting the sin" according to Romans 1

What is Sin?

A very easy and straightforward question, right?
- What is sin? Explain it to me
What is sin
- Sin is doing something against the law of God
- Sin is separation from God
- Sin is death
  - If God is life, and sin is separation from God, then sin is death
  - This is why when God warned Adam and Eve about eating the fruit, He said "You shall surely die" and indeed they did
- Sin is falling short of the glory of God
Why does God classify some things as sin and others as not?
- All of God's commandments and laws come from His love for us
- Because God loves us, He doesn't want us to get hurt or to hurt others - so He gives us commandments for the things that would hurt us
- Things that are incompatible with God and God is love - so anything that is incompatible with the love of God, with loving the Lord our God, or with loving our neighbor - is sin.
- Which is ironic because Homosexuality is advertised as being born out of "love"
How do we know if something is a sin?
- God reveals it to us through the Scripture or the Church Tradition
Today we will examine the Biblical Evidence against Homosexuality
- Then we will see what TikTok has to say about it
- And then we will answer the claims being made on TikTok
We will see what GOD says about the sin of homosexuality

Homosexuality in the Old Testament

Biblical Evidence 1: Leviticus

"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22)
"If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. " (Leviticus 20:13)

Argument 1: Hebrew Word Lost in Translation

https://www.tiktok.com/@lindsaywhtmrsh/video/6919317480296975622
- Let's look at the Hebrew: https://biblehub.com/interlinear/leviticus/18-22.htm
It's a weak argument because the Interlinear is very clear - it doesn't mention paedophilia or even homosexuality. It just says "don't lie with a male as with a woman"
This is an uncommon argument that I only found in this one video - I think this TikToker confused Argument 4 (we'll see in a few minutes) with this verse

Biblical Evidence 2: Sodom and Gomorrah

⁵And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” ⁶So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, ⁷and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! ⁸See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.” ... ²⁴Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. (Genesis 19:5-7, 24)
⁷as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 7)

Argument 2: Sodom and Gomorrah Didn't Practice Homosexuality

https://www.tiktok.com/@revbrandanrobertson/video/6886934123395534086
This is a very common argument - Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their inhospitality. And Ezekiel 16:49 is always quoted
- ⁴⁹Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
- Seems legit... until you read THE VERY NEXT VERSE
- ⁵⁰And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.
- AND they committed an abomination... what is the abomination? Well, we read it in Leviticus 18.

Argument 3: Picking and Choosing Verses

https://www.tiktok.com/@finnkobler/video/6900741130174893317?_t=8TK99Z7p1f4&_r=1
- Edited this video to blur out the "pulling out" part
This is a common attack to Christians - "you're picking and choosing verses" - "You run over to Leviticus and you pick this verse, but you eat shellfish, you cut your beard, you eat honey and pork" etc.
How do we answer this?
1. You also pick and choose verses - but the difference is, I KNOW why I'm picking and choosing. And I KNOW what I'm picking and choosing
2. There are three types of Laws in the Old Testament
  - Moral Law - meant to teach right and wrong. In the New Testament, this was ELEVATED by the Lord Jesus Christ.
    - "You have heard it said you shall not murder, but I say to you don't even get angry"
    - "You have heard it said you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you don't even look at a woman with lust"
  - Ceremonial Law - meant to be symbolic of what is to come.
    - Circumcision pointed to Baptism.
    - Sacrifices pointed to the Cross and the Eucharist. Etc.
  - Civil Law - civil laws were meant to practically aid the Israelites but also gave a spiritual purpose
    - These laws were to prevent the Israelites from becoming like the nations around them
    - Many of these laws are incorporated into our nations' civil laws
    - Who decides what to follow? The Church and the Holy Tradition.

Homosexuality in the New Testament

Biblical Evidence 3: St. Paul

^"27Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due." (Romans 1:27)
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor 6:9-11)

Argument 4: Greek Translation Error

https://www.tiktok.com/@princessserveen/video/6658434612181601542
https://www.tiktok.com/@scottywartooth/video/6975179984969174277
This one is easily seen in looking at Interlinear Bible
- https://biblehub.com/interlinear/romans/1-27.htm
Indeed, the word arsenokotai was coined by St Paul... but he used it to directly refer to Leviticus 18. He combined the two words for "man" (arseno) and the word for "lying with" (koitai) to tell his readers - "Remember what it said not to do in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13?? Don't do that"
- https://www.studylight.org/interlinear-study-bible/greek/leviticus/18-22.html

Conclusion: Biblical Interpretation

All of these false doctrines and beliefs stem from a personal interpretation of the Scripture. But as Orthodox Christians, we reject the notion of a personal interpretation. Scripture is interpreted for us by the Church Fathers before us and the Holy Tradition
The rejection of Homosexuality is not a new thing - no matter how many claims that "it wasn't in English translations until 1940s" - it was in other languages and it's prevalent in the writings of the Church Fathers

2022 Retreat

Day 1 Station 4: Holiness in Marriage

2022 Retreat

Day 2 Introductory Topic: Feminism

Visual Aid

See Attachments on the Left

Introduction

I'll remind you that our theme for this convention is TRUTH. We started by defining the truth and saying what the Truth is NOT. We talked about some attacks on the Truth. We talked about why we care about the Truth, and the consequences of following a lie.
And then we talked about Homosexuality, Same-Sex Marriage and the LGBT Movement - a Lie that is widespread in our society, permeating our schools, workplaces, politics and social media. An Aberration. We heard many lies about Homosexuality - common lies presented as arguments - and we learned how to replied to them
- "Homosexuality is genetic - I was born this way"
- "Homosexuality doesn't hurt anyone or harm society"
- "Homosexuality was never prohibited in the Bible it's a mistranslation!"
- "Homosexuality is prohibited in the Old Testament so it can be ignored"
- "If you oppose homosexuality you're a bigot"
- We heard all of these lies yesterday and we learned how to respond to them
Today, we will talk about another lie that is widespread in our society, permeating our schools, workplaces, politics and social media - Feminism

What is Feminism?

It is very important for us to nail down our definition of Feminism early on
Feminism is defined as "advocacy for women's rights"
Feminism pushes for "equality of the sexes"
Feminism is what got women the right to vote, the right to a college education, the right to own property, the right to sign contracts, the right to serve the country in the military.
Does this sound bad to anyone? Of course not!
But unfortunately, the Feminist movement has become something else completely... we'll discuss the history of feminism, and the important topics coming up within feminist movements

History of Feminism

The Feminism Movement is easy to follow historically because it came in stages and the stages have easy names...
- First Wave Feminism
- Second Wave Feminism
- Third Wave Feminism
- Fourth Wave Feminism
We also have nowadays, many people who disagree with Fourth Wave Feminism, and who have started two other movements
- New Feminism
- Neo-feminism
First Wave Feminism
- This started in the 1800s and ended in 1920.
- The point of first-wave feminism is providing equal opportunities for men and women
- The right to vote, the right to a higher education, the right to serve in the military, the right to work and own property
Second Wave Feminism
- Started in the 1960s
  - Between the 1920s and the 1960s, there was the Great Depression followed by World War II and then the country (and world) recovering from the war. There wasn't time for any movements...
- Roe v Wade
- Ended in the early 1980s
- Also called the Sexual Revolution
Third Wave Feminism
- Started in the 1990s and continued until the early 2010s

Why Discuss Feminism?

