the Apostle Peter instructed to always be prepared to “make a defense” to everyone who asks the reason for the hope within them. The Bible not only assures us that God will provide sufficient answers to the most pressing objections to the Christian faith but also explains why we do not have an answer to every question we might want answered, at least while we “see in a mirror dimly.”

1. We Have Answers
by James N.
Anderson
F  AT U R  A R T I C L 
A
fter exhorting his readers to “in your hearts honor Christ as Lord
as holy,” the Apostle Peter instructed them to always be prepared
to “make a defense” to everyone who asks the reason for the hope
within them ( ). The Greek word translated “defense” is
apologia, from which we get our English word apologetics, meaning the
reasoned defense of the faith. Apologetics is one of the tasks of the church,
and whenever God directs His people to a task, He supplies whatever is
needed to fulfill that task. Thus, when Scripture directs us to give answers
to those who raise critical questions about the Christian faith, we may
reasonably assume that answers will be available to give.
When I first delved into Christian apologetics, it was primarily (I’m
ashamed to confess) for the purpose of self­defense. I wanted respectable
answers to the hard questions tossed at me like grenades by the very smart
unbelievers with whom I worked, so that I wouldn’t look foolish in their
eyes. But in those early years, it felt like a roller­coaster ride. Whenever I
encountered a new objection to which I had no ready response, I would
experience a sense of panic, as though the entire Christian faith were
hanging in the balance. Every single time I did the research, however, I
discovered that there were solid answers to the objection, and it wasn’t
nearly the devastating blow that I had feared it to be. It took many years for
me to learn the lesson: newly encountered objections should be seen not as
threats to faith but as opportunities for growth, and it’s safe to assume that
answers will be available if we’re willing to do the work of finding them.
I learned a second important lesson through those experiences and the
studying I was prompted to do. Apologetics is not a recent innovation in the
history of the church. Christians in the early centuries were confronted by a
battery of objections to their claims about God’s self­revelation in Jesus
Christ. Yet the Lord has never left His people without answers. In every
generation, God has equipped His church with gifted thinkers who have
been equal to the task of defending the Christian faith against the prominent
critics of the day. The objections have varied over the centuries, and the
answers have sometimes changed too—mostly through critical refinement
and improvement. The one constant has been the faithful provision of the
Lord Jesus, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge” ( ).
1 Peter 3:15
Col. 2:3
N O V  M   R
2 0 2 2
V I  W I   U 
P R I N T I   U   U   C R I  

2. The Bible not only assures us that
God will provide sufficient answers
to the most pressing objections to the
Christian faith but also explains why
we do not have an answer to every
question we might want answered, at
least while we “see in a mirror
dimly.”

Thanks to this long history of intellectual engagement, we have more
resources today for defending the faith than ever before. We should be
greatly encouraged that Christian apologetics is flourishing in our time.
There has been a remarkable renaissance of Christian philosophy in the last
sixty years, and some of the most respected and productive scholars in the
field are also professing believers. Conservative biblical scholarship is very
much alive and thriving. Historical research into the ancient world is
increasingly confirming that the four Gospels contain exactly what they
claim: firsthand eyewitness testimony of the ministry of Jesus. Meanwhile,
in the natural sciences, the more we uncover about the structure of the
universe and the history of life on our planet, the more we find confirmation
of the biblical doctrines of divine creation and providence. To echo Francis
Schaeffer: all truth is indeed God’s truth.
Nevertheless, some cautions are in order. While we can be confident that
answers are “out there,” we should not assume that they will come quickly
and easily or that the answers themselves will be simple and
straightforward. The world is a complicated place, and if the world can be
hard to understand, how much more so the Creator of the world, who
“dwells in unapproachable light” ( ). Just as Jacob had to grapple
all night with the angel of the Lord before receiving a blessing, so too the
blessings of deeper knowledge and understanding may come only at the end
of a period of hard intellectual wrestling.
What’s more, we should not imagine that once we have good responses to
the objections raised by unbelievers, those answers alone will be sufficient
to overcome unbelief and bring people to saving faith in Christ. Christian
faith is more than intellectual assent to a set of truth claims, although it
must include that. It involves a personal trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior. As John Calvin put it, faith is “a firm and certain knowledge of
God’s benevolence toward us, founded upon the truth of the freely given
promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds, and sealed upon our hearts
through the Holy Spirit.” While answers to critical questions may neutralize
many of the intellectual obstacles to faith, they cannot bring about faith
itself, since faith is the fruit of a supernatural work of the Spirit. Scripture
teaches that the root of unbelief is not a mind that lacks intellectual
information but a heart in need of spiritual transformation ( ;
; ). As Jesus’ own earthly ministry made clear, merely
giving answers to pointed questions—even answers directly from the mouth
of God—will not change a heart of stone to a heart of flesh.
1 Tim. 6:16
Ezek. 36:26
Rom. 1:21 Eph. 4:18

