Apologetics

I

Introduction

Apologetics, branch of theology concerned with the intellectual defense of Christian truth. The Greek word apologia means 'defense' and was originally defined as a defendant's reply to the speech of the prosecution in a court of law. The title of apologist was initially applied to a series of early Christian writers who, in the first few centuries ad, addressed their 'apologies' to the Roman emperor or to the educated public. These writers were attempting to show that Christianity was both philosophically and morally superior to paganism (the worship of nature). These early apologists included Aristides, Athenagoras, Saint Justin Martyr, Minucius Felix, Tatian, and Tertullian.

II

History

In later ages, apologists became most conspicuous when the Christian faith was under attack. For instance, Saint Augustine wrote his City of God (413-426) partly in reply to the accusation that disaster had befallen Rome because the pagan gods were abandoned in favor of belief in the Christian God. Similarly, 13th-century Italian theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote his Summa Contra Gentiles (1261-1264) as a defense against the theories proposed by ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, which had been newly introduced into the West by Muslim philosophers.

During periods when Christianity was supported by the state and unbelief was a crime, as was generally the case in Europe from the High Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century, there was little need for apologetic work. During those times, the term apology was usually used in a secondary sense; apologetics were not as much a defense against non-Christian thought as they were a defense against rival Christian interpretations. Examples are 16th-century German theologian Melanchthon's Apology for the Augsburg Confession (1531) and the apologetic works of Saint Robert Bellarmine, who wrote against what he referred to as Protestant heretics.

With the breakup of the traditional Christian worldview in the 18th century (see Age of Enlightenment), the need for the defense of the Christian faith against the trend toward logic and rationalism became urgent, and a number of apologetic works appeared. Of these works, among the most influential were English bishop Joseph Butler's Analogy of Religion (1736) and English theologian William Paley's Evidences of Christianity (1794). Throughout the 19th century and up to the present the stream of apologetic works has continued.

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III

Recent Schools of Thought

Many of the more recent apologists aim to show that the Christian faith is not at odds with modern science and philosophy. They argue that that a true understanding of the development of modern thought, as well as the further progress of it, is actually dependent on Christian insights. Current theological writing often has an apologetic overtone because Christian theologians are usually aware of the challenges presented to the faith by contemporary science, psychology, sociology, and philosophy. However, a recent school of theologians, led by Swiss Protestant Karl Barth, holds that apologetics is not the proper business of the theologian. This school claims that apologetics is inherently defensive and therefore seems to allow nonbelievers to set the agenda in a dialogue about Christian beliefs. These philosophers argue that the best apologetic is simply a clear statement of belief.

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