2 Peter 1:16 - For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Ephesians 4:14 - That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

What is 'Defending the Faith'?

'Defending the Faith' is synonymous with 'Christian Apologetics'.  Apologetics comes from the word apology which is a 'Formal argumentation in defense of something, such as a position or system'.  The term apology is not the same as we traditionally use it today, it's not "I'm sorry".  It's a logical, formal argument.

Why is this important?

Why is 'defending the faith' important?  Don't the scholars and theologians spend time studying the scripture and have all the answers?  Can't I just trust what they've done?

To answer those questions, defending the faith is very important, and it's something that EVERY christian should be able to do.  Having a solid understanding of your beliefs helps in the following:

• eliminating doubts that are so common in all of us
• when someone asks you to explain your beliefs
• when you are witnessing to someone
• ability to discern truth from error, especially from people of like faith
• when someone mocks or objects to something you believe to be true
• identifying attacks on Christianity that may not be obvious
• 50 to 100 years ago, most everyone in North America believed the Bible to be God's word; today the number of unbelievers is frightening.  There is a lack of education on the fundamentals of the faith

Satan and our human hearts are deceitful and cunning, they are constantly in adversity with God and His ways.  As Christians it is our job to identify these attacks that are against God and His people.  If you've been raised in a Christian home, you may have been sheltered from these attacks, but as you move into your teen and adult years there is no escaping the world and it's ways.  If you are not prepared, you could start to doubt what you've been told by your parents, you could live an ineffective Christian life, or worse you could fall away from your faith you had as a youth.

In fact, today my wife was talking to a lady who had been raised in a Christian home but now believes in Sikhism.  That God is the author of all religions and that there are many ways to God.  Heresy!  The Bible plainly teaches that Jesus is the only way (John 14:6) and that there is ONE mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus! (1 Tim 2:5).  We must not fall into these traps, we must be equipped to defend what is right!

What Apologetics is NOT

A study on apologetics is not just for us to win an argument with our non-believing friends or acquaintances, it's not just to feel good that we believe the truth.  It's the understanding that we have the "sure word of prophecy" (2 Pet 1:19) so that we can commit our lives to it's study, to it's teaching and to be obedient followers of Christ; "thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim 3:17).  It's also not primarily a means to evangelize; we aren't going to 'prove' anything to an unbeliever and make him believe.  If we want to 'prove' to an unbeliever that the Bible is of God, we should get them to read it, and let God speak to them through his word.  "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God" Romans 10:17.

We don't take our knowledge and beat someone over the head with it, we talk with them in love, we persuade them as the apostle Paul did (Acts 18:4).  This is about us as true believers being equipped to be a light in a dark world.

My Personal Testimony

I was raised in a Christian home, with Christian morals.  I was a polite child (in the world's eyes) but as I grew older I was not right with God on the inside.  I lived a worldly life, no I didn't show that through huge acts of rebellion; I didn't do drugs or get involved in the bar scene.  I still carried my Christian morals that I had from my youth; but my heart wasn't right with God.  When I left home (and even before I left home) I was aware of attacks on my beliefs; attacks on what I had been taught to be true in my youth.  Most of the time it wasn't a personal attack or an attack in which I had to respond, but it was influencing me; I just didn't realize it.  I was in this state for a while, just being a good person morally (mostly), but still being one with the world.  I would still watch all the movies the world would watch, I would still watch the TV shows the world would watch, I would laugh at the same jokes the world would laugh at, I valued the same things the world valued, I worshiped the same things the world worshiped.  My heart was wicked and far from God.

There was one problem though, I knew I was a sinner, I knew I was not right with God.  I wanted to be right with God; but I just couldn't.  You see after all these years of living a worldly life I couldn't give those things up.  I loved the world and I admitted it.  One night I compiled a list of all the worldly things that I did regularly and that I knew God hated.  I then went down the list and I realized that I did not want to give up even one of those items; I was deeply in love with the world, with my sin.  I knew what God wants, it's plainly written in the Bible!  Want to know God's will for your life?  Read the Bible.  His followers left everything and followed him.  I had so many worldly treasures; I was the young rich ruler who couldn't follow Jesus because I loved my possessions too much. (Luke 18:24-26)

I started praying; praying that God would give me a heart which desires His ways, and desires to follow Him.  During this plea for help doubts crept in.  Why turn your life over to God, is the God that you've been taught really THE God?  Is this Bible really the very words of God?  Can you put away all these worldly things and live your life completely for God and for this book?  Sadly, I just couldn't answer my doubts; I didn't have enough knowledge, enough of a foundation to say with confidence that the Bible is the very word of God.  There are so many versions, the canon (which books are in the Bible and which aren't), traditions, translations, manuscripts, and history just on the Bible alone!  I had been turned into a skeptic by society, their attacks were successful and I wasn't right with God.

That's where I started my study, I started to study the origins of this book we call the Bible.  Does it have the authority in all things in my life?  in all our lives?

I hope that as you start your study that you pray earnestly for God to reveal what he has established here on earth.  That we do have a sure word and that the Bible is not cunningly devised fables.  Apologetics is a necessary basis to begin a walk with the Lord, especially if you've been educated to be a skeptic like I was.  Upon this basis can we then devote ourselves to studying the scriptures and doing what it says.

Praise God that He's given us so much evidence that we can with confidence give our lives to Him!