This week I encountered articles with somewhat different opinions about the role of apologetics in the Christian faith.
Russell Moore wrote:
When I would ask, “How did you come to Christ?” not a single [apologetics professor], to my memory, ever pointed to an apologetic argument. Often these apologists would talk about finding faith the same way I did: growing up in a good church or having parents who shared and demonstrated their faith... We need debaters, yes, and we need experts. But more than that, we face an opportunity when people all around us are exhausted by living like machines. Many of them will keep their guard up and argue confidently, but deep down they wonder, What if there is more than this? What if, behind all this, there really is someone who knows and loves me? Apologetics is a step toward showing people Jesus, but winning arguments alone is not the kingdom of God.
J. Warner Wallace wrote:
Most people [I ask] say they were raised in the faith... Others tell me their faith rests on experience—a prayer answered, a sense of God’s presence, something miraculous that confirmed Christianity to them personally. On the surface, both of these answers sound good. But neither distinguishes Christianity as true. Think about that. My Mormon family members would give identical answers about their faith. My atheist relatives also cite upbringing and experience to justify their worldview...
We live in a culture that elevates private experience and personal truth. But the God of Scripture doesn’t ask us to believe blindly or feel our way toward Him. He calls us to examine the evidence He’s provided—to love Him not only with our hearts but with our minds. That’s why every believer must become a Christian case maker.
Moore grew up in the church and relies more heavily on the relational aspects of Christianity. Wallace came to faith as an adult after investigating the claims for himself. Both are good paths, and both are needed in our culture. All believers should have a testimony of how God has worked and continues to work in their lives, but I don’t think we can stop there. In a culture that says, “You have your truth and I have mine,” a personal testimony doesn’t necessarily give anyone else a reason to believe Christianity is true. The average church member probably wouldn’t know where to begin in defending their faith rationally, and there are limits to what can be taught in an hour or two on Sundays. That may be an area where we all need to grow.
In my own case, I began to believe at a very young age because I grew up in the church and a family with multiple generations of pastors. However, I didn’t really know what I believed until college and seminary. Though I knew the distinctive beliefs of the denomination my parents had grown up in, I didn’t really know the essentials of Christianity. Moving frequently, the churches of various denominations that we attended never told me about God’s great love and grace. Nor did they tell me why Christianity made sense logically. All I remember hearing was that God exists and that He expects us to live a certain way in order to be saved.
In college, I had great professors who made sense of Scripture, history, and science. But I also had a discipler who loved me and showed me that God was more than a Creator and Judge. I needed both mind and heart perspectives to tell me that Christianity was worth holding onto. If I had not gone to a Christian college, I think it’s likely that I would have walked away from the church, and perhaps from faith, when life got hard. And if I had not had that discipler, I think I would have given up on life entirely.
Is reason more important than relationship or vice versa? The two can’t really be separated, though different times of life may require different approaches. We need both truth and love to fully experience the life-changing reality of faith in Christ Jesus—
“So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:14-15).
© 2026 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.
