How should we as Christians go about defending our faith in the God of the Bible? Today’s most popular method evolved from two streams of thought:

• Enlightenment philosophy, which was built upon the assumption that the human mind can reason its way to any truth.
• The scientific method, which promises hard proof for every truth.

According to these schools of thought, where scripture can be reasoned about or scientifically verified, it is true. Therefore, the apologist of scripture must provide a point-by-point counterargument for every proof the philosopher or natural scientist articulates. But is this the most effective method? Do we even share a common source of truth from which to argue in this point-by-point method?

In his book The Battle Belongs to the Lord, Dr. Scott Oliphint argues that the proper source of Truth for the apologist must be revelation, not reason or science. Otherwise, apologetics is prone to become a hobby horse for intellectuals rather than a matter of life-and-death significance for all believers. God’s Word is the record of this revelation, and it is itself an apologetic—a reasoned argument justifying a theory or religious doctrine. From the opening words, “In the beginning, God…” we see scripture defending itself as the ultimate source of Truth. God's Word is his defense of his divinity and must also form the basis of our defense of the faith.

In his lecture “Inerrancy and Apologetics,” the next in the Boice Center's Inaugural Lecture Series, Dr. Oliphint will explain the significance of founding a defense of the faith on God’s own testimony of himself in his Word. Please join us Friday, February 28 at 7 PM in the Sanctuary to hear more about how we must embody Christ through his Word in order to change the hearts of unbelievers.