My Personal Apologetics Journey: A Brief Testimony

Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior and inviting the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart at the age of four was a catalyst which set into motion an exciting journey of faith. A budding faith combined with subsequent spiritual growth in relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ eventually sparked a tremendous personal intrigue into the study of apologetics while entering adolescence at the age of thirteen. Exciting trips to the local Christian bookstore placed immense parchment wealth in the hands of an eager teenager who hungered for truth revealed through the intellectual rewards of great thinkers in the art of apologetic research. This overflowing enthusiasm for Christian apologetics literature coincided with the much-anticipated release of the theatrical adaptation of the book God’s Not Dead as well as participation in a youth bible study that focused heavily on apologetic material. The culmination of spiritual influences which generated a fascination for finding answers to support the Christian faith has certainly been and continues to be evidentiary of the impact of the God’s continual presence in my life.

While embarking on a journey of faith in Jesus, an overwhelmingly positive conception of apologetics as a useful mechanism for providing answers to the questions of unbelievers and the doubting human heart has developed. This positive conception has developed through the personal study of in-depth apologetic literature composed by Christ-honoring, truth-seeking intellectuals as well as numerous video lectures and movies by respected apologists. Attribution for my peaked fascination in the study of apologetics goes to a movement in the Christian community both locally and globally in the importance and pertinence in the ability for followers of Christ to be able “give a reason for the hope we have” (1 Peter 3:15)[1]. In a modern society which places incredible significance in the study and furtherance of science, God has awakened the Christian Church to the necessity of having a “polemic approach” for sharing our faith which includes “speaking with the culture”.[2] Amidst this apologetic wave engulfing the Christian community a newly sparked interest in studying apologetics took root in my life.

Following the initial spur of interest in apologetics came a motivation to study the field grounded in the desire to be able to “defend the faith from attack” by, as stated in 1 Peter 3:15, “being prepared to give an answer” for my Christian faith.[3] Growing up in the church and in a Christian family had provided the content of the Christian faith. Through developing an awareness for apologetics, the necessity knowing and being able to share with others the rational for believing the Christian faith became increasingly pertinent. Motivation for studying apologetics came not only from desiring the ability share the rational for believing in Jesus but for also satisfying my own doubting heart. As C.S Lewis puts it in his book Mere Christianity, “Christianity…if true, is of infinite importance”.[4] It is this consideration of the infinite importance of the truthfulness of Christianity that has continued to drive my interest in seeking evidence to support the claims of the Bible to reaffirm my trust in Jesus. By seeking evidence to support the Christian faith, a strengthened trust in the legitimacy of the Bibles claims has consequentially been experienced. My increased confidence in being able to speak truth into “the culture today that needs answers from science and the Bible” is attributable to studying apologetics and my faith has been reinforced because of it.[5] Overall, apologetics has been a major influence in developing a strong faith in and relationship with Jesus which can used by the Holy Spirit to win hearts for the Lord.

[1] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages references employ the New International Version (Franklin, TN: Worthy, 2016) [2] Joshua D. Chatraw and Mark D. Allen, Apologetics at the Cross: An Introduction for Christian Witness (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2018), 34-35 [3] 1 Peter 3:15; Rice Broocks, God’s Not Dead: Evidence for God in Age of Uncertainty (Nashville, TN: W Publishing, 2013), ix. [4] C.S Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York City, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1952) [5] Ken Ham, The New Answers Book One: Over 25 Questions on Creation/Evolution and the Bible (Green Forest, AR: New Leaf Publishing Group, Inc, 2017), 347