Part 1 of a three-part series on apologetics by Reid S. Monaghan.
When I came to faith as a physics student and wrestler at UNC Chapel Hill, conversion came first and the torrent of questions came second. I had so many questions that the friend helping me understand my faith told me I would love “apologetics.” I remember telling him, “I’m not saying sorry to anybody.”
Obviously, I had a lot to learn. Yet even as a brand-new Christian, I knew something else: my friends were lost, separated from God. I was suddenly living between two very different communities of brothers. I sensed a call to be among my friends as a Christian and engage them with the good news of the gospel. This is where my calling toward apologetics began. I wanted to engage the guys in my major and on my wrestling team with the good news of the grace of God in Christ.
Sent Into the World
Christian mission begins with God. The prologue to John’s Gospel tells of the eternal Word, the Logos, who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Jesus told us clearly that he came to love and to serve people (Mark 10:45; John 15:12–17) and to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). After his resurrection, Jesus extended that same mission to his disciples:
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
John 20:21
The Great Commission makes the scope of that sending clear:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18–20
To live out this commission, we must engage lost people in their culture. This has been true throughout history as the gospel moved through the ancient world, and it is true wherever the Lord sends his people today.
The question is not whether Christians will engage the world around them. The question is how. Too often our engagement has been thoughtless and, at times, even arrogant. But Scripture calls us to something better: to “walk in wisdom toward outsiders” with speech that is “gracious, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:5–6). Apologetics is one of the tools God can use to form that kind of wisdom in us.
In this series, I hope to introduce you to the discipline of apologetics and its usefulness in the gospel life and mission of the local church. First, let’s look at what it is, why we should engage with it, and where it belongs in the life of Christians.
What Is Apologetics?
Let’s start with Peter’s first letter, written to early Christian communities in Asia Minor who were facing hostility for their faith:
“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 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.”
1 Peter 3:13–15
The word translated “defense” is apologia, a reasoned defense. When the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates was on trial in Athens, his defense speech came to be known as his Apology.
New Testament scholars debate whether Peter had in mind a formal, philosophical defense (something I believe the Christian community should be ready to give) or a defense before legal authorities. Karen Jobes captures the balance well in her commentary on 1 Peter:
“Peter is concerned that Christian believers be able humbly and respectfully to defend their hope in Christ to anyone who might ask, even if legal charges are in view for some.”
Karen Jobes, 1 Peter (BECNT)
Notice the direction of Peter’s instruction. It begins with fearlessness and honoring Christ as Lord in our own hearts. It calls every believer, not just philosophical specialists, to be prepared to give a reason for the hope we have found in Christ. And it tells us how to do it: with gentleness and respect.
Far too often, apologists come off as harsh and arrogant. So let me say it again: our engagement with others should be marked by gentleness in our manner and respect for them as human beings.
Elsewhere in Scripture, Paul describes his imprisonment as being for the defense and confirmation of the gospel (Philippians 1:7). Luke tells us that the risen Jesus “presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs” (Acts 1:3). And in Acts 17, we find Paul reasoning in the synagogue, in the marketplace day by day, and with the philosophers of Athens.
This is the New Testament mooring for the discipline of apologetics. Giving a reason for the hope we have in Christ has a long history in the life of the church, and there are several reasons we should engage with it. I’ll briefly share three.
Why Apologetics?
1. Apologetics can help us love God with our minds.
When asked about the greatest commandment in the law of God, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Apologetics is not mere intellectualism, but it does involve the life of the mind. Christians can have a habit of speaking about things we have never thought much about. Loving God with the mind means taking the time and making the effort to understand what we believe and why.
The medieval bishop Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109), remembered for his ontological argument for the existence of God and his meditations on the incarnation, gave us the classic phrase fides quaerens intellectum, “faith seeking understanding.” In his words: “For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand.” The ground of faith is the work of God in our lives, and from that ground we seek to understand God and his world.
The old wrestler in me loves how Anselm opens his Proslogion:
“Up now, slight man! Flee, for a little while, thy occupations… enter the inner chamber of thy mind; shut out all thoughts save that of God… close thy door and seek him.”
Anselm, Proslogion
Many don’t realize that one of history’s deepest philosophical reflections on the existence of God began as a prayer. Rightly engaged, apologetics can be an act of worship: loving God with our minds.
