Tools of Apologetics 1.21.5

How to Use Apologetics

Handling Tough Questions

No Apologists can spontaneously answer all the Reason/Faith related questions posed to them, especially in the tense atmosphere of a public meeting. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that even a fool can ask more questions than the wisest man can answer. Thus all active Apologists will face many questions which they cannot, immediately and on the spot, answer with sufficient authority. This is a professional risk in Apologetics and denying the possibility of this happening to one is dishonesty. Worse, Apologists who are dishonest about their limitations and boundaries will be so unprepared that they will be embarrassed at the most critical stage.

All Apologists get difficult questions, but the way they handle them will determine the outcome. They can be winners even if they are not able to answer a few questions, provided they are open and honest. On the other hand, dishonest Apologists can seemingly answer all questions, including the ones whose answer they do not know clearly and yet become a loser. That is because, in addition to the answers, people also look at the attitude of Apologists. They respect people who answer what they know, ask for time to ponder difficult questions and guide people to experts or to resources that can answer questions which they cannot answer. I remember the initial days of my public ministry. I had, at that time, been trained in Rational Apologetics, but not in Philosophy or Philosophical Apologetics. An outstanding Philosophy scholar, George David, used to be present at many of my more difficult public meetings. During question-answer sessions he started indicating to me his desire and willingness to answer questions that were strictly Philosophical in nature. Soon I started inviting him to tackle these questions by saying, "That is a strictly Philosophical question, so George David the Philosopher can answer it better than me". Except for the Persistent Interrogators (who wanted to put me down) everyone wanted authoritative answers and they welcomed this approach. They knew that nobody is an expert in all fields and therefore harboured no ill feelings because I referred questions of a strictly philosophical orientation to an expert in that field.

Whether it is Medicine, Engineering, Law or Christian Apologetics, no individual can have all the answers. Referring to an advanced textbook or expert is standard practice and one need not be embarrassed about doing so.

Conclusion

A person could work in any field a few centuries ago without much training and also without much of a professional approach. The town iron smith could also double as the plumber and a small town grocer could also double as the postmaster. However, increasing advancement, complexity and professionalism has introduced so many changes that today people can only succeed if they are trained and adopt a professional approach and work in a systematic manner. This is true of Christian Apologetics also. While people do not need to obtain a professional degree in Apologetics, they need to study the subject in some depth. They also need to develop a system of effective refutation, defense and exposition. Adapting the tools and insights developed by professional Apologists in the twentieth century is the best approach. And finally, they should recognize that in this era of specialization even Christian Apologetics has developed into many advanced branches so that a person trained in one branch of Apologetics may need help from a specialist in another branch of Apologetics. They will also need to conduct their public and private discussions in a calculated manner, so as to minimize distraction and maximize effectiveness.

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