Biblical Basis Of Christianapologetics

By Author: Johnon Philip
Total Articles: 90
Comment this article

Christian Apologetics is that subject which deals with the defense of the Christian faith. This is fully a Biblical activity because it has been advised and demonstrated in the Bible at various places. For example, Peter wrote : "Always be prepared to make defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15, RSV ). So making a defense of one's faith in front of those who question our faith is a part of our spiritual duty. The word "Apologetics" comes from the Greek word APOLOGIA used here, and translated as "defense". So apologetics is a defending of the faith, not making of apologies as some might wrongly conclude from the English word 'apologetics'.

A good definition of the character and function of Christian apologetics can be found in Paul when he says : "We live in the flesh, of course, but the muscles that we fight with are not flesh. Our war is not fought with weapons of flesh, yet are strong enough, in God's cause, to demolish sophistries, and the arrogance that tries to resist the knowledge of God ; every thought is our prisoner, captured to be brought into obedience to Christ" ...
... (11 Corinthians 10:3-6, Philips)

A Biblical Basis for Christian Apologetics: Almost all of the book of job is an apologetics to justify God's dealings with man. In the face of opposition from his friends and family, Job tries to vindicate the reasons for his loyalty and confidence in the Lord. He makes it very clear that the Lord of Israel was not like the gods of pagans around them; rather, He is a faithful God who would never fail those who trust in Him.

Psalms 14 and 19 are also apologetic in character. Romans 1:20 confirms this when it says that the marvels of the nature is enough to indicate the existence of an intelligent and all powerful God. The message preached by Paul in Acts 17 is another example where an apologetic approach is used to preach the gospel to the skeptical unbelievers who were listening to him.

Thus the Bible has ample examples to indicate the necessity and the important role played by apologetics for the Christians as well as non Christian hearers of God's message.

Functions of Apologetics: The methods and priorities of Christian Apologetics keep changing with time, but the aims remains the same, and they are:

1. To refute all the accusations that are brought against the Bible and the Christian faith.
2. To demonstrate that only Bible and the Christian way of life work in the actual life, and that only they provide8 permanent peace and happiness.

The Role of Christian Apologetics: The role played by Christian Apologetics has been understood differently by scholars, but all of them agree unanimously that apologetics has great value for strengthening the faith of the genuine seeker. There schools of thought can be identified easily. They are :

Christian Rationalism: According to this view, reason can completely demonstrate or prove the validity of the Christian position. Such a view point places too much trust in the capacity of the human intelligence/intellect, often to the exclusion of the role of the Holy Spirit in illuminating the fallen and sinful human beings. This viewpoint has never been widely accepted.
Logical Christianity: According to this view, reason is the starting point of it all, and it goes a long way foreword to the truth; the last steps of this process are taken by faith. This viewpoint is more Biblical than the first one, but it is still not fully correct. Some proponents of this view have gone to the extreme of claiming that since God can be known and understood through natural revelation alone, there is no need at all for the Bible. Apologists have never/widely accepted this viewpoint.
Autonomous Christianity: This is the most widely held view among evangelical and fundamentalist scholars. According to it, faith is the starting-point of everything in the Christian faith; once faith is established, it can be shown to be consistent with truth and reason. This is a viewpoint which is Biblically tenable and acceptable, and it will form the backbone of this series of studies on apologetics.
Opposition to Apologetics: There are some Christians who are opposed to the idea of apologetics. They do this because of a number of reasons, two of which are as follows:

Some people oppose apologetics because they are completely distrustful of reason in spiritual realm. According to them, faith and reason are to be placed in separate compartments, having no role to play in each other's realm. For them, reason is for the natural world while faith is something for the spiritual world. However, such a view lacks coherence. The Christian approach to truth is an integrated one where one has to accept that faith and reason do mix with each other in many realms of spiritual truth.
Some people oppose apologetics because they find them selves ill equipped to face the attacks. So instead of facing the problems, and instead of making a defense for the faith that is in them, they prefer to run away from it all. Since apologetics is a very difficult subject to study and master running away from the reality is easier for them. However, cowardice is not the way of Christian thought or practice.

Faith is the starting-point of the Christian faith, and once faith is established it can be shown to be consistent with truth and reason. There are may who will be strengthened in their faith if this consistency is shown to them, and it is the task of the apologist to help every genuine enquirer.
Dr. Philip is the founder of Free Courses, a net school. He also has Free Apologetics Courses where numerous free courses are available.