Why Christian Apologetics?

I would like to start this article by stating what Christian Apologetics is NOT. It’s not apologizing for being a Christian! Also, it does not make others apologize for not being a Christian. In other words, the act of apologizing has nothing to do with Apologetics!

Now that we have that out of the way, what is Christian Apologetics? Christian Apologetics is a branch of Theology that argues rationally for the Christian faith. In other words, it defends the Christian faith.

In this article, we will discuss faith versus reason, how to respond to somebody who asks how you know Christianity is true, and the benefits or usefulness of Apologetics for each Christian. For a quick answer to these questions, please click here.

What is faith?

When discussing the nature of apologetics, I always start by giving a proper definition of biblical faith, mainly because it has been severely corrupted in our modern culture.

Here’s how atheist Fredrich Nietzsche defined faith in “The Antichrist:” “Faith means not wanting to know what is true.” In “A Manual for Creating Atheists,” atheist philosopher Peter Bohossian defined faith as well, “If one had sufficient evidence to warrant belief in a particular claim, then one wouldn’t believe the claim based on faith. ‘Faith’ is the word one uses when one does not have enough evidence to justify holding a belief, but when one just goes ahead and believes anyway.”

On the other hand, Oxford Professor and Mathematician John Lennox has defined faith as follows:

"Faith is not a leap in the dark; it’s the opposite. It’s a commitment based on evidence…It is irrational to reduce all faith to blind faith and then subject it to ridicule. That provides a very anti-intellectual and convenient way of avoiding intelligent discussion.”

In addition, Biola Professor and Philosopher Sean McDowell said:

“Faith is not belief in spite of the evidence, but belief in light of the evidence.”

Who do we believe? It appears smart people on both sides provide very different definitions of faith. Is it merely wishful thinking, thus in contradiction to reason and evidence? Or is it based on the foundation of reason, concluded from the evidence available? It makes sense to turn to the Bible for how faith is defined to find the definition of biblical faith.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” - Hebrews 11:1 NIV (emphasis added)

Do the terms “confidence” and “assurance” indicate “blind faith” or “wishful thinking?” It appears not. One gains confidence and assurance by using reason to increase their knowledge of something or expectation of something yet to happen based on evidence that has been presented. While this may suffice for our task of finding the biblical definition of faith, there are other places where faith is shown to contrast with how the atheists above defined it.

In John’s conclusion and his purpose for writing his gospel, he says:

“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” - John 20:30-31 CSB

John is saying the whole point of writing his gospel is for us to read it, believe the trustworthy eyewitness testimony recorded, and, as a result, put our faith in Jesus.

In the Gospel of Mark, we read about the paralyzed man brought down from the roof to Jesus by a group of people to be healed by Jesus. In response to skeptics around, Jesus tells them:

“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he told the paralytic — “I tell you: get up, take your mat, and go home.”” - Mark 2:10-11 CSB

Here, Jesus provided physical evidence (healing the paralytic) to support His claim (of being the Son of Man). Therefore, biblical faith is not based on the absence of evidence. Instead, it is based on trusting the evidence. Biblical faith is simply this: trusting in what you have good reasons to believe is true.

Defining Apologetics - The Apologetics Sandwich

Now that we have properly defined biblical faith, let us turn to defining “apologetics.” What is it? Where did it come from? Is it biblical?

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, apologetics is NOT apologizing for being a Christian, nor is it the act of forcing others to apologize for objecting against the faith. Apologetics actually has nothing to do with apologizing!

So what is it? Simply put, it is the defense of something – as in a court of law. The term apologetics can be applied to anything (Muslim apologetics, Jordan sneakers apologetics, etc.). Therefore, we are a Christian Apologetics ministry at Truthful Hope because we seek to defend the Christian faith. With a proper definition of apologetics laid out, we must ask ourselves, is this biblical?

