From Jesus’ admonitions to His disciples and Stephen’s defense of the faith he had in Jesus as his Messiah we have learned three things: God desires us to be equipped to make a compelling defense of the reasons for our faith in Him; to do so we will need both wisdom (the ability to use knowledge skillfully) and the Spirit of God; and in doing so we can expect consequences – both positive and negative.
I teased, last post, the types of “apologies” found in the Bible as well as the principles that can be found within them that will enable us to be prepared and equipped. I will address them in that same order in this post. As a reminder, it is not my intent to “role play” an apology, nor am I taking the time to review in detail any of the many examples provided in the Bible; I am simply identifying the types and the principles of apologetics as gleaned from those examples.
Types of apologetics in the Bible:
General or Secular Apologetics
This describes what is typically thought of as apologetics – the general defense of one’s beliefs to those who either oppose or are unaccepting of them. It is exactly what was being addressed in Part 2 by Jesus to His disciples and by Peter to those who were scattered.
For Christians (remember that an “apology” or defense of one’s beliefs is not unique to followers of Christ), general apologetics is geared toward providing reasons and explanations for our core tenets of faith to those “of the world” – those who are not adherents to core Christian doctrines.
I understand that the term “core tenets” will mean different things to different people. Even a review of the Nicene Creed, drafted in 325 and updated in 381, finds multiple versions – though the variations are minor. (I have included a copy, this one based on the Russian Orthodoxy.)
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light: true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made; Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from the heavens, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man; And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried; And arose again on the third day according to the Scriptures; And ascended into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father; And shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life; Who proceeds from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spoke by the prophets. In One, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, And the life of the age to come.
Part of what creates the variances is the simple reality that the Holy Spirit did not commission anyone to provide for us, in the Biblical canon, a summary document to which we can all refer. He did not ask Matthew or Peter or Paul to scribe “in stone” the “Laws” of the New Covenant, but instead gave us the entirety of His word for our edification and understanding along with His commitment to “teach us all things” and to lead us into “all truth”. This was and is His plan – and it requires relationship with Him and communion with one another! Though a seemingly inefficient approach – since it is God’s plan, it is assuredly the most effective.
Specific or Doctrinal Apologetics
As I just noted, there are variances among those who recognize Jesus as their Lord and Savior – the One who Ransomed them from Sin and the Death it brings – as to what specific doctrines within the Bible might mean. These differences of understanding (which exist in general areas of Ecclesiology or Eschatology; in whether the gifts of the Son described in Ephesians 4 are “offices” or functions; whether praying in “tongues” is an appropriate behavior today or ended after the end of the “apostolic” age (whenever that was), etc.) can and do exists between equally sincere followers of Christ.
And this is not a modern phenomenon. Much of the content of the epistles from Paul, James, Peter and John were written to help clarify disagreements on the issues of doctrines among the saints. And therefore these very same letters become a template for specific or doctrinal apologetics – the defense of one’s stance regarding a particular teaching or doctrine or understanding of a Truth. Being able to provide reasons for believing, for example, that foreknowledge explains election (1Pet.1:1-5) or that election stands as its own premise; or that a span of time exists between the first half and the second half of the 70th week of the prophecy Gabriel gave to Daniel; or that salvation requires being dunked in water for the remission of sins, or if sprinkling is adequate or that either is simply an outward indication (a testament to the world) of one’s salvation.
That the Spirit authorized the epistles in which much of the doctrinal type of apologetics can be found, provides us evidence that this is a real part of how He expects us to interact and get along with one another in our journey. God made us in His Image and Likeness, intentionally giving us the ability to think on our own. He clearly desires diversity, even among His holy ones. That noted: Peter’s admonition found in our chapter 3 of his first epistle speaks to us all about our methods: “give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”
Principles of apologetics discerned from the Bible:
I would say that it goes without saying – but then I would not need to say it, so: the principles below represent what I have found within the words of God and specifically in the New Testament regarding what concepts we need to be confident in if we are to endeavor to provide a defense for our convictions in either a general or specific, a secular or doctrinal setting. I would expect that other will and have found other insights.
1) Know your Faith
I understand that this describes a very broad expanse of knowledge. I also see this as foundational to the subsequent principles. If we accept that the phrase “to have faith” can best be explained as describing the reasons and truths that make us confident in our understanding of who God is and in the purposes and plans He has for us, then to “know” our faith would simply mean to be able to expound and explain our confidence in our understandings.
