Christian apologetics: Difference between revisions

Christian apologetics first appear in the New Testament (e. g. Paul's preaching on Mars Hill in Acts 17:22-3122–31). During the [[Apostolic Fathers|subapostolic]] age Christianity was already competing with Judaism as well as with various other religions and sects in the Greco-Roman world. Christian apologetics can be first seen in the <nowiki>''</nowiki>Preaching of Peter<nowiki>''</nowiki> ([[Gospel of Peter]]), but the first explicitly apologetic work comes from [[Quadratus of Athens]] ({{Circa|125 CE}}) in which he writes a defense of the faith to emperor [[Hadrian]]. Only a fragment, quoted by [[Eusebius]], has survived to our day:<ref name=":0" /><blockquote>But the works of our Saviour were always present, for they were genuine:—those that were healed, and those that were raised from the dead, who were seen not only when they were healed and when they were raised, but were also always present; and not merely while the Saviour was on earth, but also after his death, they were alive for quite a while, so that some of them lived even to our day. (''Church History'' iv. 3. 2)</blockquote>One of the first comprehensive attacks on Christianity came from the Greek philosopher [[Celsus]], who wrote ''[[The True Word]]'' ({{circa|175 CE}}), a polemic criticizing Christians as being unprofitable members of society.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ferguson|first1=Everett|title=Backgrounds of Early Christianity|url=https://archive.org/details/backgroundsearly00ferg|url-access=limited|date=1993|publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|isbn=0-8028-0669-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/backgroundsearly00ferg/page/n581 562]–564|edition=second}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Stephen|date=2004|chapter=Celsus|title=The Westminster Handbook to Origen|location=Louisville, Kentucky|editor-last=McGuckin|editor-first=John Anthony|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=0-664-22472-5|pages=72–73}}</ref><ref name="Olson1999" /> In response, the church father [[Origen]] published his apologetic treatise ''[[Contra Celsum]]'', or ''Against Celsus'', which systematically addressed Celsus's criticisms and helped bring Christianity a level of academic respectability.<ref name="McGuckin2004">{{cite book|last=McGuckin|first=John Anthony|date=2004|chapter=The Scholarly Works of Origen|title=The Westminster Handbook to Origen|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=riEdrWEDFq0C&q=Origen+ordination&pg=PA13|location=Louisville, Kentucky|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=0-664-22472-5|pages=32–34}}</ref><ref name="Olson1999">{{citation|last=Olson|first=Roger E.|date=1999|title=The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zexBAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA100|location=Downers Grove, Illinois|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn=978-0-8308-1505-0|page=101}}</ref> In the treatise, Origen writes from the perspective of a [[Platonism|Platonic]] philosopher, drawing extensively on the teachings of [[Plato]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Grant|first=Robert M.|author-link=Robert M. Grant (theologian)|date=1967|title=Origen|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Edwards|editor-first=Paul|volume=5|location=New York City, New York|publisher=The MacMillan Company & The Free Press|pages=551–552}}</ref><ref name="McGuckin2004" /><ref name="Olson1999" /> ''Contra Celsum'' is widely regarded by modern scholars as one of the most important works of early Christian apologetics.<ref name="McGuckin2004" /><ref name="Olson1999" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Gregerman|first=Adam|date=2016|chapter=Chapter 3: Origen's ''Contra Celsum''|title=Building on the Ruins of the Temple|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwMj90hQYqMC&q=Contra+Celsum|series=Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism|volume=165|location=Tübingen, Germany|publisher=Mohr Siebeck|isbn=978-3-16-154322-7|page=60}}</ref>

There are a variety of Christian apologetic styles and schools of thought. The major types of Christian apologetics include historical and legal evidentialist apologetics, presuppositional apologetics, philosophical apologetics, prophetic apologetics, doctrinal apologetics, biblical apologetics, moral apologetics, and scientific apologetics.

In his book ''Science Speaks'', [[Peter Stoner]] argues that only God knows the future and that Biblical prophecies of a compelling nature have been fulfilled.<ref>[http://www.sciencespeaks.net/Prophetic_Accuracy.html Chapter 2] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20110724054728/http://www.sciencespeaks.net/Prophetic_Accuracy.html|date=24 July 2011}}, ''Science Speaks'', [[Peter Stoner]]</ref> Apologist [[Josh McDowell]] documents the Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Christ, relating to his ancestral line, birthplace, virgin birth, miracles, death, and resurrection.<ref>{{cite book|title=The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict|last=McDowell|first=Josh|page=chapter 8|no-pp=true}}</ref> Apologist [[Blaise Pascal]] believed that the prophecies are the strongest evidence for Christianity. He notes that Jesus not only foretold, but was foretold, unlike in other religions, and that these prophecies came from a succession of people over a span of four thousand years.<ref>{{cite book|title=Pensées|last=Pascal|first=Blaise|publisher=Penguin Group|year=1966|location=England|pages=x,xii,xiii}}</ref>

Several Christian apologists have sought to reconcile Christianity and science concerning the question of origins. [[Theistic Evolutionevolution]] claims that classical religious teachings about God are compatible with the modern scientific understanding about biological evolution and that the Creator God uses the process of evolution. [[Denis Lamoureux]], in ''Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution'', states that "This view of origins fully embraces both the religious beliefs of biblical Christianity and the scientific theories of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution. It contends that the Creator established and maintains the laws of nature, including the mechanisms of a [[Teleology|teleological evolution]]."<ref>[https://www.ualberta.ca/~dlamoure/evolutionary_creation.pdf Evolutionary creation], [[Denis Lamoureux]]</ref>

TheOne of the most radicalinfluential examples<ref>{{citationcite neededjournal|url=https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/TheologyandEvolution#section5|title=Theology and Evolution. Section 5: Beyond apologetics: theologies of evolution|last=van den Brink|first=Gijsbert|author-link=:nl:Gijsbert van den Brink|journal=St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology|publisher=[[University of St Andrews]]|at=paras 3, 4, & 5|date=17 November 20192022|access-date=14 April 2024}} example</ref> of a Christian-evolutionary synthesis is the work of [[Pierre Teilhard de Chardin]], which was intended as apologetics to the world of science,<ref>Dulles, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Xli4W2pSZpQC&pg=PA297 p. 297 ff.]</ref> but which was later condemned by the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[L'Osservatore Romano]]|author=Suprema Sacra Congregatio Sancti Officii [Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office]|author-link=Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith|title=Monitum |trans-title=Admonition |language=Latin|page=1|date=1 July 1962|location=[[Vatican City State]]}} (The admonition is dated 30 June 1962).</ref>

|Louisville, KYKentucky

| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liberty.edu/divinity/masters/christian-apologetics/|title=MA in Christian Apologetics, Thesis Track}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liberty.edu/online/divinity/bachelors/bible/apologetics//|title=BS in Bible|date=25 July 2024 }}</ref>