The Ultimate Apologetic “Secret Weapon”
There are two apologetic principles that I believe provide the philosophical foundation and guides the methodology of evidential apologetics: [1]
No one can make a faith decision to receive Jesus Christ unaided by the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, if a person were to make a decision to choose a religion based solely on the evidence and if he were intellectually honest, he would be forced to choose Christianity and to reject all other religions.
The second principle explains why the first principle is true:
If we can demonstrate that the Bible is truthful, always reliable, and can be validated by objective, non-biblical evidences, we are justified in concluding that it will be equally truthful and reliable in its non-testable, spiritual truth claims. This conclusion is confirmed subjectively when the Bible’s spiritual truth claims are accepted and applied. Through the power of God, they transform people’s lives. We can legitimately conclude from objective and subjective evidences that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God.
When we bring a skeptic to the point where he or she sees that the real basis for disbelief is not intellectual, we’ve done our job as apologists. Unfortunately, however, demonstrating the truth of Scriptures and the divine nature of Jesus Christ often does not result in an unbeliever becoming a Christian. People can choose to make a willful decision to reject Jesus in spite of the best evidence. People can and do make emotional and moral commitments to unbelief. But these are not rational or intellectual reasons. They are “don’t-bother-me-with-the-facts” kind of responses.
Fortunately, we have a secret weapon that’s still at work. The fact is the ultimate power of evangelism is not the adequacy of our apologetic defense or the objective evidence we can muster—it’s the Holy Spirit working subjectively in the hearts and minds of unbelievers. I’m not referring to the inner, spiritual confirmation all true Christians experience (Romans 8:16)—although that is certainly powerful evidence for the truth of Christianity—but the fact that Christianity “works.”
For many non-Christians, God has prepared their hearts and minds for the Gospel. They do not have the intellectual obstacles that apologetics address. They do not need apologetics, and in fact it can muddy good evangelism. These people just need to witness our faith in action and hear the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. They need to see that Jesus Christ can change their lives just as He has changed the lives of millions of Christians. This same wondrous work of God often continues even in unbelievers who are unresponsive or hardened to apologetics—as they witness our lifestyles (Matt. 5: 16; 1 Pet. 2:12) and as we preserve in praying for them (read the parable in Luke 18:1-8).
When we apply biblical principles to our everyday lives, Christianity fulfills its promises. It achieves what it claims it will. It transforms us, heals our spiritual and emotional wounds, removes our guilt, and changes our view of life. We once rejected God, now we crave to live close to Him. We once depended on alcohol or drugs to get through life, now we have the power of God. We were once anxious and fearful, now we have “the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension” (Philippians 4:7). As Os Guinness put it, “The Christian faith is not true because it works; it works because it is true. It is not true because we experience it; we experience it—deeply and gloriously—because it is true.” [2] The Bible is not only confirmed by the kinds of objective and empirical evidences apologists can muster in its defense, but also by our religious experiences. This is the subjective message non-Christians need to see in us—and to know that they too can experience. ©
[1] Dan Story, The Christian Combat Manual; Helps for Defending Your Faith: A Handbook for Practical Apologetic (Chattanooga, TN: 2007), 22, 57.
[2] Os Guinness, Time for Truth, quoted in Hank Hanegraaff, The Covering; God’s Plan to Protect You from Evil (Nashville: W publishing Group, 2002),
43.
* This article is adapted from my book, The Christian Combat Manual, which is available in most outlets.