Study Guide

Contents

The purpose of this study guide is to help you interact more deeply with the ideas in Love Thy Body. As you paraphrase what you have learned, restating the concepts in your own words, you will process the material more fully. You will also connect the new ideas to the knowledge you already have, which gives the new material greater sticking power.

The key to making the best use of a study guide is not simply to give your own views and opinions. When you do that, you are merely repeating what you already know instead of learning something new. We stretch and deepen our thinking by grappling with unfamiliar ideas. The most effective strategy is to start each answer by referring to the text. First summarize what you have read in your own words. Then feel free to offer your thoughts. (Many questions specifically ask for your views.)

The goal of apologetics is to learn how to communicate your Christian convictions more clearly and persuasively. As you fill out the study guide, don’t think only of getting the “right answers.” Think of how you would explain the idea to someone who has questions and objections to the Christian ethic. Use the study guide as practice for real conversations you will be having. As sports coaches say, “How you practice is how you play.” So practice for the real world.

Questions: For each question, write a short paragraph answer. Be sure to read all related endnotes and to include that background information in your answer. (You can skip notes that only give citations.) Some questions include multiple parts, and your answer should address all the parts.

Dialogues: Each chapter asks you to compose sample dialogues. This is the same training used by professional apologists. In a real conversation, you cannot dump an entire paragraph on someone. Instead you have to unfold your ideas bit by bit, in response to the other person’s questions and objections. So strive to make your dialogues as realistic as possible to prepare yourself for real conversations with real people. Dialogues do not need to be long (about four comments by each character) but they should reflect a plausible conversation.

Each dialogue should start with a hypothetical person stating an objection based on the topic in the assignment. Then think of an answer that keeps the discussion going. Have fun by giving your characters creative names. The dialogues will help you bridge the gap between knowing something and knowing how to explain it to others.

If filling out the study guide for a class: For each chapter, choose only one dialogue to present in class, while answering the other dialogues as ordinary questions. When you come to class, print out two copies of your dialogue so you can read it aloud dramatically with a fellow student.