LIBERTY UNIVERSITY JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
What is evidential apologetics?
A Paper Submitted to
the Faculty of the School of Divinity
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (Ed. D) Department of Christian Leadership and
Church Ministries
By
Mary Gracias
Lynchburg, Virginia
5/2022
What is evidential apologetics?
Evidential apologetics is a method of Christian apologetics that emphasizes positive
evidences in favor of the truth of Christianity. The distinctive feature of evidential apologetics is
its one-step approach to establishing Christian theism. Evidentialists will utilize evidence and
arguments from several areas including archeology, fulfilled messianic prophecy, and especially
from miracles.
In distinction from classical apologetics, the evidential apologist believes that the
occurrence of miracles acts as an evidence for God’s very existence. In this way, the evidential
apologist does not believe that the philosophical and scientific arguments for God’s existence
must logically precede arguments from miracles to establish biblical Christianity. However, the
evidential apologist is not opposed to the use of natural theology to help to confirm God’s
existence. These arguments are an important weapon in the arsenal of the evidentialist as they
help to undergird the case for Christianity by giving further confirmation that God exists and
has created and designed our universe. Evidentialists simply do not believe such arguments
must be presented prior to moving on to evidence from miracles. In this way, the evidential
apologist can argue for theism and Christian theism at the same time without having to first
establish God’s existence. Such an approach can be beneficial in personal evangelism where
time can be at a minimum.
Evidential apologists characteristically place a heavy emphasis on evidence from miracles,
especially the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Evidentialists will appeal to numerous lines of
evidence to establish the historicity of the post-mortem appearances of the risen Jesus, as well
as the discovery of His empty tomb. Additional emphasis is often placed on refuting naturalistic
theories that attempt to explain away the evidence for the resurrection of Christ.
Once the resurrection has been established, Jesus’ (and His apostles’) own understanding
of this event then becomes the proper interpretive framework through which we understand
its significance. Prior to His crucifixion, Jesus said that His forthcoming resurrection would
validate His claims (Matthew 12:38-40, 16:1-4). The Apostle Paul declared that the resurrection
of Christ was God’s vindication of Christ’s deity (Romans 1:3-4). In the book of Acts, the Apostle
Peter claimed that Jesus’ bodily resurrection was God’s endorsement of Jesus’ public ministry
(Acts 2:23-32). When taken in this context, the bodily resurrection becomes the primary
validation of Jesus’ own radical claims about Himself and the vindication of Jesus’ message of
salvation.
