Prestonwood Baptist Church, a megachurch in the suburbs of Dallas, has announced New Testament scholar Dr. Jeremiah Johnston is joining a church staff that shepherds approximately 50,000 members. He will also serve as dean of spiritual development at Prestonwood Christian Academy, Baptist News reported.
In an interview with AFN, Johnston says he will train Prestonwood to better engage the lost world with the message of the gospel by first understanding the biblical worldview and what that means.
“If everything is true that we believe and say is true, according to the scriptures and our Christian faith,” he says, “it will meet people at their deepest, darkest unanswered question. And we can show that all truth is God's truth.”
The term “apologetics” comes from the Greek word “apologia,” which refers to a legal defense presented in a courtroom. In biblical terms, the term broadly means examining the claims of the Bible against criticism from skeptics, and answering their accusations with sound, reasoned arguments.
The word “apologia” is found throughout the New Testament, such as 1 Peter 3:15, when Peter urged the Church to be prepared to “make a defense” for the “hope that is in you.”
Johnston’s new position at Prestonwood caught the attention of Baptist News because it sees an “emerging trend” about apologetics. Dallas Theological Seminary has a new director of cultural engagement, the story notes, and Liberty University now offers a minor in apologetics and cultural engagement.
The study of apologetics can be a scholarly venture, such as debating the existence of God and reviewing archaeological finds, but many teens and young adults can utilize those lessons in real life when challenged in a classroom or at work by a well-prepared skeptic.
Johnston tells AFN those skeptics have “taken the microphone” from the Church to proclaim their worldview but they took it from those who know where the fallen world can find hope and truth.
“When we have a biblical world and life view,” Johnston says, “it brings clarity to all the cultural confusion.”
