Apologetics is the practice of giving an answer back to the critics of Christianity.
When Peter encourages us to do so, he reminds us to ‘do this with gentleness and respect’ (1 Peter 3.15). We are not called to win arguments, but to win hearts, and part of that task is to present our faith in a way that is winsome and courteous to our critics. While we should always be committed to accuracy in what we say, we should never lose touch with the need to be considerate in the way we say it.
Perceptive Proverbs
However, in practice this task is hard to balance. There can be a fine line between being bold and being abrasive. Sometimes we may think we have been polite while our hearer thought us rude. To find help with this aspect of apologetics, we could turn to that practical work book of living, Proverbs. In this book we find some apparent contradictions. For example, we are told: ‘Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself’ (Proverbs 26.4). Good advice for a Christian in their witness: avoid bad-tempered debates that generate more heat than light. However, in the very next verse we read: ‘Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes’ (Proverbs 26.5). This, too, is good advice for a Christian. At times, a witty reply to a silly objection is the best response.
A young girl in an RE class was asked by her teacher to explain before sceptical classmates why she was a Christian. She said: ‘Well, my mum is a Christian and my dad is a Christian. They brought me up to believe in Jesus. I guess that’s why I am a Christian’. The teacher objected scornfully: ‘That’s a pathetic reason. What if your mum had been stupid and your dad had been stupid? What would you have been then?’ The girl replied: ‘Well, then I guess I would have been an atheist’. Such an anecdote follows the advice of Proverbs 26.5 but not Proverbs 26.4!
Sensitive to different situations
Of course, the proverbs are not real contradictions. The very fact that they stand side by side in Scripture shows that the Hebrew copyists had no embarrassment in holding them together. They are two sides of a coin and reflect the fact that situations in life are not simple. We need to exercise wisdom in life as we share our faith with our friends. The sincere question asked out of genuine interest deserves a different reply than the sarcastic remark made by a bitter colleague. Proverbs reminds us that we have to make a judgment and do our best in each situation.
Sarcasm doesn’t help
Peter’s description of apologetics in 1 Peter 3.15 reminds me to always err on the side of Proverbs 26.4 rather than 26.5. After all, the crude and shallow complaints of many critics of Christianity do them no favours. Richard Dawkins is no fool, he has a great mind. He can also be a very capable writer and communicator. But his manner and vitriol does his case no favours. Marcus Brigstocke, comedian and outspoken atheist himself, has recently written on Richard Dawkins’s ‘smugness’. He writes: ‘Richard Dawkins says at the beginning of his book, “I would like everyone who reads this, by the time they put this book down, to be an atheist”’. Well, I was an atheist when I started reading The God Delusion; by the time I’d finished it I was an agnostic. I was going to read it again but I worried I might turn into a fundamentalist Christian’.
Even atheists can find Dawkins’s manner unappealing. Sarcasm, derision and scorn rarely help anyone’s case. But a bit of gentle humour and sharp wit can help a great deal. How do we distinguish between the two? We should always remember we are ambassadors for Christ. What representation of Jesus do we give in our words, our manner and our demeanor? Mark Twain reputedly said: ‘Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference’. I think Solomon and Peter would have liked that advice.
Chris Sinkinson is pastor of Alderholt Chapel and lectures at Moorlands College.
