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In this quick intro to apologetics, T. J. Gentry, PhD, PhD, DMin, gives four characteristics we must have if we are to defend the Christian faith faithfully.

As a father of five, an oft-used line in my parenting when my kids are settling down after an argument is, “Are you ready to apologize?” Sometimes they are; sometimes they’re not. One of my parenting goals, though, is to make sure they know how to apologize when the time comes.

As a pastor, one of my goals also has to do with helping others learn to apologize. However, in this instance the apology has nothing to do with saying, “I’m sorry” and everything to do with explaining “Here’s why I believe the Christian message is true.”

What I’m talking about is apologetics, the defense of the faith.

Before you tune out or think, “Yeah, I’m glad there are those trained to do that stuff,” I want to help you see that every believer is called to be an apologist. Sure, we have different levels of knowledge and ability, different contexts, different audiences. But all of us share the same calling to “sanctify the Lord God in [our] hearts, and always be ready to give a defense [Greek: apologia] to everyone who asks [us] a reason for the hope that is in [us]” (1 Peter 3:15, NKJV).

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Martha must have been really excited for Jesus to arrive. Luke 10:38 says she welcomed Jesus into her home. This has led some scholars to believe that Martha was the oldest and she managed the household. It’s no wonder she was busy trying to serve food and make Jesus and his friends comfortable. How would you like to entertain at least 13 people in your living room on short notice? Martha responds by going to work—and later seems to be rebuked for it! But what if this story isn’t so much about work versus worship, but about anxiety, honor, and who is allowed to sit at Jesus’ feet?

In the ancient world that this story comes from, women were under tremendous social pressure to present a well-ordered home. When a visitor came to your home, the level of hospitality you showed was tied to your family’s honor.

Martha would remember that in Genesis 18 her ancestor Abraham had begged strangers to stay and eat. She would recall that he quickly told Sarah to prepare cakes for the men to eat while he washed their feet as they rested. She would recall that Abraham’s nephew Lot provided shelter and protection for these same men when they visited Sodom in chapter 19. The words of Job might even come to her mind when he said, “No stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler” (Job 31:32, NIV). Likewise, Proverbs 31 is dedicated to the virtues of a woman who keeps her household in perfect order, bringing honor to her family. And as if that wasn’t enough, the wider Greco-Roman world taught that how well a woman ordered her house was foundational to the social structure and economy of the entire country.

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Thinking through the nature of evil, a young Augustine found himself wrestling with the relationship between physics, which he called “corporeal things,” and the mind. His account of this struggle, recorded in his immortal work, Confessions, ironically describes what contemporary materialists experience daily: “I turned my attention to the nature of the mind, but the false opinions which I entertained of spiritual things prevented me from seeing the truth.”[1]

Not so with neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Egnor, who sees the truth about the mind with great clarity: Our bodies consist of physics, but our minds belong to the soul, which is spiritual in nature. Dr. Egnor is a distinguished professor of neurosurgery and pediatric neurology at State University of New York at Stony Brook, and his book The Immortal Mind brings his vast knowledge of the brain to the question of the mind/body problem, arguing, along with co-author Denyse O’Leary, that the evidence from brain science clearly demonstrates that humans have non-corporeal spiritual souls and that the mind is not the same as the brain.

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In study of the scriptures, even during the time of Jesus, there are some questions that are far more loaded than they need to be. Think back to when the Sadducees asked Jesus in Matthew 22 about marriage in the resurrection: After a woman is widowed seven times, which man will be her husband in the resurrection? This was clearly not a simple this or that question, yet the Sadducees posed it as a way to trick Jesus. His answer: it’s not like that. And the response: the people were astonished.

To ask what the Bible teaches on the shape of the earth is analogous to questioning marriage in the resurrection or the number of angels that could dance on the head of a pin. It’s just not a question that’s close to the central concerns of the Bible.

When it comes to the shape of the Earth, sources outside Scripture give us a unanimous answer (spoiler alert: multiple sources of scientific proof show that the Earth is round)—and the answer does not affect our relationship with the Lord. However, for the sake of human curiosity and for those who are puzzled by what the Bible seems to say on this topic, let’s examine the question “Does the Bible say the earth is flat?”—with the caveat that it’s not such a simple question as we might think. You might even find yourself astonished by the end.

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“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:20, NIV)

In reading for biblical literacy, we continually look for what the scriptures teach us about the nature and character of God. A challenging concept about God’s nature is his triune being. Generally referred to as the Trinity, this means that God is three in one (being a tri-unity): God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

It’s important to pause and consider whether we may have false conceptions or expectations of the Godhead. Cultural Christianity may have taught us to believe in what we desire God to be instead of knowing who he truly is. So, let’s look at who God reveals himself to be.

