Apologetics is quite simply, the defense of the Christian faith. Over the years many different arguments and even schools of thought have birthed from the quest to defend the Christian faith. It can be useful to the Christian believer because it can help solidify what they believe in, and when asked, be able to share on a more intellectual level, why it is that they believe what they do. It also forces them to examine the faith closer. However, I've always said, intellectual reason, evidence, and argument cannot and should not replace the gospel and the saving faith of salvation. As I've mentioned, and as the bible supports.. the mind will never believe anything, however rational and accurate, unless the heart allows it to do so. So as Christians, we are in the business of saving through the heart moreso than the mind, if that makes sense. Anyway, here are some popular arguments for Christianity. These are a bit more elementary, and obviously incomplete as these arguments can go on and on... but in the interest of time and space. So here are some to chew on and investigate.
SOME POPULAR ARGUMENTS FOR THE FAITH:
Morality: As humans, we all behave through a moral system. It goes beyond rules set and governed by society. In fact, alot of societal laws and rules are based on universal human morals. The evidence of absolute morals point to a moral law giver. The fact that there are universal morals point to the fact that there must be an absolute authority in which these right and wrongs were decided. This does not mean everyone abides by these laws, or even smaller societies as a whole, as we all have free will.. and in some cases, spiritual forces are at work. But as humans, these basic morals are written into our hearts. As an example: people have evolved through time, societies have evolved through time and even radically changed schools of thought. But throughout history, murder and shedding of innocent blood have consistently been viewed as wrong. Biggest argument against is moral relativism.
Prophetic Fulfilment: The bible is full of prophecies. The book of Isaiah is sometimes called the mini bible, because it mimics the bible as a whole in alot of ways, and prophecied on the many things to come. One of the most famous being the foretelling of Jesus's crucifixion. The book of Isaiah in particular was written 700 years before Christ, obviously well before Christ was crucified. While someone could possibly have faked a crucifixion for the sake of fulfilling a prophecy, things like, when or how one is born cant be faked (also prophecised)
Validity of the Resurrection: For a Christian, the validity of the resurrection is critical to the faith. One popular argument is that a resurrection cant be a hoax if the people who would do such would pay such a dear price. Obviously Jesus paid with His life, the diciples, as witnesses, were all tortured and martyred for their beliefs yet they never denied the resurrection of Christ. Skeptics have said that there is no written proof of eye witness testimonies except the bible.
Intelligent Design: This one can go on and on, and is a bit more vague. But alot of things point to intelligent design. Apologists say that it takes more faith to believe that the current universe with all its expansiveness yet intracacies, are a result of time and chance, than to believe in a supreme being that created it all. The question of origin must go all the way back to some starting point, yet the question will always be, "where did that come from?". Nothing x chance x a long time will always equal nothing. Because the zero in the equation will make the other variables meaningless. On the other hand, one of Gods very characteristics is that he is infinate, the alpha and omega as declared in the bible. We could suppose that the universe and all the necessary things needed to create life are also infinite, and have no beginning and end. In that equation, I suppose the universe would be our creator.
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