“Apologetic” is a word we derive from the Greek word “apologia” which means “to give an answer or defense” and carries the connotation of a courtroom defense. When used within the context of Christianity it is the intellectual discipline of offering an intellectual (usually philosophic, scientific, or historic in nature) defense of Christianity and the process of explaining to Christians the nuances of Christian doctrines; more specifically explaining to Christians how to articulate and defend their own faith.

When dealing with “why should we care” the first question to answer is “what does the bible have to say?” Well in 1 Peter 3:15-16 scripture says, “but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame“ (HCSB). So there answer to that is: scripture clearly mandates the use. More than that, in Acts 17:22-34 Luke (the author of Acts) describes Paul providing a robust apologetic defense of Christianity centering around natural theology (God making heavens and earth) and reason (God made all therefore He cannot be images fashioned by human hands). These are the two most famous passages of scripture dealing with the issue of apologetic ministries but they are by far not the only ones (see: 2 Corinthians 10:5, Colossians 4:5-6, Acts 18:4, Titus 1:9, Acts 18:28, Acts 19:8-10, and Acts 2:14-41)

So scripture mandates it but, on a more pragmatic level, is it needed? Yes! A proper apologetic ministry is absolutely necessary in the modern church. We currently live in an “enlightened” age, where “science” and “reason” are put forth as more authoritative than “faith”, young Christians going off to college are leaving the church in vast numbers because they have no rational grounding for their faith to stand on and, once challenged, they cannot defend or explain what they believe or why. More than that, apologetics can be used in evangelistic methods; for example, in his testimony C.S. Lewis cites philosophic apologetics (namely objective morality) as an important tool in his eventual conversion from atheism to Christianity.

Rational apologetics is clearly a ministry that is commanded by scripture and needed in our society, unfortunately our Church culture has failed in this aspect due to the trend of anti-intellectualism that stems from a rejection of the age of enlightenment. The Christian Church must cease to hide itself behind this wall of anti-intellectualism and reclaim the rational grounding for our great faith.

If anyone is interested in more on Apologetics I recommend:

C.S. Lewis: Mere Christianity, Problem of Pain, and Miracles

Website Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig (Podcast, Scholarly articles, and Q&As)

Douglas Groothuis: Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith