“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”
-1 Peter 3:15
Christian Apologetics can be loosely defined as the defense of the Christian faith through the use of arguments from science history and philosophy.
Apologetics is in no way intended to serve as a substitute for proclaiming the gospel message, by which countless individuals have received eternal life. Rather it is intended for the purpose of removing intellectual stumbling blocks so that the person will be willing to open his or her heart and mind to the gospel message. Another reason Christians practice apologetics is because we are commanded to, as can be seen in the above passage from Scripture.
There are many different types of arguments that are used to assert the existence of a creator, Intelligent Design, the argument from morality, Anselm’s ontological argument, to name a few, but there are two arguments that provide powerful supports for Christianity when considered together.
The first is the Kalam Cosmological Argument which can be expressed in a simple logical syllogism:
1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.
This argument contains both logical force and it is also very intuitive as most people naturally understand that something doesn’t come from nothing. It also has the benefit of being perfectly compatible with both the Genesis account of creation and modern science’s “Big Bang Theory” which indicates that there was a time when nothing existed and then suddenly everything existed.
The second argument is the “Minimal Facts Argument” for the resurrection that was presented in the 1990’s by Professor Gary Habermas. In this argument Professor Habermas focuses on a mere handful of facts concerning the events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. He very intentional selected facts that are agreed upon by the vast majority of scholars, both Christian and non-Christian, that strongly support the fact that Jesus was miraculously raised from the tomb.
One aspect of this argument has to do with the disciples’ behavior immediately before and after the resurrection. Scripture tells us that Jesus’ followers were frightened and ran away the night that Jesus was arrested by the Jewish Temple Guard and led away toward the ultimate fate of crucifixion. Yet, after Jesus’ tomb was found to be empty, they were so thoroughly convinced of his miraculous resurrection and his divinity that they went about boldly preaching the gospel with total disregard to their own personal safety. Strong historical evidence shows that some if not all of these men suffered gruesome deaths at the hands of the authorities as a direct result of their refusing to renounce the gospel. Clearly, this group of men who were very close in proximity to the crucifixion and resurrection were profoundly and irrevocably changed by this event.
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