Current Events
- Roe v Wade was overturned on June 24 - it was a Supreme Court case that allowed abortion in the United States during the first two trimesters of pregnancy
- Swimmer who goes by Lia Thomas is a transgender - a man who identifies as a woman. He has been swimming against women and winning first place every time
- The arguments are very convincing

Lies Told by the Feminist Movement

Women were oppressed and depressed before the Feminist Movement
Men and Women are fundamentally the same
Women don't need men; men don't need women
Every woman is the same; every man is the same
Being Feminine is Weak
Christianity oppresses women
A woman cannot fully function in society if she can't have an abortion
Women get paid less than men simply because they are women

Conclusion

So why are we discussing Feminism?
- It is an attack on the Truth and we care about the Truth
- It is a lie that is being exchanged for the truth of God, that is indoctrinating our society and our youth and children and desensitizing us to what sin is. And we care about our Youth and Children.
- Because you see it on social media and you have asked us questions about it

Convention Outline

On the second day, we will have four stations that answer four questions:
- Does feminism really fight for women's rights?
- Does feminism fulfill God's will?
- Is feminism fair?
- Does feminism help build society?
At the end of the day, we will have a section for a Final Debate - we'll pose the arguments to you in the way that we see them - at work, in the media, on the internet, etc. and YOU will have to give a defense. You will become the Apologist.

2022 Retreat

Day 2 Station 2: Does Feminism fulfill God's Will? (Abortion)

Method of Delivery:

This lesson will be presented as a case in a court of law. One servant will dress and act as the Judge, the prosecutor will make the arguments from the Feminist side, and the defense will make the argument from the Apologist side
The judge should give an introduction concerning which Law we are following (the Scriptures)
The judge should give a conclusion related to "who is the Final Judge"

Visual Aid:

Script : https://service.strebekahorlando.org/books/ms-hs-summer-youth-retreat/page/day-2-station-2-script/
Visual Aid is in the attachments on that page

Introduction

The question that we want to answer here is whether or not modern feminism fulfills God's will
In the interest of time, we will focus on one facet of Feminism which is Abortion.
What is Abortion?
- The killing of a newborn
What is the world saying about Abortion?
- Some say it's okay to even do it in the third trimester
How did this come about?
- Result of the sexual revolution and promotion of sex outside of marriage without consequences
We'll focus on four arguments that feminists give for Abortion:
- It's not a baby it's a fetus
- What about if the child will be born with a medical condition? Mental or Physical disability? Down Syndrome or Autism or without legs. It's not the woman's fault OR the child's fault... it would be cruel to put them through that
- What about rape? It's not the woman's fault if she was raped. It is cruel to her to put her through that
So we'll look at these four arguments, and how are they related to God's will?
Anyone who takes a life (through abortion or any means) is putting themselves in the place of God.
- "The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up." (1 Samuel 2:6)

Argument 1: It's not a baby, it's a fetus

The Scripture tells us that the Lord formed us and created us, even BEFORE we were in our mother's womb
- "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalms 139:13-16)
- “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
- "From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God." (Psalms 22:10)
We see many times in the Scripture that a baby was announced or prophesied before their birth... even before the mother was pregnant. Did God not, then, create them before the pregnancy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0tQZhEisaE
- Dr Anthony Levatino - board certified obstetrician and gynecologist. He has practiced obstetrics and gynecology in both private and university settings.
- Cut video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sshxz4H8aMM
Many abortionists now claim that human life is the result of conception, but that a baby does not possess personhood
- Undermines human equality - how can you say there's such a thing as a human who is not a person?
- What traits make a human a person? Abortionists will reply with things like:
  - Consciousness
    - But should we kill someone who is in a temporary coma?
  - Immediate capacity for self-awareness
    - So should we kill anyone with dementia?
    - Should we kill someone who is asleep?
  - Ability to feel pain
    - Should we
- Why are these traits the ones that give us value?
- None of us share these traits equally - does that mean that those with more have a greater right to life than those with less? If that's the case, there's no such thing as human equality.
- "The rich and the poor have this in common, The Lord is the maker of them all." (Proverbs 22:2)
- "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
- "For there is no partiality with God." (Romans 2:11)

Argument 2: It is cruel to bring a child into a world where they will suffer

In 2017 an article came out that the country of Iceland had nearly eradicated Down Syndrome. How is that?
- Turns out almost 100% of the time, when parents found out through genetic screening that their child was going to have Down Syndrome, they got an abortion
If we wouldn't kill an adult who has the condition, then we shouldn't kill a baby who has it. What's the difference? Their age.
- The human right to life is grounded in our humanity not in our age
Just societies care for the most vulnerable
- How much does the world speak out about bullying? Many campaigns are out there about those who are stronger picking on those who are weaker; those who are able picking on those who are disabled.
- Somehow in abortion, we abandon that and say "they'll be better off dead"
Killing people is not the right way to stop suffering
- Life is hard - some people have a more difficult journey than others
- Despite our challenges and conditions, each of us is forced to deal with challenges
- A physical challenge does not guarantee a poor quality of life - we know people who have physical limitations and have a higher quality of life than those without
- Life is a gift - even with its challenges

Argument 3: What about rape and incest?

Rape and Incense represent a tiny fraction of abortions
- Pregnancies as a result of rape make up 0.06 percent of all pregnancies. Even if we allowed abortion in those cases, we would still save the majority of the 1.8 million babies who die annually in America through Abortion
- Arguing for abortion on demand because of the rape cases is like arguing "We should get rid of traffic laws completely because 0.06% of the time, when someone is rushing their child to the hospital, they'll have to run the red light"
Abortion in the cases of rape punishes an innocent party
- There are three parties:
  - The rapist
  - The woman
  - The child
- Which of these three parties is guilty and deserves punishment? The woman and child did nothing wrong... and yet, we are punishing the child with a punishment that not even the guilty rapist will receive.
- Would we justify killing a born child who was conceived in rape?
- Would we justify punishing a child for any sin that his parents did?
- Does that child not have value? Does God not bring about good things from evil circumstances?
  - "Joseph said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.' (Genesis 50:19-20)
  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3_bXUBgy_w
    - Cut video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrENlbau-mA
Abortion will not change what happened.
- It may seem like it will make it easier to deal with... but it doesn't. It only adds to the sorrow
- Abortion doesn't make the woman less of a victim - it adds another victim

2022 Retreat

Day 2 Station 2: Mock Trial Script

Visual Aid:

See Attachments on Left Side

All Rise!

