As Christians, we are enjoined in I Peter 3:15 to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, always being ready to make a defense to every one who asks us to give an account for the hope that is in us, yet with gentleness and reverence.
The word "apologetics" is taken from the Greek word , translated "defense" in this passage. The same word is used in Philippians 1:16, where the apostle Paul states that he knows that he is "appointed for the defense of the gospel."
The validity of Christian apologetics, or of the defense of the gospel, is taken for granted in the New Testament. This is particularly clear in the book of Acts, which is filled with accounts of the defense of the faith by Peter and John, Stephen, Paul, and other leaders of the Church, all of whom were prepared to lay down their very lives in the defense of the Gospel.
Not all of the early Christian leaders were intellectuals, but all of them defended the Gospel. The task of apologetics is for all Christians. All people have the same questions, whether they are sophisticated or naive and whether they are well- educated or not.
Some Christians are fearful of the use of the intellect, or of the use of human knowledge, in the defense of the faith. This was certainly not the case for the apostle Paul, who was one of the best educated people of his day. He freely conversed with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers of ancient Greece about the things of God, and defended the Gospel in their midst at the Areopagus in Athens, and some people were brought to faith as a result of his efforts.
If we do not make use of our own God-given intellect in the proclamation of the Gospel, then we should not be surprised if no one takes us seriously. Either Christianity is completely consistent with what we know to be true of reality, or we should not believe in Christ. The intellectual integrity of Christian truth should always be of central concern to all people.
There is always a grave danger in the attitude that one must not ask questions, but simply take everything on faith. This engenders doubts unnecessarily. The heart cannot delight in what the mind rejects as false. If there are intellectual reasons for believing, why should we not allow people to know about them? To do otherwise would be unkind and unfair.
We must have enough compassion to learn the questions of our generation and answer them. The great twentieth century apologist Francis Schaeffer understood this very well. He wrote, "There is indeed the danger of falling into a proud intellectualism. But there is also the danger of lacking a love and compassion for men great enough to inspire the hard work needed to understand men's questions and to give them honest answers. Throughout his ministry, Paul talked to people with this kind of love and compassion, and he wrote this way, for example, in Romans 1-2. Christ, too, gently answered questions and discussed issues during his earthly ministry."1
Some people will insist that even the soundest apologetic has no power to cause anyone to repent and believe the Gospel apart from the work of the Spirit of God and that debate and argument can never really lead to anyone's conversion, only to endless argument and heresy. But not every intellectual question is a moral dodge. There are honest intellectual questions, and they must be answered. Although it is true that apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel will fall upon deaf ears, and although He creates the capacity for receiving God's truth, nevertheless, the Spirit makes use of evidence to convince people of the truth. We are to be ready to make a defense to those who have questions, but we are to do so with gentleness and reverence. Then, God will bring about conviction of the truth, making use of whatever facts are at hand.
Other opponents of Christian apologetics will say that it really does not matter whether the Bible is reliable historically, or whether the Biblical world view is valid. As far as they are concerned, as long as we are good Christians and retain our moral standards, it makes no difference whether the Bible is accurate. This viewpoint fails to take into account that Christianity is not merely a philosophy or a religion. As F. F. Bruce has pointed out, the Gospel "is intimately bound up with the historical order, for it tells how for the world's redemption God entered into history, the eternal came into time. . . . This historical 'once-for-all-ness' of Christianity, which distinguishes it from those religious and philosophical systems which are not specially related to any particular time, makes the reliability of the writings which purport to record this revelation a question of first-rate importance."2
The importance of Christian apologetics is underscored by consideration of the role that it plays in our own deep personal appreciation for all that God has done for us. When Thomas was given proof for the resurrection by Jesus himself, it evoked a spontaneous expression of worship and adoration. He suddenly realized without doubt that it was all true, and he was ecstatic.
The Christian Gospel truly is good news to those who suddenly understand it or recognize its truth. It means our release from slavery to sin, disease, death and mortality, and provides for our translation to an existence with no hint of sorrow or sadness, but filled with unending joy in paradise. It is one thing to hope that these things might possibly be true, but it is quite another thing to know without doubt that these yearnings of all of creation will actually be fulfilled. When God quickens this knowledge to us, He does so using all available evidence.
1 Francis A. Schaeffer, The New Super Spirituality (Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1972), p. 20.
2 F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, fifth ed. (Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1960), p. 8.
