I became a Christian my freshman year of college. My experience for those four years was abnormal compared to most everyone else. When most college students were partying any chance they had, I was busy learning more about the gospel.
One evening I walked over to the lobby of the biggest dorm on campus. My memory escapes me as to why I went there that evening, but I vividly remember noticing something on the TV. Ken Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis, was debating Bill Nye (the Science Guy) over if the creation narrative makes more sense than evolution.
I was rather intrigued by this, so I continued watching. However, something struck me. I had always understood atheists exist (yes, I also believe that Romans 1 teaches that all people know God exists), but never quite thought it through. I was stuck wondering, “This is really a debate? There are people—millions of them—who say they don’t believe in God?”
This question led me on what seemed to be a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows. Each low moment I had—moments of doubting God—pushed me closer to Him. The more I doubted, the more I dove deeper into apologetics. That’s not to say doubting was good—it wasn’t—but God did not let me chase my doubts any further, but used them to bring me closer to Him. Apologetics cannot save anyone, but it certainly does a lot when studied correctly.
Apologetics Defined
Simply put, apologetics is the art of defending the Christian faith, both from an offensive and defensive perspective.
RC Sproul wrote:
[Apologetics] also involves offense, the positive task of constructing a case for Christianity that shows itself to be applicable to every culture, as well as being the only (and therefore the best) alternative to the world’s philosophical and theological systems of thought. In other words, apologetics can be used to show that Christianity is true and that all non-Christian worldviews are false.
We use apologetics to defend the Christian faith and to show, positively, why Christianity makes sense. And there are so many books on apologetics available, but Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis is a classic, or The Reason for God by Timothy Keller.
It’s important to understand, at this point, why Christians need apologetics. Just like all Christians are theologians, I think it’s also true to say all Christians are apologists. We must be. In fact, God commands us: “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).
So, why do we need apologetics?
Strengthens our Faith
Our faith grows when we learn how to defend it. Whether it’s learning about the evidence for Jesus’s resurrection, the existence of God, or anything similar, our faith grows because we are believing in something that makes sense. We know Christianity is not a blind-faith religion. I don’t believe studying the evidence of Christianity should be the reason for our faith, but it plays an important role in strengthening it.
Equips is to Give Real Answers to Real Questions
Long gone should be the days of, “You just need to have more faith,” when answering a skeptic. That answer doesn’t suffice. When we study apologetics, we are then equipped to give real, substantive answers to genuine questions. There might be times we say “I don’t know” to a question, but that’s okay.
Helps us Think Through Hard Topics
All Christians should be ready to think through the hard topics of Scripture. Atheists, agnostics, and skeptics alike will seek to disprove the Christian faith at every turn by bringing up things like why God allows suffering, for example. We must be ready to give a biblical answer to such questions (sometimes accusations).
Apologetics can sometimes be a little technical if you really dive deep—that’s okay. It’s important to understand why we believe what we believe, and to give a reason for it.
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Blake Long 
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