Should We Engage In Apologetics?

Why do we engage in apologetics?

Applied apologetics has for centuries been a key strategy for the defense of the Christian faith. Within the context of a pluralistic society, it is necessary to both defend and commend the Christian worldview. There may not be a “formal system for its use or theory of apologetics found in the Bible,” but there is evidence to conclude both objective and subjective commendations for the practice.[1] It is therefore necessary to engage in Christian apologetics to both defend the faith (defensive strategy)  and to uphold its veracity (offensive strategy). It means then, that we engage in apologetics in order to “defend what orthodox Christians have claimed about God throughout history.”[2]

A working definition of apologetics then is the defending and commending of Christian dogmas. Another way to put it is “the rational defense of the Christian worldview as objectively true, rationally compelling and existentially or subjectively engaging.”[ 3]With a multitude of available contexts in which to engage an audience, apologetics provide an avenue (that may otherwise be closed) into which intellectual barriers and obstacles can be broken down to the advantage of the Gospel.  

What is the audience of apologetics?

It is not uncommon to assume that the predominant audience of apologetics is the community of non-believers (skeptics, atheists and agnostics). This community can be called the external audience (those outside of Christianity with varied worldviews). The goal with this audience is mind change (Rom. 12:2) with an eye towards conversion or at least planting a seed that leads to a spiritual renewal. However, this external audience is composed of “a relatively small percentage of the total number of actual apologetic conversations.”[4] Oddly enough, the majority of the apologetic conversations take place  within the community of Christian believers (internal audience). It is here that the community of like faith reinforces each other’s faith, break down intellectual barriers, clarify the issues at hand and dispel those all-consuming doubts.[5]  As a people of The Way (Acts 9:2,24:14), Christians should make it their point of duty (at a minimum), to be able to articulate the reason/basis for their faith; that of notitia and fiducia. Apologetics, therefore, provides the platform for this type of effort. Believers must be assured and feel confident to competently defend and commend the biblical basis for their faith as proclaimed in core New Testament texts such as 2 Corinthians 10:5; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:25; Titus 1:9 and Jude 3. Perhaps the premier biblical text for Christian apologetics is 1 Peter 3:15. In this single text, the Apostle Peter encourages  Christians  to engage audiences to a systematic apology by proactively and gracefully making their case, while depending  upon the Holy Spirit for spiritual formation.

 If the goal of the Gospel is transformation (spiritual), then the Christian worldview must be the normative standard for behavior change, correctly presenting “a worldview showing mankind’s disorder in their passions, self-centeredness, and guilt before a holy God.”[6]  External and internal Christian apologies conducted within proper contexts then, becomes an effective tool for the proclamation of the Christian worldview and mission.

[1] James K. Belby, Thinking About Christian Apologetics: What It Is And Why We Do It, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011), 13.

[2]  Ibid., 18.

[3] Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case For Biblical Faith, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011), 24.

[4] James Belby, Christian Apologetics, 27.

[5] Ibid., 28.

 [6] Groothuis, Apologetics, 41.

GoogleImage

Written by Pastor Kevin A. Hall