Giving a Defense as Christians
âbut in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;â - 1 Peter 3:15
You canât answer every question of someone who opposes God. Often their objections are moral even if they claim itâs scientific or social. We donât have the ability to speak to people face to face and get to the heart of the questioner so sometimes itâs best to get to the broader root of the problem. Always ask them to define what they mean. Donât let them define Christianity, morality or reality by their relative standard because then youâll be talking at cross purposes. Donât let them back you into a corner defending yourself. If they claim to have evidence, theyâre the ones who have to provide it for their claims, not the other way around. Make them. Nearly 100% of the time they cannot and will just evade your question or submit evidence of a baseless, personal nature.
Lastly, be honest enough to admit we cannot âprove Godâ by their standards of touching him and measuring with scientific means but also forceful enough to say that by those same standards, they cannot disprove God either. We can know God is real by observable means beyond our own conversion. The known universe testifies to his reality in creation, history confirms his incarnation, archeological and historical evidence confirms the Bible narrative which means Godâs Word is true.
âFor what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.â - Romans 1:19-20
An atheist cannot prove gravity by giving you a cup of it, yet any intellectually honest one will say they know it is real by the effects, by the observable evidence on the universe and humanity. They canât show you the body of Christ, they canât say he did not resurrect or disprove he was God in the flesh. Donât let them get you so worked up you forget that theyâre the ones with no evidence yet all the bluster. In the end itâs not about winning the argument but trying to throw a stone in someoneâs shoe. What we cannot do, God always can. Godâs Word does not return void.
âFor the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.â - Hebrews 4:12-13
Apologetics is so important in a time when people claim to want discussion and evidence but really are about wanting control over others and to destroy faith. Put on the whole armor of God every day and know that while we can point people to Godâs truth, in love, it doesnât mean we shouldnât be any less firm in standing for said truth. Know when to walk away though and not keep engaging if their logic is simply divorced from reality because you canât converse with someone who isnât in their right mind. Donât get worked up with people who arenât thinking logically. We donât need to beg people to come into the kingdom, Jesus didnât. If they want to walk themselves to the gates of Hell, God allows them the free will choice and I think more Christians need to start accepting that uncomfortable reality. Point them to God often and always because regardless of the places you fall short, he will not and he knows what they need to hear.
âNo one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.â - Luke 8:16-17
Resources on Apologetics:
gotquestions.org (Itâs not apologetics specifically but there isnât a biblical question I havenât seen this site not have an answer for and be sound doctrinally on.)
areudirty
titsay
yousharknotpass
turnnoffyourmind
