Home : About Us : Our Vision

 

The Vision of the
Center for Biblical Apologetics

 

 

 

 

 

In his classic, bestselling book The Kingdom of the Cults, Walter Martin had written about the need for a centralized clearinghouse of apologetics resources equipping Christians of all denominations for the task of responding to the myriad of false religious teachings in the world today. Although many apologists and other Christian workers have heeded the call to defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3), Martin’s vision remains largely unfulfilled.

 

Two key elements are needed if such a ministry is to meet this need. The first is a computer-based system through which excellent apologetics resources covering the gamut of relevant issues can be easily accessed. In a remarkably prescient passage first published in 1965, Martin envisioned something along the lines of the Internet making answers to distorted interpretations of the Bible available by typing at a computer terminal:

 

I propose that a computer information retrieval system be developed that can provide answers on the cults to practically anyone with access to a university or college library…. For example, many of the arguments that Jehovah’s Witnesses bring forth against orthodoxy are mangled attempts to force the Greek text of the New Testament into their theological framework. What recourse does the average Christian have against such mistranslation if he does not have any knowledge of New Testament Greek? Through our projected computer network, individuals would be able to tap our resources via computer terminals. This person would be able to type his question at a terminal and receive an almost instantaneous reply complete with documentation.{1}

 

Even Martin at the time did not anticipate the day when people would be able to do this from their own homes. The explosive growth of the World Wide Web during the past decade or so has brought with it numerous web sites featuring apologetics resources on a wide variety of topics. The number of such sites is difficult to determine but probably runs in the thousands in English alone. However, few of these web sites even attempt to provide access to comprehensive resources for defending biblical Christianity against those who deny and distort its teachings. They are either specialized in one or a few areas or offer a general assortment of apologetic resources. Of course, the quality of these sites also varies dramatically.

 

The other key element that is needed in an apologetics center is a truly cooperative approach. That is, an apologetics ministry is needed that brings together materials from many sources, including the best resources from other apologetics ministries, facilitating the free flow of information needed. Again, Walter Martin saw the need clearly:

 

But the project is far too involved to be merely an independent effort. There must be cooperation and the free interchange of information between all concerned Christian groups, followed by financial support, in order that any research project of such scope and magnitude succeed in its objective.{2}

 

Most apologetics web sites focus almost exclusively on presenting resources in which the apologetics ministry has some proprietary interest. If they offer links to other web sites, those links are typically general links to other ministries rather than links to specific resources on various topics.

 

The Center for Biblical Apologetics takes a new approach. It will revolutionize Christian apologetics by bringing together the best resources available and working—both in-house and with outside specialists—to fill in the gaps where good resources still don’t exist. It will then make these resources accessible to students, ministers, missionaries, and anyone else interested in them. The CBA will actively promote other apologetics ministries that meet high standards of integrity and excellence.

 

Notes

 

{1} Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, 5^th rev. ed. (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1985), 407.

 

{2} Ibid., 401.