Defending Your Faith

Reliable Answers for a New Generation of Seekers and Skeptics: Revised and Expanded Edition

Dan Story

• Publisher: Kregel Publications
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780825476051
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Teologia cristiana

Whether you want to grow in your own understanding of Christianity or need trustworthy responses to the questions of friends, Dan Story has the answers. Defending Your Faith helps Christians see that their faith is reasonably and intelligently grounded on objective, verifiable evidence. And it equips readers to share these answers with family, friends, and coworkers who have questions about Christianity. Story's book has filled a valuable niche in apologetics for the past twenty years. He has helped countless readers answer confrontational questions such as:

• How do I know that God exists?
• Can I trust the Bible?
• Why is there evil and suffering in the world?
• Is God an environmentalist?
• Are the Bible and science in conflict?

In this revised and expanded edition, Dan Story goes even further. With the latest apologetic evidence and tactics, he not only answers those age-old questions but also deals with new challenges to Christianity that have emerged over the last two decades, including the ubiquitous presence of social media. He also responds head-on to the new breed of vocal, aggressive, manon-the-street atheists. With culturally relevant strategies and a firm foundation of truth, Defending Your Faith will challenge you to share your faith with others while knowing that you are not alone as you witness for Christ.

CHAPTER 1

WHY DOES GOD WANT OUR DEFENSE?

When I became a Christian, all of my closest friends and most of my extended family were non-Christians. As you can imagine, it wasn’t long before I was confronted with skepticisms and questions that, as a new believer, I couldn’t answer. This, along with a desire to get answers to my own questions, prompted me to embark on a study of apologetics.

What I learned was so spiritually fulfilling and affirming to my faith that I wanted to share it with other believers. So I began a class to teach apologetics in my home church. One of the couples attending the study was preparing for the mission field. On the first night, after I explained what apologetics is, the husband raised the issue of why does God want our defense? He put it this way: “Why do we need apologetics? We have the Holy Spirit to convince unbelievers. I don’t see why apologetics is even necessary.” His comment illustrates the fact that the role of apologetics in the Christian life and its importance in evangelism are foreign to many believers.

Before we go any further we need to understand one thing: God doesn’t need anything from us, much less our defense. The Bible is very clear about this. God gives to all people “life and breath and everything else” (Acts 17:25). We need Him, even to keep breathing moment by moment, since He sustains all of creation in existence (Col. 1:17). But there’s nothing we have that He needs.

So let’s rephrase the question. Does God want our defense? Does He want us to exert time and energy offering evidence to support the validity of Christianity?

If not, apologetics is at best a waste of time and at worse interferes with the ministry of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, if the Holy Spirit uses apologetics to convict and convince people of the truth, it is vital that we arm ourselves from the apologetic arsenal accumulated by the church over the past two millennia.

Our first task, then, is to discover what apologetics is and what an apologist does, so we can answer the question, “Does God want our defense and, if so, why?”

Coming to Terms

The term apologetics has nothing to do with giving an apology. It’s derived from the Greek word apologia, which is found seven times in the New Testament (Acts 22:1; 25:16; 1 Cor. 9:3; Phil. 1:7, 16; 2 Tim. 4:16; 1 Peter 3:15). The English equivalent of apologia is “defense” (literally, a “speech for the defense”), and it’s translated that way in 1 Peter 3:15 in the New American Standard and New King James versions of the Bible. In the original Greek language, apologia had a definite legal connotation. It was a technical term in ancient Greek law.¹ When apologia is used in the New Testament, it describes a public defense of the gospel, as illustrated in Acts 22:1. Sometimes, in fact, this defense was carried out in a court of law (Acts 25:16; 2 Tim. 4:16).