Matter of fact – it is! In addition to showing where this is in the Bible, I would like to introduce a method that has not only helped me remember this verse but also completely obey it. I call this method the “Apologetics Sandwich.” The Apostle Peter, via the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote the foundational verse for apologetics in 1 Peter 3:15:

“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” - 1 Peter 3:15 ESV (emphasis added)

I have put in bold the word “defense” because this word in Greek (the original language this letter was written in) is “apologia,” which means “defense” or “defend” as in a court of law. That is where we get the term “apologetics” from. Now, to help explain the apologetics sandwich concept…

Have you ever had a sandwich with just the top piece of bread? If you haven’t, spoiler alert: it’s incredibly messy and not enjoyable (if you know, you know). Have you ever had a sandwich with just the bottom of the piece of bread? Same deal. What about a sandwich with no bread at all (assuming you don’t use utensils, it’s no better)? So, what does this have to do with the Bible, or apologetics for that matter?! Well, 1 Peter 3:15 can be split up into a top piece of bread, the middle part of the sandwich (the meat), and the bottom of the piece of bread, as seen below:

TOP -> “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,

MIDDLE -> always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;

BOTTOM -> yet do it with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15 ESV)

Let’s imagine we try to abide by this verse without the top piece of bread, as outlined above. What happens? The entire sandwich falls apart! Or, at the very least, it will be extremely messy and unproductive.

Without honoring Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts, we will not be prepared to defend, or we will be prepared to make the wrong defense, or we will be prepared to defend for the wrong reason/hope! Either way, the sandwich falls apart without that top piece of bread. Therefore, we must be sure to honor Christ the Lord as holy. Maybe this is why Peter started with this in writing this verse.

Skipping down to the bottom piece of bread, what if we were to do without it and go about our apologetics without gentleness and respect? From personal experience, unfortunately, I can attest that this is not a good idea. I had to learn the hard way that you can have all the right answers to someone raising objections, but if delivered without gentleness and respect, none of it matters! Even with the right answers, apologetics done in this way may just push people further away from accepting the Gospel. Therefore, the goal of apologetics is to win the person, not the argument.

That leaves the middle part of the sandwich: the meat! As you can hopefully see from what was said above, the top and bottom pieces of bread of our apologetics sandwich are essential to keeping it all together and for getting the most enjoyment out of the middle part of the sandwich. They serve as the glue that holds it all together!

Therefore, while it may be easy to overlook the top and bottom pieces of bread of our apologetics sandwich when reading 1 Peter 3:15, let us remember that without them, we cannot completely and successfully prepare to defend anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in us.

Is Apologetics Necessary to be a Christian?

The short answer to this question is simply no. However, apologetics is extremely useful – especially in modern culture. Apologetics is not necessary to be a Christian. If that were the case, what would that imply? How good would someone be at apologetics to be considered a Christian? Christian Philosopher William Lane Craig responds to those who may claim apologetics as being necessary for being a Christian in the following manner:

“This view creates a sort of intellectual elite, a priesthood of philosophers and historians, who will dictate to the masses of humanity whether or not it is rational for them to believe in the gospel. But surely faith is available to everyone who, in response to the Spirit’s drawing, calls upon the name of the Lord.” - Craig, “Christian Apologetics: Who Needs It?”

Beyond the impracticality of the necessity of apologetics for being a Christian, Scripture also seems to teach contrary to that position. For instance, the Bible teaches that faith in Christ can be immediately grounded by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14-16; 1 John 2:27; 1 John 5:6-10).

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” - Romans 8:14-16

Apologetics, then, is not necessary for being a Christian. One can still maintain one's faith even if one doesn’t know the answers to objections.

With this being said, using the Holy Spirit serving as the inner witness to your spirit confirming the truth of Christianity might not be the most convincing argument to those who do not yet believe in Christianity or even God in general. This is where William Lane Craig typically distinguishes between knowing and showing Christianity to be true.

