The English word “apology” comes from a Greek word which basically means “to give a defense.” Christian apologetics, then, is the science of giving a defense of the Christian faith. There are many skeptics who doubt the existence of God and/or attack belief in the God of the Bible. There are many critics who attack the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. There are many false teachers who promote false doctrines and deny the key truths of the Christian faith. The mission of Christian apologetics is to combat these movements and instead promote the Christian God and Christian truth.
Probably the key verse for Christian apologetics is 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” There is no excuse for a Christian to be completely unable to defend his or her faith. Every Christian should be able to give a reasonable presentation of his or her faith in Christ. No, not every Christian needs to be an expert in apologetics. Every Christian, though, should know what he believes, why he believes it, how to share it with others, and how to defend it against lies and attacks.
A second aspect of Christian apologetics that is often ignored is the second half of 1 Peter 3:15, “but do this with gentleness and respect.” Defending the Christian faith with apologetics should never involve being rude, angry, or disrespectful. While practicing Christian apologetics, we should strive to be strong in our defense and at the same time Christ-like in our presentation. If we win a debate but turn a person even further away from Christ by our attitude, we have lost the true purpose of Christian apologetics.
There are two primary methods of Christian apologetics. The first, commonly known as classical apologetics, involves sharing proofs and evidences that the Christian message is true. The second, commonly known as “presuppositional” apologetics, involves confronting the presuppositions (preconceived ideas, assumptions) behind anti-Christian positions. Proponents of the two methods of Christian apologetics often debate each other as to which method is most effective. It would seem to be far more productive to be using both methods, depending on the person and situation.
Christian apologetics is simply presenting a reasonable defense of the Christian faith and truth to those who disagree. Christian apologetics is a necessary aspect of the Christian life. We are all commanded to be ready and equipped to proclaim the gospel and defend our faith (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Peter 3:15). That is the essence of Christian apologetics.
Apologists are people involved in apologetics, a branch of theology concerned with the defense of the faith. An apologist hones his ability to defend the Christian faith by presenting proofs from the Bible, logic, and other empirical and intellectual sources. 1 Peter 3:15 could well be considered an apologist’s theme verse: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
The apostle Paul was a skilled apologist. In Thessalonica, “Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.” (Acts 17:2–3) Soon after that, Paul was in Athens speaking at the Areopagus with Greek philosophers (Acts 17:22–24). He also defended the gospel before kings, pressing them for a response (Acts 26:26–28).
Apologists must be quite knowledgeable of the Scriptures and Christian doctrines. In a sense, all Christians should be apologists. Every believer should be able to give a well-reasoned presentation of the faith (1 Peter 3:15; 2 Timothy 2:25). This doesn’t mean everyone needs to be an expert in apologetics, but believers should know the what, why, and how in sharing their beliefs with those who ask. And we should know the Bible well enough to defend our faith against attacks from unbelievers.
More than ever, the Christian community is being challenged and opposed by society. And sadly, we’re also finding the foundations of church doctrine being attacked from within. Some within the church pervert the Scriptures “to suit their own desires, gathering around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:3; Revelation 2:20)
Studies conducted by the Barna Group and USA Today found that nearly 75 percent of Christian young people leave the church after high school. Some of the main reasons for this falling away have to do with intellectual skepticism, attacks upon their faith by godless professors, and relentless peer pressure to enjoy “the things of the world”(1 John 2:15–16). Training in apologetics may help curb some of this spiritual attrition.
At the core of Christian apologetics is the “hope” we have within us (1 Peter 3:15), and Jesus is the cause of that hope (Titus 2:13). Jesus gives us the promise that “whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32; 2 Timothy 1:8)
Though the defense of our faith should be confident and unyielding, we are to engage in apologetics “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful” (2 Timothy 2:24). We must speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
It’s not enough for an apologist to have a knowledge of Scripture; he must love people, too. The goal of apologetics is not to win arguments but to lead people to a knowledge of the truth that will set them free (John 8:32). “Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:25–26).
Evidential apologetics is a method of Christian apologetics that emphasizes positive evidences in favor of the truth of Christianity. The distinctive feature of evidential apologetics is its one-step approach to establishing Christian theism. Evidentialists will utilize evidence and arguments from several areas including archeology, fulfilled messianic prophecy, and especially from miracles.
In distinction from classical apologetics, the evidential apologist believes that the occurrence of miracles acts as an evidence for God’s very existence. In this way, the evidential apologist does not believe that the philosophical and scientific arguments for God’s existence must logically precede arguments from miracles to establish biblical Christianity. However, the evidential apologist is not opposed to the use of natural theology to help to confirm God’s existence.
These arguments are an important weapon in the arsenal of the evidentialist as they help to undergird the case for Christianity by giving further confirmation that God exists and has created and designed our universe. Evidentialists simply do not believe such arguments must be presented prior to moving on to evidence from miracles. In this way, the evidential apologist can argue for theism and Christian theism at the same time without having to first establish God’s existence. Such an approach can be beneficial in personal evangelism where time can be at a minimum.
Evidential apologists characteristically place a heavy emphasis on evidence from miracles, especially the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Evidentialists will appeal to numerous lines of evidence to establish the historicity of the post-mortem appearances of the risen Jesus, as well as the discovery of His empty tomb. Additional emphasis is often placed on refuting naturalistic theories that attempt to explain away the evidence for the resurrection of Christ. Once the resurrection has been established, Jesus’ and His apostles’ own understanding of this event then becomes the proper interpretive framework through which we understand its significance.
Prior to His crucifixion, Jesus said that His forthcoming resurrection would validate His claims (Matthew 12:38-40, 16:1-4). The Apostle Paul declared that the resurrection of Christ was God’s vindication of Christ’s deity (Romans 1:3-4). In the book of Acts, the Apostle Peter claimed that Jesus’ bodily resurrection was God’s endorsement of Jesus’ public ministry (Acts 2:23-32). When taken in this context, the bodily resurrection becomes the primary validation of Jesus’ own radical claims about Himself and the vindication of Jesus’ message of salvation.
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