Why Do We Need Christian Apologetics?

1. Read: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

2. About the Text:

1) Peter’s epistle was written to encourage Christians who were suffering persecution.

2) Under such circumstances, one might be tempted to give up when it comes to answering questions about one’s faith.

3) He gently encourages us not to do that, but to continue to answer other’s questions and to be ready to do that.

4) The word for “give an answer” in this verse is the Greek word “apologia” which means to answer or make a defense for one’s beliefs.

5) We get our word apologetics from this word.

6) Christian apologetics is the effort to defend the existence of God, the inspiration of the Bible, and the deity of Christ.

7) There are many forces today conspiring to attack, persecute, and destroy Christianity.

8) In the face of these attacks, we want to be able to do exactly what Peter tells us to do.

9) Sometimes we want to know why we need to keep up the good fight.

10) Let’s talk about that today.

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. God has always used men to proclaim Him and His greatness.

1) Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5).

2) Moses was God’s prophet (Deut.34:10).

3) Job 42:7 “. . . you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.”

2. Christ has entrusted the preaching of the gospel into the hands of men.

1) Mark 16:15-16

2) “But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts” (1 Thess.2:4).

3. This means that it is in the hands of men to lift up God, Christ, and the Bible.

4. Paul wrote, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor.4:7).

5. “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23).

1. Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

2. Why? Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

3. Consider this quote from C.S. Lewis: “Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen, for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought. But, if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true? It’s like upsetting a milk jug and hoping that the way it splashes itself will give you a map of London. But if I can’t trust my own thinking, of course I can’t trust the arguments leading to Atheism, and therefore have no reason to be an Atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I cannot believe in thought: so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God.”

4. In one of his letters, Charles Darwin said something akin to this: “With me, the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man’s mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy.”

5. “For if my mental processes are determined wholly by motions of atoms in my brain I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true. They may be sound chemically, but that does not make them sound logically. And hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms.” –J. B. S. Haldane, Possible Worlds

6. “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

7. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart . . . .”

1. By the word “materialism,” I’m not referring to the popular concept of acquiring more and more worldly goods, but to the philosophical doctrine that the natural world is all there is.

2. Of course, if the natural world is all there is, then why not simply give yourself over to pleasure and possessions?

3. We know that to truly believe this is the quickest route to personal degradation.

4. In dealing with this consequence of materialism, Jesus said, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15).

5. The book of Ecclesiastes sets forth the premise that without God all is vanity.

6. Read Ecclesiastes 8:16-9:6.

7. However, with God, we have truth, righteousness, justice, mercy, grace, hope, and life.

8. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

9. With God there is meaning and purpose. What is our purpose? Matthew 22:37-40.

10. With materialism there is only darkness, meaninglessness, and nothing—nihilism.

1. The battle for God, Christ, and the Bible is really a battle of worldviews.

2. Naturalism is not the only worldview that is out there challenging Christianity.

3. In the past, we haven’t had to deal with many of these others.

4. However, the more Christianity is challenged, the more these other worldviews come in.

5. Buddhism, Hinduism, and other Eastern Religions have entered our culture.

6. New Age religion is also another set of beliefs that challenge Christianity.

7. Muslims are rapidly advancing across Europe and into the US as well.

8. Presenting Christian Evidences in defense of God, Christ, and the Bible will show that these other religious beliefs can’t be true.

9. Christian apologetics does just that—lift up God, Christ, and the Bible—by contrasting them to the human generated beliefs of men.

1) “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor.10:5).

2) “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph.6:12).

10. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

11. Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

12. We need to be able to show how Christianity is the only way in comparison to these other world religions.

1. Why do we need Christian apologetics?

1) To proclaim God, Christ, and the Bible.

2) To show that man’s reasoning fails without God.

3) To combat materialism.

4) To expose false religion.

2. Invitation