The Need for a Definition of Apologetics

by Gerald Bostock.

The word ‘apologetics’ is not readily understood. Being an obscure term, the word remains an unknown quantity in the absence of a clear definition. So, it’s hardly surprising it is rarely used especially when the cognate word ‘apologies’ means the exact opposite of ‘apologetics’. It needs to be underlined that apologetics is not a matter of excusing failure but of explaining and defending the truth as revealed by God. The classic text 1 Peter 3.15 makes this clear when it urges us to defend the reason (λόγον) for our faith and hope. What is at stake here is the distinctive nature of apologetics: it is not a dogmatic exposition or a personal testimony but the intellectual defence of the faith. This can be seen in the original emergence of the word, as indicated in the OED:

“The science of apologetics… was unknown till the adversaries of Christianity assumed a learned and scientific character 1834”.

In the post-Enlightenment era, an intellectual critique and rejection of the Christian faith had to be met on its own terms and, however problematic and difficult this might seem, an intellectual defence of the faith could not be avoided. Hence ‘the science of apologetics’. The genie had been let out of the bottle of a self-contained and self-explanatory theology and a convincing response was required.

The Need for Apologetics

Now that scepticism and indeed atheism have become entrenched in significant parts of society and not just in various individuals there is a real challenge for the Church: attacks on the faith unanswered become attacks believed for lack of a convincing response. We are now in a situation, at least in western Europe, where the battle for the mind has been largely lost – even to the point of many people failing to recognise the fact and the significance of it. We cannot avoid the hard reality that this represents a victory for the ‘father of lies’ (Jn 8.44) and the ‘power of darkness’ (Col 1.13). It is a situation which cannot be resolved by repeating our traditional dogmas in the manner of tourists thinking that shouting ever more loudly in English will somehow enable foreigners to understand them. The fact is that the Church has to meet her critics and sceptics on their own ground and then challenge them with the ultimate questions of the meaning and the purpose of life, the nature of our creation as spiritual beings, and our understanding of God.

The Relationship of Apologetics to Evangelism

Apologetics, understood as the intellectual defence of the faith, is not a subject which will have much immediate appeal. Most people want a simple and pragmatic form of religion and may well dislike or even mistrust an intellectual approach. A dislike of intellectualism in evangelical circles is understandable if an intellectual approach appears to have discounted the need for conversion and the importance of personal experience. That said, it remains an integral aspect of mission and an essential element of the Gospel. The case for recognising this should be clear. The word for repentance (μετάνοια) means a change of mind, and the word for sin (ἁμαρτία) in its original sense means a ‘missing of the mark’ i.e. the wrong thinking which is the source of wrongdoing. In each case the mind is involved just as it is – or should be – in the normal course of life where we are enjoined to ‘love the Lord our God with all our mind (Mt 22.37)’ and in the process of our redemption when we are to be ‘Transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rm 12.2)’.

The intellectual defence of Christianity is integral to the effective proclamation of the gospel, not least in an age when many Christians are confused about the basic tenets of their faith and are in danger of being a ‘trumpet that gives an uncertain sound (1 Cor 14.8)’ when they are quizzed about their faith. Apologetics has a distinctive and essential role to play. We need to be confident of this and also about its relationship with evangelism. When we look at the overarching task of mission, it should be clear that apologetics cannot be ignored any more than John the Baptist can be ignored as the great forerunner of Christ. Just as John ‘prepared the way for the Lord (Mt 3.3)’ so apologetics clears the way for evangelism as the call of Christ himself to the individual soul. It acts as the light which illuminates the path to the door of eternal life.