Of course, apologetics didn’t die out in the first century when the apostles left the scene. Christianity came under attack from numerous sources; so many believers took up the challenges and answered them with all the intellectual resources available. Indeed, many church fathers, such as Justin Martyr (ca. AD 100–167) and Irenaeus (ca. AD 120–203), were both theologians and apologists. As a result of their courageous efforts, Christianity finally won political acceptance in the fourth century—a victory that allowed Christianity to spread throughout the world until even our own day.²

Over the centuries, the apologetic discipline has been understood in a variety of ways.³ But perhaps one of the best definitions in our time flowed from the mind of the late Edward John Carnell, former Professor of Apologetics at Fuller Theological Seminary. According to Carnell, apologetics “is that branch of Christian theology which answers the question, Is Christianity rationally defensible?”⁴ In other words, can Christianity be defended (and therefore substantiated) by using the same procedures reasonable people everywhere use to determine the truthfulness of anything—whether it be a scientific, historical, legal, philosophical, or religious question? For example, can Christians defend the authenticity and authority of the Bible? Can they demonstrate that the Bible contains accurate and truthful information and does not contradict itself? Can Christianity defend the claim that Jesus Christ is God incarnate (that He took on bodily form) and that Jesus “died for our sins …, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3–4)? In a word, can Christianity stand the test of critical scrutiny in all its truth-claims?

The answer is yes, and in the following chapters I’ll provide reasonable, verifiable responses to most of the questions and challenges raised by non-Christian skeptics and other critics. But first, let’s look more closely at why God wants our defense.

A Job Description

The task of apologetics is to give a reasoned defense of historical, biblical Christianity. As the late theologian and apologist R. C. Sproul explains, apologetics demonstrates “why Christians are Christians and why non-Christians should be Christians.”⁵ In order to do this, we need to learn what unbelievers believe and what obstacles are preventing them from seriously considering Christianity. Once we identify these obstacles, we can attempt to overcome them through the appropriate means. Intellectual objections require intellectual answers; emotion problems require emotional support and sensitivity. The apologetic job description is no mystery: communicate Christian truths to non-Christians in such a way that they will listen. The goal is always evangelistic—to lead non-Christians to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Apologetics is not preaching. But apologetics does clear the way for the proclamation of the Christian message. This is why apologetics is sometimes referred to as “pre-evangelism.” You might say, if Jesus is the message, apologetics is the John the Baptist to Jesus; it rids the path of obstacles to the Savior as it points to Him as the one and only way.

I will expand on this job description as we move ahead, but I want to emphasize here that the responsibility of giving a reasoned defense of Christianity is not the job of a select few theologians who specialize in apologetics. The Bible makes it clear that the job of defending Christianity belongs to every Christian and that all of us should be prepared to do this at any time. In 1 Peter 3:15, the apostle Peter instructs us to always be “ready to make a defense (apologia) to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you” (NASB). Just as all Christians are called to evangelize, so all are called to defend their faith.

Jude supports Peter’s exhortation and expands on it too. He tells us to “contend for the faith that was once … entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3). In his letter, Jude instructs his readers to defend Christianity against the false teachings that were arising in the church. So not only are we to defend Christianity against the attacks of those who distance themselves from Christianity (such as atheists and skeptics), but we are to defend it against those who call themselves friends of the faith while undermining its historic, orthodox teachings (two examples would be Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses).

Non-Christians deserve to hear and understand the case for Christianity. When unbelievers voice intellectual objections (real or imagined), or ask genuine questions, they should receive concrete, verifiable answers that support the authenticity and authority of Christianity. We live a world with many contradicting beliefs and claims. If we don’t provide legitimate answers to the non-Christian’s objections and questions, he or she will assume we don’t have any answers and will seek religious truth elsewhere. Too much is at stake to allow this to happen, especially when we have the evidential resources to provide adequate answers to honest questions.

Why the Effort?

This may sound like a lot of effort. And frankly, it is. So why do it? Don’t we have enough to do already? Trying to understand our spouse, raising our kids, hacking our way through school, maintaining our sanity on the job, paying bills, finding time to pray and study the Bible … and now you want to add one more responsibility? I’m afraid so. But please note this, and this is extremely important: God commands you and me to defend the faith; it’s not my idea. The passages cited from 1 Peter and Jude are enough to confirm that.

