Christian apologetics is the area of study concerned with the defense of Christian faith against the attacks of skepticism. The primary areas of this study are the existence of God, the historicity and deity of Jesus, and the inspiration of the Bible. Although this area of study often involves technical and scientific subjects, it is important for every Christian to expend the mental effort to better understand it. Why is that so? What are the reasons that would motivate a Christian to study apologetics? Two reasons were given in the previous article. One more will be given here.
Third, studying apologetics is becoming more and more essential as a part of personal evangelism. Gone are the days in America when Christians had the luxury of assuming that the person who agreed to study the Bible with you already believed that God existed, that Jesus Christ was His Son, and that the Bible was in some sense authored by God and trustworthy for guiding a person’s life. It is far less often these days that we hear, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10). It is becoming more often that we hear, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice…?” (Exo. 5:2). Before discussions can be had over what the Bible teaches, we must now be prepared to discuss why someone should even care what the Bible teaches.
We must be able to articulate, again, why we believe what we believe. If we cannot explain to others the evidence that supports our convictions, we are essentially saying to them, “I know I’m right about the existence of God, the inspiration of the Bible, and the deity of Christ, but you’ll just have to take my word for it and trust me.” Frankly, that isn’t good enough! The atheists and skeptics have stepped up their game. We must step up ours.
Conclusion
Is your own faith weak? Have you merely assumed that the evidence for your beliefs exists without actually researching that evidence? Is your faith really not your own, but little more than the faith handed to you from others? Do you struggle articulating why you believe the things that you believe? Have you found yourself facing questions about God’s existence, the identity of Jesus, or the inspiration of the Bible that you don’t know how to answer? Have you watched a television documentary that is skeptical toward God and the Bible and found yourself wondering how you might answer their charges? Have you sat in a college or high school classroom in which godless theories of the origin of man are presented as if they are established fact, but you are unsure how to respond? Are you tired of hearing and seeing the increased vociferous attacks against God and want to get off the sidelines and into the game?
If so, then a study of Christian apologetics is exactly what you need. And one of the best places to start is Apologetics Press (www.apologeticspress.org).