Courses Overview

The Literary Apologetics Certificate offers a series of classes to equip writers to share the truth of Christianity through their work and to equip apologists, ministry leaders, bloggers, and teachers to use literature as a mode of apologetics. The Certificate program has two main parts, the “literary” and the “apologetics,” with a total of sixteen classes divided equally between the two components. Participants may also take individual classes without signing up for the Certificate. Click here to view details and enroll in the classes. (You will need to fill out the New Account form; once you do that and verify your account by clicking on the email confirmation link, you will be able to view the entire selection of courses. Click on the course category and then the specific class in which you are interested.)

In the General Theology and General Apologetics classes, participants will develop a strong foundation in theology, Scripture, and general apologetics, so that they have a clear and confident grasp of the truth they intend to share through literature.

In The Christian Arts classes, participants will gain an understanding in both theory and practice of literary apologetics. We will develop an in-depth understanding of the use of the Imagination and literature to present truth. In the other three courses in the Literary Apologetics section, we will study the works of great authors from the 20th century and earlier to gain a rich, deep understanding of the range of ideas, approaches, and techniques that can be used by Christian writers. These courses are:

  • Principles of Literary Apologetics  (enrolling now: first class starts Feb. 20, 2012; taught by Dr Ordway). Course description: This course outlines the principles of communicating the truth of the Christian faith through imaginative literature (poetry, drama, and prose fiction). We will consider the role of the Imagination in conveying the truth of Christianity, and explore the way in which important authors such as CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and GK Chesterton used stories to convey truth. We will also examine the challenges of writing in various genres, and reflect on living and growing as a literary apologist.
  • The Fiction of Dorothy Sayers, GK Chesterton, and Charles Williams
  • Studies in Myth (CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, George MacDonald)
  • Studies in Poetry (Shakespeare, Marlowe, Donne, Herbert, Eliot)

In the writing workshop classes, participants will put their insights into practice through hands-on writing-workshops:

  • Wordsmithing (enrolling now: first class starts Feb. 20, 2012; taught by Dr Ordway). Course description: In this class, we will do hands-on work on “wordsmithing”: attending to the fine details of sentence crafting and word choice to take your work to the next level. Participants will learn strategies for choosing exactly the right word; for trimming unnecessary verbiage to allow the beauty of the idea to shine through clearly; and for shaping sentences to create “flow” to draw the reader into a sustained reading experience. We will study the prose style of CS Lewis and others, and apply those insights to work in progress: this is a writing workshop style class and is a core requirement for the Literary Apologetics Certificate.
  • Writing Elective: (various)
  • Writing Elective (various)
  • Writing for Publication (capstone course)
Mode of Instruction & Evaluation

All courses are taught 100% online, using the Moodle online course environment. All required work is asynchronous, meaning that students can complete writing and discussion assignments at any time during the week, making the program flexible for people in full-time jobs or ministry, or with extensive family obligations. Students are expected to keep up with the work on a week by week basis.

Students will complete assigned reading and listen to online audio lectures (in some courses), and complete writing assignments each week as part of the independent learning component of each course. The heart of the course, however, is in the interaction among students and instructors. Participation in weekly discussion forums is an integral part of many of these courses: students will post answers to discussion questions from the week’s topics, and respond to each other, with responses and guidance from the instructor.

Instructors are available by email for questions and will be interacting with students in the discussion forums (consider the forum as the “classroom”).

No grades are assigned; the Certificate approach is for ‘lifelong learning’ and professional / ministerial growth. However, students will receive feedback from instructors as to their progress, and will complete a short reflective writing activity for self-assessment and further growth. Those students who are completing the Certificate program (as opposed to taking single classes) will also complete a short summative paper at the end of each course.