What does ‘apologetics’ mean to you? If you haven’t heard of it before, the word is taken from a verse in Peter’s first letter.
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).
The Greek word for ‘answer’ is ‘apologia’. Hence ‘apologetics’ is offering an answering word to those who ask you about your Christian hope. So far so good. But, if you ask me, in the 2,000 years since Peter wrote, there has been an individualising and an intellectualising of apologetics. We would do well to recapture what the apostle originally meant.
