My seminary apologetic teacher told stories of strange reactions he received when he told people what he had done with his life. The best story was about an employee handling bank loans. When she told the employee she was an apologetic teacher, she replied, “It’s wonderful,” she added, “These days we really have to teach people to apologize.
The employee was right and wrong. We really need masters of apologetics, but apologetics are not apologizing, rather it is a matter of defending faith. In fact, is the defense of faith so urgent today that we need more than masters of apologetics?We need all Christians to understand that they are apologists.
- One of Dr.
- RCSproul’s recent books is titled Everybody is a Theologian.
- I could also say that “everyone is an apologist.
- “Those who are in Christ and have been guided to see the truth and beauty of the gospel have an obligation and a privilege to defend it.
- We are obliged to “give an answer”.
- We cannot simply rely on people who are philosophically or culturally appropriate to carry that weight.
- We’re all apologists.
The command
The Greek word apologia literally means “talking to”. Over time, that meant “making a defense. “When Athens accused Socrates of harming society, he had to offer his defense. He called it an apology. He stood before the “men of Athens,” offering them their rational defense. The New Testament uses the term 17 times. Many episodes relate to court cases, such as the time Paul appeared before the Jewish Council in Acts 22 and to Festus in Acts 25. Paul also speaks of his imprisonment in Rome as an excuse for the Gospel (Philippians 1. 7,16).
The classic text of the Greek word apologia is 1Pedro 3. 15-16. Peter’s first letter was written to the? Exiles?They lived in Asia Minor, who were now in Turkey. These exiled Christians suffered persecution and were marginalized by their faith. were insulted and slandered. Some of them have suffered at the hands of their own relatives.
Peter orders these exiles not to live in fear or cowardice in the face of opposition. Instead, do you ordain these exiled Christians? And we who are always willing to defend ourselves. The main verb “defend”, from the Greek word apologia, is in imperative mode. Imperative mode is used for commands. There is no deferral process here, the order extends to all of us.
Then Peter explains how to defend ourselves. He points out that we must “always be prepared”. It’s a difficult order to fulfill. Questions about our faith tend to arise at unexpected times. To always be ready, we must know our faith, which means that we must know our theology. We also need to meet our audience. We see this in Paul’s example of being an apologist at the Areopage in Athens (Acts 17:16-34). Peter also tells us that we must make our defense – with meekness and fear?(1 Peter 3:15). It’s an order that’s even harder to fulfill. The word translates as? Fear?could it also be translated as “reverence”. It is the same word used to tell how we should approach God. We, the exiles, must therefore treat those who interrogate us with kindness and respect.
So there is verse 16, Pierre reminds us that what we are is piece by piece as important as what we say; that the testimony of our lives does not shame the testimony of our words; rather, what is the right path in Christ?our apologetics too.
The moment
Before Paul rises and defends himself in Athens, Acts 17:16 reminds us that the Spirit of Paul “rebelled. “
If someone went into a coma in 2011 and woke up five years later, in 2016, they would probably ask “what happened to my country. “The recent cultural change has been cataclysmic and needs an answer. May our answer be neither cowardice nor intransigence. Otherwise, we would violate the order of 1 Peter 3: 15-16. We’d stop being the church.
Instead, let our hearts move within us. May we be apologists, confident in the gospel and compassionate to our persecutors. Can we always be prepared to give the reason for the hope in us?The only hope in such a desperate world, needs the gospel.
Translation: Joel Pedro Cavani Review: Yago Martins © 2016 Faithful Ministério All rights reserved. Website: MinisterioFiel. com. br Original: Every Christian must be an apologist
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