What Is Apologetics and Why? - continued
As human beings capable of rational thought, we are obliged to conform our beliefs to reality. Not to approach the world in this way is to create very dangerous situations. Before crossing a street, for instance, we must conform our beliefs about current traffic conditions to what we see around us. If we ignore the actual situation and step into the street simply because we prefer to think of it as free of traffic, we risk being flattened by a bus. The bus doesn’t care what we prefer. It is our responsibility to respond to the facts, to conform ourselves to them.
We must investigate the world and its issues to discover facts and truths about them. This process is useful for one simple reason: truth is true whether you believe it or not. Truth does not require belief in order to be true, but it does deserve to be believed.
We must grasp our situation to understand why the emergency room scenario applies in our search for truth. The law of God offers us the understanding—the diagnosis that our condition is terminal—and the gospel of Jesus Christ provides the antidote. Jesus is not merely a cherry-flavored cough syrup that works just as well as the lemon-flavored Buddha. Belief in Jesus is an invasive heart procedure that brings people to life. And it is the only procedure that will work.
But as human beings who would rather be in the supermarket we must be persuaded
to go to the emergency room. We have objections, barriers, biases, acculturations,
conditions, misconceptions, presuppositions, distortion of facts, and any
number of excuses. It is the goal of Christian apologetics to remove these
hindrances that stand between a person and the cross of Christ.
Apologetics Is for Everyone
Some Christians see apologetics as pre-evangelism. It prepares unbelieving soil for the gospel. Others make no such distinction, seeing apologetics, theology, philosophy, and evangelism as entwined facets of the gospel itself. Either way, apologetics can profoundly impact unbelievers and can clear the way to faith in Jesus Christ.
For some, apologetics is not discovered until after making a profession of faith. Many Christians did not come to believe as a result of investigating the authority of the Bible, the evidence for the resurrection, or as a response to the philosophical arguments for God’s existence. They simply responded to the proclamation of the gospel. Although these people have grounds for their belief, they are deeply personal reasons that often do not make sense to unbelievers.
Christians who believe but don’t know why are often comfortable only around other Christians. Defensiveness can surface quickly when challenges arise because they don’t know the rational grounds for Christianity. The solution is for believers to become informed in doctrine, the history of their faith, philosophy, logic, and other disciplines as they relate to Christianity. They need to know the facts, arguments and theology and understand how to employ them in a way that will effectively engage the culture.
One of the first tasks of Christian apologetics is to provide information. Given even a little knowledge, a number of widely held, but wrong, assumptions about Christianity can easily be challenged. Here are a few of the views widely held in our culture that can be confronted by well-informed argument:
- Jesus never lived;
- You can’t prove God exists;
- There is no such thing as miracles;
- There is no evidence that Jesus rose from the dead;
- All religions teach basically the same thing;
- If the God of the Bible were real, He wouldn’t allow evil to exist.
Apologetics equips believers to answer these falsehoods—for themselves and others—in three ways. First, apologetics shows that Christian faith is not irrational. Although it cannot be proven, belief can be shown to be reasonable. This demonstrates that Christianity is not simply personal preference, a function of how one was raised, or a worldview supported only by emotional considerations. Second, apologetics answers objections against the faith and addresses misconceptions. Third, Christian apologetics not only provides evidence and arguments for Christianity but demonstrates the weaknesses of atheism and other belief systems that are logically incompatible with historic Christian faith.
The results of growing in apologetics thinking are boldness, security, and a lack of defensiveness. Apologetics enables believers to engage the world without acquiescing and without compromise. Like a doctor diagnosing a deadly disease and administering the correct antidote, Christians must recognize and expose the fatal flaws of unbelieving thought and be able to offer in its place the all-sufficient biblical worldview.
The Apologetics Study Bible—Now available at your favorite bookstore or online retailer