Apologetics Basics

What is Apologetics?

He [Christ] wants a child’s heart,
but a grown-up’s head.
C. S. LEWIS (1)

There are many definitions of Christian Apologetics given by many different people. One possible definition could be:

“Apologetics is the art and science of Christian persuasion”.

William Lane Craig in the introduction to his book Reasonable Faith offers the following definition of apologetics (2):

“Apologetics (from the Greek apologia: a defense) is that branch of Christian theology which seeks to provide a rational justification for the truth claims of the Christian faith.”

Leading Christian apologist J. P. Moreland describes apologetics as (3):

“… a New Testament ministry of helping people overcome intellectual obstacles that block them from coming to or growing in the faith by giving reasons why one should believe Christianity is true and by responding to the objections raised against it. Local church after local church should be raising up and training a group of people who serve as apologists for the entire congregation.”

What is the task of apologetics?

In his book Defending Your Faith, R. C. Sproul defines the task of apologetics as (4):

“…helping Christians know what they believe and why they believe it.” This is the work of apologetics. The task or science of Christian apologetics is primarily concerned with providing an intellectual defense of the truth claims of the faith. The term apologetics comes from the Greek word apologia, which literally means ‘a reasoned statement or verbal defense’. To give an apology, then, unlike the more current definition of ‘I’m sorry,’ is to defend and argue for a particular point of view.

Does apologetics have a Biblical mandate?

In his book Defending Your Faith, R. C. Sproul describes the Biblical mandate for apologetics (5):

“The work of apologetics rests upon a biblical command. We find a mandate in Scripture to defend the faith, a mandate that every Christian must take seriously. In 1 Peter 3:14b-16, the apostle writes:

‘Have no fear of them [those who would harm you], nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard 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, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behaviour in Christ may be put to shame (emphasis added).’

Is Christian Apologetics Needed?

Your great learning is
driving you mad.
Festus to the
Apostle Paul,
Acts 26:24 (NASB).

Absolutely! Christian apologist J. P. Moreland writes (6):

“It is important for the Christian community to engage in apologetics for at least four reasons.

1. First, Scripture commands us to defend the faith and gives us several examples of such activity…
2. Second, apologetics can help remove obstacles to faith and thus aid unbelievers in embracing the gospel…
3. Third, apologetics can strengthen believers in at least two ways, For one thing, it gives them confidence that their faith is true and reasonable… Further, apologetics can actually encourage spiritual growth…
4. Fourth, apologetics can contribute to health in the culture at large…

Perhaps the greatest Christian apologist of the Twentieth Century, C. S. Lewis wrote (7):

“To be ignorant and simple now — not to be able to meet our enemies on their own ground — would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.”

The great Princeton theologian J. Gresham Machen wrote (8):

God usually exerts that power in connection with certain prior conditions of the human mind, and it should be ours to create, as far as we can, with the help of God, those favourable conditions for the reception of the gospel. False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. We may preach with all the fervour of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of a nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which, by the resistless force of logic, prevent Christianity from being regarded as any more than a harmless delusion.

Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona in their book The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus write (9):

“Some of us like to read novels, whereas others enjoy the intellectual challenge of a philosophy book or a stimulating historical documentary on television. What about the non-Christians you meet? Some readily identify with the experiential evidence of what the gospel has done in changing a person’s life. Others think “Bah, humbug on your experiences. Adherents of other religions claim religious experiences too. Give me evidence!” For some, evidence will not matter. For others, it is all they want. The Holy Spirit can use both sorts of conversations to speak salvation to different human hearts.”

If we can appeal to these people as respectable evangelical Christian authorities, plainly we can declare — with them — that the apologetic task is of utmost importance.

How do we preach ‘apologetically’?

Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona in their book The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus write (10):

“The apostle Paul adjusted his preaching to match his audience. When speaking to Jews, he appealed to the Jewish Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament (Acts 17:2). He shared this common ground with his Jewish countrymen. However, when standing before a non-Jewish audience, like the intellectuals of Athens in Acts 17, he did not appeal to the Scriptures (Acts 17:16-31). Instead he cited secular writers and poets known to his audience. The message of the gospel never changed. The method Paul used to present it did. You must determine how to relate to the person with whom you share your faith, for it is up to you to do the work of sharing. But it is up to God to do the heart work and we should rely on him to produce the fruit.”

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1. C. S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity”, (New York: MacMillan, 1943; rev. ed.,1952), p.75.
2. Dr. William Lane Craig, “Reasonable Faith – Christian Truth and Apologetics”, p.xi.
3. Dr. J. P. Moreland, “Love Your God With All Your Mind – The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul”, p.26.
4. Dr. R. C. Sproul, Defending Your Faith – An Introduction to Apologetics, p.13.
5. Ibid.
6. J. P. Moreland, “Scaling the Secular City – A Defense of Christianity”, pp.11-12.
7. C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1949), p.50.
8. Address delivered on September 20, 1912, at the opening of the 101st session of Princeton Theological Seminary. Reprinted by J. Gresham Machen, What is Christianity?, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1951. (The entire address is from pp 156-16. The quote is on p.162.)
9. Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona, “The Case for the Ressurection of Jesus”, p.34, Kregel Publications 2004.
10. Gary R. Habermas & Michael R. Licona, “The Case for the Ressurection of Jesus”, p.34, Kregel Publications 2004.