Why do you believe what you believe?

Belief and disbelief both come with reasons — the question is whether you can give yours. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt takes up the Christian's calling to "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15). Faith in God and in His Word is not a leap into the dark; it is a reasoned trust, and the believer should be able to say why he holds it.

Dr. Holt walks through some of the grounds for confidence in God and the reliability of Scripture, showing that Christianity provides the "preconditions for intelligibility" — the very foundation that makes reason, morality, and meaning possible in the first place. The point is not to win arguments but to be equipped: to know what you believe, and why, so that your faith stands firm and your witness is credible.

Questions this study answers:

1. Is Christian faith opposed to reason? No. Scripture calls believers to give a reasoned defense of their hope. Faith rests on grounds, not on wishful thinking, and Christianity supplies the foundation that makes reason itself intelligible.

2. What reasons are there to trust God and the Bible? Dr. Holt surveys evidences for God's existence and the reliability of Scripture, showing that the Christian worldview best accounts for the world as we actually find it.

3. Why should ordinary Christians care about apologetics? Because we are commanded to be ready to answer. Knowing why you believe strengthens your own faith and equips you to give a credible witness to others.

"Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you." — 1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This study is part of New Geneva Theological Seminary's teaching on apologetics and defending the Christian faith. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.