Why Apologetics?

I Peter 3:15: “But 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:”

Apologetics comes from the word reason and means, “a defense.” The Greek word is apologia.

WHY APOLOGETICS?

EXPLANATION- to validate truth claims; to develop a rational and reasonable case for Christianity

ELUCIDATION- to refute error II Timothy 2:24-25: “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;” Titus 2:9: “Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;”

EDIFICATION- Ephesians 4:14-15: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” to strengthen the brethren. Hebrews 5:14: “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

EVANGELIZATION- to save the lost; to remove the barriers keeping someone from coming to faith in Christ. Apologetics paves the way for the gospel. CS Lewis: “As an atheist my argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has come idea of a straight line.” (Mere Christianity, 45)

The work of illumination to see the truth— that is the work of the Holy Spirit. God must reveal it unto us by His Spirit.

Reveal- apocalupsis- to uncover; the truth is behind the veil and the Holy Spirit reveals this

Because they are spiritually-discerned, we must have the Holy Spirit.

EXALTATION- to glorify God; I Corinthians 10:31: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” Colossians 3:17: “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” By defending His truth, we defend His name and honor.

Scripture:

what it meant when it was written

what it means now

False interpretations taint the character and revelation of who God is. We must give a correct explanation of WHO He is and WHAT He said in His Word.

THE LIMIT TO APOLOGETICS: the best arguments that we offer can never change the human heart.

I Corinthians 2:6: “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:”

It is the role of the Holy Spirit to open your eyes in showing you the truth, which is Jesus Christ.

-answer false views

-defeat and defend with scripture

-exalt Christ

-live the gospel

Nietzsche: “They would have to sing better songs for me to learn to have faith in their Redeemer; and his disciples would have to look more redeemed!”

The book “unChristian” explains what is repelling about our faith. What are Christians best known for?

against homosexuals

judgmental

negative

TWO MAJOR PILLARS OF TRUTH

the existence of God

the authority of the Bible

If we settle these issues, what remains is a proper exegesis of Scripture.

-natural creation- Psalm 19; Romans 1-

-special revelation- SCRIPTURE

“There is a God, and He is not silent.” -Francis Schaeffer

Three Primary Arguments for the Bible:

scientific arguments

historically reliable/archaeological discoveries

the argument of fulfilled prophecy

APOLOGETICS

Approaches to Apologetics:

EVIDENTIALISM

the factual verification of Christian claims

Christianity must use archaeology, anthropology, history, and science to defend the faith....marshaling evidences to defend the faith. This is an approach which hinges on probability.

This is also called “historical apologetics.”

Proponents: John Montgomery (…the facts speaks for themselves…) ‘

Evidence that Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell. McDowell comes to full assurance of faith through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Its value arose in the 20th C as archaeology became a science in the Middle East. These archaeological discoveries gave great rise to proving the faith.

BIBLICAL SUPPORT: Jesus used this approach—Matthew 12:39-40: “But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Matthew 16:1-4: “The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.”

“If someone is hard in their heart, it does not matter how much truth you give them.”

John 20:24-25: “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

I Corinthians 15 is also a sister passage to this idea.

There is a difference between honest doubts and dishonest doubts. In this case, Thomas was an honest doubter.

CLASSICAL APOLOGETICS (REASON)

emphasis on sound reasoning

The emphasis is on reason. Christianity’s logical soundness and internal coherence is exploited. Norman Geisler is authoritative on this subject.

-philosophical arguments- a logical approach

-seeking to prove the existence of God- how can you do so without the Bible?

The Apostle Paul used this approach on Mars Hill in Acts 17.

Why classical? It traces its roots to the 2nd C apologists.

Geisler: “So called because it was the apologetic method practiced by the first thinkers who studied and practiced the application of reason to the defense of Christianity...”

Justin Martyr

Thomas Aquinas

BB Warfield

CS Lewis

Current: RC Sproul, William Lane Craig, and Ravi Zacharias.

Differs from presuppositional and evidential apologetics.

PAUL IN ACTS 17-

he reasoned philosophically

he gave them empirical evidences, quoting their own Greek poets

FIDEISM

God is known through faith, not reason

Rejects reason and evidences— it is faith and faith alone.

Martin Luther: “Any attempt to fathom and comprehend such statements with human reason and understanding will avail nothing, for none of this has its source in the reason: that there was a Word in God before the world’s creation, and that this Word was God; that, as John says further on, this same Word, the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, rested in the Father’s bosom or heart and became flesh; and that no one else had ever seen or known God, because the Word, who is God’s only-begotten Son, rested in the bosom of the Father and revealed Him to us. Nothing but faith can comprehend this. Whoever refuses to accept it in faith, to believe it before he understands it, but insists on exploring it with his reason and his five senses, let him persist in this if he will. But our mind will never master this doctrine; it is far too lofty for our reason.”

Soren Kierkegaard- reason can bring God closer but never fully home

Biblical Support:

Hebrews 11:3: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

PRESUPPOSITIONAL

begins with the assumption that God exists and that the Bible is authoritative

Champion: Cornelius Van Til

"Can I see the beams underneath the floor on which I walk? I must assume or presuppose that the beams are underneath. Unless the beams were underneath, I could not walk on the floor.”

This approach presupposes the truth of Christianity and then reasons from that point.

This is the only reasonable/rational position, seeing that God is and that His truth is absolute. In essence, the fact that you exist is proof that God is. Morality— God is.

“I hold that belief in God is not merely as reasonable as other belief, or even a little or infinitely more probably true than other belief; I hold rather that unless you believe in God you can logically believe in nothing else.”

Rejects the traditional proofs for the existence of God-

cosmological- teleological- moral- yet, presuppositionalists reject these. Rather, you have to start with the fact that there is a God.

“The Bible is like a lion. It does not need to be defended it simply needs to be unleashed and it will defend itself.” The gospel WILL open the eyes of the blinded.

Ezekiel 37- What do you see? Dry bones. PREACH TO THOSE BONES!

Dan Story: “The presuppositional approach to apologetics says that any defense of Christianity must begin with the assumption that God exists and that the Bible is His authentic and authoritative Word.”

Why start here? Your view of humanity. Man is sinful and blind.

“You don’t present evidences supporting Christianity until after the non-Christian has accepted the existence of God and the authority of Scripture and possibly even Jesus as Lord and Savior.”

I Corinthians 1:20-21: “Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

INTEGRATIVE APOLOGETICS IS KEY