The need for apologetics - be prepared

“We have learned that ‘politics is downstream from culture, not the other way around . . . . Real change has to start with the culture.’” (page 18 of Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey)

I have been reading about apologetics a lot recently. Thinking about its usefulness both inside and outside the church. After all, we are called to make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19) and while the truth of God is evident in nature (Rom 1:20), I believe sound apologetics within the church can help people walk through their doubt more easily. With Easter season just recently behind us, I had a memory brought to mind frequently in the last few weeks. When I was a Freshman at Pacific Lutheran University, I attended the Easter Chapel service. One of my friends was in the choir group that was singing at this service, so I was especially excited for some Easter selections sung by the ensemble she was a part of. The homily was to be delivered by a professor rather than one of our campus pastors. The music selection was as I would expect for an Easter service, we sang Easter hymns that rejoiced in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this chapel with glorious acoustics and a magnificent Fritts’ pipe organ carved from salvaged Douglas Fir, we declared Jesus is risen!

Then this professor, who was not part of the religion faculty, gets up to deliver the homily and declares that Jesus’ bones had been found. He may have said that it was unclear if the remains found were actually Jesus’ remains, but he was clear that he believed it was not necessary for Jesus to rise from the dead. What?! Not necessary! I was a flabbergasted and frozen 19-year-old who didn’t know what to do or say. I also didn’t know why no one else said anything. At least one campus pastor was there, why wouldn’t she get this guy out of the pulpit? After all, we were warned about false prophets and Paul said that if the resurrection didn’t happen, then we are most to be pitied (1 Cor 15:12-19). Yet no one cried blasphemy, and to my knowledge, no one left.

I just sat there.

I was stunned into silence. I am ashamed now that I didn’t do something back then, but I didn’t know what to do. This was, however, a good thing in some ways for me. It was my third, and final, Godsmack, telling me to leave PLU. I knew for sure that I needed a place that would nurture my roots as I delved deeper into God’s Word. I wasn’t ready then for people to be questioning my faith, I really wasn’t.

Apparently, no one else was prepared to defend the resurrection either. We all sat there, then when this professor was finally done denying the resurrection, we stood up and once again sang about the resurrection and how glorious and TRUE it was. I don’t recall ever being present at a more discordant service in my life.

While I am ashamed that I did not speak up, as I said, I wasn’t prepared for that. So, as I look back, the thing that I really want to learn from it, and hope others can as well, is that we need to prepare our children and ourselves for such things (1 Pt 3:15-16).

I ended up transferring to Evangel University, where they believe in the inerrancy and authority of Scripture, and all classes are taught within the framework of a biblical worldview. This was one of the best decisions of my life, but I whole-heartedly believe you don’t have to go to a Christian university (that is actually Christian) or get a degree in Biblical Studies or Philosophy or something along those lines to be prepared to defend your faith. Saturating yourself in God’s Word, surrounding yourself with fellow believers as your closest friends, and perhaps most important, devoting time to prayer, can prepare you.

I desire to prepare my girls and help my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ be prepared as well. We must be ready to call out false prophets, even from within our own walls. Good apologetics can be exceedingly helpful in this preparation. In fact, good apologetics point to the truth of the resurrection without even relying on the Bible for evidence! Extra-biblical evidence also points to this glorious truth. Yet, the Bible, of course is our most vital and dependable resource as it is God's revelation of Himself to us. 

Some people feel there is no need for apologetics. Perhaps some of those people have the gift of faith. Others may have bought in to the false dichotomy between faith and reason (total nonsense). Whatever your reason, if you don’t believe in the need for apologetics, look again. Sound apologetics can solidify the faith of seasoned believers or plant seeds in the heart of a skeptic, atheist, agnostic, Muslim, etc. Why wouldn’t we want this?