Christian Apologetics

Essay 10, "Christian Apologetics" is given to a youth conference of clergy on Easter, 1945. Lewis discusses apologetics, or the rational defense of Christianity. First, Lewis maintains that he is focused on apologetics for "mere" Christianity. Men need apologetics to make doctrine clear to those who do not understand it; they need it to rule out proposed contradictions in their own beliefs. Apologetics can be used to argue against opponents of the faith and to test the truth of Christian ideas against one's own concerns.

The professional apologist must keep up with intellectual challenges to the faith, particularly theological reading, but perhaps scientific reading as well. Lewis encourages the crowd to be careful about mixing religion and politics in the wrong way—religion tells us what the end of human life is and the moral means of pursuing it; politics teaches how, practically, this may be done. Missionary techniques cannot be merely about politics.

Apologetics is needed because the uneducated Englishman knows little about history, distrusts ancient texts, has no sense of sin, and so the clergy must learn the language of their audience. Then Lewis lays out how the average Englishman understands the use of various theological terms. He encourages the use of apologetics to attack false doctrines; he prefers to speak on intellectual, not emotional attacks, as he knows them much better.

Lewis encourages the clergy not to water down Christianity, discusses common objections to Christianity, warns his audience about the difficult intricacies of arguments for God's existence, and discussions concerning the historicity of the gospels. He maintains that Christianity must be defended on the grounds that it is true, not merely good. He argues that the only true religions are few, the ones that are both "Thick" and "Clear." Finally, one should not rest one's faith entirely on the apologetic.