This coming school year at Blue Grass Baptist School, I will be teaching my 11th grade students apologetics. I will be developing a base curriculum for this class as it moves along from a presuppositional point of view. In essence, this works to deconstruct the worldview that opposes Christianity and show its problems, but then seeks to help reconstruct a Christian worldview in its place. I prefer this method because it does not seek to meet people on ‘neutral ground,’ which usually means that I have to put my Bible away to talk to people. Here’s how I plan to start a portion of the introduction to this class.
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Before we ask the ‘why,’ we must understand the ‘what’ and ‘to whom’ of apologetics. What is it? John Frame defines Christian apologetics as that which “seeks to serve God and the church by helping believers to carry out the mandate of 1 Peter 3:15-16. We may define it as the discipline that teaches Christians how to give a reason for their hope.”[1]
The apostle Peter in 1 Peter 3:15-16 says:
15But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
Based on this definition, apologetics is seen as an offensive and defensive discipline. As an offensive discipline, the Christian is living a life of one who is set apart to the Lord in this world. Christ has unleashed His people into the world to be “little Christs.” Christians also take a defensive position, making a concentrated and intentional defense of the faith “to every man that asketh you for a reason of the hope that is in you” (3:15). Christians must always be aware that, even though they may not have studied the discipline of apologetics, they are showing the plausibility of Christ and Christianity by their words and actions which radiate what lies in their heart (Matthew 12:33-37).
For Whom is this Study of Apologetics?
Christians wishing to engage in this field must know the audience to which they will engage. Apologetics is for both Christians and non-Christians.
Apologetics is for Christians. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts” (3:15a). To “sanctify” means to set apart for God’s holy use. Yet, the Scriptures show that Christians are “sojourners and exiles” in this world who are to “abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). Given all the temptations from within (1 Corinthians 10:12-13) and the philosophies and worldviews assaulting Christians from without (Colossians 2:6-15), Christians need strengthening in the hope the have in Christ.
At some point, Satan will come along to plant a seed of doubt in the believer’s mind, having the Christian wonder if the “reason of the hope” they have is truly reasonable.
- A Buddhist may seem to show how a life of tranquility and meditation will give the Christian the enlightened peace they need to cope with their troublesome situation.
- A Muslim can appear to demonstrate faithfulness by their prayers and pilgrimages to Mecca a life of devotion and strong conviction, giving tangible evidence of God’s approval to their spiritual lives.
- A humanist may seem convincing in the midst of a Christian’s harrowing circumstances in which God appears absent.
- A Darwinist who appears to have “scientific evidence” on his side may seem convincing over and against those who hold to the origin of creation, calling it a myth and a fantasy.
These few examples help clarify the need for Christians to know what the Scripture teaches so as to strengthen the church. Paul warned the Ephesian church to be aware of the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:12), and part of the schemes of the devil is to go after our thinking, our worldview. He aims deceive with philosophies and elementary principles by which he may turn eyes away from the person and work of Christ and the “faith once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). The area of Christian apologetics aims to help Christians understand what it means for the mind to be given over to the Spirit rather than the flesh or the world (Romans 8:5-8).
Apologetics is for unbelievers. God inspired the Scriptures to show clearly who God is, what He has accomplished in redemptive history, and what He aims to accomplish through His people now. While all people see God’s attributes, giving them no excuse in denying the existence and work of a Creator (Romans 1:18-21), through the Bible God has given us a perspicuous account of His nature, His character, His work—all brought to bear in the centerpiece of the Scriptures, the person of Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:17-18).
The Scriptures serve as a witness to an unbelieving world. As the church lives out God’s will out of loving obedience, the world will see this display. As a result, unbelievers will ask Christians for “a reason for the hope that is within” them. Even in this, they are to respond with “meekness and fear.” Does this mean that Christians are to wither and cower in the face of such questions? Not at all! Meekness means strength under control. ‘Fear’ has to do with reverence before God and before those who may disagree with the conclusions that come from Christian belief.
The apostle Peter informs believers that unbelievers may “speak evil of you, as of evildoers” (3:16). Even though Christians serve a Good God who sent His Good Shepherd to deliver and embody the Good News (i.e., the gospel), an unbelieving world sees the cause of Christ as evil and detrimental to the human race. While many reasons are given by various groups, the last verse of the book of Judges encapsulates this succinctly: “And there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
Unbelievers do not simply disagree with the rules and commands of God, they disagree with the notion that we are destitute of any goodness that would commend men to him. Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly shows how people are saved not by what they do, they are saved by what God has accomplished by the gift of grace through Jesus Christ. Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Unbelievers may not want to hear of their destitution (even if they are made aware of this “with meekness and fear”), they need to know it but also need to see grace-saved sinners model this with their actions and speech.
(Part II: The ‘Why’ of Apologetics)
[1]John Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1994), 1.
