12 Bible Verses about Apologetics

but in your hearts be consecrated to Christ as Lord, and always be ready to make your defense to anyone who asks a reason for the hope you have. But you must do it in gentleness and reverence,

For I am demolishing arguments and every barrier that is raised against the genuine knowledge of God, taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,

Practice living prudently in your relations with outsiders, making the most of your opportunities. Always let your conversation be seasoned with salt, that is, with winsomeness, so that you may know how to make a fitting answer to everyone.

Now Stephen, full of grace and power, went on performing great signs and wonders among the people. But members of the synagogue known as that of the Libyans, Cyreneans, and Alexandrians, and men from Cilicia and Asia, got to debating with Stephen, but they could not cope with his good practical sense and the spiritual power with which he usually spoke.

Every sabbath it was Paul's habit to preach in the synagogue and to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

and a man who continues to cling to the trustworthy message as he was taught it, so that he may be competent to encourage others with wholesome teaching and to convict those who oppose him.

for he successfully refuted the Jews in public and proved by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

So Paul stood up in the center of the auditorium and said: "Men of Athens, at every turn I make I see that you are very religious. For as I was going here and there and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' So it is about the Being whom you are in ignorance already worshiping that I am telling you. The God who made the world and all that it contains, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands,read more.
nor is He served by human hands as though He were in need of anything, for He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one forefather He made every nation of mankind, for living all over the face of the earth, fixing their appointed times and the limits of their lands, so that they might search for God, possibly they might grope for Him, and find Him, though He is really not far from any of us. For it is through union with Him that we live and move and exist, as some of your own poets have said, "'For we are His offspring too.' Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to suppose that His nature is like gold or silver or stone or anything carved by man's art and thought. Though God overlooked those times of ignorance, He now commands all men everywhere to repent, since He has set a day on which He will justly judge the world through a man whom He has appointed. He has made this credible to all by raising Him from the dead."

He went to the synagogue there and for three months courageously spoke, keeping up his discussions and continuing to persuade them about the kingdom of God. But as some of them grew harder and harder and refused to believe, actually criticizing The Way before the people, he left them, withdrew his disciples, and continued his discussions in the lecture-hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that everybody living in the province of Asia, Greeks as well as Jews, heard the Lord's message.

Three days later, he invited the leading men of the Jews to come to see him, and when they came, he said to them, "Brothers, I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our forefathers; yet at Jerusalem I was turned over to the Romans as a prisoner. After examining me the Romans wanted to set me free, because I was innocent of any crime that deserved the death penalty. But the Jews objected, so I was forced to appeal to the Emperor; yet it was not because I had any charge to make against my own nation.read more.
Now it is for this reason that I invited you to come, namely, to see you and speak with you, for it is on account of Israel's hope that I am wearing this chain." They answered him, "We have not received any letters from Judea about you, and not one of our Jewish brothers has come and reported or stated anything wicked about you. But we think it fitting to let you tell us what your views are, for as to this sect it is known by all of us that it is everywhere denounced." So they set a day for him, and came in large numbers to see him at the place where he was lodging, and from morning till night he continued to explain to them the kingdom of God, at the same time giving them his own testimony and trying from the law of Moses and the prophets to convince them about Jesus. Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. Because they could not agree among themselves, they started to leave, when Paul had spoken one word more: "The Holy Spirit beautifully expressed it in speaking to your forefathers through the prophet Isaiah: 'Go to this people and say to them, "You will listen, and listen, and never understand, and you will look, and look, and never see! For this people's soul has grown dull, and they scarcely hear with their ears, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they may never see with their eyes, and understand with their souls, and turn to me, that I may cure them."' "So you must understand that this message of God's salvation has been sent to the heathen; and they will listen to it!" Omitted Text. So Paul for two whole years lived in a rented house of his own; he continued to welcome everybody who came to see him; yes, he continued to preach to them the kingdom of God, and to teach them about the Lord Jesus Christ, and that with perfect, unfettered freedom of speech.

Now when Saul arrived at Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples there, but they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, took him up and presented him to the apostles, and he told them how on the road he had seen the Lord, and how the Lord had spoken to him, and how courageously he had spoken in the name of Jesus at Damascus. So he was one of them, going in and out constantly at Jerusalem,read more.
and he continued to speak courageously in the name of the Lord, and to speak and debate with the Greek-speaking Jews. But they kept trying to murder him. So when the brothers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and from there sent him back to Tarsus.

Then Peter stood with the Eleven around him, and raising his voice he addressed them, "Men of Judea and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you, and give close attention to my words. These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:read more.
'It will occur in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will have visions. Your old men will have dreams. Even on my slaves, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will become prophets. I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs upon the earth below, yes, blood and fire and smoky mist. The sun will turn to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. Then everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.' "Fellow Israelites, listen to what I say. Jesus of Nazareth, as you yourselves well know, a man accredited to you by God through mighty deeds and wonders and wonder-works which God performed through Him right here among you, this very Jesus, I say, after He was betrayed, in accordance with the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you had wicked men kill by nailing Him to a cross; but God raised Him up by loosing Him from the pangs of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held by the power of death. For David says of Him: 'I always kept my eyes upon the Lord, for He is at my right hand, so that I may not be removed. So my heart is glad and my tongue exults, and my body still lives in hope. For you will not forsake my soul to Hades. Nor will you let your Holy One experience decay. You have made known to me the ways of life, and you will fill me with delight in your presence.' "Brothers, I may confidently say to you about the patriarch David, that he died and was buried, and that his grave is here among us to this very day. So, as he was a prophet and knew that God with an oath had promised to put one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw the resurrection of the Christ and told of it, for He was not forsaken to Hades, and His body did not undergo decay. I mean Jesus whom God raised from the dead, to which fact we are all witnesses, So He has been exalted to God's right hand and has received from His Father, as promised, and poured out upon us the Holy Spirit, as you see and hear. For David did not go up to heaven, but he himself says: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, Until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet."' "Therefore, let all the descendants of Israel understand beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ." When they heard this, they were stabbed to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "You must repent -- and, as an expression of it, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ -- that you may have your sins forgiven; and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those who are far away whom the Lord our God may call to Him." With many more words he continued to testify and to plead with them to save themselves from that crooked age. So they accepted his message and were baptized, and about three thousand persons united with them on that day.