You can tell you’re an un-apologetically-typed person if you think that apologetics is going around apologizing for the existence of Christianity—if it were thus, we Brits would have a distinct advantage.
Instead, as the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics explains, the word “apologetics” “derives its meaning from the Greek apologia, meaning a ‘reasoned defence’”.
Evangelistic book looking at whether science and religion are opposed.
Which starts to make some of us feel a bit panicked.
We’ve seen those evangelists who come and do events at our church or CU, and who are able to do slick, engaging talks on any and every subject, from the question of science to the problem of suffering.
We’ve seen speakers who can open up the floor to questions and who seem to have a brilliant response to whatever gets thrown at them.
We’ve sat in with Christian friends who seem to have a knack for deftly steering any conversation towards Jesus and thought… Wow—that is so not me. How do these people carry around so much information in their heads? The reliability of Bible, the justice of judgment, the exclusivity of Christianity, the question for suffering, the existence of God, the science behind evolutionary theory…
So are we expected to have an answer for everything?
No.
When the Bible talks about apologetics, it doesn’t talk about having an answer for every thing. It talks about having an answer for one thing…
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason [apologia] for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” (1 Peter 3 v 15)
Our duty as Christians is to be ready to explain why we have hope. We need to explain the reason that we believe there is a God, and an afterlife. We need to be ready to explain why we’re confident that God does and will accept us, on the basis of what Jesus has done, and how that infuses our 80 years or so on this planet with a genuine sense of meaning. We need to be able to articulate why we are not frightened of what life may throw at us, but eager to do good to others in the face of it (v 13-14).
In short, we need to have an answer for one thing: why do you have hope?
You don’t need an answer for everything, but you definitely need an answer for one thing
Yet, says Peter, this is something we need to “be prepared” for. There’s a sense of readiness, an eager anticipation that we might be asked, and that we are primed with a good answer.
And the reality is that most questions that come at us won’t be “So why do you have hope?” but in the guise of something else. “Why does God let so much bad stuff happen?” or “Why don’t you and your boyfriend live together?” How do we prepare ourselves to use these questions (and non-questions) to give the reason for our hope?
While not all of us are the next Ravi Zacharias, we can all take one step to be a little bit more prepared. We don’t need to wise-up on everything, but we could wise up on some things, as we seek to obey the command to love God with all of our minds (Luke 10 v 27).
That’s why we’re really excited about a new range of books we’re publishing in partnership with The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. They are designed to be put into the hands of curious non-Christians, and also as a tool to equip Christians to think and communicate thoughtfully on apologetics questions. The first title is Can Science Explain Everything? by John Lennox, and we’ve got others in the pipeline on subjects including sex, suffering and the human soul from authors such as Amy Orr-Ewing, Sam Allberry and Sharon Dircx.
So no, you don’t need an answer for everything, but you definitely need an answer for one thing, and you might need an answer to some things. And Can Science Explain Everything? Is a great place to start.
Rachel Jones is the author of A Brief Theology of Periods (Yes, really), Is This It?, and several books in the award-winning Five Things to Pray series, and serves as Vice President (Editorial) at The Good Book Company. She helps teach kids and serves on the mission core team at her church, King's Church Chessington, in Surrey, UK.