Despite what you may think, you don’t have to be a pastor, church leader, or theological scholar to defend your faith. You don’t even have to be any of those to learn how to research and find information to do so. What you do need, is to learn how to practice diligence in studying your Bible and not being ashamed when you don’t have answers immediately.
Apologetics encourages us as Christians to “develop a distinctly Christian theory of knowledge” (Jude 3 Project). This simply means that we work to gain knowledge outside of the Bible to support our biblical views. This helps us enter the philosophical study called epistemology, which is when you go searching for knowledge and understanding what it means (Jude 3 Project). In other words, we are searching for the answers to our how and why questions in areas that aren’t in the Bible but validates what we read in the Bible through scientific, historical, or other means.
This all sounds intimidating right? It still scares me from time to time if I’m completely honest. It’s completely normal to feel nervous, intimidated, whatever it may be. That is what makes us human. I know, it’s a lot of information, but what if you practiced building these skills one step at a time? What if you chose one event in the Bible to research and see what you can learn.
Take the Great Flood for example. There are controversies out there that propose that flooding the whole Earth is impossible. In addition to that, they want to lean on the idea that there is no proof of it. This is where we can step up and do research. When you do, you will find some articles, like this one from Dr. Andrew A. Snelling, where he addresses that there are fossils found on the top of mountains on multiple continents. Or that you can find the same sediment layers in the US that are in North Africa, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia (Answers in Genesis).
While I do hold firm to the fact that I find it a large role of the pastor and other church leaders to guide congregants on what apologetics is and how to practice it, at some point, I believe that believers who are actively growing and trying to grow will get to a point where they can feel the desire to gain knowledge down into their soul. We need to get serious about gaining this knowledge and become Bereans.
If you go to Acts 17:11-12, Paul addresses who the Bereans are. In summary, they were “noble-minded” and “received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (NASB). They took their final authority from the scripture, but they were always seeking further understanding instead of simply taking Paul’s word for it.
Instead of relying solely on our pastor’s Sunday messages, we need to take that and make sure that it does in fact line up with Scripture and going deeper. If we take the time to research and gain knowledge we are deepening our relationship with Christ and opening doors for Him to use you. Not to mention, it’ll help you pack on that armor (Ephesians 6:11-13)!
What interests you? Finding information surrounding the resurrection? Whether or not the Great Flood occurred? Could the Israelites actually have crossed the Jordan? I would love to hear what you learn!
Additional Reads!
In the Name of Jesus by Henri J.M. Nouwen
A New Kind of Apologist by Sean McDowell
Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft & Ronald K. Tracelli
Sources
- Answers in Genesis. “Global Evidences of the Genesis Flood.” Bible. Last modified July 1, 2021. https://ansersingenesis.org/the-flood/global/evidences-genesis-flood/.
- Grace to You. “Meet the Bereans.” Subscribe and More. Last modified March 11, 2020. https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B150812/meet-the-bereans.
- Cold Case Christianity. “Who Is Jesus, According To Other Religions?” Jesus. Last modified December 4, 2017. https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/who-is-jesus-according-to-other-religions/.
