When it come to apologetics and Christianity, as you might remember from a previous devotion, the claims of Christianity are subject to testability. In fact, the Christian religion not only allows us to test it historically but encourages us to examine it closely as to its veracity. And that’s what apologetics is all about – this field of study offers many defenses to the truthfulness of the Bible. Whether you choose to examine the Scriptures from history, science, philosophy, ethics or just about any other field the Bible and the Christian faith stand head and shoulders above all other religions as the most unique, influential, and intellectually compelling belief system around.
For example, the field of archaeology has proven literally hundreds of biblical accounts to be true. When one looks at the Book of Mormon there is absolutely no archaeological evidence to support any of its historical claims.
When it comes to prophecy there is no religion extant in the world with one viable, believable, verifiable prophecy except Christianity. One of the greatest proofs of the truthfulness of the Bible is fulfilled prophecy. It is staggering in its amount. It is extra-Biblical in its verification. For example, the Bible talks about and prophesizes the fate of many biblical cities. The Bible predicts the fate of Nineveh, Babylon, and Samaria in stunning detail hundreds of years before their falls; and with exacting accuracy. And when it comes to Jesus, the Old Testament has dozens and dozens of prophecies that are fulfilled in the New Testament.
And in the field of science the Bible makes numerous scientific claims hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before scientists were able to verify them. Many of my previous devotions have shared some of these fascinating biblical scientific discussions. This is clearly not the case in other religions. As John MacArthur states: “Take, for example, the sacred writings of the Hindus. They contain such fantastic nonsense as this: ‘The moon is 50,000 leagues higher than the sun and shines by its own light. Night is caused by the sun setting behind a huge mountain several thousand feet high located in the center of the earth. This world is flat and triangular and is composed of seven stages; one of honey, another of sugar, a third of butter, and still another of wine. And the whole mass is borne on the heads of countless elephants which, in shaking, produce earthquakes.’ That’s ridiculous.”1
We could list many more amazing facts that provide ample evidence that a serious, open minded non-believer should consider when examining the Christian faith. But sadly, many people are too busy living for the moment, not concerned with spiritual matters, are closed minded, or enjoy their sin too much to want to examine Christianity. For this large segment of the seven-plus billion inhabitants of our planet apologetics is not enough to move the spiritual dial for these folks. And that’s where fervent prayer, in addition to apologetics, is needed.
For this segment of individuals, it is of paramount importance that when we share the genius of the Bible we don’t forget to pray for them, that God would lift the spiritual blinders from their eyes. For while apologetics reached the mind, prayer touches the heart – and this combination of prayer and apologetics is sheer dynamite.
While I believe that apologetics is mostly to help fortify the faith of the Christian it also can play a powerful role in opening the mind of the non-believer to at least consider the Christian faith. But even to the hard of heart, apologetics can at least provide these individuals with food for thought when their hearts become open – and that’s where prayer comes in. You see sometimes the only thing we can do for some people is to bathe them in prayer to soften their hearts. Then when they reflect back on some apologetic teaching they have heard the light may go on and bring a compelling argument to bear, not just to their mind but in their heart.
So, the next time you share an apologetic argument don’t forget to pray for that person. Apologetics can jar the mind but prayer can open the heart. And in the last analysis both mind and heart need to assent in order for a person to become a true child of God.
1 John MacArthur, Jr., Is The Bible Reliable? (Panorama City, CA: Word of Grace Communications, 1982), p. 73