A couple of Thanksgivings ago I endeavored to capture and send to our children a summary of my “faith” – though not a defense of it. I readily admit that if I were to be asked to re-write a document like this again, I would expect it to be different – the journey is full of revelations, some of which reframe our understanding; the last couple of years were no exception. I include it here simply as an example, with the encouragement that we each should be able to do create something like it.
I believe we were created by a loving God.
I believe our existence as a people, and mine as an individual, was purposeful and deliberate.
I believe that the only means for the absolute fulfillment of the destiny – eternal destiny – for which we were formed and fashioned – was the institution and inclusion of free will.
I believe that free will is meaningless without a legitimate opportunity for applying it – in a real world.
And therefore, I believe that a rule was given which we, as a created people, could choose to break.
I believe that choice (the original one to disregard the rule) had consequences, much more vast than the choices we face, but not more significant.
I believe that our loving God was aware of the inevitable – the ultimate cost and consequence of “choice” – and that He enabled the mitigation even before the fall (the first time a choice was made to disregard the rule).
In other words, I believe that the consequences of erring, of missing the target, of choosing wrongly – whether initial or subsequent – whether once or innumerable – are accounted for and a remedy made available. (Maybe the true, great reset.)
I believe that our loving God chose to pay the ransom of each and every errant human soul and thereby giving each and every one the ability to experience the destiny for which we were created.
I believe some will accept that ransom payment and some will not – but none will do either unwittingly.
I believe our loving God – by nature – is inexplicable, but also by nature, has provided enough testimony to remove “all reasonable doubt” – but that He will never impose the evidence on a soul, to override the free-will that was and is essential for us to participate in His grand design.
I believe it is His mission to make the evidence clear; but that it is ours to give the final verdict.
Personal insights aside, we also have two very clear examples in the book of Acts through the sermons that Peter preached after Pentecost (Acts 2:14-36) and the healing of the lame man in front of the temple (Acts 3:11-26). Hebrews 6:1-9, though enumerating what an apostate has given up, gives a fairly succinct example of what our faith contains. And of course, anything in red font in your Bibles (Jesus’ words) can be accepted as insights into the faith of His disciples by either contrasting it to the religious doctrines of the day or forecasting the doctrines that would be “built in” to His people throughout the coming age.
2) Know Why you Hold your Faith (both scripturally and personally)
This principle is clearly more about introspection than the acquisition of information and facts. As I noted in the first post of this series, I believe that deep down in our souls we all know that we are unfit, inadequate, unworthy to stand before the Majesty of our Creator on our own merits. All effective psychology would be founded on this universal truth. (Much in the same way that all effective anthropology or zoology or geology would be centered on the truth that the world (“kosmos” – the created order) was spoken into existence by God.) But knowing that to be true, on its own, does not lead to faith. In fact, that truth by itself would only lead to despair. It is the supplemental (or mathematically, complemental) truth that the same Creator loved us enough to make it possible for us to stand before Him not on our merits but on His!
We are told in the letter to the Hebrews that it is impossible to please God without faith; that if we want to come to Him we must be believing that He is our Loving Father and that He rewards those who seek Him with diligence. In the letter to those who assemble in Philippi we are told by Paul that he is “confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect (complete) it right up until the day of Christ Jesus.” To those in Rome Paul wrote, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor messengers, nor origins, nor things presents, nor things to come, nor authorities, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in the Anointed One, Jesus our Lord.” I see these, and the many other promises of our eternal destiny, as justifications for our decision to have faith in Him from a Biblical perspective.
Along with that foundation, I believe it is important to our overall defense, that we personalize those justifications. Our witness should include declarations of our own crises to our status quo. Circumstances that forced choices that brought us closer to the presence of God. Upon reflection, I believe we can all identify dilemmas or forks in the road or absolute catastrophes that moved us from where we were (without faith) to where He desires for us to be – the place of believing in Him. Identifying those “whys” and being prepared to share them with others is a very impactful aspect of our defense.
