• Daniel Baker
Posted in Discipleship, Evangelism
Last Sunday Phil spent a few minutes at the start of his sermon introducing his class on apologetics. The class starts tomorrow night at 7:00pm, and you can sign up here.
Apologetics is not apologizing for the faith, though the words look similar. It is the study of defending the faith, and it comes out of 1 Peter 3:15, "always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." "Defense" in this verse is from the Greek word, apologia, a word used by Paul in contexts that speak of defending yourself in a courtroom or the court of public opinion (Acts 22:1; 25:16; 1 Cor. 9:3; etc.).
Phil recommended a book to buy if you're interested in the class or the subject, Greg Bahnsen's Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith. Early in the book Bahnsen explains the Bible's position on knowledge and wisdom. Passages like Proverbs 1:7 ("the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge") and Colossians 2:3 ("in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge") reveal that we can't know anything apart from a knowledge of God. Passages like these are familiar ones for those of us who have been reading our Bibles for a while. Yet, Bahnsen says they are not just true for the Christian. They are true for all people—believers and unbelievers alike. You can see that such an idea has major implications for things like evangelism and defending our faith.
We hope you can take advantage of Phil's years of study in this area. And we also hope it provokes in you a desire to defend your faith whenever you have opportunity.
Daniel
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