The Honorable Judge is now presiding. Court is now in session

Scene

A desk is prepared for the judge - it contains scales, the Scriptures, and a gavel.

Two stands are prepared for each of the attorneys. A Jury box is also prepared for the jury. A TV is present in full view of the jury.

Opening Statements

Judge:
You may be seated. Let me begin by reminding everyone here that we are in a Court of Law.

[ Gavel ]

But this is not a United States Court of Law - our concern here is not the Constitution or the Law of the Land. Our Concern here is for the Law and Commandments found here, in this Book. Our goal today is to determine whether or not Feminism fulfills the will of God. For today's arguments, the counselors will focus on one small facet of that argument - abortion. And since our concern is the will of God, we will let God be the judge. We will begin with Opening statements from each of the two parties here, and then we will give them an opportunity to present witnesses, evidence, and testimony.

Your job, as the jury, is to take in the information and the arguments. These arguments are commonly heard in the outside world - you'll hear them at school, at work, on social media, in TV and Movies. It is common in a court of law for the jury to maintain silence. However, in this specific case we've organized a provision - you will be allowed to ask questions provided you raise your hand and are called upon by the judge.

[ Gavel ]

The Prosecution may now proceed with their opening statements.

Prosecutor:
Thank you, your honor. And thank you to the members of the jury for joining us today in this very important case.

Today my goal is to convince you that there's no problem with abortion! It's not murder! It's simply a woman's right to choose - it's her body! Why should any of us make that choice for her? There's something growing in her body - and make no mistake, it's not a baby! It's a fetus. What if she doesn't want it there? And why bring a baby into this cruel world in the first place? Would you force a woman who was raped to carry the baby as a reminder of the sexual assault?

Your honor, I could go days talking about the benefits of abortion. The fact of the matter is that women cannot fully function in society without access to abortion.

Judge:

Thank you, counsel. The Defense may now proceed with their opening statement.

Defense:
Thank you, your honor. Thank you members of the jury for your presence today.

I'd like to start by asking a very simple question - what is abortion? The Prosecution throws the word around without any thought to it - but the word itself is very simple! It's the killing of a baby boy or girl. There's no question about it.

Your honor, what we see in the world today is totally and completely reprehensible - we see Washington DC and several other states allowing Abortions even in the third trimester! We've got the governor of Virginia and other politicians saying that when the baby comes out of the womb, the mother can decide if she wants it to live and die. Even outside of the womb! Where do we draw the line?

Members of the jury - for many people, abortion is just an easy way out. It was born of the sexual revolution to give women this false idea that having sex whenever you want is fine and there aren't any consequences. But it's not. What it is, is a grave sin - one that cannot be undone.

I'd venture to assert that anyone - ANYONE - who takes the life of another, puts themselves in the place of God. And I'll remind you that in the Law that sits before you on the stand, Your Honor, it is clear - "The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up." (1 Samuel 2:6)

Prosecutor:
Objection! Your honor, he's testifying

Judge:
Sustained

Defense:
No matter, your honor - I've made my point, and that concludes my opening statement.

Argument 1 - Not a Baby; A Fetus

Judge:
Thank you, counsel. The Prosecution may now present their first Argument.

Prosecutor:
Your honor, the first point that I'd like to put forth is to directly refute what the Defense stated in their opening argument. Abortion is NOT killing of a baby boy or girl. It's not killing at all! There's no baby involved. Simply a cluster of cells - a zygote. An embryo. A fetus at best. How could you call it killing if it's not a human in the womb?

Defense:
I'd like to call my first witness. Dr Anthony Levatino is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist (OB/GYN). He has practiced obstetrics and gynecology for several decades in both private and university settings. I'd like to call him to the stand where he will describe for us exactly what goes on in an abortion. Then we'll see if it's really a human or not. And please, Dr Levatino - no more than five minutes when addressing the committee!

Witness 1: Dr. Anthony Levatino
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sshxz4H8aMM

Defense:
It's brutal and sad, your honor, that this is happening to so many children every day. But it's also clear - abortion is murder.

Prosecutor:
Arms and legs - even animals have arms and legs. That may be what makes someone human, but it's NOT what makes them a person. Your honor, members of the jury, we're not arguing about humanity here - we're arguing about personhood. Even if you posit that life begins at conception, the baby does not possess personhood. Personhood comes from consciousness, from self-awareness, from the ability to feel pain. This is what MAKES us human and MAKES us people!

Defense:
So if someone is knocked unconscious, they're no longer a human? Or if they're in a coma, is their life less important? Would it be okay to kill someone simply because they're unconscious? And what about self-awareness? Would you kill someone because they have dementia or Alzheimer's? Does that make them less of a human? Is self-awareness what gives them value? Even if someone is asleep, they're not self-aware! They're barely conscious? Would the Prosecution also argue that it should be legal to kill them? Did not God create us all equal, in His image, according to His likeness?

I present to the court my first piece of evidence DIRECTLY from the Source.

"The rich and the poor have this in common, The Lord is the maker of them all." (Proverbs 22:2)
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
"For there is no partiality with God." (Romans 2:11)

Prosecutor:
I can stand with you on Equality of Human Life. But we can't stand here and say that this human life exists in any capacity before birth!

Defense:
In that case, your honor, I'll present to the court my next piece of evidence also DIRECTLY from the Source.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalms 139:13-16)
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
"From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God." (Psalms 22:10)

Members of the jury, even throughout the Scripture we see many times that a baby was announced or prophesied before their birth... even before their mother was pregnant! Did God not create them before the pregnancy? Did God not form them, even in their mother's womb?

I think that I have sufficiently proven here that the Lord formed us and created us, even BEFORE we were in our mother's womb - even before conception. I rest my case on this matter.

Judge:
Thank you, counselors. Here, I'd like to open the floor to the jury for any questions. Please refer all questions to me and if it so pleases the court, I will refer them to the appropriate counsel.

Argument 2 - It is cruel to bring a child into the world where they will suffer

Judge:
The Prosecution may now present their second Argument.

Prosecutor:
Your honor, we have come a long way in the fields of Genetics - we can now screen the fetus and make sure it's getting everything that it needs to become a human.

Defense:
Objection! Your honor, didn't we JUST agree that it's not a fetus it's a baby? And that it's already a human?

Judge:
Sustained. Watch yourself, counselor!

Prosecutor:
Fine. Even if we come to agree that the fetus is human life and has personhood, wouldn't it be better to ease their suffering early on? As I was saying, we have come a long way in the fields of genetics - we can now screen the BABY and make sure it's getting everything that it needs. But we can also find out very early on if a baby will be born to suffer. A baby who is born with Down Syndrome. A baby who will be born without arms or legs. A baby who will be born with diabetes or Autism. Why subject them to a life of suffering? Wouldn't it be easier on them, and on their parents, and on society, if they didn't have to go through that?

