Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
[1 Peter 3:13-17, ESV]
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
[2 Corinthians 10:4-6, ESV]
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The world is a very diverse place. People are divided ethnically, politically, economically, geographically, religiously, and in many other ways. However, for purposes of this book there are only two groups of people in the world. There are the Believing Christians, the Children of God, who believe in the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ. The other group is everyone else.
Believing Christians orient their lives around the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the commands given to them through the received Word of God, which is the Bible. One of those commands is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which Believing Christians know as the Great Commission. Unfortunately, much of the world has become so hostile towards Christianity (and sometimes all religions) that in some places it is illegal, dangerous, and even fatal for people to talk and proselytize about the Believer's Christianity.
So what can a Believing Christian do? By definition a Believing Christian is well versed in knowledge of the Bible. The essential doctrines, books, and verses have often been memorized and can be quoted at will. The Believing Christian knows that there is power in the Word of God, but so very many people dismiss the Word of God as fiction written by ignorant men to explain things beyond their understanding. The miracles of Jesus Christ are nothing more than magical explanations of fictional events used by the Apostles to save face after their leader was executed. Explaining the worldview of a Believing Christian to such people is almost always an effort in futility.
But perhaps there is another way. The non-believer lives in and believes in a secular world. They believe all the answers can be found through secular means. It may not be necessary for the Believing Christian to try and change the non-believer by preaching the Gospel, but only to convince the non-believer that their secular beliefs cannot and will not give them all the answers they seek. Secular belief systems, such as science, not only do not have all the answers but can be shown to not guarantee or even promote truth. Sowing doubt about the truth of secular worldviews into the mind of a non-believer may serve the purpose of opening a door into which the Truth of God and Jesus Christ may one day enter.
But for the Believing Christian to be able to show the faults and failures of the secular approach, and defend the criticisms those approaches apply to Christianity, the Believing Christian must first have a good understanding of the secular worldviews. Or more correctly, how the secular approach explains things. The Believing Christian must know how these secular explanations work along with their flaws, errors, and failures. The Believing Christian must also be able to defend Christianity with knowledge that the secular criticisms of the Bible all fail. Believing Christians must know their secular enemy and be able to defeat them on their own battlefield. This book provides the Believing Chistian with explanations of how the secular criticisms against Christianity work and are used along with explanations of their faults and counter arguments the Believing Christian can use to defeat those secular criticisms.
