Defending the Christian Faith

by Jack Wellman | Updated February 18th, 2023

Apologetics is a branch of theology concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines. It is not an apology for a belief in God, but substantive proof for creation, the existence of God, and the veracity of the Bible.

The original Greek word for apologetics is apologētikos. Apologetics is a wide array of conclusive, empirical, and quantifiable evidence that is suitable for defense in believing in God.

It is a consummation of empirical evidence which includes the realms of science, biblical manuscripts, philosophy, logic, moral arguments, biology, astronomy, mathematics, paleontology, prophecy, archeology, and history.

The Cosmological Argument

The general approach for those who don’t believe in a creator, the argument or theory is an equation: Space + time + chance = everything. Space did not cause matter to come into existence, nor did time. Neither is it possible that chance can influence or create events.

Can being come from non-being or spontaneous generation of matter from nothing? Can chance do anything or cause something to happen? Not in the least. Chance is only the likelihood of something occurring. There must first be a cause before an effect can occur. Chance is powerless in and of itself. It can’t make something happen or create something from nothing.

Fossil Records

One example of apologetics is that of missing fossil evidence for the evolution of man. We do not have transitional fossils for animals, mammals, insects, organic life-forms, and plant life. There are three hundred million species that are known and three hundred million fossils that have been collected and categorized today. With these millions and millions of species and fossils, not one single set of transitional fossils have ever been discovered that reveal evidence of one specie evolving into another.

Most of the missing links either turn out to be hoaxes or extinct species, and besides, one missing link is not conclusive evidence of one specie evolving into a new one. Any claims for a lone, single missing link seems ridiculous when the entire chain is missing. You can’t find what has never existed. What we do find are plants, already at the flowering stage, appearing suddenly, with no ancestral fossils above or below in what is called the Cambrian period or the Cambrian explosion.

The same is true with the majority of life forms. Geologically, life forms appeared suddenly and already fully formed with complete body parts. Complete flora, fauna, appendages, etc. No one has ever found gradual, progressive, evolutionary patterns of fossils. If you take a look at evolution’s “tree of life” in many biology textbooks you will see that a Tyrannosaurus rex is related to a chicken even though no transitional fossils exist to prove this.

Even so the chicken and the Tyrannosaurus rex appear on the same branch of evolution’s hypothetical tree of life. That said, I understand apologetics and the biblical account of creation swims upstream in this secular culture, one with the predisposition to present evolution as matter-of-fact.

The Scientific Method

When theories finally become facts of science they have to be able to pass what is called the Scientific Method. To be accepted as fact, theories must be tested and pass through four rigorous demands – they must be observable, repeatable, measurable, and falsifiable. If you look closely, the theory of evolution is built upon what has been observed, but not yet proven. That is even observations of evolution in the fossil record are incomplete and inconclusive. In other words it is an educated guess.

It’s important to know that theories and scientific laws are not the same thing. A theory is a hypothesis, theoretical, conjecture, and is a complex, ambiguous explanation for something that lacks concrete proof. In short, a theory is based upon presuppositions and abstract reasoning. It is really a faith-based belief.

A scientific law on the other hand can be verified by experimentation, observation, repeatability and that which can be falsified. However, a theory explains an entire group of related phenomena that can not be explained by scientific fact. Theories can and have been proven wrong over time, but laws can be described single actions that can be validated as true.

Humans can only make a subjective guess about how life and the universe came into existence. The theory of evolution doesn’t even attempt to address the origin of life or the origin of the universe because it is outside its realm. Even so, some scientists claim that the universe has always existed even though it is impossible to prove this conclusively.

Cause and Effect

The Big Bang theory states that the universe began at a singular focal point. Did the universe have a beginning, or has it always existed? If it has always existed, then the law of Cause and Effect can’t always be true. If all physical matter had a beginning, all things must have an ending, and must have a cause. Matter and life are finite, and cause precedes effect. An uncaused universe defies logic and a created universe demands a cause.

The Origin of Life

Humans have tried for years to create life. It has never been done. Amino acids come in two forms which are a mirror image of the other. Proteins (which contain all left-handed amino acids) will connect correctly with the surrounding proteins.

However, if a right-handed amino acid is included, the shape of the protein is changed and the protein will not work in a living cell. Scientists have not been able to cause amino acids dissolved in water to join together to form proteins. The energy-requiring chemical reactions that join amino acids are reversible and do not occur spontaneously in water.

Those who say life may have came from an asteroid, meteor, space debris, or matter, still must address where and how that life form came into existence. The conclusion is that scientists really have no evidence or idea how life originally formed. Human attempts at creating life by experiment have failed miserably.

The same results have been found for evolutionary experiments in trying to “boost” evolution along (the fruit fly experimental failures) with genetic engineering. The fruit fly did change, but it was something out of a science fiction book. It mutated to where it couldn’t fly and ended up with a cumbersome number of wings, The fruit flies eventually became sterile.

Arguing Doesn’t Change Anything

The results of arguing are usually a steadfast defensive entrenchment of the one party and a prideful attitude from knowledge on the Christian’s part. No one has ever been argued into heaven. It’s not wrong to inform people of the facts. Facts we have and those we don’t. Facts about what is known and what is assumed. But, it’s important to do this in a spirit of love, genuineness, and with sincere compassion for the other person.

It’s wise to follow Peter’s admonition in 1 Peter 3:15: “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.”