One can again know Christianity to be true by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. What about the nonbeliever? Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit has two ministries – one to confirm/guide the believer in the truth of Christianity and the second for the nonbeliever. In John 16:7-11, Jesus says he must go away (ascend into heaven), and the Counselor (the Holy Spirit) will be sent by Him to act on a threefold ministry, convicting the nonbeliever of his own sin, of God’s righteousness, and of his condemnation before God.

Through such conviction, the nonbeliever can know such basic Christian truth. When someone refuses to come to Christ, it is never just because of a lack of evidence or intellectual difficulties. At root, he refuses to come because he willingly ignores and rejects the drawing of the Spirit on his heart. Therefore, for both the believer and the nonbeliever alike, the testimony of God’s Spirit ultimately assures him of the truth of Christianity. The nonbeliever truly seeking God will be convinced of the truth of the Christian message.

This may make people wonder, “If the Holy Spirit is how we can know Christianity is true, where does reason play into this knowledge?” Unfortunately, some have gone so far as to say that faith and reason are incompatible—but this was addressed at the beginning of the article. Rather, reason can serve as a double warrant for the believer to know and be confident in the truth of Christianity.

Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit can be quenched by sin (1 Thessalonians 5:19), but reason can enable us to be confident and assured of our faith. Reason is a tool to help us better understand and defend our faith. Ultimately, reason can help confirm the inner witness of the Holy Spirit.

What about showing Christianity to be true? We can do so by presenting sound arguments for the central tenets of Christianity. Regardless of belief, all of us share a common ground – that is, logic and reason. We can then take what we know from the inner witness of the Holy Spirit and use sound arguments aligned with such logic/reasoning to show the truth of Christianity.

From there, it’s the role of the Holy Spirit to take our arguments and bring people to Christ, which they then can know to be true and show to others as well. Importantly, we are not looking to provide certainty in showing Christianity to be true—this is unattainable. However, we can show that Christianity is true beyond a reasonable doubt—as is done in forensic science and with many (if not all) of our daily decisions.

In showing the truth of Christianity, we shouldn’t be surprised when people reject our evidence; it’s pretty big stuff! As the Founder of Stand To Reason, Greg Koukl, wrote in his book, “Tactics, ” that our goal should not be to convert people to Christianity. Instead, placing a rock in their shoe should allow the Holy Spirit to do the rest. Essentially, after discussing spiritual matters with somebody, our goal should be to have that person leave and constantly think to themselves, “Man, what Jacob said the other day is something I just can’t shake off.” The Holy Spirit can then use this to do what He does best – bring people home.

In answering the question, “How do you know Christianity is true?” here’s how William Lane Craig responded in his book “Reasonable Faith:”

“My friend, I know Christianity is true because God’s Spirit lives in me and assures me that it’s true. And you can know it’s true too, because God is knocking at the door of your heart, telling you the same thing. If you’re sincerely seeking God, then God will give you assurance that the Gospel is true. Now to try to show you it’s true, I’ll share with you some arguments and evidence that I really find convincing. But should my arguments seem weak and unconvincing to you, that’s my fault, not God’s. It only shows that I’m a poor apologist, God still lives you and holds you accountable. I’ll do my best to present good arguments to you. But ultimately, you have to deal, not with arguments, but with God Himself.” - Craig, Reasonable Faith

With all of this being said, apologetics is not necessary for someone to be a Christian. However, it is extremely useful, especially in the modern culture we live in today. Below, we will go over five ways apologetics can be useful.

Why is Apologetics Useful?

Why is apologetics important? It’s important for many reasons, but five include the following: the Bible commands it, the culture demands it, the church needs it, doubts require it, and the results confirm it. Below, we will go over each of the five reasons that I have learned from Stand To Reason (an apologetics ministry):

The Bible Commands It

Every Christian is commanded in Scripture to use apologetics – this is evident in 1 Peter 3:15. However, it’s also taught in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Philippians 1:7, and Jude 3. It’s clear that, as Christians, we should be prepared to give a defense for the hope that we have in Christ.

