Below is a copy of a method of apologetics (giving a defense for your faith) that I have come to hone and highly recommend – even as a better form of evangelism. The current approach was to a Roman Catholic and I left that in there to show a more specific side of it, but it could be applied to anything – keeping 2 Cor. 11:4 in mind. Check it out:

On a practical note, I do not think that you have to become completely versed in the Catholic Doctrine or apologetics to talk with them. When you get to talk to one (or two), the main point is to ask questions and evaluate THEIR answers, THEIR words – do not debate them/him. So,you can start the conversation down the right path by asking questions.  You could say, help me understand  . . . and pay close attention to his answers.  Pick key words and phrases out of those answers and probe deeper.  The point is that you are trying to understand exactly what he believes and ask questions that direct an evaluation of those beliefs.  So, if you believed that the moon was made of cheese, I might first ask you to define “moon” and “cheese” just so I am sure what you are talking about. Once I got terms right, I might ask you what you mean by “made of.” Do you mean completely, or just the outside? [as ludicrous as this sounds, my point is that you continue to ask questions so you know exactly what you are talking about from THEIR point of view.  Before you can show someone the way to truth, you have to know from where they are coming.] . . .

SEE BOTTOM FOR A SLIDESHOW OF THIS METHOD

The next step is to find out where they learned this from.  ”Wow, I had not heard that before, where did you learn that?” You can use ambiguous language so that you are truly listening, but not necessarily agreeing. Then you can also find out in this step how versed they really are in their research on this topic.  In this stage you might find out that they actually know very little about it. So, we have learned what they believe, where it came from and now, it is good to find out why they have come to believe that. You can even say here, “Now, how long have you been a member of the Catholic Church?” This is crucial.It is very common, not guaranteed, that something happened. Likely, people abandon what they held true and quickly follow a movement because of a single experience and an emotional response. If this is not the case, so be it – but it usually is unless you are in Utah and talking to a Mormon, or in the case with Catholicism they might too have grown up in it.

Once you have listened well, not debated and learned where they are, you can begin evaluating their words more. [For me, that means that I have to write stuff down while they are saying it so I do not forget] It is here that you could say, “Now, earlier you said A equals B. But, what about when C is involved, does A still equal B?” This process is an exercise in how much water a conclusion/belief will hold. If you believe that you have to be baptized to be saved and I can show you that the thief on the cross was promised paradise and then died before ”leaving the wood” AND that Cornelius’ house began to speak in tongues [a sign of the presence of the Spirit in believers in that time], you might have to conclude with me that there are cases where people were saved and had not yet been baptizes, therefore baptism may not be (is not) required for salvation. See what I mean? The process is to Start the conversation with questions and interest, Listen to their words and answers, Evaluate to yourself what they say, Question their words to a directed end. I call it the SLEQ (bad acronym for “slick”) method. You are merely helping them evaluate out loud their beliefs. No conflict, no arguments, more listening then speaking. In this process you are looking for what I call a “hiccup.” This is where they, because of your questions, say something like, ”Well,  . .  I never thought of it that way” or “I don’t know” or ”Hmmm, yeah, I don’t know.” This is when you have finally got them to stop their regurgitation of learned info and now they are really thinking about it. It is usually at this point that they are very willing to listen to you. I would stay very non-combative still by saying something like, “I only ask because some would say, ‘[a doctrine based on the truth of Scripture]‘ and I wonder how that works with what you have said.” Now they are still the main one’s talking,but at this point you have led them to compare their views with the Scriptures.

In Summary:

1. It is helpful to know about others beliefs, but way more important to know the Scriptures to use as the Rule to evaluate all other views by.

2. To talk with someone and be heard – YOU MUST LISTEN. Why would anyone listen to you about eternal things if you have not even taken the time to get to know them to understand what the mean by what they say. This isn’t Amway.

3. Start a dialog with him in the spirit of “help me understand more what you believe, where you learned it and why you came to this point and conclusion?”

4. Listen well, and then gently ask directed, evaluative questions.

5. If you get to that “hiccup”, be willing to let the conversation go for a couple of days or so. You have just gently unnerved a large portion of their worldview and they might need to digest that. Guaranteed, they will listen to you from now on. They might want to talk more then, and if so – by all means! However, you might need to say something like, “I am so glad you were willing to share with me today and have this dialog. I really want to think more about what you said. Could we pick this up over tea at “such-&-such” on “such-&-such” day and talk some more? They will likely say yes and now you have an established date with the intention of talking to them about this and only this subject AND they are coming to listen.

6. Keep 1 Peter 3:15 on your mind and lips at all time – and add a generous helping of 1 Peter 4:11.

Click on slideshow below and once downloaded and open, click the slideshow/play function and it will auto-run.

Apologetics 1 – intro and question 1