Many times, in churches of Reformed confes­sion, the impression is given that the value of apologetics (the defense of the faith) is underestimated and its practical significance ignored. Yes, there are some people who have an interest in the subject, but for the most part those are philosophically minded and are not on the same intellectual level as the rest of us. Those with an interest in apologetics are living in a different world than regular people. Apologetics, like the study of academic theology, appears to be the hobby-horse of scholars or those aspiring to aca­demic ambitions. Overall, apologetics is marginal­ized and considered unimportant and unnecessary. Is it possible that this underestimation of the value of apologetics rests on a misunderstanding of what apologetics is and what it seeks to accomplish?

Definition⤒🔗

Just what is apologetics? The simple definition is that it is the defense of the Christian faith. However, we may expand on this definition by saying that apologetics is the employment of the Sword of the Spirit (Scripture — Ephesians 6:17) in the battle to "cast down arguments and every high thing that ex­alts itself against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthi­ans 10:5). Apologetics must be thoroughly and completely Scriptural from beginning to end. This cannot be over-emphasized. At no point can one say that we must set aside our commitment to Christ and His Word. This is underlined in the central pas­sage of 1 Peter 3:15, "Reverence Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you." Christ must be honoured as Lord in our hearts first of all; we cannot therefore set aside our commitment to Him and try to be neutral. Our commitment to Him means that we are also firmly in allegiance to His Word. The soldiers can do nothing meaningful in the battle apart from the words of their Commander — which, in the nature of the case, are also their weapons in the battle. So, apologetics, to be truly faithful, must use the Sword of the Spirit as its foundation and weapon. In our reasoning with un­believers, we present what the Scriptures say in a Scriptural way.

The core text of 1 Peter 3:15 highlights for us the value of apologetics. The message is not directed to a particular person — it is addressed to each and every Christian. Every Christian must be prepared to defend his or her faith. Apologetics is the responsi­bility of each one of us. And when we realize that apologetics is reasoning with the Scriptures, we also see that it is not beyond the capabilities of all Chris­tians. Reformed apologetics does not require the knowledge of various scholastic arguments and/or two volumes of "evidence that demands a verdict." Peter himself was but a fisherman — yet through the inspiration of the Spirit he writes that we must all be prepared to defend our faith, regardless of our intellectual capabilities or education. Believers need not be intimidated by this subject, for it is not be­yond their strength or understanding.

Reformed apologetics simply requires that all Christians be prepared to defend their faith through a growing knowledge and application of what the Scriptures say. Reformed apologetics will be Scripture-centred from beginning to end. An outline of the Scriptural method of apologetics is beyond the scope of this article, but the reader may profitably consult the books listed at the end.

Objections to Apologetics←⤒🔗

Yet there remain many objections to the study and practice of apologetics. For example, sometimes people will object and say that we cannot convince unbelievers of the truth of Christianity. Yes, that is certainly true. Only the Holy Spirit working regen­eration in a person's heart can accomplish conver­sion and a conviction that Christianity is true. But that does not eliminate the use of means. The Holy Spirit works through preaching, and apologetics, properly done, can be considered a type of preach­ing, a proclamation of what God's Word teaches about Himself, the truth of Christianity, and the need for belief in Christ and repentance. Moreover, we ought to distinguish between proving and convinc­ing. I can prove that God exists (through the use of Scriptural apologetics), but that does not mean that I will be able to convince you that He exists, because you may not be able to acknowledge the truth of God's existence because your sin has such a powerful hold on your thinking. So while apologetics does present the truth of God's Word, it does not claim the ability, apart from the Holy Spirit, of being able to con­vince unbelievers of its truth.

Another common objection to apologetics is that faith and rea­son are opposed to one another. Faith is not reasonable. We have no good reasons for believing in God other than faith. We're told that when we speak to unbelievers we must simply tell them to believe. Period. There is no room for reasoning with the unbeliever and try­ing to show him or her that the Biblical way of looking at the world is the only right way. Not only does this objection overlook the key passage of 1 Peter 3:15, it also strikes at the very heart of what faith is. Faith most definitely includes elements of hope and commitment (feelings within the heart), but also found in faith is the element of knowledge. Job faithfully said that "I know my Redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). The Apostle John wrote his first epistle so that those "who be­lieve in the name of the Son of God ... may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). And more examples could be given. Faith, also as we confess in the Heidelberg Catechism (LD 7), is not only a firm confidence, but it is also a sure knowledge.

Knowledge goes beyond belief in that it includes justifica­tion or good reason for what you believe (Hebrews 11:1). When we claim to know something, we also claim to have good reason for making that claim. When I make the claim that I know that God exists, I am not like a child who claims to believe in Santa Claus. God has made His existence publicly and objectively known in many ways — Santa Claus is the mythical invention of fairytales. I have good apologetic reasons to make my claim; the child does not. Reason, therefore, underlies the knowledge which together with confidence composes faith.

Faith and Reason Not Opposed←⤒🔗

So we may say that faith and reason are not opposed to one another, but are complementary. The same holds true in our ap­proach to the unbeliever. Reasoning and logic are a tool by which the truths of Christianity, revealed in Scripture, are brought to the unbeliever — much in the same way as reasoning is often employed from the pulpit with no objection. Theology uses reasoning all the time — think only of the reasoning given for the fact that there will always be a Church of Christ: Christ is an eternal king who by definition cannot be without subjects. Also in apologetics we must use and de­velop the reason which has been given us as a good gift of God. Reasoning which is enveloped by a recognition of Christ's ultimate authority is a tool by which the Gospel may be apologetically presented to the unbeliever. We need to be able to reason with the Scriptures so that we may give a defense of our faith to unbelievers. Reasoning and logic may not be glibly dismissed as being opposed to Christian truth. They are but tools. We certainly recognize that they are limited in their extent. Logic and reasoning can­not be employed as tools to explain every facet of Christian truth, for God, the Creator of reasoning and laws of log­ic, is not Himself subject to these.

We may, therefore, conclude that apologetics has a rightful place within Reformed churches. It has a Scriptural basis and it provides the practical out­working of the command given in 1 Pe­ter 3:15. As more and more we become zealous for the work of evangelism and outreach in our own communities, we will discover the value of apologetics. It provides the believer with nuclear firepower against the foolishness of unbe­lief. It is the powerful Sword of the Spirit in action. Not only does apologet­ics cast down every high thing which has set itself up against God, it also provides the Christian with hope and com­fort. There is no room for doubts when the Christian truly knows that what he believes is without question true. Both Christians and non-Christians feel the razor-sharpness of the two-edged sword which apologetics employs — and there­in rests its greatest value.