To use textbook terminology, Christian Apologetics is the practice of offering an appeal and a defense for the Christian faith.[1] This conversation should be filled with Grace, love and should be informative. The word Apologetics has its origins in the Greek word “Apologia”, which roughly translates to “an answer given in reply.” Apologetics can be argumentative, but in a conversational way, it should NOT become an emotionally or physically abusive interaction riddled with personal attacks. After all, our conversations are meant to be informative as to clear up any skepticism, doubt, misunderstandings, and misinformation the individual may have regarding the Christian faith. This becomes very difficult to do when the participants are attacking each other. This actually goes for ANY type of interaction and not just germane to one involving Apologetics.
During my personal study and my courses in school, I spend an enormous amount of time researching apologetics. In addition, I spend a lot of time researching other apologists on their websites, social media feeds, and YouTube channels to see how they interact with their followers. What I found was a different mix of styles. There are a few who love to argue, name call, and demean their followers who have feedback or ask questions. This was disturbing to me as this is counterproductive to our mission. That said, there are many great apologists. One of my favorites is Dr. William Lane Craig from reasonablefaith.org, others I follow are: Dr. John Lennox, C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, Abdu Murray, and Dr. Gary Habermas, There are many, many, more great ones, but these are the few I repeatedly reference in my study.
So, how did Apologetics begin? The Bible actually has direction for us to defend our faith. There are several verses which support this, but in my opinion, the two main ones are 1 Peter 3:15. And Colossians 4:6.
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” – 1 Peter 3:15
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” – Colossians 4:6
I won’t go into a grandiose history lesson, but the very first apologists date back to the first century A.D during the apostle Paul’s ministry and missionary trips as he was trying to share the Good News to those who have not yet heard it (Matthew 28:19-20). Afterwards, when the first century church was established, more apologists started to practice and add additional structure to the field of apologetics. Most notably, and widely considered the first apologist, was Justin Martyr (100-165 A.D.), a theologian and philosopher from Judea. And yes, you guessed it, he was martyred by the romans in 165 A.D.
I hope some of this information helps at least understand the very basics of apologetics and it’s importance to our faith. Thanks so much for reading and God bless!
[1] Joshua Chatraw, and Mark D. Allen. Apologetics at the Cross: An introduction for Christian witness. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 17.
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