Defense:
I'd like to tell a story to the members of the jury. In 2017, the Republic of Iceland came out with statistics showing that they had eradicated Down Syndrome. It turns out they were just killing any babies with Down Syndrome (via abortion) almost 100% of the time.

I'd like to ask the prosecution: Would you kill an adult who has Down Syndrome?

Prosecutor:
Of course not! Don't slander me!

Defense:
Would you kill a man who didn't have arms or legs?

Prosecutor:
You know my answer - of course I wouldn't! Get to the point.

Defense:
My point is clear. If we wouldn't kill an adult who has the condition, why should we kill a child who has it? What's the difference between the two? Their age! The human right to life is grounded in our humanity, NOT in our age.

Now you say it would be better for society... what society are you talking about? How do you measure whether a society is good or bad? Just or unjust? Just societies care for the most vulnerable. We have all these campaigns out there against bullying, right? Don't pick on people who are weaker than you; don't pick on those who are disabled; etc. But with abortion, that all goes out the window.

I'd like to put forth my next piece of evidence, Your Honor:

"Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9)
"Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked." (Psalms 82:3-4)
"Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow." (Isaiah 1:17)

Prosecutor:
But they will suffer! Anyone who was in that situation might wish not to be!

Defense:
I'd like to call my next witness, Your Honor. Nick Vujicic was born without arms or legs. Now, he is a public speaker and making a lot of difference in the lives of many people. Let's here his opinion on life, despite living without arms or legs.

Witness 2: Nick Vujicic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWiaXFPbdmY

Defense:
Members of the jury - physical or mental challenges do not guarantee a poor quality of life. Life is a gift. Life is hard and some people have harder lives than others. But despite our challenges, each of us is forced to deal with them. Killing people is not the right way to stop suffering. I rest my case on this matter.

Judge:
Thank you, counselors. Here, I'd like to open the floor to the jury for any questions. I'll remind you to please refer all questions to me and if it so pleases the court, I will refer them to the appropriate counsel.

Argument 3 - Rape and Incest

Judge:
The Prosecution may now present their third Argument.

Prosecutor:
Your honor, we've spent the entire time discussing the unborn baby, and how it's not fair to them. But what about the mother? The innocent mother who was raped and found herself pregnant with the child of her rapist. Would you force the mother to carry the child of her attacker? Would you force the mother to see in front of her, the image and reminder of her perpetrator?

Defense:
I'd like to submit into evidence this table that shows the percentage of women reporting their reasons that contributed to their decision to have an abortion. The column on the right is the percentage in a 1987 study. The column on the left is the percentage in a 2004 study. As you can see, the percentage of women that report rape as being their reason is less than 1% (it's rounded up). Even if we allowed abortion in those cases, we would still have a majority of the 1.8 million babies who die annually in America through abortion. But the Prosecution wants to use this small number to justify abortion on demand for anyone at any time. That's like saying we should get rid of traffic laws because 1% of the time when I'm rushing my child to the hospital, I need to run a red light.

Prosecutor:
Objection! Speculation, Your Honor!

Judge:
Overruled!

Defense:
Members of the jury, Abortion is wrong, EVEN in the cases of rape! Don't you see that Abortion punishes the innocent party? In the situation that the Prosecution is describing, there are three parties: The rapist, the woman and the child. Which of these three is guilty? Which deserves punishment? The woman and child did nothing wrong... and yet, we are punishing the child with a punishment that not even the guilty rapist will receive.

Would we justify killing a BORN child who was conceived in rape? Would we justify punishing a child for any sin that his parents did? Does the child not have value? Does God not bring about good things from evil circumstances?

I'd like to submit my last piece of evidence your honor, and then call my last witness to the stand:

"Joseph said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.' (Genesis 50:19-20)

Witness 3: Sean McDowell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrENlbau-mA

Defense:
Members of the jury, rape is a heinous heinous crime, and a sin against God against nature and against humanity. But an Abortion will not change what happened. It may seem like it would make it easier to deal with... but it doesn't. It only adds to the sorrow. Many women who were raped and then had an abortion came back and said that recovering from the abortion was more difficult than recovering from the rape. Rape is not a choice. But Abortion is. Abortion doesn't make the woman - the MOTHER - any less than a victim. But it does add another victim.

The Defense rests its case.

Judge:
Thank you, counselors. Here, for the last time, I'd like to open the floor to the jury for any questions. I'll remind you to please refer all questions to me and if it so pleases the court, I will refer them to the appropriate counsel.

Judge:

members of the jury, it is now up to you to examine the evidence and make a determination of the Truth. You will gather as a group and deliberate over the matters presented here. Juror #1, you will be responsible for providing the verdict in favor of the defense or the prosecution. Please proceed.

jury deliberates

Judge:

the court hereby rules in favor of the defense. The court adjourns

2022 Retreat

Day 2 Station 3: Is Feminism fair to everyone?

Introduction (10min)

Key Verse: "There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28)
Historically, women did not hold high positions or work
Today, we will answer the question "Is Feminism fair to everyone?"
What does fair mean?
- Merriam Webster: "Marked by impartiality and honesty: free from self-interest, prejudice, or favoritism"

Activity (15min):

Research your assigned female saint and see how God used them to deliver His ministry

St Mary: called to bear the Christ in her womb (VERY high position)
Deborah: only female judge (high position)
Esther: queen, female leader, through her the Jewish people were saved (leader, high position)
Mary the sister of Martha: did not serve the "traditional female role" but sat with the "others" and listened to Jesus. Although this wasn't traditional, our Lord Jesus Christ accepted for her to sit, and be taught so that later she can use the knowledge she can minister to others
Judith:

Lesson (20min):

Christianity is the first institution in the world to be open about liberating women

The Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, held women in high esteem and called them to follow Him and be His disciples.
- "And the twelve were with Him and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities... Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance" (Luke 8:1-3)
The Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the women first (Mary Magdalene) after His Resurrection. This shows great love for them. Not only that, but He sent Mary Magdalene to tell the rest of them, rather than just appearing to them, Himself. He entrusted her and commissioned her with the great news to bring the people to Him.
Christianity and the apostles were open to stating this as a fact although they knew that women were not taken seriously and were not believed by most.
The Church was open and accepting of women when the Jews were not. This brought them to the faith in the early church. Women were not allowed in the synagogue, and society though of women as something that should be disregarded. Even until now, some religions do not allow women in their places of worship. But we see that the church welcomes everyone and we are all able to come and to pray and to worship in one Body of Christ and to partake of the Eucharist together.
Scriptural References:
- Prophetess: Exodus 15:20, Judges 4:4
- Leader in a war, or a judge: Judges 4:4-16
- The Widow who gave two mites:
  - Christ praised her for offering the two mites
- The Syrophoenician Woman: Matthew 15:28
  - The Lord commended her faith
- The Samaritan Woman: John 5
  - The Lord had a long conversation with her to bring her to confess her sins, repent and become an evangelist proclaiming His name
- The woman who poured fragrant oil: Matthew 26:10
  - The Lord defended her and caused her deed to be honored throughout all ages along with the preaching of the gospel
- Pentecost: Acts 2:17
Church Rituals
- In families and marriages, the wives are representative of the church and the husband’s representative of Christ. In the crowning ceremony, the wives are instructed to “honor, respect, obey, and submit” to their husbands. The husbands are instructed to “do all that is good for her, have compassion on her, gladden her heart, love her as Christ loved the church, and be responsible for her.” Both commands come with the promise that God will “increase their livelihood, and grant them blessed children, long ages and prosperous life in this life and after.”
  - People often get stuck on the “submission” part of this command to the bride. It is important to understand the family structure and to understand that women are the church as men are Christ. If a woman understands that her husband is the image of Christ and the role of Christ in the family ‘church’ they will not have any problem ‘submitting’. In Christianity marriage is a mystery. It is the union of man and woman through the Holy Spirit "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh" (Mt 19:6).
  - HGBY states “It is in this relation framework that women should be submissive to their husbands and husbands have authority over their wives. This does not mean that one gender is better than the other, but God's command is for the husband to lead. This does not make the wife inferior in any way.”
  - Not only this but in Ephesians 5:21 the Lord commanded that we submit to one another. Submission is not just commanded of a woman, nor is it just commanded in a marriage, but it is commanded to EACH one of us.
  - Christ Himself submitted to the will of the Father when He took flesh in complete obedience, even unto death.

Is Feminism Fair to Everyone?

Is it fair to the Church?
- The feminist movement disregards all of what we mentioned and calls the church unfair and oppressive to women, when we clearly see that the women were not oppressed, just given different roles.
- The feminist movement is UNFAIR to the church.
Is it fair to Men?
- The feminist movement tries to bring men down. It tries to strip them of their positions and take them from them. It doesn’t call for laws to be applied equally to men and women for example in issues of child custody and child support.
- Pushes Men to crave power and authority back.
- Pushes men to be more feminine and this pushes them to homosexuality and transgenderism.
- The feminist movement is UNFAIR to men.
Is it fair to Women?
- It is not even fair to women (aka the ones they want to “fight” for).
- It makes others believe that everything offends women.
- The feminist movement forces all women to believe and follow all of their ideas and initiatives. If a woman does not believe in one of their ideas or movements, they are quick to go off on her and say that she is against them and does not support them. For example, a woman who does not believe in abortion will instantly be ‘canceled’ and labeled a non-supporter of feminism and of women in general. How is that fair?
- Feminists look down on women who want the traditional roles of staying home to raise their children.
- Feminism is UNFAIR even to their own- women.

Conclusion

In spite of the great strides and ground gained by the original women’s movement, feminists still believe they are of much less value than males in society. However, the same can be argued for the opposite side: men get longer sentences in jail for the same crimes than women. Men are defamed more in many aspects such as social and political. Feminism doesn’t have to do with equality, and as we talked about is NOT fair to everyone.
Remind yourself of the definition of fair, is this “movement” free from self-interest and partiality? No, it is only worried about the women that support every aspect of the movement, but completely disregards males, the church, and other women who may have issues with some of their initiatives/views.
“Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as women came from man, even so, man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.” (1 Corinthians 11:11-12)

References:

2022 Retreat

Day 2 Station 4: Does Feminism Build Society

Definition of Feminism

Google defines feminism as: the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.

Merriam-Webster defines feminism as: belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests

I. Feminism History

First Wave

Timeframe: 19th-20th Century
Cause: Absolute rights in regard to voting ("suffrage")
Non-Feminism Agenda: None
Conflict within Cause: None

Second Wave

Timeframe: 1960s-1980s
Cause: Cultural equality issues (discrimination/exploitation/prostitution/sexual harassment/rape)
Non-Feminism Agenda: Lesbianism was eventually welcomed as a movement into the mainstream women's movement
Conflict within Cause: The cause was intended to address discrimination as well as to address female exploitation for sexual reasons, both great causes. However, introduction to lesbianism within the movement displayed an agenda that was far different from the first wave political cause and most of the second wave cause regarding the safety and non-discrimination of the woman.

Third Wave

Timeframe: 1990s-2000s
Cause: Respond to "failures" of the second wave (overemphasis on the experience of white, upper-class women). Sexual freedom and sexual equality. Right to contraception, birth control, and abortion.
Non-Feminism Agenda: There became an intersection between race and gender. In addition, it also looked for social acceptance of female sexual freedom. they sought the right to contraception and birth control which were almost universally restricted until the 1960s. Feminists hoped to use the first birth control pill to free women to decide the terms under which they will bear children. They felt that reproductive self-control was essential for full economic independence from men. Access to abortion was also widely demanded for these reasons.
Conflict within Cause: Sexual freedoms contradict the cause in the second wave where a woman wanted to be seen as more than a sex object. The cause once again continues to stray from the agenda that sought political equality, non-discrimination, and safety of women. They are no longer seeking to be equal to men, but independent of them.

Fourth Wave

Timeframe: 2008-Present
Cause: Access to abortion, post-abortion talk lines, reproductive justice (reproductive rights affected by socioeconomic status, gender, and race).
Non-Feminism Agenda: The fourth wave has inspired or been associated with: the Doula Project for children's services (who partner with abortion clinics); post-abortion talk lines; pursuit of reproductive justice; plus-size fashion support; support for transgender rights; male feminism; sex work acceptance; and developing media including Feministing, Racialicious, blogs, and Twitter campaigns.
Conflict within Cause: Once again, the movement lost focus on the original causes for equality and non-discriminations, and safety, and placed the entire focus on promoting sex-related or gender-changing rights.

II. Analyzing the Evolution

Are we seeing a pattern here?

Little by little, the cause no longer became a movement that had any interest in a woman’s right to vote or her right to be treated equal to a man. In fact, the causes have contradicted much of the early feminist movements. How? By creating a woman whose main interest is sexual freedom (given the many ways there are to end pregnancy) and acceptance of transgenderism. Connecting sex with a woman was a label they wanted to remove in earlier waves. Now it is being amplified. It has become a cause no one would ever be able to identify if the term “feminism” were not attached to it.

Is it possible the goal for women's rights has already been achieved, at least in the eyes of a Godly woman?

Unless the Christian woman is lobbying for sexual freedom, abortion, lesbianism, and transgenderism (just to name a few), she is unlikely to support feminism as it is today. She is also satisfied by the equality achieved by the early waves of feminism and by the traditional role of a woman.

Why is the focus no longer a woman's right to vote and her right to be treated equal to a man?

Because oppression based on gender no longer exists.

