ABOUT THE

The ICA exists to...

• To equip Christians to defend the Christian faith and present compelling reasons for embracing the Christian faith in a manner that is comprehensible and relevant in our contemporary culture. 

• To serve as a resource for Christians as they seek to develop apologetic skills. 

• To assist in coordinating and implementing regular special apologetic events and special event courses in apologetics, such as weekend and workshop courses directed toward students and ministers. 

• To serve churches as consultants as they seek to develop apologetic ministries. 

• To assist in coordinating and implementing the Master of Divinity in Christian Apologetics. 

• To assist in coordinating and implementing the Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint series. 

• To enunciate how the implications of Christian apologetics apply to the life and ministry of the local church. 

• To produce an online apologetics journal and host an apologetics website. 

• To assist in coordinating and implementing evangelistic mission trips expressly involving apologetics, e.g., an evangelistic mission trip to Utah to share the Gospel in a predominantly Latter-day Saint culture. 

• To provide a setting within which Christian scholars can research and write on topics and issues related to apologetics while on sabbatical leaves, semester breaks, etc.

Is there a need for the ICA ?

The need for Christian apologetics has never been greater than it is today in our pluralistic culture.  The Christian faith is challenged by relativism, naturalism, world religions, cults, and various other worldviews that compete with the Christian worldview.  Scripture commands us “to make a defense at all times to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope within you” (1 Peter 3:15).  The world today desperately needs the hope that only Jesus Christ truly offers. 

How will the ICA address the needs of students and scholars?

Christian scholars comprise some of the brightest thinkers in the world today.  The ICA would provide a service to them through which they can network with other scholars working in areas of similar interest.  The ICA can also provide a forum through which outstanding scholars from various evangelical institutions can not only teach our students and others but also meet, work, and network with one another—including scholars from a variety of disciplines. 

How will the ICA address the needs of lay people?

The ICA can provide an outlet for outstanding apologists and scholars from apologetics-related disciplines to instruct not only NOBTS students but also lay leaders in local churches who would come to special events at NOBTS and Christian lay people as well.

How will the ICA relate to local churches on an ongoing basis?

Far too often apologetics is viewed as something that individual Christian engage in but that the church as a community does not.  The ICA would assist local churches in developing an apologetic dimension to and strategy for their ministries.  To this end, the ICA will serve as a consulting resource for local churches in addressing various apologetic challenges and opportunities.  Additionally the ICA will sponsor events and courses designed to equip the professional minister serving in the field.

Who owns the ICA ?

The ICA is a ministry of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  As such it is under the overall direction and authority of the Southern Baptist Convention, NOBTS Trustees, President, and senior administration.  As part of a Southern Baptist Convention institution, the leaders will all be committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the inerrancy of God’s word, to serving the local church, and to reaching an unbelieving world with the good news of the Gospel.  While we may partner at times with groups and individuals who are evangelicals though not Southern Baptists, we will at all times remain committed to historic Baptist theology and principles.