Jesus describes the Father as one who has opened his home for his ever-expanding family, and Jesus presents himself like a groom who is preparing a place where we can dwell with him.

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2, NIV)

When the home is ready, he will come and take us to live with him. Jesus’ disciple Thomas thought that “the way” to this dwelling required directions to a literal location.

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:5, NIV)

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“Lord Jesus, I take hands off as far as my life is concerned. I put Thee on the throne in my heart. Change, cleanse, use me as Thou shalt choose. I take the full power of Thy Holy Spirit. I thank Thee.“ —from an entry in Borden’s journal 

The life of William Borden (Borden of Yale) might be one of the greatest stories that can be used to inspire the next generation to impact the world for Christ. His biographer said it this way:

“It is probably true, as was stated in the Princeton Seminary Bulletin, that no young man of his age had ever given more to the service of God and humanity; for Borden not only gave his wealth, but also himself, in a way so joyous and natural that it was manifestly a privilege rather than a sacrifice.” —Mrs. Howard Taylor, Borden of Yale: The Life and Legacy of William Borden

While it might be easy to look at Borden’s wealth and believe that if we were dealt the same cards, we could be equally generous and make a similar impact for the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to realize that a life like Borden’s isn’t measured in its length or possessions but rather its character and devotion.

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Bad news is everywhere. It’s easy to become calloused when you hear so many tragic stories of everything going on in the world. Our hearts can’t handle the constant barrage of heartbreak. Most of us turn the channel and move on with our lives.

But what do you do when tragedy strikes close to home?

I remember when a shooting took place here at the Boise mall. The shooter killed two victims and injured four more. The atmosphere of our city was different all week. Fear and sobriety permeated a majority of my conversations in the days following the event.

Whether it is a national incident that sends shockwaves worldwide, or a personal loss that impacts only a few people, some events are inescapable. How do we navigate these challenging times in which we live?

Here are five things you can do when tragedy strikes:

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From AD 54-68, the Roman emperor was Nero. Here are some of the hallmarks of his reign: He married five people (three women and two men), having one of his wives killed in order to marry his friend’s wife. He had his mother killed in a power struggle. When much of Rome burned, he blamed it on the Christians and had some of them burned alive to light his gardens. It was under Nero that both Peter and Paul were killed (Peter by crucifixion and Paul by beheading). If you had been a Christian living during this time, can you imagine the relief and joy it must have been to know that the real king who would have the ultimate victory was Jesus?

In our own time, we can find ourselves feeling lied to by people in power. Have you ever been disappointed when your candidate got elected and didn’t make good on their promises? Ever been disillusioned after your preferred political party got in power? Maybe they didn’t quite deliver on what they said they would do?

Against this backdrop of disappointment, it’s a beautiful thing to know that Jesus is king. In his earthly ministry, Jesus showed us what his kingdom looks like: the sick are made well, the dead are raised, the downtrodden are lifted up, the lost are found. Captive to sin and death, our world is broken. We desperately need King Jesus. The gospel tells us that Jesus was crucified for our sins, raised to life, and that he now reigns as king and will return in glory. What better news could there possibly be?

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“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. I will lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations[1] on those who love me and obey my commands.” (Exodus 20:4-6, NLT)

The starter commandment was not to have any other gods. God, knowing the human heart, immediately closes the most obvious loophole and says don’t make any god, either. God created us, made us creative beings, and gave us imagination. Creation itself is so grand that we tend to worship creation.[2] We can marvel at an evening sky, take in the fresh air and grandeur of mountain ranges, and the vast power of the ocean.

High culture in Western Civilization has been adorned with the arts, music through opera and symphonies, and great literature emerged in the era of the novel, revealing the best and worst of human life and subsequently being portrayed on stage and in cinema. We so romanticized life that we created those who acted the parts and called them movie stars.

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What I am going to try to articulate here is something that has been on my mind for some time. The seeds of these thoughts were not planted by the assassination of Charlie Kirk (and the reactions to it), but the assassination did provide water for the seeds.

I have been dwelling on the difficulty of Colossians 2:8. It is a difficulty that, I’ll confess, is personal to me. I know that not everyone shares this difficulty, but many do. The difficulty is this: How do you warn people you love about dangerous and toxic ideas while also trying to avoid causing offense and stirring up controversy?

A dominant theme in Colossians (arguably THE dominant theme) is the supremacy of Jesus. The Colossian Christians were apparently being seduced by ideologies that were calling into question the sufficiency and sovereignty of a Jesus who is the “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15) and in whom “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9, NIV). Because of Christ’s supremacy, Paul exhorts these believers to have their lives “rooted and built up in him” (Colossians 2:7, NIV) and by extension, not have their lives rooted in anything else. This is the context of Colossians 2:8.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8, NIV)

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