Life is full of questions. Some are of minor importance such as what should I eat for dinner tonight or what should I wear to work today. Other questions are much more important. For example, what college should I attend or whom should I marry? But only one question has eternal implications and that is what God should I serve?
My main contention is whether you accept Jesus as God or not, you should want to examine His claims to deity because the implications of His claims will determine your eternal destiny. If after examining His claims to being God, lead you to decide they are false, then you can go on your way to exploring other truth claims. However, if you decide that Jesus is God, then you better decide if you want to serve Him or not because your eternal destiny depends on it. A corollary question to, is Jesus God, is what type of book is the Bible – is it a book of truth or fairy tales? Both questions are of incredible importance.
I like the way J. C. Ryle and Frank Turek pose these issues:
“If the Bible is not the Word of God and inspired, the whole of Christendom for 1800 years has been under an immense delusion; half the human race has been cheated and deceived, and churches are monuments of folly. If the Bible is the Word of God and inspired, all who refuse to believe it are in fearful danger; they are living on the brink of eternal misery. No man, in his sober senses, can fail to see that the whole subject demands most serious attention.” – J. C. Ryle1
“Whatever you currently believe about Jesus of Nazareth, you owe it to yourself to investigate Him thoroughly. It makes little sense to ignore the one solitary life that continues to impact you in eternity if His claims are true.” – Frank Turek2
And that’s where apologetics comes in. For Christians who sometimes have doubts about Jesus and the Bible, apologetics can provide them with sound intellectual arguments to strengthen their faith and cause their doubts to vanish. For the unbeliever, apologetics can hopefully give them things to think about when it comes to the deity of Jesus and the truthfulness of Scripture. Hopefully the unbeliever will examine the Bible for himself and with the help of the Holy Spirit fall under conviction of sin and come to salvation. Our role as Christians is to share the truths about Jesus and why we believe the Bible is a book of truth with an unbeliever, in a godly way, and then pray that God will open their blind eyes and convict them of their sin.
All other questions in life have earthly implications – only who is Jesus, and what will you do with Him – will determine your eternal state.
1 Charlie H. Campbell, Apologetics Quotes (Carlsbad, California: The Always Be Ready Apologetics Ministry, 2020), pp. 11-12.
2 Charlie H. Campbell, Apologetics Quotes (Carlsbad, California: The Always Be Ready Apologetics Ministry, 2020), p. 46.
At the expense of repetition, I’m going to interact once again with the view that the goal of apologetics is to assuage believer’s doubts or to hopefully give the unbeliever “things to think about.”
First, we must start with a working definition of apologetics. The Greek word apologia means to give a word back or to respond in defense. We are to vindicate the Christian philosophy of life against the various forms of the non-believing philosophy of life. As Paul said, “I am put here for the defense of the gospel.”
Throughout the book of Acts, this defense is never done to answer doubt among Christian’s but is always a confrontation with unbelievers and usually a legal defense.
The center piece of the call to defend the faith is I Peter 3:15, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” This verse is speaking to all of us and not just pastors or seminary professors. Our rigorous challenge to the unbeliever involves dismantling his worldview and not just giving him “things to think about.” There’s a reason why after Paul gave his defense he was beaten, left for dead and eventually put to death.
Of course, we also need to give our defense with “gentleness and respect.” At the same time we never lose sight of the fact that we are presenting our defense to someone who is at war with God, has the wrath of God on his head, and is actively suppressing the truth. Therefore, it is true that the work of the Holy Spirit is their only hope of salvation and prayer should follow every apologetic encounter.