Defending the Faith: thinking about apologetics

This workshop is being run both in the evening online, and in the daytime at the diocesan office. (The evening session is on Zoom, Thursday 10 February 2022, 7.30-9.00pm.)

In the first letter of Peter, he tells people “Whenever anyone asks you to speak of your hope, be ready to defend it.” (1 Peter 3:15 CEB) The Greek word for defence which Peter uses is apologia. Thinking about what it means to defend our faith is therefore called apologetics. Right from the beginning Christians have sought effective ways to commend their faith to those outside the church.

In particular, apologetics has tried to show that Christian belief is reasonable. There are good reasons to believe in God as Jesus shows him to be, and it is not a case of believing in “six impossible things before breakfast” like Alice in Wonderland.

This workshop explores what apologetics is. Doug Chaplin (Discipleship and Lay Training Officer) will explore how we might begin to think about apologetics today. It is not a case of memorising knock-down arguments. (Spoiler alert: there aren’t any!) Rather it involves speaking about the reasonable nature of what we believe, grounded in the authenticity of our own faith and life.

Book via Eventbrite on this page.

You won't need your Eventbrite ticket, but there will be a sign in sheet as you arrive at the diocesan office. Unfortunately we don't have parking facilities, but the Asda and St Martin's Gate car parks are nearby. (Shoppers spending £5 or more in Asda can park for up to three hours for free, but need to ask an assistant for a car parking ticket.) You are encouraged (but not required) to take a lateral flow test before attending.