No oppression to vote: Women have been able to vote since 1920.
No oppression to apply to schools
- Since the enactment of Title IX in 1972, federal law has guaranteed the right to education free from sex discrimination, and since then women and girls have made great strides toward achieving equality. In fact, statistics show the college acceptance rate for women is 2.6% higher than men. Some schools aim for balance of gender, which is also in line with achieved equality.
No oppression to apply for any employment
- Research suggests that 3 out of 4 jobs in which a man and woman both apply, the woman gets the job.
Pay is very equal
- When calculating the overall pay for men vs. women as of today, women make $0.83 for every $1.00 a man makes. However, when they work the same job and have similar experience and abilities, the gap is between $0.01 to $0.04. Studies show that another reason for the unbalance is men choose careers in which the pay is higher compared to women who typically select jobs in which compensation is not as high. Men’s and women’s annual pay typically stay on pace until around age 30, when most college‐educated women start having children, therefore, working less.

Women can Work in STEM field, aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, computer science, etc. But they choose not to. There is no discouragement to go into these fields. However, 4 out of 5 top paying college majors are dominated by men and 4 out of 5 lowest paying college majors are dominated by women. (Elementary education, psychology, social work, theology/religion)

Feminism is pushed on social media now more than ever. Social Media does a great job of using big, extreme words, unclear analogies, and sarcastic statements to make it seem like aligning with Feminism is “common sense.” How many times have you seen TikToks and Instagram posts like these?

Real understanding of what the feminism agenda is NOT

It is NOT equal rights for men/women. It is an ideology that is pushing the statement that women have no need for men. As mentioned previously, it is also pushing lesbianism, transgenderism, sexual freedom, and abortion. All of these ideologies are negating the existence of the Christian family: a loving and equal marriage between man and woman, cooperation between the two, children, and the family abiding in God’s commandments. However, the movement is perfectly wrapped within a package labeled “feminism” to bring support from those who believe they are backing a real cause.

Example 1: Here, the video completely strips away the ideology of feminism and equates it to sexism.

https://www.tiktok.com/@venu1s.png/video/7072740984588733702

Example 2: With both these videos using sarcasm and far‐fetched analogies, they make the point that feminism is just the belief that women should have rights.

Example 3: This video also uses sarcasm to drive the agenda that being a woman = low pay (“gender pay gap”)

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdoWugsc

Satan is very carefully using social media outlets closest to us to slowly introduce these ideas into our heads.

The goal is to slowly desensitize us to these ideologies that are not beneficial to society, or what God created as the structure of a family. The family is a small church: the husband is the head of the family just as Christ is the head of the church.

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5: 31‐21)

IV. Is there a positive impact from the movement?

No. There is no positive impact in the public and blatant pushing of an agenda that completely disregards God’s laws and His intent for man and woman. So even if those pushing the agenda win, their victory is an earthly one. Ultimately, they will lose the eternal life for living this life and for pushing it onto others.

V. Is there a negative impact from the movement?

Yes. The negative impact is so far ranging, they are actually oppressing the very gender they are trying to advance: woman. How? Because the woman is no longer free to choose the “traditional” lifestyle (the one God intended for woman). This lifestyle includes marriage, children, caring for the family, and living a righteous life. Why can’t a woman choose this lifestyle without offending feminists? Isn’t freedom for a woman to choose a lifestyle part of the feminist movement? Or does it only apply when a woman chooses to live a promiscuous life? Academic and professional advancement can also be achieved living this lifestyle, so ultimately, there is no deprivation of any kind.

VI. Biblical Perspective

Today’s movement clearly contradicts with God’s plan and creation. Men and women are different: they have different characteristics, strengths, and capabilities.

“So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them [male and female], 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen 1:27‐28)
- This verse confirms that there are intentional differences in the creation of male and female and they are made to unite and be fruitful and multiply.
“Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.” (1 Corinthians 11:11‐12)
- Both genders cannot exist without the other.

VII. What is the Biblical Role for Each Gender?

Above all, the Lord has called women to be the creator of the little church, the family, to give life and upbringing to children, to be concerned with the continuance of the human race. Just as without a woman, the human race cannot continue, in the same way, without her labors, prayers, and love it would not be possible for life to continue in the Christian life.
Our goals together, as Orthodox men and women, are to make society, as much as possible, an image of the divine.
Women are the nucleus of the family and church. The role of the nucleus is to help the cell grow and stay together
The creation of men and women in God’s image with the purpose of ruling together over God’s creation

VIII. Does Feminism Help Build Society?

Feminism, in its present form, does not help build society. It is a means to eliminate the traditional family (marriage, children, values) by glorifying sexual promiscuity, transgenderism, lesbianism, and abortion. It also aims to position women as victims of oppression, despite being very much equal to men in every way. Ironically, the feminist movement is oppressive to women who choose to live the “traditional” lifestyle as they are often condemned for not conforming to the lifestyle of the modern woman. Lastly, it causes division between supporters of the cause and those that are not. Those who do not support the cause are unfortunately called sexist.

Review

What does Feminism mean?
What was the initial cause for the feminist movement?
How does the initial cause compare with the cause(s) today?
Is there a positive impact from the movement?
Whom does the movement negatively impact?
What is the biblical perspective for the role of a woman? Role of a man?
Is the biblical role for each gender a bad thing?
How does the biblical perspective affect the feminist movement/agenda?
Does Feminism help build society?

Reference

2021 Retreat

Outline

Goals:

Answer and address hidden concerns, doubts and questions
To lay a foundation for defending our faith
To instill the idea that for any question, there IS an answer
To give comfort that they can come to any of their servants with any of their questions judgment-free

Outline

Sunday night Introductory Topic
- What is Apologetics?
- Can we know anything for certain?
- How is faith involved?
- What will we learn in this convention?
Day 1: Does God Exist?
- Station 1: Creation
  - How does the Creation account match with what we know?
- Station 2: Science
  - How can we refute the false ideas presented as fact by science?
- Station 3: Philosophical
  - What is our purpose in life? How does this convey the existence of God?
- Station 4: Historical
  - What extra-biblical evidence is there for Christianity?
Day 2: Which God? Proofs for Christianity
- Station 1: Prophecy
  - How does the Old Testament point to the New?
- Station 2: Logic
  - It is illogical that Christianity would have survived this long... unless it is true
- Station 3: Resurrection
  - The Resurrection is the fundamental basis of Christianity... is there any proof for it?
- Station 4: Miracles
  - Are there any signs in the modern day and time of the truth of Christianity?

Resources

Timeless Truth in Truthless Times (George Bassilios)
Evidence for Christianity (Josh McDowell)
The Historical Jesus (Gary Habermas)
The Resurrection of the Shroud (Mark Antonacci)
Intelligent Design 101 (H. Wayne House)
Case for Christ (Lee Strobel)

Below are some ideas for the above outline... they are just potentials and nothing is set in stone. It is impossible to cover all of the below, but we should cover at least one or two items in every station.

The important thing will be interactive delivery, activities, etc.

