Apologetics is
frequently one of the most misunderstood words in Christianity. For many who
have heard the word Apologetics used in Christian conversation, the thought is
that it means that Christians are apologizing about their faith. Others believe
it to be the useless art of arguing someone into the Christian faith through
the use of intellectual arguments. Both assumptions are mistaken. It has nothing to do with apologizing or
arguing anyone into anything. It’s commonly derived from 1 Peter 3:15 which
states, “Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give
reason for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and respect.” In Greek,
the original language of the New Testament, the word “reason” in this verse is
“apologia,” a legal term meaning to give answers, or a defense, for why we
believe what we believe. The concept here shouldn’t be confused with defending
God, because as the late preacher Charles Spurgeon stated, “there is no use
attempting to protect a ferocious lion, he needs no protection. However, we are
tasked with defending the reason for our faith.” Basically, apologetics seeks
to give credible answers to the deep, curious, questions that the word has to
offer. It is the compass on ones journey to finding the Truth.
“Salvation is a
gift, and is brought . . . to the heart only by the sovereign work of God. The
. . . apologist will see (them)self not as a Holy-Spirit-substitute but as a
John the Baptist in the wilderness of a secular age, preparing the way of the
Lord, making the paths intellectually straight which lead to . . . the only One
who can take away the sins of the world.” - John Warwick Montgomery
Recently, apologetics
has been necessary given the advancements of Postmodernism, Islam, and especially
the New Atheist movement in North America and beyond. You
cannot read a book or article by the New Atheists without encountering their
claim that religion is blind, irrational, and without any evidence. Richard
Dawkins makes his feelings obviously known by the title of one of his newest books:
The God Delusion. Dawkins states, “In all areas except religion, we believe
what we believe as a result of evidence.” He goes on to state that faith is the,
“great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate
evidence.” Daniel Dennett claims Christians are addicted to blind faith. And
Sam Harris argues that “Faith is generally nothing more than the permission
religious people give one another to believe things without evidence.” So do
these claims hold any water? Is Christianity just a religion that is blind,
irrational, and without evidence?
When speaking of
Christianity, faith is mischaracterized and misused now. The original Greek
word in the Bible for faith is very different compared to what people believe
it means today. When you say "faith" today, it is too easy for others
to attached extra words to it, such as "blind" or "leap of."
A word in English that would better convey what the New Testament had in mind
would be “trust.” Trust is an awareness of the truth of something and a
willingness to act because you've been so convinced of its truthfulness.
The Apostle Paul
states in 1 Corinthians 15:17 that your faith is worthless if Jesus has not
been resurrected. In other words, Paul is asking why we would take the
centrality to Christianity on the basis of faith alone instead of researching
and trusting the facts. For example: Muslims say that Jesus was never even
crucified. How, on the basis of faith alone, can you justify saying your belief
is right and theirs is wrong? Paul is saying here that we can actually verify
whether Christianity is true or false simply by looking at the historical facts
pertaining to the resurrection of Christ. The New Testament is written in such
a way that it does not shy from its given claims being tested, but in fact,
encourages it. Paul himself challenged people of his day to examine the
evidence. Christianity is verifiable.
This fact is something that makes it unique among all other religions. Verification
can be done by history, archaeology, science, among many other means (all of
which will be covered in great detail later on this blog), and has never, I
repeat, never been found to be contradictory
to its claims – something no other religion can say.
We should note
that the apostles’ approach to spreading the message of the Gospel is
characterized by such terms as “apologeomai/apologia” which means “to give
reasons, make a legal defense” (Acts 26:2; 2 Tim. 4:16; 1 Pet 3:15);
“dialegomai” which means “to reason, speak boldly” (Acts 17:2; 17; 18:4; 19:8),
“peítho” which means to persuade” (Acts 18:4; 19:8), and “bebaioo ” which means
“to confirm, establish,” (Phil 1:7; Heb. 2:3). The primary way that the
apostles established the fact that Jesus was the Son of God was their appeal to
numerous miracles He performed (the resurrection being central) and fulfilled prophecies.
Christianity is grounded in facts. “Blind faith” does not exist anywhere in the
Bible.
This fact, though,
unfortunately is not known by many in the church today. By the time a teenager
in the United States graduates from high school and enters college, 70% of that
age group will have left the church/given up on their faith. By the time they
are 29 years old, 90% of that age group will have left the church/given up on
their faith. The number one reason why our young people are abandoning their
faith is because of intellectual skepticism. Their questions and statements about
Christianity go something like this, “I was raised in church but was never taught
how to apply it to my life as if it were all actually true. I had all of these
questions I wanted to raise and be answered in church, but when I did raise
questions I was ridiculed and told that I shouldn’t be asking those types of questions
about God.” Their many observations lead to more questions such as, “If God is
so loving why is there so much evil in the world today? If there are so many
religions in the world, why should I believe that a person goes to Heaven only through
the God of the Bible?”
Much of our youth
today see those within the church as having what has been coined “cafeteria
Christianity,” where they only pick and choose what they want to believe in,
regardless of what the Bible actually says, so long as it makes them feel
comfy. There is absolutely no substance being seen! On top of that, our youth
see church as moving more and more in the direction of becoming an
entertainment center than a worship center. Loud music, light shows, and fog
machines only go so far; you can’t fool our youth into making them think this
gives them satisfaction. Answers to burning questions and a desire for the
truth are not being met.
Did you know that
the majority of those who the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons recruit come
straight from Southern Baptist churches? This is primarily due to the fact that
the older generations within the church, in using this “cafeteria Christianity,”
have no idea what sound doctrine really is. They are “dropping the ball.” If
you asked them, “Why are you a Christian, and how do you even know Christianity
is right among the many other religions throughout the world,” most of them
would simply reply, “You have to just believe it in your heart.” So why are our
young people talking themselves out of Christianity? Because they’ve never been
talked into it! You cannot pass on what you don’t have yourself. And this is
exactly where apologetics comes in; to show people, but especially our youth
who are falling away at a rapid rate, that Christianity is grounded in facts.
Answers to burning questions and a desire for the Truth can be found at the
feet of a risen Christ.
This is an
introduction to my new series on apologetics. I will be covering each field of
study that grounds the facts of Christianity. Just in time for Easter, and with
it being central to Christianity, the next post will be on the resurrection of
Jesus Christ (and I promise you've never heard what will be on it). During this series (of roughly ten posts), I pray that you’ll be
able to throw down your barriers of skepticism or that of not being confident
enough to share your faith, like this dude can throw down a dunk!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTnC0RBXwws
