Apologetics: What am I apologising for? Gavin Matthews
5 minute read
Apologetics (Noun): the branch of theology concerned with the defence or proof of Christianity, typically drawing on a set of established responses to specific criticisms.
“I don’t believe in apologetics; it just leads to arguments, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned - you can’t argue people into the kingdom of God”, said my friend.
She’s not alone either – many Christians are sceptical about the value of reasoning when it comes to evangelism. She was young, Charismatic and believed that praying for healing for the sick was the best way of opening the way for the gospel. In further conversation, it turned out that her impression of ‘apologetics’ seemed to involve rather angry older men, shouting (mostly) about the age of the earth.
In contrast, I was once told by an older man to just hand people a basic gospel tract about substitutionary atonement and then the evangelist’s job was done. “If God changes or the Bible changes, I’ll change how I do evangelism; until then, I’ll keep on.” he added.
In both cases, but for different reasons, engaging with people’s questions and objections - and answering them from a biblical perspective - was dismissed as irrelevant. Apologetics has had a bad rap. In fact, one of my favourite Bible teachers called it a ‘curse of the modern age’!
Apologetics is Persuasive Evangelism
At Solas, meanwhile, we answer people’s questions and objections to the Christian faith and seek to persuade them that the Christian worldview makes sense and points to faith in Christ. We have taken to using the phrase ‘persuasive evangelism’ to describe our work – as the word ‘apologetics’ seems to come freighted with unhelpful and misleading assumptions.
We engage in persuasive evangelism for two reasons:
1. It’s biblical
2. It’s effective
The Bible is a book in which people - inspired by God - repeatedly speak into the issues of their day and answer the questions of their age. The Apostles didn’t go around telling people, “Don’t worship Baal, that foolish idol can’t make it rain!” If they had, their theology would have been flawless, but their evangelism fruitless. Which deity controlled the weather wasn’t the question that people were asking in Jerusalem, Antioch or Athens at that time! It was, however, the definitive question of the 9th century BC, which Elijah addressed head-on.
Paul’s ministry exemplifies the persuasive evangelism model. When speaking to Jewish audiences, who he predominantly addressed prior to Acts 17, he usually began with the law and the prophets, as his audiences were asking how the God of Israel would honour his covenant, and if he was going to restore the kingdom and send a Messiah. When he met pagans who were asking none of these questions (from Acts 17 onwards), he is consistent in his approach but different in his starting point for his reasonings with them. He begins with their questions (the unknown god) and culture and points them to Christ. Like Elijah, he confronts idolatry, but in a very different way.
Apologetics in the Gospels
Have you ever considered how different the four Gospels are and how they are an apologetic for different people asking different questions?
Matthew: Addressing Jewish audiences asking who the Messiah is, Matthew begins his account with a genealogy. We meet the Messianic Christ.
Mark: Probably written in Rome, Mark perfectly addresses the question ‘should I worship Christ or Caesar?’ He opens his account with demons being expelled, and before long the wind and waves are obeying Christ. We meet the powerful Christ.
Luke: That most Gentile of Gospel writers, seems to be answering a question about who the Messiah came for. The lost and the least are his focus, and he recounts Mary praying about her son who would cast the mighty off their thrones and exalt the humble. He proves his point by ignoring Herod and instead embracing into the heart of the story those ‘disreputable’ shepherds. We meet the Christ for the lost, the least and the irreligious.
John: John is acutely aware of a different audience and their questions – he won’t mention demons at all to his philosophical Greek-influenced audience. They want know if there is a ‘Logos’ – a point, meaning and purpose to life. He writes to them that the Logos - the Word - became flesh and dwelt amongst them. We meet the Christ who responds to the human need for answers.
Persuasive evangelism is not highfalutin, ‘academic’, pointless arguing. Rather, it is listening to people’s questions and context, to show them that the Bible makes most sense of life. This is all done to clear the rubble and distractions out of their path so that they can see Jesus. In Ephesus, Paul “spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 19:8).
The Fruitfulness of Persuasive Evangelism
Persuasive evangelism is also fruitful. At Solas, we know people who have come to Christ because - in him - they have found satisfying answers to their deepest questions: “How can I cope with this crushing weight of guilt?”, “Should I follow the Bible or the Qur’an?”, “Is there a purpose to life?” and more! And in the UK today, it seems that the dominant questions people are asking seem to be around identity (who am I?), value (what am I worth?), purpose (what am I for?) and agency (what can I achieve?), to cite Roy Baumeister’s formula. The gospel has stunningly beautiful, powerfully attractive, true answers to these questions.
Resources for Apologetics
Many missions and agencies have useful resources to help address the questions of the age in print and online. 10ofthose have a raft of books on a great range of topics which you can access here. Other useful websites include Solas, Speak Life, BeThinking, TheOCCA, JohnLennox, and there are many others too!
But let’s not get carried away. Persuasive evangelism isn’t a magic formula for effortlessly getting people to believe in Christ. Think of the two objections to it with which we begun. My prayerful friend who emphasises the miraculous role of the Holy Spirit in conversion, has a point. We cannot argue people into the kingdom, it is a prayer-filled, Spirit-dependent work. In fact, if we persuade someone of a biblical truth, that is in itself a spiritual work because the Spirit will lead you into truth! (John 8:13) My former colleague Gareth Black once wrote rather pithily, “We seek to trust God and use apologetics, and never, ever the other way round!”
And what of our other objector, the man who wanted to drop a tract about the atonement and call it job done? He too had a point; the gospel hasn’t changed and neither has the Lord. Persuasive evangelism is only ever the starting point of our witness. The end point is always Jesus, his death and resurrection. We might face different objections and problems as we engage with atheists, agnostics, the apathetic, Mormons or Muslims, and we might open dialogues with new-agers differently from how we would with a microbiologist, but there remains however, “one mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus” (1Timothy 2:5) We are called to commend him both persuasively and prayerfully!
Gavin Matthews lives in Perth, Scotland with his wife Elaine, and is Assistant Director (Scotland) for Solas.
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