CHRISTIANS APOLOGETICS: Defending The Christian Faith By JOSHUA NAABU

Introduction

Everybody looks at the world from his or her point of view so to somebody else your beliefs are just a set of ideas, an ideology, a doctrine which can be criticized. Because someone respects your beliefs or ideas doesn't necessarily mean he or she shouldn't ever disagree or criticize them. People have the right to criticize, denounce or hate them like any other set of ideas, ideologies or doctrine without being arrested or accused of hatred, phobia, bigotry and the like. Anyone who wants a discussion shouldn't shut down or classify the opinions of their opponents as racists, phobias, bigotry, lies, out of context, and other buzzwords but should rather take it on with reason, evidence, facts with detail and logic. We all have opinions but then, there is evidence. When the facts are shown and when consistency is shown, then things become valid, but if an objection against something or someone is just based on an opinion then it's really just that - an opinion. A friend of mine once said "if you can't sit calmly for your ideas or doctrine to be criticized then you have an emotional problem." For peace to prevail, you must be tolerant of the views or opinions of others because, you don't expect everyone in this world to think like you do, do you? Even if you don't agree with someone's view, you have to recognize the right for them to express their views. Freedom goes both ways and it's not only good when it serves you. Because of freedom of speech, we live in a world where the tweets of President Donald Trump to anything else you can think of is criticized publicly, even on internationally acclaimed media platforms like CNN. Oh my gosh! Where can we go, to run away from criticism? Pluto? Then I'm getting out of here!

To criticize a person for their race is manifestly irrational and ridiculous, but to criticize their religion, that is a right. That is freedom. The freedom to criticize ideas- even if they are sincerely held beliefs- is one of the fundamental freedoms of society. A law which attempts to say you can criticize and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed.
~Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean)

What does "apologetics" mean? Glad you asked. The word "Apologetics" comes from a Greek word "apologia". It means "verbal defense". It is used eight times in the : ; ; ; ; ; , and .

"...but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence," ().

It is sad that many people view apologetics in ministry as Ctrl+Alt+Del on a computer, those you always call only when you have a problem. Au contraire, we live in a world where apologetics is unavoidable and everybody practices it whether they realize it or not. The only problem is that most of it is bad apologetics. Those who might think otherwise might say "There is no need for apologetics!" Ouch! But if I may ask "Why do you say so?" As soon as someone answers that, he is doing apologetics. So it's not a matter of simply choosing to not engage in apologetics, because every area of our lives always comes back to it. Rather it is a question of how do we get a better mindset about this.

The Bible commands every Christian to be ready to make a defense of his faith. That means you are called to give reasonable answers to questions regarding Christianity. Now, this does not mean that you must have a Ph.D., or that you have to go to seminary. However, it does mean that you should be willing to at least give an answer for your beliefs. The only way to do this effectively is to study the reasons why you believe what you believe. As believers we are mandated to be intellectual and not merely emotional. The greatest commandment as given by Christ in Matthew 22:37 reads, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind." The word mind literally means your intellect and faculty of understanding. There is a saying that goes, "If someone can talk you into Christianity, then someone else can talk you out." Christians who cannot present a biblically clear explanation of their faith will be insecure when strongly challenged by unbelievers. In some cases that insecurity can undermine your assurance of salvation and consequently lead to your apostasy. Therefore, Christian apologetics is that branch of Christianity that deals with answering any and all critics who oppose or question the revelation of God in Christ and the Bible. Some areas of Christian apologetics deal with the use of evidence, reason, philosophy, etc.