To give a little background of myself, I am a twenty-three-year-old, who grew up in the church. I was baptized at the age of eleven for the remission of my sins. Even after moving away from home, attending a four-year university, and graduating with my bachelor’s degree, I have remained devoted to my faith and my walk living as a follower of Jesus Christ.I had never heard of the term “Apologia” until going to a few workshops at the Gastonia Church of Christ. The term means “To justify or defend one’s belief.” The workshop was presented by the preacher and Apologia Institute staff member, Dean Meadows. He posed a simple question, “How do we prove the existence of God to a non-believer?” The class replied by naming off scriptures that glorified God’s majesty and rule over humanity – even a few of my personal favorite scriptures. Dean, a member of the Apologia Institute staff, had to cut the answers short; and noted a non-believer would not look to the Bible as their source of wisdom or truth.

Before college, I had limited access to people who had unfamiliar upbringings compared to my life. None of my friends questioned the existence of God; they even had different religions they themselves were devoted to, such as Islam or Catholicism. During and after college, more questions appeared. If there is a higher power, why would there be so much suffering in the world? And if there was a God, would he or she have a son? As an African American, my Christianity is also consistently in question, “During the slave trade, the religions of our ancestors have stripped away and replaced with Christianity, why worship the deity that was forced upon our people?”These questions may appear horrifying to a Christian who has little to no idea on how to properly defend their faith. These questions challenge us to reach out to a community we may not be accustom to conversing with. It engages us to have conversations about a Creator while placing us on the same playing field as a nonbeliever.

So, How do we prove the existence of God without the aid of the Bible.? In order to have this conversation, it is essential we use logic and reason to argue in favor of the existence of God. Although Christianity demands faith from its followers, it does not demand blind faith. Christianity does not demand its followers to completely close their eyes to science, reason, or philosophy. So in order to defend the existence of God, we must engage the world in these areas. ultimately it’s important to understand how the opposing side may think. These conversations are only effective if the other party believes that logic and science dictates reality. Objectivity on both sides is the only way a mutual understanding will develop. A Christian has to be willing to discuss the universe without quoting the bible while an Atheist must be willing to discuss the possibility of a God even if it’s conflicting with previous understandings. When first starting out, the conversation may feel unnatural. Common theories may come out wrong; quoting the 2

It is important to understand how the opposing side may think. These conversations are only effective if the both sides have common ground to reason on. Objectivity on both sides is the only way a mutual understanding will develop. A Christian has to be willing to discuss the universe without quoting the Bible while an Atheist must be willing to discuss the possibility of a God even if it’s conflicting with previous understandings. Apologia opens up a dialogue to a body of people that may have been closed off to hearing about the existence of God.

Taylor Abrams