Introductory Topic:

"Pretest": I think it would be good to give them a handout or something that has some of the below questions phrased as yes or no questions. We know that they will say the right answer for all of them. But then after they are done, tell them "Now go through each question you just answered and prove it."
- "Does God exist?"
- "Did God create the world?"
- "Did God create man or did man evolve from animals?"
- "Did Jesus rise from the dead?"
- "True or False: Jesus is God"
- "True or False: The Holy Spirit is God"
What is Apologetics? When do we use apologetics? What are the categories or levels of apologetics?
- Christ used apologetics!
- The disciples taught us to be ready to give an answer (e.g. 1 Peter 3:15)
- We see examples of defending the faith in Scripture (St Stephen's speech, Elijah)
Can we know for certain?
How is faith involved?
Is probability involved? Difference between possible and probable

Day 1: Does God exist

Goal: At the end of the day, we have arrived at the conclusion, from four different and independent perspectives, that God exists.

Station 1: Creation (Bible)

In this station, we will read the Creation account in Genesis 1-2
Activity: Everyone goes outside and examines nature from the smallest to the biggest of things, from the different seasons, different materials, patterns, colors. Then sit down and write what order the world was created in based on your observations.
We can compare the Creation account and especially the order of creation with what science has told us (i.e. light and then water, plants and then animals)
Also the importance of time - science tells us that millions of years were needed for the world to get to what it is now... does the Bible Support that? Or is it seven 24 hour days
This Genesis account that was written thousands of years before the first telescopes and microscopes were invented... what are the odds that it got it all right?

Station 2: Science

What is science? What is the scientific method? What does science look like? Can science form a conclusion about something that's outside the physical realm?
Activity: Do some experiment that collects data of some sort... and then let everyone form a conclusion from that data. Compare conclusions... see how the data is linked to the conclusion?
How do we argue against science?
- Challenge the Integrity of the Data
- Identify a gap between the data and the conclusion
- Offer an alternate conclusion based on the Data
Origin of Life:
- What is Evolution? What does science KNOW? What does science THEORIZE?
- Challenge the data, identify the gap, offer an alternate conclusion
Origin of Matter:
- What is the Big Bang? What does science KNOW? What does science THEORIZE?
- Challenge the data, identify the gap, offer an alternate conclusion

Station 3: Philosophical (Patristic)

If God exists, why did He create man?
What is my purpose in life?
How does the existence of God give me purpose in life?
What is free will? How do I know I have free will?
Why does God allow people to suffer?
George Bassilious covers this area very well in Timeless Truths
We don't have to cover all of these points (since time is limited)

Station 4: Historical

Extrabiblical sources of Christ
Archaeology, Historical Documents, etc.
Maybe the Shroud of Turin and Sudarium of Oviedo?
Biblical Manuscripts (as compared with manuscripts of any other writing in the history of the world)
https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/youth-writings/the-case-for-jesus-from-a-well-prepared-15-year-old/

Day 2: Which God?

Goal: At the end of the day, we know how to defend our Christian faith against some of the common attacks

Station 1: Prophecies

As part of Engagement/Activity, we can liken this to fingerprint evidence... maybe some sort of game where they are detectives and they have to find all the fingerprints
How does the Old Testament point to Christ?
- Typology
- Shadows
- Prophecies
What are the odds

Station 2: Logical

There are three ways to spread a message for it to be successful:
- With Deceit (i.e. in secret) - Mormonism
- With Power and Compulsion (i.e. forcefully) - Islam
- Openly, with conviction, tolerating the consequences - Christianity
It is illogical that Christianity would have survived or flourished:
- The message was difficult to accept
- You cannot join the group unless you believe the message
- The message was spread at a time of no "freedom of speech" or "political correctness"
- Christianity had many powerful opponents
  - Religious opponents in the Jews
  - Philosophical/Intellectual opponents in the Greeks
  - Political opponents in the Romans
- Punishment is severe torture, imprisonment or death
- Started with very few people (just 120 or so)
- All of the leaders were martyred and killed publicly
  - If it was a lie, why would they die for it?
  - If it's a mass lie... really, no one gave in and said the truth? What did they gain?
- To join you had to forsake your riches and forsake worldly pleasures

Station 3: The Resurrection

What are the proofs of the Resurrection?
What are the arguments against the Resurrection and how do we answer them? (e.g. Mass Hallucination... Jewish argument, etc.)
“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely" - Charles Colson

Station 4: Modern-Day Miracles and Saints

St Mary Zeitoun happened in the late 60s, went on for two years, there are photographs from before the days of Photoshop (some of them taken by Muslims), many people came from around the world to witness it
Pope Kyrillos and the multitudes that witnessed to his miracles

2021 Retreat

Day 1 - Station 2: Science

Structure

Introduction (5min)
Experiment (10min)
Material Body (15min) - Different for each level
Questions can be asked at any time

Introduction

What is Science?

Physical, Empirical
Hypothesis, Collect Data, Conclusions

Why would we want to refute?

Because Science (Physical) is making claims about the metaphysical: namely, that God does not exist

They say: Evolution is where humans came from, therefore God doesn’t exist
They say: The Big Bang is where matter came from, therefore God doesn’t exist

How to refute scientific theories?

Refute the Data itself
Identify a gap between the data and the conclusion
Offer alternative conclusions using the same data

Experiment

Refute the Data itself
- Data:
  - Here is a rock (small rock)
  - Here is another rock (medium rock)
  - Here is another rock (large rock)
  - Here is a fourth rock (very large rock)
  - Here is a fifth rock (soccer ball)
- Conclusions:
  - Since we found all of these on the ground, they must all be rocks. Therefore, anything that was found on the ground is a rock
Identify a gap between the data and the conclusion
- Data:
  - Here is a rock (very small rock)
  - Here is another rock (small rock)
  - Here is another rock (medium rock)
  - Here is another rock (large rock)
  - Here is a fourth rock (very large rock)
- Conclusions:
  - All rocks start small and then grow over time. So here we have a young rock, an older rock, an even older rock, and a very old rock. - NOT GREAT! There’s a missing piece of data… there’s no evidence that rocks can grow. The gap between the data and the conclusion is too large.
  - The Rocks must be formed from water since they all have different shapes and water doesn’t hold its form. So they used to be water that kept its form. - NOT GREAT! There’s no evidence or indication that water can turn into rock! The gap is too large.
Offer alternative conclusions based on the same data
- Data:
  - Same as above
- Conclusions:
  - They all came from the same rock, and broke off at different sizes.
    - This is based on some other things that have already been proven (i.e. that rocks can break - especially when weathered)
    - This can also be reproduced! We can take a big rock and hit it with a hammer and watch it break into smaller rocks of varying sizes
  - They came from different rocks!
    - This is also based on some observations (e.g. different colors of the rocks, collected in different areas, etc.)
    - This can also be reproduced
  - They were all bigger rocks, and three of them got smaller due to weather conditions
    - This can also be reproduced! We can take several large rocks and submerge them in different weather conditions: water, heat, ice, etc. and monitor them over periods of time and watch them decompose
    - This can also be observed in nature
How does this relate to Evolution?
- There are two types of evolution:
  - Adaptation (Microevolution)
  - Darwinian Evolution
- Adaptation is proven science and accepted by us. It has been observed by science. An example of this is our immune system which over time is able to adapt better to different diseases. Someone who gets COVID once, is much less likely to get it again. This is actually an indication of Intelligent Design… the Creator is so Intelligent that His Creation can adapt!
- Darwinian Evolution is a theory and it is not supported by evidence… the theory that one species can evolve into another species
  - What is the Data?
    - Fossil Records (Pass around the pictures)
    - Similarities among living organisms (Pass around the pictures)
  - What is the Conclusion?
    - That humans evolved from monkeys who evolved from other species, who evolved from a single cell
    - That God does not exist
  - How can we challenge the Data?
    - Some fossils were found that they say are “transitional” fossils - meaning they are between monkey and human. But who’s to say they aren’t monkey? Who’s to say they aren’t human? We challenge this data. There is no indication that they belonged to a human or a monkey or something in between.
    - Both of these birds have wings, and they are similar… but is one’s wings better than the other? Does this mean the one with worse wings will go extinct and the other will flourish?
  - What kind of gaps can we identify from the Data to the Conclusion?
    - That’s exactly what we did with the rocks… Even though there is something that looks like a monkey, and something that looks like a man, and something that kind of looks like both… you can’t say one came from the other
    - Can we observe any change in species?
  - Can we offer alternative solutions?
    - The fact that there is so much variety in something as primitive as a monkey shows that Intelligence of God’s design… and yet, the fact that there is similarity among species, shows that they were created by the same Being

