In a world full of skeptics and alternate theories, Christians are called upon to,

"Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense, to everyone that asks you to give an account for the hope that is within you." (1 Peter 3:15)

The word defense as used in this scripture is the Greek word apologia. It is a legal word that indicates the defending of one's conduct or behavior, as one would in court. This is the same word Paul used when defending himself before the Jews (Acts 22:1) and before Festus (Acts 25:16). In other words, this is the kind of defense Paul used when he was on trial and his life was at stake. From this word we derive the word apologetics, the field of study defending the Christian faith... a defense not to be taken lightly.

This section of knowtruth is therefore designed to provide a prima facie case for the reliability of the New Testament. Black's Law Dictionary defines a prima facie case as one that will prevail until contradicted and overcome by other evidence. In today's civil courts, cases are decided by a preponderance of the evidence. This means,

"Evidence which is of greater weight or more convincing than the evidence which is offered in opposition to it; that is, evidence which as a whole shows that the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not." ¹