Why do Skeptics need Apologetics?

I am going to add scripture memory to our study. The first one is a small, but arguably one of the most important passages in the bible, Philippians 2:1-11. I plan on slowly adding on week by week until we have the whole passage memorized.

Scripture Memory - Philippians 2:1-2 - 1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.


Lesson

Why do Skeptics need Apologetics?

Modern education and government stress scientific methods and practical ideas to the detriment of society and at the expense of truth.

Today there is an implicit exclusion of religious ideas in education, media, and government that undermines the value systems that help shape a moral society. We live in a relativistic society, where morality is situation-based, and truth is a matter of opinion. These influences combine to create a relativist philosophy in people, void of absolutes, where they are lost without a moral compass on earth, and without the salvation of Christ for eternity. We must not feel contempt for such people, but instead have a desperate compassion, as for a loved one deceived by a crafty enemy, desiring his destruction:

2 Cor. 4:4 "...in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

World View

What you think about God affects your world view, and your world view influences what you think about God. Your world view is the way that you approach an idea - the way that you perceive the world that you inhabit and the rules by which it operates. Your world view thus becomes the guide for your life.

Without a strong, morality-based world view, a person can drift into destructive selfishness and seek a philosophy that serves to rationalize immoral behavior. Christianity serves as a moral compass that works — everyone needs the bearings.

Link: Probe Ministries Article on World Views

Informed Decisions

Honest, thinking people need to have the facts they need to satisfy their desire to make an informed decision about God.

Perhaps most of the people in the world that believe in (g)God(s) cannot tell you why they believe in rational terms. Why should a reasonable person believe in God, let alone Christianity, if no true believer can present a cogent argument for that belief? We should not be so naive to think that God is obvious to everyone, even those who seek.

God has appointed us as vessels of His message. He has no other plan.

2 Cor. 4:5-7 "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves..."

World Views

An excerpt from the referenced article by Jerry Solomon from the Probe Ministries web site:

"...[returning to] a definition we affirmed in the beginning of this article: 'A world view provides a model of the world which guides its adherents in the world.' If your model of the world includes an infinite-personal God, as in Christian Theism, that belief should provide guidance for your life. If your model rejects God, as in Naturalism, again such a belief serves as a guide. Or if your model asserts that you are god, as in New Age Pantheism, yet again your life is being guided by such a conception. These examples should remind us that we are living in a culture that puts us in touch constantly with such ideas, and many more. They cannot all be true."