“Okay,” you might say. “Granted, God tells me to give a reason for my faith and answer challenges to it. If I do that, what’s the payoff? What will it accomplish?” More than you or I could ever imagine, but let me give you a taste.

Glorifies God

The foremost purpose of apologetics is to bring glory to God by honoring and serving His Son, Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul tells us that “whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Elsewhere he adds, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17). By defending the truths of God, we defend His honor and name.

Exonerates Christianity

Because we live in a world that embraces a profusion of opposing worldviews, people have an incredible smorgasbord of options. When religious convictions clash—when contradicting beliefs all declare to reflect divine truth—logic says that only one side can be right. But which set of beliefs should someone accept? Without any clear, objective way of choosing, we might throw up our arms in despair and reject all religions, believing that there is no way to intelligently discern which, if any, really is true. Or we might arbitrarily choose one, or even sample several options to try and discover what we like best. But then truth would be abandoned in favor of personal preference.

Challenges to the faith may come in the form of a false religion claiming to supersede Christianity as the one true religion. They may come from secular humanism or atheistic evolution, which claim God doesn’t exist and all religions are human creations. They may come from Postmodernism, which claims there are no absolute truths or objective moral values and that all religious beliefs are equally legitimate. They may come from Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses canvasing the neighborhood. Or they may flow from your next-door neighbor, a family member, college professor, or coworker in the form of objections to the Jesus of the Gospels. No matter what form challenges take, when apologetics confronts them effectively, it exonerates Christianity.

Strengthens Believers

Many Christians are comfortable in their faith and don’t feel a need to corroborate it with evidence. This is certainly admirable. Jesus Himself said to doubting Thomas, who demanded “proof” that Jesus rose from the grave: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). But even Jesus provided Thomas with the evidence he desired (vv. 24–27).

Likewise, many of us desire the affirmation of apologetics to strengthen our faith. Much of the world rejects Jesus Christ as God along with all the other major tenets of the Christian faith. Believers are confronted with non-Christian ideologies that contradict or attempt to refute our sacred beliefs. God can and does use apologetics to help believers whose faith is wavering and to ease the suffering caused by doubt. Apologetics can be especially reassuring to new believers seeking to rationally justify their step of faith. It is a wonderful and joyful experience to discover that our faith is firmly grounded on objective truths that are confirmed by sensible, verifiable evidences.

Makes Christianity Relevant

Although many of the current attacks against Christianity are the same as those that confronted the early church, nevertheless, each generation has its own set of particular objections. And Christians of each generation have a responsibility to address those objections.

Cultures and societies change, so we shouldn’t expect the problems of this generation to be the same as the former one or the next. For example, second-century apologists debated pagans who accused Christians of atheism, incest, and cannibalism (because believers claimed to “eat” the body of Christ; see John 6:51–63). Obviously, second-century unbelievers either misunderstood or purposely perverted the true meaning of certain Christian beliefs and practices. Today, these accusations against Christians are nonexistent.

On the other hand, twenty-first-century apologists deal with issues that didn’t plague the second-century church. Today’s unique apologetic challenges include philosophical naturalism (the belief that nothing exists outside nature and natural laws, including the supernatural) and various New Age philosophies that have evolved out of Eastern pantheism. More recently, aggressive attacks from the so-called “new atheism” have gained wide public attention, alongside a growing acceptance of moral relativism and religious pluralism. Both would like nothing better than to rid society of any remnant of Christianity. We also have to confront the swelling ranks of thoroughly unchurched, indifferent, non-religious people who have little outward concern for spiritual things and no interest at all in Christianity. We even have to deal with a host of heretical cults and aberrant theologies that try to appear Christian while subverting the orthodox understandin...