While speaking at a church conference recently, a parent came up to speak with me after my first session. With a troubled expression, he said, “I don’t apologize for being a Christian! Where did you come up with that, that … word?”
Clearly, the man I was talking with hadn’t really gotten the gist of what is meant by the term, “Christian apologetics.” I explained that the Greek word for apologetics appears several times in the Bible. Probably the most well-known passage in which the word appears is I Peter 3:15. This verse uses the word apologia twice⎯ the ancient legal term meaning “to speak in defense” of something. Categories of Christian apologetics include the following:
(1) Textual apologetics—defending the trustworthiness of the Bible, then presenting the content of what it says;
(2) Evidence-based apologetics—presenting external data that provides objective confirmation of the Christian faith (such as historical or scientific facts); and
(3) Philosophical apologetics— exposing the flawed reasoning behind popular arguments against Christianity.
Apologetics addresses questions such as, Is there absolute truth? Does God exist? Is the Bible trustworthy? Was Jesus authentic? Why does God allow pain and suffering in the world? The discipline of apologetics is not about ‘apologizing’ for our faith; rather, it is about ‘speaking in defense of’ the timeless truths that we hold dear.
All the way back in 1933 G. K. Chesterton observed the following: While it is important to win the lost to Christianity, leaders must increasingly endeavor to “convert the Christians to Christianity.”1 Chesterton’s remark was a timeless reminder that the church must be ever dedicated in its duty to pass on biblical truth to upcoming generations.
Many today reject the Bible and the very notion that there might be ultimate truth which is binding for all people. The degree of rejection impressed on me again as I recently finished writing of book entitled 10 Answers For Skeptics. I interviewed several dozen professed atheists and skeptics. In the course of handling many Q & A sessions with this modern crop of doubters, I was reminded of the vital need for churches to incorporate apologetics and worldview content into their ministries.
Let’s be clear about our language: “Worldview” refers to what some one believes. “Apologetics” is all about why we believe the things we believe. Christians today need to learn about both. Believers need to be preemptively equipped for the intellectual questions and spiritual challenges that inevitably come. Apologetics content helps by demonstrating that Christianity is credible, reasonable, and relevant.
We should never apologize for our faith, though we are commanded to exhibit sound reasoning and an authentic life as a means of demonstrating Christianity’s truthfulness (see I Peter 3:15, 2:15, and Jude 3). I am encouraged by the knowledge that one of the most well-known verses related to apologetics was written by the apostle Peter. First Peter 3:15—quoted by apologists everywhere—was penned not by Paul the theologian and philosopher, but by plainspoken Peter, the fisherman. More than ever before, we must rise to the challenge of his words and equip a generation to “always be ready.”
1. Chesterton, Gilbert Keith. Saint Thomas Aquinas, the “Dumb Ox.” Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 2009, page 20.
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