Not only is apologetics taught, but it’s also demonstrated throughout Scripture (Acts 17:2-3; 17; 19:8; 28:23-24; 2:22-32; 14:7; 17:30-31, Joshua 24:15, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8). In the book of Acts (written by Luke, the same author who wrote the Gospel of Luke), the Apostle Paul, in chapter 17, “reasoned” (Acts 17:17) in the Jewish temples and to the Greeks when preaching the Gospel using evidence from the Old Testament and common Greek philosophy. Importantly, Paul was wise in his approach – he knew the background of those he was speaking to and, therefore, would present material well-known by the Jews (the Old Testament) and Greek philosophy by the Greeks (quoting their philosophers). This is a method of establishing common ground that we can also use in our apologetics today.

Just because Paul established common ground does not mean all his listeners received his message well. Throughout Paul's various missionary journeys to spread the Gospel, he faced serious hostility. Despite such hostility, Paul still showed those individuals gentleness and respect. He did not revert to disrespecting them back or demeaning people even though he was mistreated.

Why did he do this? Because his goal was to persuade his listeners even if they became hostile. Apologetics done in this way is courageous because it recognizes that people aren’t our enemies; false ideas are. Treating others poorly doesn’t convince them to embrace our beliefs, nonetheless, even consider them. We must courageously reject the worldly methods of hostility and contempt and respectfully seek to convince those we hope to lead to the truth with grace.

In tough conversations or while facing hostility, I try to remind myself of the goal of apologetics – win the person, not the argument.

The Culture Demands It

Christian Philosopher Francis Schaffer is well-known for associating apologetics with what is called pre-evangelism. Namely, God uses arguments and evidence (apologetics) as a springboard for faith in Jesus (via the Holy Spirit).

While this may seem straightforward, the status of the culture will have a big impact on how receptive people are to the Gospel. Today, culture is deeply infatuated with three dangerous ideologies: Relativism, Pluralism, and Naturalism. All three of these ideologies serve as barriers to the Gospel.

Relativism teaches there is no truth (ironically, while making a truth claim). Pluralism teaches that there is no religious truth (no single religion can be objectively true). Naturalism teaches that there is no supernatural truth. Evangelizing in this culture, therefore, is incredibly difficult!

Because of this, it shouldn’t be surprising that Christians are presented with various questions and tough ones at that. These questions carry not only intellectual but emotional weight as well. Apologetics responds to such questions down to the worldview level—addressing the various depths in play!

Given the three ideologies mentioned above are obstacles to the Gospel, it’s the Apologists job to remove these obstacles by answering such questions, responding to challenges, and refuting bad philosophy in the hope that people, with the help of the Holy Spirit, will become more receptive to the Gospel.

You might now understand the need for apologetics in our culture today. However, you might object, “But did Jesus ever use apologetics? Aren’t we supposed to be followers of Jesus?” Yes! We are supposed to be followers of Jesus, and He did indeed use apologetics during His earthly ministry.

We will dive into Matthew 22:23-33, but before we do, I would like to set the scene by providing the context of this passage. There were two main Jewish sects or groups during Jesus’ time: the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees did not believe in angels, demons, or the resurrection/afterlife (Acts 23:8). They also only believed that the books of Moses (the Torah, which is made up of the first 5 books of the Old Testament) were Scripture. On the other hand, the Pharisees believed in the spiritual realm and the afterlife/resurrection and affirmed Scripture as being authoritative beyond the Torah.

With this being said, in this passage in Matthew 22, the Sadducees ask Jesus a deceptive question to trap Jesus into admitting that there is no resurrection/afterlife. Below is how the Sadducees approached Jesus in Matthew 22:23-28:

”The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, 'Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.'“ - Matthew 22:23-28 ESV

The Sadducees were trying to show the logical contradiction of the resurrection/afterlife, and at this point, they thought they had Jesus totally cornered. However, let’s read Jesus’ response in Matthew 22:29-33:

”But Jesus answered them, 'You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.’ And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching." - Matthew 22:29-33 ESV

What can we take away from Jesus’ response? First, he was prepared to speak with the Sadducees! Namely, He knew what they believed. This is why He mentions that angels are real – there was no need to add this detail unless He tried to prove a point.

