Easter has passed, though the season is still with us until Pentecost, the last Sunday in May this year. And so we might expect the critics and doubters of Christianity, who come out of the woodwork spoofing and scoffing at our faith in Jesus’ Incarnation and Resurrection, to crawl back until next year. But increasingly it is not to be. Our current decade has seen growing opposition in all forms of media. There seems to be a crusade against historic beliefs subscribed by the Bible and any trust in its accuracy or dependability as the revealed and inerrant Word of God.
For the most part Christians have taken Peter’s advice as only offering passive resistance. We can all wait for someone to ask us personally, which they rarely do, meanwhile doing little to defend our faith except to react negatively upon hearing of an attack. Yet the first part of Peter’s admonition goes unheeded by the large majority of the faithful, which is to “always be prepared.”
This is perhaps most critical among those closest to us – our children, families and friends. A lack of emphasis on why we believe the Bible to be true, and an inadequate understanding of why it is defensible, can easily be communicated as not being of great importance to our faith. And unless our faith, and its subjective qualities, is grounded in objective reality and substance we will be weak witnesses to it. We may even inadvertently be giving support to ideas that are contrary to Scripture and truth.
Recent reports that the percentage of self-identified Christians in America has fallen by 10 points in two decades (Newsweek, April 2005) combine with a survey showing only 55% of American Christians having a strong view of the Bible (Barna.org) to give us cause for waking up in the Church. The progressive liberal education, political correctness and pervading influence of materialism and naturalistic philosophies over several centuries are having an accelerated effect upon our culture and its Christian population.
But can we with “gentleness and respect” defend our position and even perhaps regain some credibility in the public square? Of the first question our answer should be a resounding yes, of the second who knows? But that isn’t our main concern; rather that we not only know what we believe but be able to give a credible answer to why we believe it and why our faith is supportable by rational and factual evidence. In other words, why we know the Bible is true in what it says about the origins of the universe and mankind, how it got spoiled in the Garden, God’s plan to redeem mankind from sin and the fulfillment of that plan through the Cross and our assurance of Christ’s resurrection guaranteeing eternal life to faithful believers in Jesus Christ.
We can begin by studying the Bible as a whole and understanding how this most amazing collection of Scripture has been given to us, the reliability of its human and divine authorship, and its history of transmission through prophets, kings, apostles and Christian pastors and teachers over thousands of years. For if we use the knowledge available to us and to anyone willing to consider it honestly and we know well the Bible’s story, then with guidance by the Holy Spirit and God’s wisdom we will be prepared to give our answer with reason and respect—and without apology!
Consider the effect of those first century Christians, convinced of Jesus’ Bodily Resurrection and the complete reliability of God’s Word. They turned the world upside down and history confirms that they and their followers did. Think what may happen if just American Christians having a strong view of the Bible increased from half to three-quarters or more. Nevertheless, may God’s will be done—with no apology!