3) Know How you Came to your Faith
This is most like what we think of as our “testimony” though I want to emphasize that the importance of the “minutia” that lead us to the point of decision should also be understood, as I noted under the last principle. One of the remarkable aspects of the journey we are on with our Loving Savior is the subtleties that often underlie His dealings. Things that went completely unnoticed or, at most, were attributed to coincidence. “Innocent” events, conversations, meetings that happen in our lives that, once we accept His ransom, shine out like lanterns on a dark path marking the way. Looking back with a certain amount of introspection at the details of those “co-incidental” happenings that resulted in some catalytic event should also be included in our testimonies. Those “insignificant” details are what I believe help highlight the intricacy of God’s involvement in our individual lives. The chance meeting that leads to a seemingly unimportant decision that then precipitates an encounter that brings us to our knees before Him; others need to hear that part of our story (your story) too!
To that point: our testimony does not stop at our conversion, not by a long shot! Your witness of Christ and the implications of your faith compound over time. Your decision to accept His Ransom is not the end of your story, but the beginning. Yes, resurrection life, the New Birth, being Born of the Spirit all speak of the start of a journey in Him. The pit we are dug out from is sometimes, unfortunately escalated as being more impactful than the implications and importance of the accomplishments of the New Life in Christ that follow.
Paul, before the Council and the people who had followed him out of the temple, shared both the details of his conversion (Acts 22:6-16) and of his journey after (22:17-21). His witness had the kind of consequences we should expect.
After Peter’s first sermon, his first “apology”, the crowds responded better than they will some thirty years later with Paul. For that multitude, Peter’s witness became their catalyst (Acts 2:37-42) and what followed (2:43-47) became the first chapter in their own testimonies.
4) Know What you Have in Common with those who do not Share your Faith
This may be the most overlooked of the principles. Often, when we think of defending our faith we get, well, defensive. We think of those who we are speaking to as “the enemy”, the “other contestant in the ring” forgetting that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. And that there, but for the grace of God, would we be.
Since God has no grandchildren, every one of us who have our names added to the Lamb’s book of life, were born again. Looked at another way, every one of us were at some point in our lives, in need of someone willing to defend their faith, to share their witness of Jesus with us, so that we might avoid being subject to the second death.
In truth, as noted above, we have much more in common with one another than differences. It is in fact a key to the enemy’s strategy to highlight and accentuate any and every difference he can; Jew or Gentile; Male or Female; Bond or Free; morning person or evening person; Democrat or Republican… With God however, there is only one distinction (Col.3:1-11).
5) Know What your Faith Changes
This principle is certainly associated with why we believe what we do. But the changes associated with our faith are not always the reasons for why we embraced it but are instead often the consequences. On the extreme side, I may have been motived at my conversion to be rid of the sense of guilt and shame for things that I did or even for things that I wanted to do – closing the gap of my inadequacy. I may find that after accepting His forgiveness I actually understand more clearly the extent, the depth, of my inadequacies.
Or I may have been motivated by the idea of blessings and the elimination of obstacles only to find that trials and tribulations actually increased; but so too did my ability to persevere and grow through them. As times got tougher, if my understanding and acceptance of the truth that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him also grew, then my testimony actually became more impactful.
The essence of this principle is two-fold: my expectations of the impact of accepting the ransoming of Christ may or may not align with my experiences; either way though, those to whom I am presenting my defense need to hear my experiences. And that is the case whether I am presenting a general or a specific, doctrinal defense.
Maybe the greatest example within Christianity of this principle is found among the first disciples. The general consensus among their culture was that the Son of Man, the Messiah, was coming to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament by retaking David’s throne and conquering the pagan kingdoms who had subjected Israel to bondage; another Moses to deliver them from Rome. For some of them then, following Jesus was a very natural response to their belief. Their experience, however, was much different. They instead were told that the kingdom Jesus came to establish throughout the earth would be a spiritual kingdom and its victory would be seen by conquering the souls of men, not their armies. The New Testament tells that story – the story of wrong expectations and the disappointment associated with them but also the story of the greater glory that came when the realization of His plan brought about unexpected yet glorious changes.
My stated objectives to this endeavor were to provide a framework and structure for each of us, as disciples of Christ, to use; both to identify our defense (our witness) and to have confidence in how we might share our testimonies. Within the passages I noted, especially in the book of Acts, are wonderful examples from which we can be tutored. If I were to encourage a first, next step it would be to identify “your” faith. Doing so will raise your understanding of and confidence in the faith that we all need to be prepared to share, with gentleness and reverence with those whom the Lord brings to us.