The term “apologetics” comes from the Greek word “apologia”. James Beilby1 says of the term that it appears nineteen times in the New Testament in the noun and the verbal form. The term means, an answer given to an accusation against an individual, or a successful answer or defence to an accusation or objection.
Paul employs the term as “a defence” against the mob attack recorded in Acts 22:1. Peter the apostle uses the term in 1 Peter 3:15 to urge Christians to give an explanation or an answer in “defence” of their faith in Christ. Peter’s command to give an answer is in the context of being questioned in the face of persecution.
Based on the New Testament testimony, we see that Paul gave a defence against his accusers (Acts 22:1), explaining that his encounter with the resurrected Lord Jesus resulted in Jesus commissioning him to preach to the Gentiles.
In the Second Century of the church many believers presented messages to explain why Christianity was true over against the claims of other religious views. Brian Morley2 provides examples of these witnesses:
- Aristides of Athens (circa. 125 A.D.) argued for the moral and intellectual superiority of Christianity in relation to Egyptian and Greek deities,
- Justin Martyr (circa. 100 – 165 A.D.) came out of Greek philosophy to Christ. He believed Christianity to be the only useful philosophy, appeared before the Roman Emperor, and argued publicly with Trypho the Jew that Jesus was the Messiah.
- Athenogoras (circa. 177 A.D.) argued that Christians lived out what is good and that they prayed for the government.
Throughout the history of the church, many believers engaged their societies with reasons for the truthfulness of Christianity. This endeavour has developed into a theological discipline called “apologetics”.
Apologetics seeks to demonstrate that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the true message from God to all humanity. Evidence3 is presented to demonstrate that:
- truth is knowable
- God exists
- miracles are possible
- the New Testament documents are reliable
- these documents attest that Jesus claimed to be God
- His claims were proven by unique miracles
- therefore Jesus was God in the flesh
As a theological discipline, apologetics investigates claims made by science, philosophy, sociology, the arts, comparative religions and more, evaluating these claims in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In spite of the complexities of these and other disciplines, apologetics also seeks to provide truth in an elementary fashion to assist parents seeking to disciple their children, providing teenagers with the true knowledge of the Gospel in light of societal pressures, to build up laypeople in church and to assist discipleship groups in wrestling with the application of the Gospel.
This task can only be accomplished by the church of Christ working together to build each other up. No single apologist (one who focuses on this endeavour) is able to provide the necessary teaching to address all the questions. Different apologetic ministries and speakers specialise in certain areas. It is helpful and necessary for believers to read broadly to glean from different works what they need in their daily lives.
