Whenever I introduce the topic of Apologetics to a church, I hear many believers wondering, “why are we apologizing for our faith?” What many people do not know is that the meaning of words can change over time and begins to signify something completely different from what the biblical author initially intended. In 1 Peter 3:15 it states, “But 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; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” The word “defense,” in this verse, is translated from the Greek word apologia, which is where we learn the word “apology.” Therefore, we can define Apologetics as is giving a reasoned defense of our Christian faith.

Furthermore, Paul writes to Philippian believers that he is “put [there] for the defense (apologia) of the gospel” (Phil 1:16 [ESV]). In other words, Paul was explicitly placed in Phillipi to make an apology or a defense of the gospel. Apologetics is not a role reserved for some highbrowed theologians or philosophers, but for every believer to be prepared to give a defense for the hope that is in them. According to the author of The 12 Points that Show Christianity is True, Dr. Norman Geisler, “Positively: [Apologetics] builds a positive case for the Christian faith by defending the objective nature of truth, giving reasons for God’s existence, providing a defense of miracles, arguing for the credibility of the Gospel record, providing evidence of the deity of Christ, and reasoning for the Divine authority of the Bible. Negatively: it answers objections against the faith.”

Apologetics paves the way for the gospel and is, therefore, pre-evangelism. There are four reasons to do apologetics 1) the Bible commands it, 2) Culture demands it, 3) the Church needs it, and 4) results confirm it. If God is a God of reason, who created people with reason, He will not bypass the mind on His way to the heart. As C. S. Lewis explains, “To be ignorant and simple now—not to be able to meet the enemies on their ground—would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered” (The Weight of Glory, 50).