My Dear Apologist, Please Be Holy.
/
Apologist, I have a question for you. If forced to choose, which would you rather have, holiness or a good answer? Should be obvious which one to choose, right? Of course, we should want to be holy more than we want good answers. Further, it’s not as though holiness and good answers are opposed to one another, are they? But I have noticed a disturbing tendency in apologists over the years, a tendency toward separating the work of the craft of apologetics and the work of moral transformation. Apologists sometimes abound in facts, arguments, and answers, all the while lacking in any deliberate expression of personal holiness. So, I say to you: my dear apologist, please be holy.
Here are two instances where I think we have room to grow in our holiness as apologists. These are what I would call examples of “practical apologetic holiness.” First, there is a holy and unholy way to present an opponent’s position on a given topic of debate. It is unholy to replace what an unbeliever said with a strawman. When we do this, we are bearing false witness; we are lying. Nothing holy about that, is there? Rather than giving in to this foolish and sinful temptation, why not take the honorable and holy route of always…and I mean always…presenting the best argument an opponent has to offer. Jesus did not die to save strawmen, but He did die to save that person whose argument we should learn and carefully present. So, learn what the atheist is saying, and then, with a commitment to bearing true witness and honoring the One who is truth Himself, show practical apologetic holiness by giving your opponent an honest and faithful representation.
Second, there is a holy and unholy way to present an argument. For example, anytime I stoop to make an ad hominem argument I am not arguing in a holy way. Even if my opponent is a truly unsavory character whose moral compass is clearly broken, it is not honoring to God, or my opponent, or myself to make a personal attack rather than a careful and charitable argument based on the substance of their ideas. When someone resorts to ad hominem attacks it reveals a lack of appreciation for the very sacredness of the moment when one person’s ideas are considered against another’s. Every encounter in apologetics is with an image bearer of God, one whose existence is precious and of infinite worth, such that to encounter an opponent of the Gospel is to encounter the reason there is a Gospel. We all need the grace of God, and when I don’t take seriously the argument of a person and choose, instead, to attack them for some real or perceived personal shortcoming I sully the moment and demean the holy work of apologetics. We are seeking to build relationships and see lives transformed, not win arguments at any cost; and only when we make arguments and refuse to ever attack people can we show practical apologetic holiness.
I’m sure you can think of other instances of practical apologetic holiness, and I hope you will. Let us never forget along the way to learning and doing apologetics that holiness is required of us. So, I say to you again: my dear apologist, please be holy.
More from this series
T. J. Gentry is the Executive Editor of MoralApologetics.com, the Senior Minister at First Christian Church of West Frankfort, IL, and the Co-founder of Good Reasons Apologetics. T. J. has been in Christian ministry since 1984, having served as an itinerant evangelist, youth minister, church planter, pastoral counselor, and Army chaplain. He is the author of numerous books and peer-reviewed articles, including Pulpit Apologist: The Vital Link between Preaching and Apologetics (Wipf and Stock, 2020), You Shall Be My Witnesses: Reflections on Sharing the Gospel (Illative House, 2018), and two forthcoming works published by Moral Apologetics Press: Leaving Calvinism, Finding Grace, and A Moral Way: Aquinas and the Good God. T. J. is a Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor, holding board-certification as a Pastoral Counselor and a Chaplain. He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University (BA in Political Science), Luther Rice College and Seminary (MA in Apologetics), Holy Apostles College and Seminary (MA in Philosophy), Liberty University (MAR in Church Ministries, MDiv in Chaplaincy, ThM in Theology), Carolina University (DMin in Pastoral Counseling, PhD in Leadership, PhD in Biblical Studies), and the United States Army Chaplain School (Basic and Advanced Courses). He is currently completing his PhD in Theology at North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa (2021), his PhD in Theology and Apologetics at Liberty University (2022), and his PhD in Philosophy of Religion at Southern Evangelical Seminary (2024). T. J. married Amy in 1995, and they are blessed with three daughters and two sons. T. J.’s writing and other projects may be viewed at TJGentry.com.