2. Apologetics can help strengthen our faith.
There are good reasons for the truths we believe, and they can give us confidence in the marketplace of ideas. We want what we treasure and believe to make sense to our minds.
Apologetics can also help us realize that “they,” the cultural voices that always seem so sure of themselves, don’t have it all together either. Consider the story many cultural elites tell about our origins. It’s a story I believed without question before coming to Christ. Think of it as a secular creation story:
In the beginning there was nothing, and the nothing, being “unstable,” exploded by chance into everything. Our planet happened to form from this nothing and land at just the right distance from just the right sort of star. Thankfully, there was a lucky primordial soup; overcoming the atmospheric conditions of the early Earth, the right molecules fell into the precise order to form functionally folded proteins, cells, and eventually us. You can thank your lucky stars, but there is no meaning to any of it beyond blind chance plus matter plus time.
I don’t share this to mock those who hold these beliefs, but to highlight that we sometimes assume our friends’ views are strong and unassailable. All of us believe things that sound strange to others. So we need not fear believing in a Creator God; in the sinfulness of humanity and our need for forgiveness, grace, and transformation; in God coming to earth as Savior and King; and in an eternity where our deepest longings are finally met. It is not unreasonable to question whether nothing can do anything, or whether “chance” has causal power — let alone whether it can give meaning, morals, and purpose to life.
Apologetics also brings clarity to our own questions. What do we say when someone claims, “All religions believe the same thing,” or “I can’t believe in a good God with all the evil we see in our world”? Good answers to our own questions can strengthen our faith. I remember the social pressure as a young believer, when some friends and even family members asked me, “Are you an idiot now?” Having thought through the reasons for my faith gave me confidence in what I believed and why I believed it.
3. Apologetics can give us confidence to engage our friends with the good news of Jesus.
Many of us were never taught to ask questions or to humbly seek good answers. But questions can help us grow, both in our faith and in our confidence to share the gospel with others. Honest questions should be encouraged in the church. When believers grasp their faith deeply and answer objections graciously, apologetics becomes a great tool in our witness.
Two things often keep Christians from speaking about Jesus. The first is the fear of not knowing what to say if someone asks a difficult question. If we take time to pray, read Scripture, and learn from other faithful Christians on a subject, we can grow in confidence.
The second is the idea that we must have everything figured out before we can speak to anyone about Jesus. That belief produces what I call missional constipation. We stay passive in our witness and unwilling to engage others with the gospel. But we don’t need every answer to share the hope we have in Christ. We just need to make some friends and work through our questions together along the way.
Apologetics is giving a reason for our hope in Christ. It can help us love God, have confidence in the truth, and engage others well. But does it belong only in the academy, or in academic jousting between believers and unbelievers?
Where Does Apologetics Serve?
Apologetics is not the main thing. The gospel mission and ministry of the church come first. Jesus calls us to love God, love people, and share the good news with people in their culture. Apologetics serves that mission.
There is a place for academic study and philosophical engagement, but we must insist that apologetics live in the life and mission of the church. It is a tool that can equip us and keep us focused in our witness by:
- Clarifying truth
- Defending Christian doctrine
- Answering our friends’ objections
- Exposing false beliefs and idols, with gentleness and respect
We start with the Great Commission: the body of Christ living among people, sharing our lives and the gospel, and answering people’s questions and objections along the way. Some of those questions are the classic concerns of Christian apologetics: the existence of God, the trustworthiness of the Bible, the resurrection of Jesus, and the claim that Jesus is the only way to the Father. Others arise from particular places, times, and cultural moments.
Peter’s charge still stands for us today. We are to have no fear, honor Christ as Lord in our hearts, be prepared to give a reason for our hope, and do it with gentleness and respect.
With this in mind, the church can equip her people to use Christian and cultural apologetics as a tool for reaching our post-Christian neighbors. For church leaders, equipping our people this way need not be intimidating. It’s an invitation to welcome them onto the path of God’s mission.
More in Part 2: We Don’t Engage Culture. We Engage People. What it looks like to walk in wisdom toward the people around you, at home, in the church, and in the city.
About the Author
Reid Monaghan
Reid Monaghan is the founder and President of The Gospel Underground. He has over 30 years of ministry experience working with university students and athletes, as well as a dozen years in pastoral ministry, church planting, and entrepreneurial leadership. He also serves as the Director of Church Planting for the Redeemer Network.