3. Yet none of this should be cause for discouragement, let alone reason to
disregard Peter’s exhortation and forgo giving answers altogether. Since
Peter directs us to treat with gentleness and respect those who inquire about
our hope in Christ, we ought to take their questions seriously—if they are
serious questions—and seek to provide truthful, biblical, God­honoring
answers. As we do so, the Holy Spirit will be pleased to work through our
words to accomplish God’s purposes: either to bring His elect to saving
faith or to confirm His just judgment on those who remain in stubborn
unbelief. We should recognize that pursuing and providing good answers to
challenging questions is a God­glorifying end in itself, no matter how those
answers are received. What is true of faithful evangelism is also true of
faithful apologetics ( ; ).
If we’re honest, there will also be occasions when our answers are not fully
satisfying even to us. They may be only partial answers that lack the details
we might desire. And there are some questions to which we do not yet have
—and may never gain—even partial answers. This should come as no
surprise, for we are called to walk by faith, not by sight. But in those cases,
we should remember two things. First, unanswered questions are not
refutations; the incompleteness of our knowledge is not a reason to doubt
what we already know. Second, we should recognize that every worldview
faces some unanswered questions and intellectual objections. The crucial
issue is not whether Christians can satisfyingly answer every question and
refute every challenge but whether the Christian worldview offers better
answers to the most pressing ultimate questions, and better explanations of
the human condition, than any competing worldview.
By way of illustration, let’s briefly apply these observations to one
prominent issue. The problem of evil and suffering remains one of the
leading objections wielded by skeptics against Christianity. The argument is
easily stated: If there were an all­good, all­powerful God, He would be both
willing and able to prevent all evil; but since evil exists, it follows that there
is no all­good, all­powerful God. Christian philosophers have observed that
the argument is unsound because it fails to acknowledge that God may
allow (even ordain) certain evils in order to accomplish His greater good
purposes ( ; ). Moreover, the Bible doesn’t leave us
completely in the dark about God’s purposes but reveals to us at least some
of the good reasons God has for allowing evil and suffering ( ;
; ; ;
; ; ). At the same time, Scripture emphasizes
that we should not expect to always be able to discern why God permits
specific instances of evil, for we have only limited knowledge and
understanding of God’s ways. Thus, the Bible supplies some answers while
also explaining why we cannot have all the answers. Finally, while there
will always be unanswered questions about evil, we can be reassured that
Christianity, when compared with alternative worldviews such as
Darwinian materialism and Eastern pantheism, still offers the most
satisfying answers to the most crucial questions. What accounts for the
distinction between good and evil? How did evil and suffering originate?
Why are humans capable of such heinous evils? Do our sufferings have any
meaning or purpose? Will evil be finally defeated, and if so, how? How can
we experience real hope and joy even in the midst of painful trials?
The same principles can be applied to other issues. In the end, the Bible not
only assures us that God will provide sufficient answers to the most
pressing objections to the Christian faith but also explains why we do not
have an answer to every question we might want answered, at least while
we “see in a mirror dimly” ( ).
1 Cor. 3:6–7 2 Cor. 2:15–17
Gen. 50:20 Acts 4:27–28
Ps. 119:71
Luke 13:1–5 John 9:1–3 Rom. 5:3–5; 8:28–30; 9:19–24 2 Cor. 1:5–7;
4:17 Heb. 12:5–11 James 1:2–4
1 Cor. 13:12

4. Dr. James N. Anderson is Carl W. McMurray Professor of
Theology and Philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary
in Charlotte, N.C., and a minister in the Associate Reformed
Presbyterian Church. He is the featured teacher of the
Ligonier teaching series Exploring Islam and author of What’s
Your Worldview?
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