The Importance of Apologetics

Wow...ok, I meant to post this Sunday...it's been a frustrating week.
Anyway, in the last post I discussed the importance of theology for our Christian walk. While I'm sure more could be said (in fact more has been said, many books have been written on the subject) I would like to move on and briefly discuss the importance of Apologetics to the Christian walk. I was doing research for an article when I stumbled across this website, the author's 'proofs' that God is imaginary are, by and large, not well thought out, nor well researched. However they don't have to be, the majority of the Christian church today knows little to nothing about the study of apologetics, while the proofs given on the website are a very poor example of arguments against Christianity, they still serve to sway young Christians who know little about their faith.
We are currently in the process of losing an entire generation of young Christians. According to George Barna (whose statistics I honestly find to be suspect much of the time...but statistics are statistics and even suspect ones can show us something) some 85% of teens leave the faith. While there are a great many reasons for this one of them is simply a lack of education in their faith.
In churches we tend to teach the surface material of scripture, the stories. We encourage youth to witness, to pledge themselves to Christ, to wait abstain from sex until marriage; all good things, and things youth certainly need to hear. However what we do not do is educate them on the why's:
Why is the bible trustworthy?
Why should I even believe in God?
Why is it important for me to live a holy life?
Why are my doctrinal beliefs important?
Why is Chrsitianity any more true than any other religion?

and the hows:
How do I deal with discrepincies within scripture, or between scripture and science?
How do I know that Christ is God, or even real?
How do I respond when my faith is challenged?

The study of apologetics forces us, as Christians, to think through our faith. As Christians we are responsible for explaining to others why we believe, why we have hope. However if our reasons are superficial that is what people will see when we witness, a superficial believer. The study of apologetics is about much more than being able to answer tough scientific, literary, or philosophical questions about Christianity when over-educated snobs ask said questions. Indeed, the true value, and the true joy, of apologetics is in challenging one's own faith. Asking yourself the hard why and how questions and then finding the answers.
This discipline is, I believe, especially important for youth who will, inevitablely, be challenged in this way at some point in their lives, probably sooner rather than later. The study of apologetics in now way discounts faith, in fact it strengthens one's faith and adds to it knowledge and, hopefully, understanding.
I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes, this was said by Galileo Galilei, "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended them to forgo their use."

Quote taken from: http://thinkexist.com/quotes/galileo_galilei/
Barna Statistic taken from: http://theworldfrommywindow.blogspot.com/2006/09/survey-question-summary-why-are-teens.html