The Greek word “apologia,” is the Apologetics got its name which means “a verbal defense”, in the New Testament it was used eight times, in the verses: Acts 22:1; 25:16; 2 Cor. 7:11; 1 Cor. 9:3; 2 Tim. 4:16, Phil. 1;7; and 1 Pet. 3:15. However it is the preceding verse that is mainly associated through Christian apologetics. “….but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3:15).
So Christian apologetics is the division of Christianity that deals with responding any and all critics who question or oppose the revelation of God in Christ and the Bible. It can comprise studying such subjects as philosophy, biblical manuscript transmission, logic, biology, mathematics and evolution. However it can also consist of merely giving an answer to a inquiry about Bible passage or Jesus.
Apologetics is the effort of convincing people to transform their outlook. In this, it is comparable to preaching because its objective is ultimately the presentation and defense of the necessity and validity of the gospel. It is a strive to influence the listener to change his viewpoint and life to obey the rules to biblical truth and to come to a saving connection in Christ.
Fundamentally apologetics can be evidential (often called “classical”) or presuppositional. Evidential apologetics agree with the proof for Christianity: the biblical manuscripts, Jesus’ resurrection, miracles, fulfilled prophecy, etc. Presuppositional apologetics agreement with the presuppositions of those who contest Christianity, for the reason that presuppositions affect how an individual person views reason and evidence.
Some part of debate contained in Christian apologetics contract with the use of philosophy, evidence, reasons, etc. Should the apologist apply only those criteria suitable to nonbelievers? Are we permitted to apply the Bible as a defense of our situation or must we establish Christianity without it? Are grounds alone enough to prove Christianity’s truth or God’s existence? How much ought to reason and evidence be utilize in light of the Scriptures’ teaching that it is God who unwrap the mind to comprehend? What role does prayer, by means of the Bible, and the sinful nature of the nonbeliever play in witnessing? How do these aspects interrelate to bring a nonbeliever to belief? The problems are easy. The response is not.
Jesus selected only one highly-educated religious individual as a disciple. That was Paul. The other remaining were a tax collector, a doctor, fishermen etc. They were ordinary citizens of the day who were offered and willing to be used by the Lord. They were overflowing with the Spirit of God and they were used as preachers to spread the good words and deeds of God. For His glory God utilizes all things. Apologetics by faith are we are doing right now.
Every Christian is called By God to be prepared to make a defense of his belief or his faith. It only means that everyone is called to provide logical response to inquiry pertaining to Christianity. Now, this does not mean that one should go and enter the seminary or to have a high level of education like Ph D just to be an Apologetic. But it does signify that you should be eager to at least give an answer for your belief or faith. If you discover you cannot, in that case prayerfully take it to God and begin studying.
You could call upon and pray and ask over the Lord to instruct you what He desires you to know. Request Him to provide you a problem or a trouble for something to gain knowledge. Just ask it doesn’t matter what it is. Whatever you turn out to be or concerned in is what you should gain knowledge about anything because it is most likely something God desires you to know for future use. It is similar to having utensils in a utensil shed. The more you can accomplish if you have more knowledge.
Through circumstances is the other way to know what God’s purpose for you or what He wants you to know. For an instance a Jehovah’s Witness comes to your home and argues with the divinity of Christ with you and you find yourself that you cannot don’t know how to protect your faith biblically.
In that situation, you know you need to gain knowledge and learn biblical verses that teach Jesus is God in flesh. Or perhaps a colleague raises a question how you know the Bible is real or true? If you are not armed with an answer ask the Lord and pray, start investigating and make a research. Go to a Christian bookstore and get some materials that can help you on the subject. Ask and Talk to your pastor. You’ll find out what you want to know.
Occasionally God will create a subject or verse in the Bible “come alive” to you and it might hit you as interesting or odd. You could obtain comments and read up on it. You could raise a question to others about it. In doing this, you are preparing yourself through acquiring knowledge and learning to be prepared to answer inquiry or questions and enlighten people to the truth in the words of God based on the bible. You’d be amazed how many information God can utilize to help out you in your witness, even through those it appears in difficult times when verses unexpectedly “come alive.”
Apologetics is somewhat of a lonesome venture. It is promising for an individual person to provide a enormous deal of attempt to apologetic work, to protect and defend God’s sacred word, to responding correctly to questions, to way of thinking with people and have it all seem as though it was worthless. For the Apologist discouragement is a certain thing that should be fighting off by their own strengths with the help of their faith with God. There are surely successes, with the help of God’s grace, but there are also many instances that could simply be categorize as “unprofitable.”
To guide you stay your eyes on the real concern of apologetics, the following illustration that I will cite may help you. The thought is to get you to recognize what your task as an apologist, as a person or individual who response and answers to the objection and questions, and point’s the attention of people to Jesus. I consider that if you completely know and understand where you are and what your tasks and jobs are, then you won’t be as defeat with obstacle that you will encounter as you might otherwise be.
