Years ago, it seems like we spent a lot of time in church listening to sermons about or studying apologetics, but these days, not so much. Why?
Apologetics is the discipline of responding to challenges to the Christian faith. We might think of the instruction of Peter to always be prepared to “give an answer” (apologia) to those who ask about the Christian hope, and to do so with gentleness and respect (1 Pet. 3:15). In this sense, apologetics is always relevant and necessary anytime we encounter others with a different vision of the world. Apologetics can help believers address their own doubts and can help remove barriers to belief for outsiders who are investigating the Christian faith.
In many Christian circles, the apologetic discipline is going strong. But there has always been suspicion about apologetics. Can we argue anyone into faith? Or simply give testimony to what God has done? Some of the contemporary suspicion relates to the ways that the discipline of apologetics has been taken captive by the logic of culture war. When this happens, apologetics becomes more about winning than witnessing. And if winning is what really matters, then we just need to learn the arguments and memorize scripts: If someone says that, then I say this.
Although there might be settings where this sort of rhetorical combat is fitting, under ordinary circumstances apologetics take place more organically and humanely. Any apologetic defense we offer should come under the larger project of discernment. Whenever we meet a challenge to faith, we should be seeking what God might be up to in the person who is bringing the challenge.
It is important to be grounded in what we believe and why we believe it. It is valuable to learn how Christians have wrestled with various objections and what sort of responses we might give. But people are more than “brains on a stick,” so any apologetics discussion worth its salt will seek to engage the whole person with the hope of the gospel, not just to win the argument.
About the Author
Justin Ariel Bailey is assistant professor of theology at Dordt University. He, his wife, and their two children are members of Covenant CRC in Sioux Center, Iowa.