Notice the Scripture Jesus quotes from, all of which the Sadducees see as authoritative! This is why He quotes from Exodus 3, which is in the Torah. He also knew how to interpret Scripture correctly. This is why His argument is based on the present tense verb: “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” and not “I was their God, but they died 400 years ago and do not exist because there is no afterlife.” Jesus argues that Exodus 3:6 proves there is an afterlife because God claims to presently be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob many years after they have already died.

In addition to using reason and logic with the Jewish leaders, Jesus also used apologetics by putting forth positive evidence for his Messianic identity in the Gospel of John by offering five lines of evidence that validate His testimony. Namely, He appeals to John the Baptist (John 5:33-35), His teaching and miracles (John 5:36), the Father (5:37), the Scriptures (5:39), and Moses (5:46).

From just these two examples (out of many throughout Scripture), we can conclude that Jesus used apologetics. Since we are followers of Jesus, that means we should, too, especially to remove the thick barriers culture has put up keeping people from receiving the Gospel.

The Church Needs It

Arguably, the most important generation of the Church is the next generation. However, we are rapidly losing the youth in the Church – this is a problem. Research shows that nearly three out of every five young Christians (59%) leave the church partially or entirely by age 15 (Barna, 2011).

It might be tempting to think this has never happened before, but this is nothing new…unfortunately. After the Jews made it to the Promised Land, we read the following in Judges 2:10:

“That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel.” - Judges 2:10 CSB

It took a single generation for the Jews to abandon God and turn to idols – the same thing is happening today. Therefore, Apologetics can be used to maintain the youth!

Barna (the research firm that reported the findings above) gave 6 reasons the youth are leaving the church: Isolationism, Shallowness, Anti-Science, Sex, Exclusivity, and Doubts. First, kids feel isolated from all things of the world by involvement in the Church (such as movies, technology, music, etc.). Second, they feel shallowness in that they are convinced faith is irrelevant and biblical teaching is unclear. This is likely caused by Christian churches being too focused on entertainment rather than sound doctrinal teaching. Third, many kids feel as if science completely contrasts faith. Fourth, they see the church as being judgmental and simplistic regarding sexual matters. Fifth, roughly 3 in 10 young people (29%) feel the church is too exclusive (Barna, 2011). This is because of the pluralistic and relativistic worldviews making their way into their lives (two of the 3 dangerous ideologies mentioned earlier). Lastly, many feel the church is not a safe place to express their doubts. This may, in fact, be the most heartbreaking of them all. Everybody has doubts, and the church should be there to lift others up and walk alongside those who need guidance.

I realize this is not very good news—in fact, it’s really bad news. However, apologetics can address each of these specific issues and ultimately keep the youth in the church. That’s the good news, and it gives us every reason to use apologetics today.

Doubts Require It

Playing off of the last reason mentioned above for why the youth are leaving the church, doubts are not just a youth issue; they’re a universal issue. Many Christians, even professional apologists, have doubts about their faith at times—this is normal! But this is where apologetics can be especially fruitful for the believer.

Apologetics can be used to tackle the objections and doubts a believer faces to strengthen their faith. Using apologetics, we can conclude the following about Christianity: truth exists, God exists, the Bible is trustworthy, Jesus is God, and Jesus rose from the dead. These 5 convictions or beliefs can be had from examining the evidence and being shown to be the explanation of the reality we experience.