We can compare Apologetic in a field. In the middle of the field is a garden. This garden has a single opening, and that opening is Jesus. There is one way or path that show the way to that opening. Within the garden is everlasting life in the existence of God. Outside the field, however, are boulders, rocks, thorns, thistles, hills, valleys and many difficult paths that guide to nowhere.
The apologist lives in in the field and leads the people to the true and right path so they can find the Garden. The apologist search for to get rid of the emotional rocks and intellectual thorns that hindered the people from discovery the true path to God. As well, there are certain individual people who are walking bogus paths (philosophies, cult etc.) who will never search and reach that Garden. The apologist gently and simply leads and guides the person, get rid of the obstacles, and leads in the direction of the Garden. When people reach your destination there, it is between God and them as to whether or not they enter that Garden..
Think of yourself as a worker in the field. Your job is to save everyone and anyone. It is duty to lead and guide them to the right way. You aren’t the only person in the field. Reaching and bringing them to the Garden is not your task. They found it and get there. You merely help them.
There are eight reasons why we need Apologetics. The first and most noticeable is because we are authority to protect and defend the belief or faith that we have: Second, we must have apologetics for the reason that it helps Christians know their belief and faith. This is the thing that is sadly and badly missing among the majority of the believers. They don’t know much about their faith, let alone be able to describe the two natures of Christ, the trinity His physical resurrection, or even be able to tell the differentiation between sanctification and justification. Apologetics helps to defend and define what the truth and the meaning of the gospel is. Third, apologetics is a challenge to keep people to go to hell. God takes sin very sincerely, and He will penalize those who have provoked against Him and are not sheltered in the blood of Christ.
As Christians, we should be maintaining to present the reality of salvation in Jesus. We should not sit absentmindedly and disregard the dilemma of the nonbeliever. We need to talk to them and tell them that sin is factual because God is real, and not following the God’s law has significance. Because we have failed God and all sinned, we cannot keep God’s Law absolutely. Fourth, we need apologetics to oppose the bad figure that Christianity has received in the culture and by the media.
The scandals and the televangelist, both monetarily and sexually, are a dishonor to Christianity. The Catholic Church hasn’t act with its scandals concerning priests. On top of that, a media is very unfair against Christianity and you will see unenthusiastic opinions of Christianity prop up everywhere. Fifth, we should have apologetics because there is a regular threat of apostasy in the observable Christian church. For an instance the case with the Metropolitan Community Church denomination, which candidly advocates the sustain of homosexuality in disobedience of scripture? Sixth, another grounds we should have apologetics is because of the many fake teachings and traditions out there.
Mormonism educate that God used to be a man on different world, that he convey one of his goddess wives with him to this humankind, that they produce spirit offspring that are born into individual human babies, and that you have the possibility of becoming a god of your own humanity. The Jehovah’s Witnesses educate people that there that Jesus is Michael the Archangel, is no Trinity, that hell does not exist, and that only 144,000 people will go to paradise.
Atheism rejects God’s reality, openly counterfeit Christianity and is in advance ground in schools and public life. Islam educates people that Jesus was not God in flesh, that Jesus did not rose from the dead, and that He did not die for our sins. It teaches that deliverance is partly based on one’s acts and partially based on Allah’s grace. It educates that the Holy Spirit is the angel Gabriel (Surah 2:97; 16:102); that Jinn are invisible beings, created (51:56) from fire (15:27; 55:15); and that Muhammad was higher and greater than Jesus. False teachings also exist in the Christian Church.
It can obviously seen that from both outside the Christian church and from inside of it, false or fake teachings are bombarding supporter (and non supporters) all over the humanity. Seventh, the growing rate of immorality in America is a danger not only to humanity but also to Christianity. This is a serious matter because an immoral world cannot live long. The eighth reason why we should need apologetics is because schools institutions are not welcoming to Christianity.
The truth is that Christianity is under harassed in the world and we need to defend the good fight of the faith without lessening back. We badly needed apologetics to provide intelligent, rational, and relevant explanations of Christian viability to the detractor and the intolerant who would seek to weaken the teachings of our Lord Jesus.
Logic is naturally very significant in apologetics. To protect the faith, the Christian must use reality, details, and grounds properly and prayerfully. The Christian should listen to protest and make strong and coherent remarks in direct answer to the issues raised.
Logic is merely a instrument in the armory of Christian apologetics. Logic is a classification of way of thinking. It is the philosophy of proper thoughts used to arrive at right conclusions. The following logical tools may help in Apologetic approach:
- The universe is real.
- The universe cannot be considerably old; because if it were, it would have go into a degree of entropy long ago.
- The universe is not in a condition of entropy; therefore, it is not considerably old.
- Since the universe is not considerably old, it had a opening.
- The creation could not have brought itself into way of life.
- Somewhat before the universe and superior than the universe had to bring the universe into continuation.
- God is something.
- Therefore Apologetics is defending and protecting your belief in God using the Holy Bible and the scripture in it and we should be knowledgeable in using it to have our victory in protecting our faith.
Reference
- http://www.carm.org/apologetics/logic.htm
- Jose Cherry. 2008. Apologetics. Manila, Phil: University of the East. On-line. Available from Internet, http:// [email protected], accessed
31 January 2008.
