The Purpose Of Our Blog
By Bro. Nathan
The Savior told the prophet Joseph Smith through divine revelation :
" Verily I say unto you, proclaim unto the world in the regions round about, and in the church also, for the space of a season, even until it shall be made known unto you. Verily this is a mission for a season, which I give unto you.Wherefore, labor ye in my vineyard. Call upon the inhabitants of the earth, and bear record, and prepare the way for the commandments and revelations which are to come. Now, behold this is wisdom; whoso readeth, let him understand and receive also; For unto him that receiveth it shall be given more abundantly, even power. Wherefore, confound your enemies; call upon them to meet you both in public and in private; and inasmuch as ye are faithful their shame shall be made manifest. Wherefore, let them bring forth their strong reasons against the Lord. Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you—there is no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; And if any man lift his voice against you he shall be confounded in mine own due time. Wherefore, keep my commandments; they are true and faithful. Even so. Amen." (D&C 71:2-11)
Apologetics comes from the Greek word απολογία (apologia) which means to speak in defense. Apologetics is where we defend our faith against detractors and critics in order to establish truth.
As the Lord commanded in a revelation in D&C 71, we are all called to defend our church; the truth; our testimony of the truth; and our faith. Throughout the scriptures, members of the church defended the faith. The apostle Paul is one example of an apologist in the scriptures. In Corinth, Paul, in every sabbath tried to persuade the Jews and the Greeks, reasoning with them, and defending the deity of Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah (Acts 18:4-28). Paul in his trial in front of King Herod Agrippa, he defended his faith by bearing his Testimony (Acts 25:13; 26:32). Peter and John defended their preaching of the Messianship of Jesus Christ in front of the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:1-22). Stephen defend the Messianship of Jesus Christ against the Jews and was martyred (Acts 7:1-60). Alma defended the gospel against Nehor and Korihor (Alma 1:1-31; 30:1-59), Michael the Archangel reasoned with Lucifer (Jude 1:9). Even the Savior Himself is an apologist and He is the greatest example of Defending the Faith (Mt. 12:22-28; Mk. 2:1-12; Jn. 5; 8; etc.)
The apostle Peter said that in defending the faith, we must condition ourselves to be Christlike always; with no contention and pride (1 Pt. 3:15; cf. Col. 4:5-6) Peter said :
"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense (απολογία) to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;" (1 Pt. 3:15) NKJV
We do apologetics for we have a testimony that this church is true. Through apologetics, we have a much more stronger testimony that the church is true, and that we have confidence that the Gospel is true, and through apologetics we can strengthen the faith of each other. Through this, we stay firm that the Gospel is true
