What exactly is apologetics? Well, it doesn’t have to do with apologizing to your wife after you’ve done something bad. The word “apologetics” comes from the Greek word apologia, meaning “defense”. So apologetics, in relation to Christian ministry, can be summed up well by the italicized text in 1 Peter 3:14-16:
But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
Apologetics then, is a type of ministry, one that focuses on the evidences for the Christian faith and presenting them in a respectful manor. It is giving a defense of the truth claims of Christianity particularly to non-believers.
“But,” someone might ask, “why must we give evidences for Christianity to those who don’t believe? Doesn’t Scripture tell us that we believe and are justified by faith? Scripture doesn’t say anything about presenting evidence or defending Christianity. Scripture says it is all about believing in Jesus and having faith in him. You don’t need to defend Christianity; Christianity is all about faith.” It is certainly true that Christianity is all about faith, but there are two major misunderstandings lying in this objection to apologetics. The first misunderstanding is that doing apologetics is in some way opposed to the doctrine of justification by faith. The second is that Scripture says nothing about defending the Gospel. However, I think Scripture gives us a picture that is quite different. We have already seen that in 1 Peter there is a clear command to give a defense of what you believe while simultaneously presenting the Gospel. There are also many others.
In Acts 26, Paul was before Agrippa and made his defense; literally, his apologia. He gave his testimony and proclaimed boldly that Jesus had risen from the dead. When Festus called him crazy, Paul responded by pointing to the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection: “...the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner (Acts 26:26).” Jesus’ resurrection happened in plain sight; it had not “been done in a corner.” The tomb was empty, and there were witnesses, not only among the disciples and Paul but by 500 others who could corroborate that Jesus was alive after his death (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Paul presented the evidence for the resurrection and the Gospel side-by-side and he did not think that doing this was in any way opposed to the doctrine of justification by faith, the very doctrine that fills his letters to the Romans and Galatians.
Consider the passage Acts 4:7-10 in which Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin and questioned about a miracle:
And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.
Notice that the miracle Peter and John performed in Jesus’ name served as a type of evidence. The miracle pointed to the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and the council could not deny that it had happened. As with Paul, Peter pointed the evidence while simultaneously presenting the Gospel.
One last passage: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Romans 1:20).” Notice how Paul points to creation and says that it points to God. (This gives credence to what is called nowadays natural theology. Natural theology is a discipline that seeks to show that some things can be known about God apart from revelation, through reason and experience. But what I want to focus on is the idea that creation serves as evidence.) Apologists are typically very fond of cosmological arguments and design/teleological arguments. In very simplified form, cosmological arguments argue that the universe needs a cause: God. Design/teleological arguments argue that the design/order of the universe requires a designer/orderer: God. These two kinds of arguments, it seems to me, have a biblical basis in Paul’s appeal to creation in Romans 1:20.
I hope to have shown from these passages that apologetics is indeed biblical and does not impugn justification by faith or diminish the Gospel. In fact, presenting the evidence for the Gospel and presenting the Gospel itself seem molded together; they cannot be separated. Yet, it seems that many Christians are unfamiliar with apologetics. I hope that this will change. There is a major need for the ministry of apologetics within and outside the church. I say “within” the church because many members may struggle with doubts. I say “outside” the church because there are many unbelievers who believe there to be opposition between Christianity and evidence or reason.
I also hope at least some of the readers of this post will be moved to study apologetics. Giving a reason for the convictions you have about Jesus Christ is needed more now than ever. I think you will also find that studying apologetics will produce fruit in your spiritual life and increase your witness to the Gospel.
Future posts on this topic will outline some basic apologetics.
*All Scripture references are from the ESV.
One might ask “Where/how do I begin to study apologetics?” I would recommend the two following books by perhaps the greatest apologist of our time:
Craig, William Lane. On Guard. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2010. (Introductory)
__________. Reasonable Faith. Third ed. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008. (Intermediate)
I would also recommend http://apologetics315.blogspot.com/ which has a variety of resources for apologetic use.