The Biblical Basis for Apologetics
Is
the Christian worldview true and rational? Is it worth believing and living out?
Within these questions resides the discipline of Christian apologetics. It offers
answers based on rational arguments, yet these arguments can never be divorced
from the apologist’s personal character. Therefore, apologetics is necessarily
both theoretical and personal, both intellectual and relational. Along with the
method of the apologetic argument comes the manner of the apologist himself.
Both are equally vital, as we will see.
The word “apologetics” is often used
today in a derogatory way to mean a biased and belligerent advocacy of an
indefensible position. Yet the idea of presenting a credible “apology” for a legitimate
position or viewpoint has a long and rich history. For example, the American
founders presented an apology (or apologetic) for what would become the
American form of government in The
Federalist Papers. These learned and eloquent apologists explained and
rationally defended a political perspective in the face of objections. An
apologist, then, is a defender and an advocate for a particular position. There
are apologists aplenty for all manner of religion and irreligion.
Christian
apologetics is the rational defense of the Christian worldview as objectively
true, rationally compelling, and existentially or subjectively engaging. The
word apologetics comes from the Greek
word apologia, which can be
translated as “defense” or “vindication.” In the days of the New Testament “an
apologia was a formal courtroom defense of something (2 Timothy 4:16).”[1]
The word, in either the noun form apologia
or the verb form apologeoma, appears
eight times in the New Testament (Acts 22:1; 25:16; 1 Corinthians 9:3; 2
Corinthians 7:11; Philippians 1:7, 16; 2 Timothy 4:16; 1 Peter 3:15). The term
is used specifically for a rational defense of the gospel in three texts:
Philippians 1:7, 16 and most famously in 1 Peter 3:15-16.[2]
But in your hearts revere Christ
as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer [apologia] to everyone who asks
you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness
and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously
against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
Because Jesus, echoing the Hebrew Scriptures, affirmed that
we should love God with all of our being, including our minds (Matthew
22:37-39), believers should defend God’s truth when it is assailed. Jesus
himself did just this throughout his ministry. He was an apologist and a
philosopher, although these categories are rarely applied to him today.[3]
[1] L. G. Whitlock, Jr., “Apologetics” in Walter Elwell,
ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1984), 68.
[2] See Kenneth Boa and Robert Bowman, Faith Has Its Reasons: An Integrative
Approach to Defending Christianity (Colorado
Springs , CO
[3] See Douglas Groothuis, “Jesus as Thinker and
Apologist,” Christian Research Journal.
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