Have you ever been stumped for a response to a question or truth claim about the Christian faith, such as "If God is good, then why is there so much evil in the world" or "I don't believe the Bible because its been changed over time?

For truth claims such as "the Bible has been changed over time", we first need to understand the rule for truth claims. Which is: When someone make a truth claim, it's their job to support it, it's not our job to correct it.

Our ultimate goal in having these conversations is so they may be inspired to get more information that will lead them to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior - with the help of the Gospel Message and the Holy Spirit.

==Apologetics is giving a reason or defense for our Christian faith== that builds a positive case for Objective Truth, that there is one personal God, that Miracles are possible, that the Gospel record is historically reliable, that Jesus is God, and that the Bible is the true word of God. Pastor Francis Schaeffer described Apologetics as pre-evangelism that paves the way for the gospel.

==Next, let's address the confusion.== You may be like I was when I first heard the term apologetics. I thought it came from the word apology, and I certainly didn't want to have to apologize for having faith in God. But I was wrong. The word “apologetics” came from the Greek word “apologia,” which meant to defend someone’s views and actions. A good example is 1 Peter 3:15 when is says, "always be prepared to make a defense", a defense is apologia in greek. So no, it doesn't mean to apologize for your faith. But because it can be confusing for people, we may want to frame it differently such as Pre-Evangelism like Paster Schaeffer.

Good Questions and Answers

==So, now that we've covered what it is, let's answer, why are we called to defend our faith?== One reason is because non-believers have good questions. Questions that can challenge the foundations of our Christian faith. For example, If God, why evil? These questions are not trivial and deserve to be answered. In fact, if they can't be answered then we may as well believe in fairy tales.

==The good news is we have answers to their questions.== First, Christianity is true. That means that truth will always be on our side, and we just need to find the evidence to answer they questions. Fortunately, Christian thinkers have been answering these questions for 2000 years since Paul’s time, and we can draw on their knowledge to find the answers to defend our faith. So, while they have questions and we have answers...

God commands it

==The most important reason why we should defend our faith== is that God told us to do it. In 1 Peter 3:15 we read, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy. Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone that asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet, do it with gentleness and respect.”

==We may never run across anyone who needs pre-evangelism==, but we should still be ready just in case. Plus, being prepared to defend the faith is a way to be obedient to God. As it is written in 2 Cor. 10:5, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ." So, again, we want to always be prepared to make a defense for our Christian faith because God commands it.

Culture needs it

==Next, our culture needs it. This is because, while the Christian world view teaches absolutely truth==, there are other world views being taught that lead away from the truth. Such as Relativism: that says no view is absolutely true, Pluralism: that says all views are relatively true, and Naturalism: that says no supernatural view is true. The problem is, if someone does not believe in absolute truth as a world view, then they're not going to believe in our Christian world view. So, we've got to start here with truth because our culture needs it.

C. S. Lewis put it like this, "Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered."

Church needs it

==Next, the church needs it.== According to Norman Geisler's classic, "Twelve Points that Show Christianity is True", the statistics are staggering. 80% of active teens leave the church in their twenties with the main reason being doubts about the Bible. Also, only 9% of evangelicals (people that attend church) have a Christian world view and more concerning is the fact that only 51% of evangelical pastors have a Christian world view. So yes, the Church needs it.

Results confirm it

==Finally, results confirm it.== Many, from all walks of life, atheists, scientists, skeptics and the like have looked at the evidence and come to believe the truth of Theism and Christianity as a result of apologetics.

Objections

Objection 1: Only the Holy Spirt can save, not Apologetics.

Answer: This is true, but evidence can be used by the Holy Spirit. Apologetics can lead them to water, only the Holy Spirit can persuade them to drink.

Objection 2: The Bible is like a lion and does not need defended, only let loose.

Answer: Would we accept Islam or Mormonism based on this? No! The reason we fear a lion is because of prior evidence of their danger. We need evidence that what looks like a lion is a lion.

Objection 3: Paul tried apologetics in Acts 17, but failed.

Answer: Not so, Acts 17:34 gives the results and some believed. Paul used the same method in 1 Corinthians 15.

Objection 4: Paul said the natural man does not understand spiritual things in 1 Corinthians 2:4.

Answer: A distinction needs to be made between perceiving truth, as in Romans 1:18 which the natural man can do and receiving truth as in 1 Corinthians 2:14 which the natural man cannot do.

Objection 5: We are saved by faith alone not faith plus reason as in Ephesians 2: 8-9.

Answer: Yes, but faith is not unreasonable and a rational person needs evidence that God exists before believing in God.

Objection 6: No one is saved by apologetics, but by preaching Christ as is said in Romans 1:16.

Answer: It is not either or, but both/and, apologetics is one way to help bring people to God. The God of reason, who created people with reason, would not bypass reason on the way to the heart.

Summary

Review, Goal, For More

So, in review we've covered that Apologetics is giving a reason or defense for our Christian faith, and it builds a positive case for Objective Truth, that one personal God does exist, Miracles are possible, the Gospel record is historically reliable, the fact that Jesus is God, and that the Bible is the true word of God. Simple put, it is pre-evangelism that paves the way for the gospel and the Holy Spirit.

The reasons we do apologetics are they have good questions and we have great answers, the Bible commands it, our Culture needs it, the Church needs it and the Results confirm it.

The goal is that they may be inspired to get more information that could lead them to know Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit.

For more information on the process of having better conversations with people I would lead you to Norman Geisler and Frank Turek's book, I don't have enough Faith to be an Atheist.

As Norman Geisler, the Godfather of Apologetics put it: If God is a God of reason, who created people with reason, He would not bypass reason on the way to faith.

Sources

Norman Geisler, Twelve Points That Show Christianity is True Norman Geisler and Doug Potter, Twelve Points That Show Christianity Is True - Teachers Guide Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, I don't have enough Faith to be an Atheist Frank Turek, Cross Examined, Digital App Norman Geisler and Ronald Brooks, When Skeptics Ask Martin H. Manser, Dictionary of Bible Themes Crossway Bibles, The Holy Bible: English Standard Version