Apologetics - What and Why
What is Apologetics?
Have you ever been unable to response to a non-believers question or statement about your Christian faith, such as, If God is good, then why is there so much evil in the world, or, I don't believe the Bible because it's been changed so many times?
Our Ultimate Goal
I need to remember, the ultimate goal in having these conversations is so they may be inspired to get more information that would lead them to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior - with the help of the Holy Spirit.
How and What?
But, how do we have these conversations? For me, when someone would ask a question or make a claim about my Christian faith, I would freeze up and not say anything because I knew I didn't have all the answers. And this was a problem for me because God has called me to study His word to help others and make Disciples. So, I knew I needed a process, and that's when God lead me to the study of Apologetics. What is it? Apologetics is giving a reason or defense for our Christian faith.
6 Points of Evidence
So for me, I want to be able to respond to these questions and comments about my Christian faith with evidence that builds a positive case for Christianity. For example, a positive case for Objective Truth, that there is one personal God - Theism, that Miracles are possible, that the New Testament is historically reliable, that Jesus is God, and that the Bible is the true word of God.
Confusion and Definition
Next, let's address the confusion. You may be like I was when I first heard the term apologetics. I thought it came from the word apology, and I certainly didn't want to apologize for having faith in God. But I was wrong.
The word “apologetics” came from the Greek word “apologia,” which meant to defend someone’s views and actions. A good example is 1 Peter 3:15 when is says, "always be prepared to make a defense", "a defense" is apologia in greek. So no, it doesn't mean to apologize for your faith. But because it can be confusing for people, we may want to frame it differently. For example, Francis Schaeffer called Apologetics Pre-Evangelism that leads to the gospel message.
Why do Apologetics?
Good Questions and Answers
So, now that we've covered what it is and the confusion, let's answer, why are we called to defend our faith?
One reason is because non-believers have good questions. Questions that can challenge the foundations of our Christian faith. For example, If God is good then why evil? These questions are not trivial and deserve to be answered.
The good news is we have answers to their questions. Why? Christianity is true! That means that truth will always be on our side, and we just need to find the evidence to answer they questions. Fortunately, great minds have done the work for us and we just need to follow their footsteps. So, while they have questions and we have answers...
God commands it
The most important reason why we should defend our faith is that God told us to. In 1 Peter 3:15 we read, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy. Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone that asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet, do it with gentleness and respect.”
We may never meet anyone who needs pre-evangelism, but we should still be ready just in case. Plus, being prepared to defend the faith is a way to be obedient to God and learning the evidence will strengthen our faith in the Word.
Culture needs it
Next, our culture needs it. This is because, while the Christian world view teaches absolutely truth, there are other world views being taught that lead away from the truth. Such as Relativism: that says no view is absolutely true, Pluralism: that says all views are relatively true, and Naturalism: that says no supernatural view is true.
The problem is, if someone does not believe in absolute truth as a world view, then they're not going to believe in our Christian world view. So, we've got to start here with truth because our culture needs it.
C. S. Lewis put it like this, "Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered."
Norman Geisler, put it like this: If God is a God of reason, who created people with reason, He would not bypass reason on the way to faith.
Church needs it
Next, the church needs it. According to the Barna Group, that gathers data for the Church, 59% of young Christians disconnect from the Church either permanently or for an extended period after age 15. Also, only 19% of adults who say they are born-again possess a Christian worldview, and more concerning is that only 51% of protestant senior pastors have a Christian world view. So yes, the Church needs it.
Results confirm it
Finally, results confirm it. Many people from all walks of life, atheists, scientists, and skeptics have looked at the evidence and come to believe the truth of Christianity as a result of apologetics.
Summary
So, in review we've covered that Apologetics is giving a reason or defense for our Christian faith, and it builds a positive case for Objective Truth, that there is one personal God, Miracles are possible, the New Testament is historically reliable, that Jesus is God, and that the Bible is the true word of God. Simple put, it is pre-evangelism that paves the way for the gospel and the Holy Spirit.
The reasons we are called to defend our faith are they have good questions and we have great answers, the Bible commands it, our Culture needs it, the Church needs it and the Results confirm it.
The goal is that they may be inspired to get more information that could lead them to know Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit.
For more information on the process of apologetics or pre-evangelism there are dozens of great books and courses. One is Norman Geisler and Frank Turek's book, I don't have enough Faith to be an Atheist.
Thanks for listening and I hope this helps you better understand apologetics, the confusion, and why we are called to defend our Christian faith.
Sources
1 Norman Geisler and Doug Potter, Twelve Points That Show Christianity Is True - Teachers Guide
2 Barna.com https://www.barna.com/ Christian Stats