Material Body

Grade 6: Unanswered Questions by Evolution

Evolution introduces more questions than it answers
- What happened to all the missing transitional pieces?
- Where did the first organism come from?
- Why don’t we see innumerable transitional forms walking among us?
- Why isn’t nature currently in confusion after millions of years of this process?
Evolution requires more faith than believing in God

Grade 7-8: Probability

Let’s shift our focus to mathematics and probability.
Using these blocks, I’m going to make a human… this is a relatively simple structure! It’s just a few pieces put together in a specific order.
But it’s only simple to me because I’m intelligent! To someone like Benjy, this is very complex - how do I get this piece to connect to that piece? How do I get them to balance out and stand up?
Do you think that Benjy could make this?
Let’s take it one step further… do you think that if I emptied this whole container of blocks on the floor, the blocks would arrange themselves into humans and trees and stuff like that?
- Of course not!
- It’s not impossible…. But it’s highly improbable.
That’s because of something called entropy! Entropy means that the universe gravitates towards chaos - so if I grabbed a pile of sand, and I dropped it, it wouldn’t land as a sand castle! Even though it’s the same sand that could make a sand castle!
The probability is astronomical.
Now imagine a complex organism like a human.... Some scientists will tell us that humans were formed by random. A bunch of cells got together and formed the human… but let’s examine one aspect of humans. Speech.
How do you speak?
- It starts in the brain. There’s a part in the center of the brain that knows what you want to say, so it sends signals through your nervous system to your lungs. And your lungs expel just enough air to vibrate your vocal chords in just the right way to produce sound for as long as the word is.
- Of course where did this air come from and how did it get into your lungs is a whole nother story.
- But you’ve just produced sound. How do you turn that into speech?
  - Your tongue has to move in a certain way to produce each sound… it gently touches the top front of your mouth for L, but it touches it more aggressively for D. And more towards the front for T. S needs to touch while pushing air through.
  - Then your lips have to move in a certain way to produce other sounds… there are 60 muscles that control the way your lips move. If you want to make a M B or P your lips have to close and open at just the right time. If you want F your teeth have to come in front of your bottom lip.
  - And you take all those sounds and put them in a specific way with all the air that’s coming at a specific time and you get a word.
  - This is why St Gregory the Theologian in the Liturgy of St Gregory writes “You have given me the gift of speech”
  - And we do this a million times a day.
  - Did such a complex system happen randomly? What is the probability? Astronomical.
It is not reasonable to believe that we came about randomly, with all of our complexity. But rather - just like the human made of blocks - we must have had an Intelligent Designer.

Grade 9-10: Science of Evolution

We can also examine Evolution at the scientific level. In 9th and 10th grade at school, you learned about DNA and what it looks like and the chemical bonds that form it.
What is DNA?
- DNA is what stores genetic information about living organisms
- DNA is a Double Helix that has several nucleotides that bond together.
- These are base pairs where A (Adenine) bonds to T (Thymine) and G (Guamine) bonds to C (Cytosine).
How does DNA store information
- The order of these nucleotides gives us the genetic information.
  - For example ATGCCGTACCGA is a different genetic markup than TACGGGTTAACGCTA
  - AThe order is what matters
- DNA is replicated by a process called… Replication
- DNA is turned into proteins by a process called Transcription and Translation
- Both of these processes depend on the order of the nucleotides
How does the structure of DNA disprove Evolution
- The idea of Evolution is that all of this happened by natural forces… but if it’s all natural forces, then DNA cannot store information… let’s examine all the natural forces on DNA
- The helix is composed of two sugar-phosphate backbone strands
- There are four nucleotides (A-T-G-C) that bond to those strands with a Phosphate Bond. This is on the horizontal axis
- There is a chemical affinity that bonds A-T with a hydrogen bond or C-G with a hydrogen bond. A cannot bind to C or G; T cannot bind to C or G. This is on the horizontal axis.
- We can do an activity to demonstrate this
  - The sugar backbone is a line along the floor. Each kid is a nucleotide stretching their hands out. The rules are:
    - Girls can only bond with girls
    - Boys can only bond with boys
    - You can only bond if the first letter in your name (first or last) matches the first letter of the other name (first or last)
  - What forces are at play?
    - Gravity attaching each person to the ground
    - Force of gender bonding girls with girls and boys with boys
    - Force of naming bonding
    - What direction are all of these forces?
    - Is there any force in the vertical direction? Is there any force or rule that says the order must be Maria then Danny then Monika then Joe, etc?
    - The same with DNA
- All of the natural forces happen on the horizontal axis… but the data encoding happens on the vertical axis!
  - If there was a natural force that dictated the vertical axis (i.e. “T has to come after A” or “G has to come after T”), then the sequence is predictable and if it’s predictable it stores no information because it will always look the same
Conclusion:
- The structure of DNA, itself, proves that natural forces are not the only thing at play in the formation of DNA (and thus, the formation of life).

Appendix

Why is Evolution taught in school?
- McClean vs Arkansas Board of Education 1981
  - Defined science as guided by natural law
  - Said that natural phenomenon can only be explained in school by natural law
  - Scientist results must be empirically testable
  - Scientists must hold their views tentatively
- School boards reject the teaching of Creation because it is not “falsifiable” - because it is not explained by “natural law” and it is not “empirically testable”