What is Apologetics?

I sometimes get puzzled looks when I say that I am involved in apologetics. I have actually been asked why I feel I need to apologize for the faith. If we understand what the word really means then, yes, I do need to apologize for the faith. What does the word mean? Simply enough, it means that we are able to provide a defense of the faith. The word is apologia in the Greek and it can be found in 1 Peter 3:15, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” It can be found in various forms elsewhere in the Scriptures, but the verse in 1 Peter is the main text. Now you know what the word means, but how is it practiced.

There is much more to the context of the passage of 1 Peter regarding the believer’s conduct in this world, but I will briefly attempt to show what it looks like in today’s post-Christian world. Apologetics is needed both inside and outside the church. Inside the church because false teaching and false teachers are all too common in the church. I wish false teaching was a blatant denial of the truth revealed in God’s Word, but unfortunately it is a subtle distortion and twisting of God’s Word to suit the selfish ambition of the teacher, whatever the reasons are. The Prosperity Gospel is a prime example of this. They use all the right “Christian” words but the motivating factor is to make the preachers or leaders rich. Shai Linne, in his song “False Teachers,” states that they are using Jesus as a lottery ticket. Any teaching on the suffering of the believer as Jesus warned is frowned upon, even claimed the suffering is just a lack of faith. There are numerous other examples of the need for apologetics within the church, but let’s turn our attention to the need outside the church.

Many consider apologetics to be concerned about pre-evangelism, but I don’t agree with that idea. I believe that one has not actually engaged in the defense of the faith if it does not include the proclamation of the gospel. Apologetics and evangelism are the two sides of the same coin. Quite often, there are attacks on the faith from those who do not believe in God or they believe in a different god or many gods. Due to time restraints for this particular post, I cannot go into all the various avenues that a defense of the faith entails, but my goal is to provide further posts regarding approaches to take when you are discussing with those of other faiths or no faith at all (which is somewhat of a contradiction since even the atheist has faith that his atheism is true).

I would like to note that end of that verse says, “yet do it with gentleness and respect.” It is my position that anyone engaging in a conversation, regarding the defense of the faith with a person who does not hold the same belief, must be gentle and respectful. There is a way to have a conversation about religion, politics, sexual orientation, or whatever and not be a jerk. We must learn to listen to what the other person is actually saying and not what we think they are saying. There is a right and a wrong and no one likes to be wrong, but if the position contradicts the Word of God then it is wrong. How we approach the topic is extremely important and makes all the difference of whether the person is going to listen to what we have to say.