I'm not apologizing!- What is Apologetics?

You may be wondering, what does the word, "Apologia" mean? And from looking at the word, its easy to draw the conclusion that it means "apologize", but in fact, while that may be the word from which we get "apologize" from, that's not what it means. Apologia, in fact, means or can be translated into, "defense".

1 Peter 3:15-16

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. 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,¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

 In 1 Peter, we are called to give a defense, or in other translations, give a reason for why we believe in Jesus when asked. At the time when the verses were written, they were given to a persecuted church, and given in a context in which you could lose your life for believing.

So, in short, apologetics is defending your faith or something you believe in. And defending your faith isn't something as simple as "oh well I'm right because I believe it", defending your faith is learning about WHY you believe what you believe, how you can back up your beliefs, and keeping in mind the whole time, do always defend your faith with gentleness and respect.

"In your hearts, honor Christ..."
But before one goes out and starts giving reasons for every question out there, one must be in the right "spiritual place" before Christ in order to engage in any kind of spiritual battle/debate/whatever. One can go and say anything they'd like, but you must also remember that it is wise to know your reasons and have studied them before jumping into a debate. Its best to, think before you speak and consider your answer and questions wisely.

Therefore, apologetics is not just an academic exercise, but it is also a spiritual one. In today's society where few people take the time to actually understand why they believe something and take it upon themselves to learn it without listening to whatever someone tells them, we have become spiritually ineffective because we don't know what or why we believe.

And this can be quite dangerous.

But I'll save that for another day.

Always being prepared. 
Being prepared to give a defense meaning hard work and discipline, with engaging in such work as reading the Bible, talking with other Christians, reading devotions, Bible studies, taking religion classes, going to church, and lots of other ways you can prepare yourself.

But apologetics is also tied up with evangelism and it isn't simply about answering other people's questions. Its also about questioning other people's answers and even the questions themselves. Its even about getting them to ask the right question.

Why ask questions?

1. Asking questions forces people to open up within their general assumptions. 
2. Asking questions forces people to open up within their cultural assumptions.
3. Asking questions reveals bad logic. 
4. Asking questions exposes motive. 
1. Figuring out the motive for why someone is posing a question is very important. Because they could either be asking for negative reasons ("they want to make you look stupid"), or for positive ones (they might generally be interested in hearing about Christ), we must always approach the questions with gentleness and respect. 
5. Asking questions exposes contradiction.
1. There's this wonderful law called the "Law of Non-contradiction". And the reason its wonderful is that if anyone denies the law of Non-contradiction, they're actually agreeing with it! If someone says, "There is no such thing as truth", well, the only way for them to be true, is if truth existed. 
6. Asking questions insures a conversation.
7. Asking questions makes people think. 

Why apologetics?

Out of many of the reasons to start a Christian blog, among them being to share the Good News, another reason I started this blog is because I want an open place where I have lots of space to openly defend my faith and where people can listen and discuss. 

And while the goal of apologetics is to introduce people to Christ, one must remember that it is not us who convert people, but it is only through the Holy Spirit that people come to faith (2 Corinthians 4:7). Apologetics is not to provide answers that no one can disprove, it is to rationally share our faith and why we believe in it.  Peter says not to force our beliefs on anyone (after all, no one likes to be forced to believe anything!) and instead to just be ready to share. 

So therefore, I hope you'll discover some wonderful things about Christianity on this blog and why Jesus is the reason I'm a Christian. Not only that, but the reasons I use to support my believe and hopefully you'll grow in your faith too or even discover it.

With love always,
Sarah