Definition of Apologetics
The word 'apologetics' comes from the Greek word 'apologia' which means defense or a speech made in defense. Apologetics has to do with defending the faith. Dr Kenneth Talbot, who is my seminary President, gives a more comprehensive definition of apologetics, namely, that it is "that branch of Christian theology that gives philosophical expression and clarification to the total Christian system of truth and life, over against all forms of non-Christian claims of truth, with special reference to various specific attacks against the Christian faith."
Apologetics is concerned with two important tasks. Firstly, it seeks to develop a coherent and thorough world and life view that is based on the Bible. Secondly, it seeks to present a positive case for Christianity and to defend it against various attacks from false philosophies and religions.
A Method of Apologetics
According to Dr Gordon Clark, Christian apologetics involves three basic steps, "First the apologete must show that the axioms of secularism result in self-contradiction...Then second, the apologete must exhibit the internal consistency of the Christian system. When these two points have been made clear, the Christian will urge the unbeliever to repudiate the axioms of secularism and accept God's revelation."
I fully agree with this approach and would like to further expand it into seven steps.
First, begin with the axiom that the Bible alone is the Word of God.
Second, develop a consistent and thorough world and life view that is based on the Scriptures alone.
Third, seek to understand the various ways in which unbelievers, based on their unbelieving presuppositions, have attempted to solve the most basic and fundamental questions of life, e.g. how does one know what he knows, how does one determine right and wrong, what is the nature of reality.
Fourth, seek to show the unbeliever that his solutions are inconsistent or that they lead to greater problems or that they fail to properly account for the facts of reality.
Fifth, set forth the biblical view point and show how it is logically and internally consistent and that it solves problems in a way which other viewpoints can't.
Sixth, be prepared to answer any objections or questions from the unbeliever about the Christian worldview, e.g. the problem of evil, alleged contradictions in the Bible.
Seventh, urge the unbeliever to accept the Bible as God's word and pray that the Lord will grant to him faith.
Examples in Apologetics
History
A very crucial question that needs to be addressed in the study of history is, “What is the meaning and significance of history?” In order for history to have any significance, there must be a final, ultimate and permanent goal or end to which all of history is progressing towards. The Christian view of history may be summarized in three propositions. Firstly, God controls history. Secondly, God will bring history to its end and culmination. Thirdly, God Himself acts in history. Christianity, in contrast to secular philosophy, has always given emphasis to history. The Bible begins with the history of creation and ends with the culmination of this present history in the new heavens and new earth. The most significant event in biblical history is the entrance of the Second Person of the Trinity into this world to live, suffer and die for His people. The entire Old Testament looks forward to and prepares the way for Christ while the entire New Testament has to do with the revelation of Christ – His person, work, will, second coming etc. And so Christians view all of history in the light of what the Bible says about God’s plan and providence.
Those who reject the Bible face a number of difficulties. Firstly, they are unable to find any real meaning or significance in history. Some would admit that history has no decisive meaning or discernible meaning while others simply view history in terms of endlessly recurring cycles, which is likewise meaningless. Secondly, they are unable to provide an objective and accurate account and explanation of any event in history for at least three reasons. First, all historical writings are coloured by the author's state of mind. Any author must decide, based on his subjective preferences, what he thinks is important and what is not. Second, the author's sources are incomplete. Many important pieces of information are inaccessible because they were not or could not be recorded. Third, empirical procedures can neither determine causes in the past nor a goal in the future.
Language
The Christian view of language is based on two important truths. Firstly, God is a rational and thinking being. The mind of God revealed in the scriptures exhibits the structure of logic as described by Aristotle. Secondly, man is created in the image of God and he too is a rational and thinking being. It is primarily man’s rationality that distinguishes him from animals. God gave man a rational mind to understand His Word. He also gave man the gift of language so that man would be able to speak with Him. Words are essentially arbitrary signs which symbolize thoughts and ideas. All language is built on the laws of logic, which unlike words, are not arbitrary conventions. In other words, whereas the word ‘God’ can be represented by numerous other words such as Theos, Elohim, Deus, Gott etc without affecting its meaning, one cannot speak intelligibly without the laws of logic, regardless of the language. Those who claim that logic is an arbitrary convention, which may be discarded at will and replaced by another system, should show how it is possible to speak or write even a single sentence without it. Communication between two rational minds is possible because they have some thoughts (not sensations!) in common.
Those who reject the theistic worldview have to deal with the question of the origin of words and language, how communication is possible, and the universality of logic. A common explanation that unbelievers give is that words originate in sense experience and had an original physical reference. The problem with this view is that it cannot account for words that have non-physical and non-spatial meanings, e.g. God, soul, contradiction, cause.
Religion
The first question in religion is, “What is religion?” While this may appear to be a rather straightforward question at first, it is actually not. On the definition of religion, Clark writes, “So numerous are the complexities (one book, some years ago, listed about one hundred definitions of religion) that a straightforward exposition would be as tedious as a ponderous tome on mathematics.” In another volume, Clark shows that religion cannot be precisely defined. For example, is ‘God’ essential to religion? If He is, then Buddhism, Confucianism, Humanism, Communism are excluded from the list. Furthermore, it is very difficult to find a meaningful definition of ‘God’ that would fit all the religions. Some have tried to define religion in terms of religious desires, attitudes, feelings, emotions, passions etc. But again, it is not easy to find a common emotion among all the different so called religions. Furthermore, one wonders why the emotions and passions of an American Football or English Premier League Soccer fan should not be classified as religious. Surely many of them are far more devoted to their favourite team than many others are to their religion!
The Christian view of religion is that while there are many religions in the world, there is no one ‘Religion’ and only a Biblical perspective can supply the answer to this paradox. True religion began when God created man in His image and gave him a special revelation. But with the fall, men became estranged from God and began to suppress the innate knowledge of God and distort His special revelation. As time went on, these distortions and perversions diverged in many different directions, resulting in all kinds of idolatry and superstitious practices. Perhaps the most extreme form of distortion is atheism or the denial of God’s existence. When the divergence from the one true religion is not so great, e.g. Islam, then people normally classify it as religion, but when the divergence is greater, e.g. Buddhism, then there is hesitation and perplexity. The important point to note is that all the religions and philosophies of the world are but descendents of the one original religion and because of this common origin, many of them are loosely termed religion.
