Perhaps the foremost verse that might be used to argue
against making a defense for the faith beyond the Scriptures is:
·
All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy
3:16-17; Isaiah 8:19-20; 1 Corinthians 4:7)
If Scripture is all that we need to live for Christ, then
apologetics, the defensive and offensive evidences for our Faith, is needless,
right? Wrong! Apologetics is appealed to throughout the Scriptures, even by
Jesus who prophesied and worked miracles so that we could believe:
·
“If I am not doing the works of my Father, then
do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe
the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am
in the Father.” (John 10:37-38; 5:31-37)
He even instructed us to not believe Him without the
supportive evidences. If Jesus appealed to extra-Biblical evidences, so can we!
He also prophesied to promote belief:
·
“You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and
I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am
going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you
before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.” (John
14:28-29)
For example, the evidence that Jesus and His Apostles had
been martyred for the faith without ever recanting has done a lot to strengthen
the faith of many.
John also appealed to Jesus’ miracles as proof for the
faith:
·
This is the disciple who is bearing witness
about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his
testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were
every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not
contain the books that would be written. (John 21:24-25)
When the imprisoned John the Baptist sent his disciples to
Jesus for reassurance that He is the long-awaited Savior, Jesus told them to
report to John the many miracles that He was performing. He didn’t instruct
them, “Tell John to just believe the witness of the Spirit about Him.
We are instructed to provide reasons for
the faith:
·
“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as
holy, always being prepared to make a defense [“apologia,” in the Greek] to
anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with
gentleness and respect, (1 Peter 3:15; Jude 3)
We are also instructed to challenge the claims and ideas
that are raised against the Faith:
·
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not
waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of
the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments
and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every
thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
We are not to ignore that challenges raised against the
Faith. Instead, we are to “destroy” them. There is nothing in Scripture the
requires us to merely cite chapter and verse in defense. For example, if our
camera records someone stealing from the offerings, we can cite verses that
teach that stealing is sinful, but we should also use the evidence from the
camera to establish the guilt of the thief.
Likewise, before we accuse a brother of teaching against the
Word, we must first establish what he believes and is teaching. This too takes
us beyond Sola Scriptura, or does it? Scripture itself mandates that we first
collect the evidence and listen to both sides. Apologetics does this very thing
with the approval of the Scriptures.
Doesn’t the Scriptures require us to rely only on the
Good News rather than reason? Do we thereby undermine the Gospel?
·
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not
come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I
decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I
was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my
message were not in plausible words of [worldly] wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of
men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
The Gospel is not opposed to Godly wisdom and reason, as the
next verse demonstrates:
·
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom,
although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are
doomed to pass away. (1 Corinthians 2:6)
It seems that Paul is teaching us to lead with the Gospel,
especially among those who have never heard it. However, on Mars Hill, among
the Greek philosophers, Paul had used an entirely different strategy, which
made use of reason and even the Greek poets (Acts 17:22-31).
Instead, the above verses might simply apply to the strategy
Paul had been led to use among the Corinthians.
Reason is not opposed to the Scriptures but upholds them,
by first interpreting them correctly. Therefore, we are instructed to love the
Lord also with our minds:
·
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This
is the great and first commandment.” (Matthew 22:37–38)
It doesn’t seem possible to me that Scripture is arguing
against making a defense for the Faith. Instead, apologetics has consistently
fortified my faith and has given me the courage and assurance to confront the
opposition.
4 comments:
This is an excellent read. As deciples of Christ we are not
Called to be passive. Apologetics has strengthened my faith tremendously. 🙏 would love
To read more like this.
PHX, Apologetics has also strengthened my faith. It's also a command to provide reasons for our faith.
God Bless You Brother 🙏 ✝️
And may He do likewise with you, brother!
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