RATIONAL FAITH

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1-Peter 3:15).

The above passage requires believers to make an effective defense of their Christian Faith.  Apologetics is a branch of theology concerned with the rational and intellectual defense of  the Christian Faith. The Greek word apologia means “defense” and it was originally defined as a defendant’s reply to the speech of the prosecution in a court of law. The title of apologist was initially applied to a series of early Christian writers who, in the first few centuries AD, addressed their “apologies” to the Roman emperor or to the educated public. These writers were attempting to show that Christianity was both philosophically and morally superior to paganism (the worship of nature). These early apologists included Aristides, Athenagoras, Saint Justin Martyr, Minucius Felix, Tatian, and Tertullian.

God’s Holy Scriptures have proven to be completely dependable. Therefore we can trust God’s word as the source of reliable information about the meaning of the events of our day and what those events reveal to us about our hope for the future when we look toward Messiah Yeshua’s return to Earth.  Yeshua spoke of the wisdom of discerning the signs of the times and of taking appropriate action as we prepare daily for His return (Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21).

The Scriptures are not a methodical discourse on theology, Jewish philosophy, human morality, primeval History, or science. The Scriptures are a compilation of supernatural revelations about the mind of God, the spiritual fall of humanity, the path to salvation, and God’s divine plan and purpose for the generations of humankind. The Scriptures reveal four persons Yahweh who is God the Father, Yeshua who is God the Son, the Ruach Hakodesh who is God the Holy Spirit, and Lucifer who is Satan the great adversary of God and mankind. The Scriptures describe three places: Heaven, Earth, and Hell. The Scriptures mention three groups of people: the Jews, the Gentiles, and God’s Church.

The Scriptures were given to us progressively. God’s prophets wrote when they were moved by His majestic Holy Spirit, from 1500 BC to AD 100. The Scriptures include 66 inspirational books where 39 are in the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures and 27 are in the New Testament Christian Scriptures. These books were written by about 40 different authors: by kings such as David and Solomon and by statesmen, as Dani

el and Nehemiah and by priests, as Ezra and by men learned in Egyptian wisdom, as Moses and by men learned in Jewish law, as Paul. The Scriptures were also written by a herdsman, named Amos and by a tax-gatherer, named Matthew and fishermen, named Peter, James, and John and by a physician, known as Luke and by such mighty “seers” as Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. The Scriptures can be understood figuratively, symbolically, prophetically, and literally.

RELATED SOURCES

Halley’s Bible Handbook by Henry Halley; Three Views on Creation and Evolution by J.P. Morland & J.M. Reynolds; Understanding Creation by Mark Worthon & Hill Roberts; Understanding The Bible by Kendell H. Easley; The Dead Sea Scrolls by Craig A. Evans; Christian Apologetics by Doug Powell. Dispensational Truth by Rev. Clarence Larkin.