Every year Google releases their top googled questions in various categories. Last year people asked over 100 different questions about God and religion over 170,000 times each! As you know when you have a question, Google doesn't just have one answer but pages and pages of answers. That can be quite daunting.
That is why I have accepted the challenge to answer as many of these questions about God and religion this year as I can directly using the Bible. You can ask a search engine which will give you thousands of answers based on hundreds of opinions some of which are biblical and others which are not.
But here every answer will be Bible-based and relatable.
Starting with the 101st most googled theology question from 2020:
What is Apologetics?
If you were to actually google Apologetics you would find this definition.
"reasoned arguments or writings in justification of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine."
Which is exactly right.
But usually when we talk about Apologetics, we are talking about Christian Apologetics.
Christian Apologetics is largely seen as the defending of Christian doctrines and beliefs.
Maybe one of the greatest and most beloved apologetics was C.S. Lewis.
Much of his writings has been in the form of justifying or defending the Christian Faith.
C.S. Lewis wrote books on Miracles, The Problem of Pain, Weight of Glory, Made for Heaven, and many more.
But what about the Bible? Where there any Biblical Apologetics?
Absolutely!
The four gospels are not just a retelling of Jesus' story but they are in fact defending Jesus to certain groups of people.
Matthew is trying to prove to the Jews that Jesus is indeed the Jewish Messiah.
Mark's gospel was likely written to persuade Roman society that Jesus's death on the cross made valid his claim to deity.
One of the goals of Luke's gospel is to prove that Jesus is an inclusive Messiah for all people including the gentles.
John's gospel is out to prove Jesus' divinity.
Paul was quite possibly the greatest Christian Apologetic.
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Paul is way ahead of his time here. In this statement, Paul is tearing down walls and connecting people from every background. Paul is not insinuating that there are now no men or women, Jews or Greeks, but something else entirely.
We are not to categorize people by their race, gender, or position. Because in the kingdom of God we are all the same, we are all Christians. Of course we all have different positions in life, we all have a variety of skills and personalities, we all have different backgrounds, but none of us is greater than the one next to us. Because we are all one and at the same level in Jesus.
Amazing. What kind of implications does this have on racism? Or on politics? Huge.
Is Apologetics merely defending biblical truth?
It's so much more than that. The end goal of apologetics is a changed life.
By beginning to understand the simple complexities of biblical doctrine we can also begin to apply the great wonders and mysteries of scripture to our own life.
For instance:
- knowing the state of the dead and change the way you life your life.
- understanding stewardship can help us become better stewards of the gifts God has given us.
- grasping the beauty of forgiveness can help us mend the relationships around us.
In a nutshell, Apologetics is the journey of justifying and applying Biblical Truth.