What is apologetics? Apologetics is a transliterated Greek word "apologia" which means an explanation or defense of one's opinion, position or action.
This Greek word is used in 1 Peter 3:15 which reads "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have." The word "answer" was translated from the Greek word "apologia." Christian Apologetics can be described as follows - to give an answer, a defense or an explanation for the Christian faith. It is very useful in the task of evangelism.
Life is a big mystery. Being born as a baby in the world, and as soon as we can make sense of things, we start asking questions. One of life's biggest questions is the question of meaning. What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Where did we come from?
It is only in the Christian faith that these questions find their answers. Outside the Christian faith, there are no answers. Once you remove God from the picture, then you remove the very reason for your being and existence. And life ultimately becomes utterly meaningless.
Put God in the picture and life will start to make sense. Once God is in the picture, the struggle then becomes a battle for the truth. It is in these struggles that the discipline of Apologetics find its essence. The term is not mentioned very often but we make use of it every time in the ministry.
When I came to Qatar, I was not yet a Christian. Well, I was. Nominally. I did believe in God and as I child I remember I had prayed to him in two occasions and did receive the answers for both. But I didn't know anything about worship and intimacy with God. Though I believed in God, it didn't really have impact in my life. I thought of God as somewhere so distant, hard to reach, and very easy to forget about.
It was here in Qatar that the Gospel took hold of me and changed my life. I stayed in my brothers house. My sister in law was then working with Ate Han in Total Safety so I guess that's how it all started in our family.
They had a Bible study in the house and I still remember very clearly one question I raised that time. I said, it was easy for John the Baptist to find the purpose for his life. It was revealed to him. But for us, how do we find our purpose? We were using the book, The Purpose Driven Life that's why.
Later on, it was Ate Han who presided over the Najma Bible study. Pastor Alwyn, during a much later date, explained that it was because of the sort of questions that I asked. They needed Ate Han to answer that.
I couldn't remember anymore how they answered me that night but i guess it all worked out because eventually I became Christian.
As Christians I believe that we must be answer bearers. We must be able to articulate our faith to others. Otherwise, we will just be misunderstood and it will be easy for outsiders to say that all we have is mere superstition.
But our faith is not mere superstition. There are reasons and justifications for our beliefs. And so it becomes crucial for the believer to always keep in check the reasons and justifications for his faith, whether or not they be in the truth.
Belief systems are what govern our actions. We do what we believe. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that what we believe is true. And truth must be absolute, otherwise anything or everything else can be true. If that's the case, the meaning of the word easily disappears and there becomes no necessity for truth as a category.
We start off with the Bible as a whole. The Bible is a historical book. It is not treated as such because of its "religious content." But it is a historical book. It's content is historically accurate. When we read the Bible, not only do we read spiritual insights, we read historical events that actually happened in the past.
Normally, if an event happened yesterday, people would talk about it and people who didn't have personal knowledge of the facts will have little room for doubt. But as time goes by, and that event goes back into a distant past, that event becomes highly questionable, people will starts doubting and evidence for proof becomes necessary to establish the fact.
If you go to Youtube, you can now find videos that tell you that the landing on the moon was fabricated. And as I watched those videos, I begin to doubt myself. What if it was indeed fabricated? It means that there is a big guy out there who is trying to pull the earth from under our feet! Well, the fact that we are presented with these 2 opposite claims, one of them should be tying to pull our leg.
The same is true with the Bible. The first attack always goes like this, how do you know that the Bible is true? Or as one atheist replied to my tweet said, there is scant evidence that Jesus ever existed. That is not true of course. That statement is more of a propaganda than an honest question to the facts. But there are people out there who are honestly seeking for the truth.
Since Jesus is a historical figure, we can expect to find him in historical documents apart from the Bible. And we do find citations of Jesus in Roman history books and in Jewish literature. Actually, some scholars claim that there are more historical evidences for the existence of Jesus than that of Caesar.
Here's a citation from Tacitus, a Roman historian in the 2nd century AD, from Annals 15.44. Jesus and the Christians are mentioned in an account of how the Emperor Nero went after the Christians in order to draw attention away from himself after Rome's fire in 64 AD:
"But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the Bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements Which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero From the infamy of being believed to have ordered the Conflagration, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor, he Falsely charged with the guilt, and punished Christians, who were Hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was Put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign Of Tiberius: but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time Broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief Originated, but through the city of Rome also, where all things Hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their Center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first Made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an Immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of Firing the city, as of hatred against mankind."
Another is found in the rabbinic tradition recorded in the Talmud. It specifies the indictment against one Yeshua Ha-Notzri ("Jesus of Nazareth" in Hebrew). Translated in english it reads:
Wanted: Yeshua Ha-Notzri. He will be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed to apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf. Anyone who knows where his is, let him declare it to the great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.
That's exactly was is mentioned in John 11:57:
"But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him."
These are just 2 of the many external historical citations that establish the historicity of Jesus. Not to mention that all the geographical places mentioned in the Bible are verifiable you can actually visit them today, except for the Garden of Eden of course.
Having established the veracity of the Bible, it's accuracy and conformity to facts, it should then be easy for people to receive its message, right? NO. Being able to discuss these issues in a rational, intellectual discourse is just one part of it. The Bible message has an essential spiritual dimension to it, and that forms the other part.
Last Tuesday's topic at Villa 1 Bible study was about evangelism and discipleship. One of the key points we must bear in mind when we do this task is that it is not an intellectual battle, it is a spiritual one.
Mathew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Jesus says, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Which basically means that the presence of God is always with us. Whatever we do, we do it with God. We draw our strength from him. Otherwise, we cannot accomplish anything.
So in the task of Evangelism, in sharing the Gospel, and in the task of Apologetics, in defending and explaining the faith, the final goal is ultimately the heart. The mind is just the channel, but it is necessary that we must be able to go past through the front door of reason in order that we can get to the heart.
And so going back to those big questions, what is the meaning of life, why are we here, where did we come from... it is only God who is big enough to answer them. Because the Bible is true, it is only there that we can find the answers. Outside the Bible, there are no answers. Anyone who finds answers to this questions outside the word of God will then prove that the Bible is false. But those people who claimed that they found the answer outside of the Bible has found nothing but meaninglessness. All of man's effort to discover life, all of man's philosophical and scientific pursuits, they all point to one direction. They all point to the Creator. All of creation points to God.
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