Do you know who else had doubts? John The Baptist! While John was in prison, he faced incredible doubts about Jesus being the Messiah – and he was Jesus’s cousin! John even sent his disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He is the one to come or if they should look for another Messiah. In addition to being related to Jesus, this is the same John the Baptist who baptized Jesus and heard the voice of the Father from heaven regarding the Son (Jesus). Below is Jesus’s response to John’s disciples in Matthew 11:4-5:

”And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them." - Matthew 11:4-5 ESV

Notice that Jesus doesn’t tell John to look inside his heart for some subjective feeling or just to “have more faith.” Rather, Jesus points to substantial evidence showing who He is. As evidence, Jesus used an Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah written hundreds of years before Jesus was born from the book of Isaiah, saying how (1) the blind will be seeing, (2) the lame will be walking, and (3) the deaf will be hearing.

Therefore, here we see Jesus using apologetics to increase the faith of John the Baptist in times of doubt. It can also be used to increase your faith in times of doubt.

The Results Confirm It

We have evidence of people coming to believe in Christianity through sound arguments and reasoning that have since become major influencers and difference makers for the Kingdom of God (C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, J. Warner Wallace, etc.).

As encouraging and exciting as this might be, it must be emphasized that apologetics should be done correctly to be most effective. For this instruction, we can look to the Bible. Let’s examine how the Apostle Paul used apologetics in Acts 17:

"Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women." - Acts 17:1-4 ESV (emphasis added)

It was Paul’s custom and routine to reason with the people he was sharing the Gospel with. There are four key takeaways from this passage. First, persuasion happens on purpose. Paul wanted to persuade the Jews in Thessalonica that the Gospel was true. We are told, “He went to them.” Did you catch that?

Paul didn’t simply wait for others to come to him. Instead, he took the first step. Some will claim that defending our beliefs is only necessary when asked, and 1 Peter 3:15 says something to that effect. However, that verse does not limit apologetics to “only” when we are approached first. Throughout the New Testament, Peter and Paul purposefully persuaded others with the Gospel. We, too, should defend our faith when asked, but we should also be intentional about having these conversations.

Second, persuasion or convincing involves reasoning. While Paul was in Corinth, we are told he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. Paul's method was thoughtful conversation, not heated conflict. If our goal is to simply win an argument, then rhetoric, clever speech, and passion would be our tools. However, real persuasion takes thoughtful discussion, especially because our goal isn’t just to win an argument but to win the person.

Third, persuasion doesn’t happen quickly. In Acts 26, Paul is on trial before King Agrippa and uses the opportunity to share his story and the Gospel of Jesus with him. Agrippa responds, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28). Paul responded, “I would wish to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains” (Acts 26:29). On a different occasion when Paul was imprisoned in Rome, Paul “was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the Kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening” (Acts 28:23).

On both occasions, it is evident that persuasion doesn’t happen quickly. People need time to think about the Gospel message before they accept it. One of the most gracious things we can do in our conversations is give people time to ponder what we have presented. We don’t need to quickly “close the deal” with a slick presentation of the Gospel. Nor do we need to run around screaming, “Repent and believe!” Persuasion is a slow play, so take your time.

Lastly, persuasion takes courage. Paul got himself into some tough situations to share the Gospel. Remember, Paul was a very wealthy Pharisee before becoming a Christian. After his conversion, he dedicated his life to sharing the Gospel, no matter the cost. He went on trial before King Agrippa, faced an angry mob in Ephesus, was taken before Gallio, and was imprisoned in Rome. Through all those hardships, Paul showed tremendous courage and kept persuading people of the Gospel.

With all of this being said, while apologetics isn’t necessary, it’s as close to it as possible (especially in today’s culture). As we use apologetics as Christians, we must remember three key things: Win the person, not the argument, The Apologetics Sandwich, and most importantly, all glory goes to God.

References

Barna. "Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church," Barna Group, (2011). https://www.barna.com/research/six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church/

Boghossian, Peter. A Manual For Creating Atheists. Pitchstone Publishing, 2013

Craig, William. "Christian Apologetics: Who Needs It?" Reasonable Faith. https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/apologetics/christian-apologetics-who-needs-it

Nietzsche, Fredrich. The Antichrist. Prometheus, 1888