Date: January 2002 Title: “Be Prepared to Give An Answer”

     This article will begin a new series on Apologetics – Bible evidences.  If the Bible is merely a humanly-created collection of “myths and legends,” then let’s be honest about it and move on.  But, if “all Scripture is God-breathed” (2Timothy 3:16), then the Bible should be telling us the truth about origins, ancient history, ourselves, etc. and we need to settle these issues in our minds and hearts.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:15,16)

Our word "apologetics" comes from the ancient Greek court, where defendants were given the right to offer an “apology” – not an “I’m sorry,” but a defense to answer or "speak off" the charge against them (1Peter 3:15).  How can anyone “give an answer” if they don’t think about these things ahead of time?  We must be examining, analyzing, remembering, and gaining wisdom as we move through life.  I became a Christian because I am interested in “truth” – what is real, what works for long-term good, etc.  Every good question is worthy of a good and reasonable answer – are you preparing yourself to give one?

     Recognizing our Limitations - Frances Schaeffer said, “There is a flow to history and culture and this flow is rooted in how we think, because how we think determines how we will act.”  There is a lot of profound truth in that statement.

       In what is currently called the “Postmodern Age” (more on that later), many Westerners have been seduced into abandoning the very notion that there is any "truth" to find.  Assuming that there is no truth, some call for "tolerance of all views" and assert that no one should try to convince others that their view is the "right one" (but aren’t these “tolerance” folks trying to convince/intimidate everyone into accepting their view as the “right” one?).  Try suggesting this “all answers are equally valid” approach to a science or math teacher!

       This “all views are equally true” approach is foolish, for Western science and technology advanced on the belief that the universe had been created by an intelligent Designer and, thus, contained observable patterns and laws that could be studied, understood, and cooperated with.  Simple experience in life, as well as the wisdom accumulating over the centuries, teaches us that “all ideas are NOT equally valid,” for some ideas and understandings of things accord much more with the real world than others do.  Some things work very well and others fail miserably.  Do you want the "all views are equally valid" folks designing the airplanes you fly in or training the doctors who operate on you?  Is it not obvious (and has been so for centuries) that some behaviors are consistently beneficial to individuals and the larger community, while others are destructive to both?  There is no ultimate merit in being “tolerant” of all other opinions just for the sake of tolerance – that’s apathy.  To be uncritically tolerant of error and foolishness is to participate in it and encourage it.  Are you really being considerate of another’s best interests to let them go their own foolish way, if you know that their folly will eventually bring them great harm?  Much of the clamor for tolerance these days is really a cover-up for either another agenda or it is an excuse for ignorance, laziness, and a general unwillingness to do the work involved in critical thought!

       There was a time, centuries in fact (400-1700 A.D.), when the Biblical framework for supernatural creation and subsequent history ruled in Western civilization.  However, the West, especially in its intellectual and higher classes, no longer assumes the truthfulness of the Bible and the Judeo-Christian worldview.  Why not?  Because European intellectuals were seduced by the ideas arising from the French Enlightenment and these ideas took over European universities and spread to the United States (ca. 1650-1960).  As this was developing, Christendom was occupied with post-Reformation denominational in-fighting and did not see what was coming – apologetics lagged as doctrinal wars and traditionalism reigned.  Hostile Biblical Criticism, Darwinism, Marxism, and a host of academic expressions of Enlightenment presuppositions were gathering force during the 18-19^th centuries and Christendom wasn’t ready to respond.  Suddenly, in the early 1960’s, the U.S. Supreme Court began ruling in favor of atheistic/ACLU pressures and we began to realize that something big was happening.  “Evolutionary progress” had become the “orthodox” explanation for everything and Isaiah 30:8-11 again described society.

       Thus, it is past time to get intellectually serious about our faith.  Jesus said that He was the only way to God (John 14:6; cf. Acts 4:12) and that God’s Word is truth (John 17:17) – how about it?  Christians have always been under pressure for these “exclusive” claims, but the real issue is whether or not these claims are true!  If they are not true, then maybe Christians are misguided bigots.  But, if they really are true, then Christianity is the only escape route out of here.  That’s not bigotry, that’s reality!

       We are going to have to consider “origins” – which is more reasonable and in accord with evidence: Creation/Intelligent design or macro-evolution/materialism/naturalism (given enough time, chemicals will turn into people)?  What about ancient history and the Bible?  What can archaeology tell us about the validity of the Biblical story?  What does 6,000 years of human history tell us about humanity and truth?  Can we take a “critical look” at those who criticize the Bible and evaluate them as well as what they said?  Why not!  How did the Bible come to us, is it from God, has it been passed on accurately, translated correctly, were the right books selected (canon)?  We have big job ahead of us.