High School Apologetics Year 2: Worldview, Philosophy & Art Analysis

Description

For Autumn 2026

This High School Apologetics & Debate Year 2 course is ideal for teens ready to learn how to maturely discuss and debate current hot topics from a Christian apologetics perspective. It is for students who have successfully completed Apologetics & Debate Year 1

High School Apologetics Year 2: Worldview, Philosophy & Art Analysis

Age: 15 +

Day & Time: Wednesdays 9:30-11 am UK Timezone (Two 40-minute sessions with a short break in the middle.)

Location: Zoom Meeting

Tutor: Agnes Mitchell

Pre-Requisites: Apologetics, Logic & Debate Year 1

Required Materials: 

• Reading: Books TBD
• Media Use and Parental Note
  There are no required textbooks for the course. However, students will interact with popular media that contains non-Christian ideas. These will always be used with the purpose of analyzing and contrasting them with the Christian worldview. All media homework (e.g., YouTube clips) will be posted via Google Classroom so students can view them without needing to browse YouTube directly.

Or, listen to the podcast.

High School Apologetics Year 2:  Worldview, Philosophy, and Art Analysis

This is a challenging course that helps students think deeply about ideas, culture, and faith. Through the study of art, philosophy, and worldview, students learn to identify the beliefs and assumptions behind the messages we see in media, literature, and society, and understand the consequences of those ideas. Drawing on the work of Carl Trueman, Francis Schaeffer, and Nancy Pearcey, students will explore how a biblical worldview provides clarity and discernment, equipping them to engage culture thoughtfully, defend their faith, and recognize the “idols” of contemporary society.

Apologetics Year 2 Course Highlights

• Grapple with the big ideas of our culture, where they came from, and what their consequences are. 
• Debate more complex ideas and compare with a biblical worldview 
• Analyse the messages in Art, film, and other cultural expressions

This high school course equips Christian students to think deeply and discern wisely about the ideas shaping today’s culture. Through the study of art, philosophy, and cultural movements, students will learn how worldviews are formed, expressed, and embodied in music, film, visual art, literature, and social trends.

Drawing from the works of Carl Trueman, Francis Schaeffer, and Nancy Pearcey, the course explores how modern cultural “idols” (from expressive individualism to materialism and moral relativism) have developed historically and philosophically. Students will trace where these ideas come from, understand the assumptions beneath them, and evaluate their consequences for identity, freedom, truth, beauty, and human dignity.

Rather than reacting emotionally to culture, students will learn to analyze it carefully, recognizing both good and bad in the media around them. Worldviews will always be compared with a biblical foundation, so that teens are not afraid of the ideas around them but are prepared to engage them with grace and truth.  

The goal of this course is not only sharper minds, but wiser disciples; young Christians prepared to discern the spirit of the age and respond with truth and grace.

High School Apologetics Year 2 Topics Include:

•  Art through the ages – how theology is embodied in art, what makes art good
• Greek thought, gnosticism, and New Age ideas 
• Mimetic vs Poietic worldviews
• Discussion of Descartes, Rousseau, Hegel, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, Freud, and their impact on modern thought.  
• The sexual revolution and its impact on society
• Personhood theory and its impacts
• Transhumanism and AI 
• Cultural Marxism

In this course, we will be discussing some complex, sensitive, and difficult topics, not to provoke controversy but to develop critical thinking about real-world issues.   Topics are dealt with in a thoughtful and respectful way, and care is taken to create a space where teens can voice and discuss opinions in a safe environment.

All discussions will be rooted in Scripture, reminding us that while we engage ideas, our ultimate goal is faithfulness to Christ.

Listen to the Podcast

Introducing Logic & Debate for High Schoolers with Emma Cummings & Agnes Mitchell

Read More

At Arise Home Education, we want to provide students opportunities to contemplate, discuss, and practice their critical thinking skills using topics relevant to their generation.  Read more about the best books on apologetics for teens and some fun ideas on how to implement them in your homeschool.

About the Tutor

Agnes has a degree in theology from Trinity Seminary, has been an educator for 18 years, and has an obsessive interest in worldview and the consequences of ideas playing out in our culture. Nearly every dinner time in her home is spent debating controversial issues, as she and her husband have always wanted their kids not to be afraid of culture or withdraw from culture but to interact with it, challenge it, and be able to think clearly about the different forces at play in the world around them. Read more about Agnes.