Apologetics

By Dr Christopher Peppler

Apologetics is the branch of Christian studies that deals with why we believe what we do.
I dislike the word because it comes from the same root as ‘apologise’, which means
essentially to defend something we feel guilty or embarrassed about. “Hey, I know this
might sound foolish, but let me tell you why I believe in God… or the creation… or the
Gospel”.

Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel (Romans 1:16) and he was incredibly bold in
proclaiming Christ’s resurrection from the dead. In fact, he flung it out as a gauntlet to all
who did not believe. “Do you want to disprove Christianity? Do you want to bring the
Faith down upon its knees? Then just disprove the resurrection!” In 1 Corinthians 15:14-
17 he writes, ‘…If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your
faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have
testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead …And if Christ has not been
raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.’ Outrageously provocative
challenges – obviously he felt he was standing on safe ground. He was… and so should
we. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is one of the most well attested facts in
world history!

Josh McDowell sets out the historic evidence for the resurrection in his ‘The New
Evidence that demands a verdict’ so I will note only that a Roman guard attested to it, the
Pharisees could not produce a body, the Apostles witnessed to it with their very lives, and
nearly two thousand years of cynical investigation has not been able to overturn the
evidence.

Have you asked yourself why the resurrection is so important that Jesus cited it as the
only evidence of His divinity (Matthew 12:38-40) and Paul positioned it as the
foundation on which Christianity stands? You must have noticed that in First Corinthians
Paul does not cite the crucifixion, or Jesus’ teachings, or our faith, as the ‘proof’ of
Christianity – he cites the empty tomb as the proof. Why is this? I believe it is because
the resurrection goes to the very ‘ground zero’ of the Christian Faith; a relationship with
the living God.

The cross put an end to the Old Covenant of law, ritual, and earned righteousness, but the
empty tomb opened up a new era of relationship with God. In rising from the dead Jesus
conquered death so that all who believe in Him may live eternally. He also proved that
He was a living, not a dead God! We cannot relate to a book (even the Bible), and we
cannot have a relationship with a dead hero; but we can have a living relationship with
the living God. Do Buddhists claim a relationship with Buddha? No, they know he died,
his body cremated, and his ashes shared among the rulers of India. Do the members of the
Islamic religion claim a relationship with Mohammed? Of course not, for he was but a
prophet who lived and died and whose remains are said to be interred in the mosque of
Medina. They don’t even claim a relationship with Allah, for he is seen to be
unapproachable by humankind. Only Christians claim a relationship with God… because
of the resurrection.

To enter into this relationship we need a resurrection of our own – the resurrection of our
dead spirits. Jesus said quite plainly that to enter His kingdom, His realm of eternal
existence, we must be born again (John 3:7). When He gives us the gracious gift of
spiritual life, we are able to relate to Him, both now and forever.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a hugely important doctrine, a vital
precursor to our eternal life, and a well attested fact. There is no need to be apologetic in
proclaiming The Faith. The burden of disproof lies on the shoulders of the atheists,
agnostics, and sceptics.