Apologetics Scriptures

1 Peter 3: 13-17

Acts 17:2-3

Acts 17:15-34

Acts 19:8

Philippians 1:5-7

Philippians 1:16

Jude 3

Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? [14] But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don't be afraid and don't worry. [15] Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. [16] But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak evil against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. [17] Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

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Acts 17:2-3

As was Paul's custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he interpreted the Scriptures to the people. [3] He was explaining and proving the prophecies about the sufferings of the Messiah and his rising from the dead. He said, "This Jesus I'm telling you about is the Messiah."
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Acts 17:15-34

Those escorting Paul went with him to Athens; then they returned to Berea with a message for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him.

[16] While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. [17] He went to the synagogue to debate with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.
[18] He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, "This babbler has picked up some strange ideas." Others said, "He's pushing some foreign religion."
[19] Then they took him to the Council of Philosophers. "Come and tell us more about this new religion," they said. [20] "You are saying some rather startling things, and we want to know what it's all about." [21] (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)
[22] So Paul, standing before the Council, addressed them as follows: "Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious, [23] for as I was walking along I saw your many altars. And one of them had this inscription on it—'To an Unknown God.' You have been worshiping him without knowing who he is, and now I wish to tell you about him.
[24] "He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man-made temples, [25] and human hands can't serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need there is. [26] From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
[27] "His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. [28] For in him we live and move and exist. As one of your own poets says, 'We are his offspring.' [29] And since this is true, we shouldn't think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone. [30] God overlooked people's former ignorance about these things, but now he commands everyone everywhere to turn away from idols and turn to him. [31] For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead."
[32] When they heard Paul speak of the resurrection of a person who had been dead, some laughed, but others said, "We want to hear more about this later." [33] That ended Paul's discussion with them, [34] but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Council, a woman named Damaris, and others.
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Acts 19:8

Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God.
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Philip. 1:5-7

because you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. [6] And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.
[7] It is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a very special place in my heart. We have shared together the blessings of God, both when I was in prison and when I was out, defending the truth and telling others the Good News.
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Philip. 1:16

They preach because they love me, for they know the Lord brought me here to defend the Good News.
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Jude 1:3

Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News. God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people.
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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.