11 Bible Verses about Apologetics

but reverence Christ as Lord in your own hearts. Always be ready with a reply for anyone who calls you to account for the hope you cherish, but answer gently and with a sense of reverence;

Let Christian wisdom rule your behaviour to the outside world; make the very most of your time; let your talk always have a saving salt of grace about it, and learn how to answer any question put to you.

Now Stephen, who was full of grace and power, performed great wonders and miracles among the people. Some of those who belonged to the so-called synagogue of the Libyans, the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, as well as to that of the Cilicians and Asiatics, started a dispute with Stephen, but they could not meet the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

Every sabbath he argued in the synagogue, persuading both Jews and Greeks.

he must hold by the sure truths of doctrine so as to be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and refute objections raised by any.]

for he publicly refuted the Jews with might and main, showing from the scriptures that the messiah was Jesus.

So Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe at every turn that you are a most religious people. Why, as I passed along and scanned your objects of worship, I actually came upon an altar with the inscription TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Well, I proclaim to you what you worship in your ignorance. The God who made the world and all things in it, he, as Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in shrines that are made by human hands;read more.
he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, for it is he who gives life and breath and all things to all men. All nations he has created from a common origin, to dwell all over the earth, fixing their allotted periods and the boundaries of their abodes, meaning them to seek for God on the chance of finding him in their groping for him. Though indeed he is close to each one of us, for it is in him that we live and move and exist ??as some of your own poets have said, 'We too belong to His race.' Well, as the race of God, we ought not to imagine that the divine nature resembles gold or silver or stone, the product of human art and invention. Such ages of ignorance God overlooked, but he now charges men that they are all everywhere to repent, inasmuch as he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world justly by a man whom he has destined for this. And he has given proof of this to all by raising him from the dead."

Then Paul entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out fearlessly, arguing and persuading people about the Reign of God. But as some grew stubborn and disobedient, decrying the Way in presence of the multitude, he left them, withdrew the disciples, and continued his argument every day from eleven to four in the lecture-room of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

Three days later, he called the leading Jews together, and when they met he said to them, "Brothers, although I have done nothing against the People or our ancestral customs, I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem. They meant to release me after examination, as I was innocent of any crime that deserved death. But the Jews objected, and so I was obliged to appeal to Caesar ??not that I had any charge to bring against my own nation.read more.
This is my reason for asking to see you and have a word with you. I am wearing this chain because I share Israel's hope." They replied, "We have had no letters about you from Judaea, and no brother has come here with any bad report or story about you. We think it only right to let you tell your own story; but as regards this sect, we are well aware that there are objections to it on all hands." So they fixed a day and came to him at his quarters in large numbers. From morning to evening he explained the Reign of God to them from personal testimony, and tried to convince them about Jesus from the law of Moses and the prophets. Some were convinced by what he said, but the others would not believe. As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, when he said, Go and tell this people, 'You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive.' For the heart at this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy at hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them. Be sure of this, then, that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen to it." -- For two full years he remained in his private lodging, welcoming anyone who came to visit him; he preached the Reign of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unmolested.

He got to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, unable to believe he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, got hold of him and brought him to the apostles. To them he related how he had seen the Lord upon the road, how He had spoken to him, and how he had spoken freely in the name of Jesus at Damascus. He then went in and out among them at Jerusalem, speaking freely in the name of the Lord;read more.
he also held conversations and debates with the Hellenists. But when the brothers learned that the Hellenists were attempting to make away with him, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

But Peter stood up along with the eleven, and raising his voice he addressed them thus: "Men of Judaea and residents in Jerusalem, let everyone of you understand this ??attend to what I say: these men are not drunk, as you imagine. Why, it is only nine in the morning! No, this is what was predicted by the prophet Joel ??17 In the last days, saith God, then will I pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams:read more.
on my very slaves and slave-girls in those days will I pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will display wonders in heaven above and signs on earth below, blood and fire and vapour of smoke: the sun shall be changed into darkness and the moon into blood, ere the great, open Day of the Lord arrives. And everyone who invokes the name of the Lord shall be saved. Men of Israel, listen to my words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man accredited to you by God through miracles, wonders, and signs which God performed by him among you (as you yourselves know), this Jesus, betrayed in the predestined course of God's deliberate purpose, you got wicked men to nail to the cross and murder; but God raised him by checking the pangs of death. Death could not hold him. For David says of him, I saw the Lord before me evermore; lest I be shaken, he is at my right hand. My heart is glad, my tongue exults, my very flesh will rest in hope, because thou wilt not forsake my soul in the grave, nor let thy holy one suffer decay. Thou hast made known to me the paths of life, thou wilt fill me with delight in thy presence. Brothers, I can speak quite plainly to you about the patriarch David; he died and was buried and his tomb remains with us to this day. (He was a prophet; he knew God had sworn an oath to him that he would seat one of his descendants on his throne; so he spoke with a prevision of the resurrection of the Christ, when he said that he was not forsaken in the grave nor did his flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised, as we can all bear witness. Uplifted then by God's right hand, and receiving from the Father the long-promised holy Spirit, he has poured on us what you now see and hear.) For it was not David who ascended to heaven; David says, The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a footstool for your feet'. So let all the house of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this very Jesus whom you have crucified." When they heard this, it went straight to their hearts; they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what are we to do?" "Repent," said Peter, "let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins; then you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit. For the promise is meant for you and for your children and for all who are far off, for anyone whom the Lord our God may call to himself." And with many another appeal he urged and entreated them. "Save yourselves," he cried, "from this crooked generation!" So those who accepted what he said were baptized; about three thousand souls were brought in, that day.