About Acts 17 Apologetics
What happens when someone who once rejected Christianity begins defending it—and someone raised as a Muslim becomes convinced that Jesus is Lord?
That story is at the heart of Acts 17 Apologetics.
Acts 17 Apologetics is a Christian apologetics ministry and YouTube channel founded by Dr. David Wood, a former atheist, and Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, a former Muslim. Drawing from their own journeys to Christianity, they began addressing some of the difficult questions and objections people encounter when examining the Christian faith.
Their approach has centered on taking competing truth claims seriously. Instead of avoiding difficult subjects, Acts 17 examines Christianity, Islam, atheism, philosophy, Scripture, and other worldview questions while presenting arguments for historic Christian beliefs.
Following Nabeel's death in 2017, David continued the work of Acts 17 Apologetics, producing content focused on defending Christianity and examining competing religious and philosophical claims.
Defending the Christian Faith
Christian apologetics is about giving reasons for what Christians believe, and Acts 17 spends significant time addressing foundational Christian claims.
That includes questions about the existence of God, the reliability and teachings of the Bible, the Trinity, and the identity of Jesus Christ.
Why should someone believe God exists? What does it mean for Christians to say that God is Trinity? Did Jesus actually die by crucifixion? What evidence is there for His resurrection? Why do Christians worship Jesus as God?
These aren't treated as questions Christians should be afraid to ask.
Acts 17 approaches them as opportunities to examine the evidence, understand opposing arguments, and develop a clearer explanation of why Christians believe what they do.
Christianity and Islam
A major focus of Acts 17 Apologetics is Islam.
This emphasis has deep roots in the ministry's history. Nabeel Qureshi grew up in a Muslim family before becoming a Christian following years of investigation, conversations, and debate over the truth claims of Islam and Christianity.
Nabeel later joined Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and wrote books including Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus and No God but One, sharing both his personal journey and his examination of the differences between Christianity and Islam.
Acts 17 continues examining Islamic sources and beliefs, including the Quran, Muhammad, sharia, jihad, and competing Muslim and Christian claims about Jesus.
The broader goal is to help Christians better understand Islam while equipping them to engage seriously with the theological differences between the two faiths.
God and Jesus
Questions about God naturally lead to questions about Jesus.
Acts 17 explores arguments for God's existence alongside the distinctly Christian claim that Jesus Christ is divine. Topics such as the Trinity, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and deity of Christ therefore occupy an important place within its apologetic work.
These subjects are especially significant when Christianity is compared with Islam, atheism, and other worldviews that reject or interpret these claims differently.
By examining these disagreements directly, Acts 17 seeks to show why the identity of Jesus is central to the question of whether Christianity is true.
The Bible
Scripture provides another major area of discussion.
Questions about what the Bible teaches, whether its claims are reliable, and how biblical passages should be understood frequently appear in apologetic conversations.
Acts 17 engages Scripture as it responds to objections and evaluates competing religious claims. Rather than separating apologetics from the Bible, the ministry uses biblical teaching alongside historical, theological, and philosophical arguments when presenting the Christian worldview.
Science, Atheism & Philosophy
Not every objection to Christianity comes from another religion.
Acts 17 also engages atheism and philosophical questions surrounding the existence of God, truth, reason, morality, and the nature of reality. Scientific questions can enter these conversations as people consider whether modern science undermines belief in God or whether Christianity remains intellectually defensible.
This reflects the warning found in Colossians 2:8 about being taken captive by philosophies that are contrary to Christ.
For Acts 17, Christians should understand the ideas competing for people's beliefs rather than simply ignoring them.
A Ministry Born from Changed Minds
Perhaps one of the most distinctive aspects of Acts 17 Apologetics is the personal history behind it.
David Wood was once an atheist. Nabeel Qureshi was once a Muslim. Neither began from the Christian convictions they would later defend.
Their stories illustrate one of the ideas underlying the ministry: beliefs can be questioned, arguments can be investigated, and people can change their minds when they become convinced something is true.
Nabeel's earthly ministry eventually came to an end, but the apologetic work he helped begin with David continues.
At the heart of Acts 17 Apologetics is a willingness to ask difficult questions, examine competing worldviews, defend the central claims of Christianity, and encourage people to seriously consider the evidence for God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ.
