WHY DO PEOPLE TALK ABOUT DEFENDING THE FAITH?

I was recently asked what it means to defend the gospel and is it really necessary for Christians to defend the gospel?

My hope is that this will be a helpful response—and who knows? Maybe even an interesting response—for my friends who are believers:

There is a sense in which it could certainly be argued that Jesus doesn’t need anyone to defend Him. And the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ will endure forever, whether any Christians ever stand up for it, or not.

God never stands in need of people. It’s one of the benefits of being God.

However, there is a verse in the Bible from which knowledgeable people who speak of defending the gospel are typically deriving the idea. The verse is found in 1 Peter 3:15. It says…

“…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…”  (NASB)

The word “defense” in this passage is the Greek word “apologia” which gives us our English word “apologetics.”

Apologia has to do with defense. In the biblical Greek usage it can mean a verbal defense in a court of law. The field of Christian apologetics is a very deep, thoughtful, intellectually sophisticated category of theology which involves a reasoned explanation and defense of the Christian faith drawing from theology, philosophy, logic, history, archaeology, and science.

Some of you may be familiar with Ravi Zacharias, who passed away recently. Ravi was, among other things, a brilliant apologist for the Christian faith.

There are people who want to know if the Christian faith can be defended or justified from the standpoint of intellect and reason or is it just a religious belief system that must be accepted with no basis in careful thinking or reason. I can testify from personal experience that I came to a point in my early adult life in which, even though I was already a Christian, I needed to know that Christianity was not just a blind leap of faith. The fact that Christianity could stand up to hard questions and penetrating scrutiny was an important discovery for me.

An aspect of Christianity that sets it apart from other religions is that Christianity welcomes questions and investigation. Christianity makes claims that certain events happened in human history and these events can be investigated. We can know with a reasonable degree of certainty whether they are true, or not.

Whether a person knows the word “apologetics”, or not, if a person is providing sound answers to the fair questions of people who are seeking and wondering about the truth of the Christian faith that person is engaging in apologetics, a reasoned defense of the faith.

Followers of Jesus are called, in Scripture (1 Peter 3:15), to be prepared to give a defense of the faith.

Dan Marler

Oak Lawn, IL

An Intellectual Journey

In my early adult life I began to wonder about God and Christianity.  And I began to ask myself questions along these lines:

Is this Christian faith—that I say I believe—something I really do believe?  Or, is it something I’ve just accepted because it is what my parents have handed to me?

Can the Christian faith hold up to hard questions and intellectual scrutiny?  Or, is it simply a blind leap in the dark?

This began a process that has prompted much thinking, questioning, searching, self-reflection and study.  I am not a brilliant person.  But I have enough intellectual capability to think and reason and investigate.  And this has led me to discover and read authors such as:  Paul Little, Ravi Zacharias, G.K. Chesterton, Josh McDowell, Philip Johnson, William Lane Craig, C.S. Lewis, James Sire, Norman Geisler, Frances Schaeffer, Os Guinness, J.P. Moreland, Charles Colson, Paul Copan, N.T. Wright, Lee Strobel and many others.

I have discovered that the Christian faith has an incredibly deep and rich intellectual heritage.  It turns out the hard questions have actually been asked and wrestled with for a long time.  In fact, I found that questions I would have never even thought to ask have been grappled with for many centuries.

Have all my questions been answered?  No!

But I realize, now, that no worldview, philosophy, or scientific approach can answer all the questions.  There are simply things we do not know.

It’s almost like “life” says to all of us, “There are things you don’t get to know.  Get used to it!”

Do I still have faith in Christ at this point in the process?  Yes.  I still believe.  My heart still tells me that He is the way, the truth and life.  I cannot walk away from that conviction.  This may sound strange to those who do not share my convictions, but the truth of Jesus seems as true to me as the fact that I breathe.  But now my intellect is satisfied that it is a reasonable faith based on truth that is supported by credible evidence.

Dan Marler

Oak Lawn, IL

Christianity, A Relationship

Throughout my life I have heard the Christian faith spoken of as a relational matter.  The understanding of Christianity is that we are invited into a relationship with Christ.  Our connection with Jesus is first-hand, it’s personal, it’s vital.  I like how Ravi Zacharias puts it:  “The gospel is an invitation to a relationship, not a legal summons to a hearing.”

Definitely Not A College Student

Earlier today I checked into my dorm room at Wheaton College for the RZIM conference.  After the dorm check-in was completed the conference registrants were taken on a tour of the campus.  It was all very normal until suddenly my head began to spin and it really started to feel as if I was settling in for a semester of college.  It was weird!

Fortunately, we walked past a large mirrored wall in one of the college buildings and I caught a glimpse of myself walking next to an 18 year old student.  That sight immediately stopped the head-spinning and brought an abrupt reminder that I am NOT a college student.

Christianity Is Personal

Real Christianity is fundamentally and inextricably personal.  It is about the person of God engaging with you and I.  “Christianity is not a political theory.  It is not even a cultural theory.  It is, at its root, all about changing the heart of each man and woman, boy and girl, so that we begin to think God’s thoughts and act in accordance with his character.” Ravi Zacharias

Wounded Lessons / RZIM

Article by Jill Carattini from Ravi Zacharias Web Site.

Click For "Wounded Lessons" Article

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Do The Right Thing In The Right Way

I heard Razi Zacharias say this recently:  “One of the most dangerous forms of temptation is the temptation to do the right thing in the wrong way.” So, for example, we might speak the truth—which is the right thing. But we might do so with anger and hostility instead of love—which is the wrong way. Followers of Christ are called to do the right thing AND to do it in the right way.

Review of "Is Believing In God Irrational?"

Are Skeptics Unbiased Or Are They Just Unaware of Their Bias?

Amy Orr-Ewing has written an interesting, persuasive and accessible book that deals with very relevant questions she has encountered in the course of her work and travels.

Now, that I read the line I just wrote, it occurs to me that it sounds a lot like something you would read in a book review. But, having re-read it, I stand by the statement. “Is Believing In God Irrational” is a helpful book on the subject of apologetics.

Orr-Ewing does a great job of explaining how atheists often sneak their philosophical presuppositions into their arguments while acting as if they are approaching the subject of God as neutral, rational, scientific observers basing their opinions solely on scientific, empirically verifiable fact.

Orr-Ewing effectively points out how critics of religion and/or Christianity often apply a double standard, exempting their viewpoint from the criteria by which they judge Christianity.

For example, she notes the assumption of skeptics that “you as a Christian are biased by the circumstances of your life”—something that any defender of Christianity has certainly encountered. She continues with the unbeliever’s argument, “[however], I as a skeptic am completely neutral in my thinking.”

It’s remarkable how completely dispassionate and neutral and totally rational all of the skeptics of Christianity are, isn’t it? Mr. Spock would be proud.

Orr-Ewing goes on to say, “Isn’t it just as likely that the secular thinking of the questioner has been passed on by the environment of the person and is culturally conditioned?”

This is an excellent point and, yet, it is one that seems to escape some very smart people. It makes you wonder if there is a measure of very intentional self-deception occurring.

For a weightier treatment of the subjects she raises you would have to go on to some other books, but this is an excellent response to a number of genuine and valid questions that seems to come from a very authentic Christian heart.

Dan Marler
Oak Lawn, IL