Difference between revisions of "Christian apologetics"

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Christian Apologetics is the defense of the Christian faith through rational arguments. The term comes from the Greek word apologia, which means "defense". There are a number of subfields within apologetics. Some apologists specialize in internal biblical consistency (such as JP Holding, owner of tektonics.org), others in scientific defenses of the Bible, and still others in historical or philosophical defenses of Christianity (such as Gary Habermas or Lee Strobel). Christian apologist JP Holding has recommended that prospective apologists choose one area of focus rather than trying to be a "jack of all trades". ^[1] Some feel that faith alone should need no justification, however, many feel that Christians should be prepared to defend and spread their faith by intellectual means, especially as many people will not accept Christianity without a "rational" reason to do so.

History of Christian Apologetics

Christian apologetics has existed as long as Christianity itself. Jesus himself spent time in the temples and synagogues, debating and explaining the meaning of the scriptures. The Apostle Peter exhortd early Christians to apologetics, writing,

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." 1 Peter 3:15-16.

The Apostle Paul also spent time in Athens, debating Stoic and Epicurian philosophers. Acts 17:16.

Great theologians such as Origen, Athanasius, Irenaeus, Martyr, Augustine, and Acquinas continued the tradition of apologetics on a dramatic scale. At the same time, apologetics was practiced by countless individual Christians, explaining and defending their beliefs.

Purposes

Apologetics has generally been used for two purposes: Efforts to persuade others of the truth of Christianity, and efforts to defend the reasonableness of one's own beliefs, while not seeking to convince others of their truth.

Types of Christian Apologetics

Evidentialist apologetics

Evidential apologetics seeks to defend Christian belief through evidence. This can take the form of:

• Arguments based on the historical accounts of the Bible;
• Defense of the historical accuracy of the Bible;
• Christian Legal Apologetics
• Biblical Archaeology, seeking to show that the Bible is consistent with the physical evidence;
• Creationism, seeking to show that the creation accounts of the Bible are the most reasonable explanation for life as we know it.

Philosophical apologetics

Philosophical apologetics seeks to defend Christian belief through philosophical argument: primarily arguments for the existence of God. This can take the form of:

• Teleological argument: When you find a watch in the sand, you infer that it is designed, even if you do not see the designer, because it is complex, has a definite purpose, and could not have come to be through any known non-intelligent causes. Therefore, when we observe a complex, purposeful universe which could not have come to be through any known non-intelligent cause, it is reasonable to infer the existence of a designer, aka God.

This is related to the anthropic principle, which is sometimes misused by atheists such as Richard Dawkins. The fact that so many details had to be just so, including physical constants, to allow us to be here, argues for an intelligent designer.

• Cosmological argument: Every event in the universe is caused by something. It is impossible that everything should have a cause, going back to eternity. Therefore, there must be a First Cause, which itself is not caused, and that First Cause must be capable of causing the universe, aka God.

In the 20th century, this argument has been strongly supported by science, with the discovery that the universe had a beginning. Prior to the 1920s, it had been widely believed that the universe's existence had been eternal. ^[2] This verifies the very first three words of the Bible: "In the beginning".

• Ontological argument: God is the being than which no greater can be conceived. It is greater to exist than to not exist. Therefore if you conceive God as not existing, you are not conceiving the being than which no greater can be conceived, and are therefore not conceiving God. Therefore it is impossible to conceive of God as not existing. Therefore God exists.
• Argument from morality: All humans are born with a natural, moral code. A moral code implies a moral code giver, aka God.

Presuppositional apologetics

Presuppositional apologetics seeks to defend Christian belief by showing that belief in Christian precepts is necessary to make sense of the human experience as a whole.

Christian Apologetics and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is critical to the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul wrote, "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" (I Cor:15:14). Traditionally, Christianity has believed in a physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. ^[3]

In recent history, Dr. Gary Habermas is considered the foremost Christian apologist for defending the resurrection of Jesus. ^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]} Dr. Habermas had a debate against the philosopher Antony Flew regarding the resurrection which was chronicled in the work Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? The Resurrection Debate and the debate had a panel of debate judges. J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M. in his essay Evidences for the Resurrection wrote: "The decision of the judges were as follows. The panel of philosophers judging content cast four votes for Habermas who argued for the fact of the resurrection, none for Flew, and one draw. The panel of professional debate judges voted three to two, also in favor of Habermas, this time regarding the method of argumentation technique." ^[10]

In recent history some notable defenders of the resurrection include: William Lane Craig, Ben Witherington, Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, Edwin M. Yamauchi, N.T. Wright and Michael Horner. ^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Legal scholars, legal authorities, and eminent lawyers such as Simon Greenleaf, John Warwick Montgomery, Lord Darling, John Singleton Copley, Hugo Grotius, Lord Caldecote, J. N. D. Anderson, Lionel Luckhoo, and many others have asserted that western legal standards argue for the resurrection of Christ. ^{[16][17][18][19][20][21]}

Christian Apologetic Ministries

There are a number of internet based Christian apologetic Ministries or Christian apologetics ministries which have a internet presence. Some of the more notable Christian apologetic ministries are: Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, Tekton Apologetics Ministries, LeadershipU, Probe Ministries, Christian Answers Network, and A Christian Thinktank.

References

External Links