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What is Christian Apologetics?

The Need for Apologetics Today

If you are one of those people who does not know what Christian apologetics is and what its functions are, I would suggest for you to read my post on “what is Christian apologetics?” before reading the “need for apologetics today.” Here, in this blog post, we are only discussing the question: “is apologetics needed today?” I’ve been asked this question by many and hence this post. Hopefully, you find this helpful.

So, is apologetics needed today? Well, absolutely yes! This does not mean that one needs to be apologetically trained or well-versed in the arguments concerning the credibility of the Christian faith to be saved or have a close relationship with God. Far from it. Why, then is it needed, you may ask? Well, for many reasons. Let me mention just four for now.

Firstly, we are literally being inundated with a plethora of beliefs and ideologies around us. In a multi-cultural and multi-religious place like India, it is tremendously difficult to claim exclusivity. But the cause of concern is that the average Christian is not able to positively engage in a discussion with a non-believer, primarily, because he/she does not have the necessary knowledge about religious or philosophical ideas other than their own to have a dialogue. Apologetics prepares the church to positively engage with the challenges these beliefs and ideologies put forth. St. Paul, in Athens (Acts 17), could dialogue with a group of Greek philosophers because he knew what they believed and why they believed in what they believed. This made it easier for him to dialogue with them. In fact, he quoted a Greek philosopher in his discussion with them. India, like ancient Greece, has many philosophies floating around today, and apologetics helps us engage in friendly dialogue with people of other faiths.

Secondly, people today, more than ever, are open to dialogue about truth and religion, but, unfortunately, have no one to dialogue with. This, I think, is sorrowful. There are hundreds of people in India seeking truth and looking for solutions to their problems. But, the sad part is that, we Christians just do our own thing and forget the mandate that God has placed on us. Apologetics helps us engage in conversation with the seeker.

Thirdly, the Christian church is overwhelmed by false doctrines. Needless to say, this is the case throughout the body of Christ. From sexuality to idolatry to vocation, the church compromises with the values of the wider society. Apologetics helps correct these false ideologies within the church.

Finally, it’s so very true that Christians on several occasions, at least in India, have been the recipient of massive verbal attack on all fronts, not because we proclaim Christ, but because we seem to portray an anti-national attitude– referring to Christianity being a western religion, anti-cultural attitude– referring to Christianity introducing western cultural elements. While this may be true superficially, it is definitely not true essentially. But, how do we dialogue our way out through this bad image that has been so strongly engrained into the hearts of people for well over a century now. Apologetics helps us counter the bad image that Christianity has received in the media and culture. How so? Apologetics, here, seeks to clarify the misunderstandings and misinterpretations that people now and in the past, have had on the Christian belief.

While this is certainly not an exhaustive list of reasons why I believe apologetics is needed today, it at least helps us get started at looking at apologetics from a utility perspective.