Apologetics
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Apologetics (from
Etymology
The term apologetics derives from the
In the
Although the term apologetics has Western, primarily Christian origins and is most frequently associated with the defense of Christianity, the term is sometimes used referring to the defense of any religion in formal debate involving religion.
Apologetic positions
Baháʼí Faith
Many
Buddhism
One of the earliest Buddhist apologetic texts is
Christianity
Christian apologetics combines Christian theology, natural theology,[15] and philosophy in an attempt to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, to defend the faith against objections and misrepresentation, and to show that the Christian doctrine is the only world-view that is faultless and consistent with all fundamental knowledge and questions.
Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries. In the Roman Empire, Christians were severely persecuted, and many charges were brought against them. Examples in the Bible include the Apostle Paul's address to the Athenians in the Areopagus (Acts 17: 22-34). J. David Cassel[16] gives several examples: Tacitus wrote that Nero fabricated charges that Christians started the burning of Rome.[17] Other charges included cannibalism (due to a literal interpretation of the Eucharist) and incest (due to early Christians' practice of addressing each other as "brother" and "sister"). Paul the Apostle, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and others often defended Christianity against charges that were brought to justify persecution.[18]
Later apologists have focused on providing reasons to accept various aspects of Christian belief. Christian apologists of many traditions, in common with Jews, Muslims, and some others, argue for the existence of a unique and personal God.
Apologists in the
Christian apologists employ a variety of philosophical and formal approaches, including ontological, cosmological, and teleological arguments.[23] The Christian presuppositionalist approach to apologetics uses the transcendental argument for the existence of God.[24]
Latter-day Saints
There are Latter-day Saint apologists who focus on the defense of
Several well known apologetic organizations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, such as the
Deism
Deism is a form of theism in which God created the universe and established rationally comprehensible moral and natural laws but no longer intervenes in human affairs. Deism is a natural religion where belief in God is based on application of reason and evidence observed in the designs and laws found in nature. The World Order of Deists maintains a web site presenting deist apologetics that demonstrate the existence of God based on evidence and reason, absent divine revelation.
Hinduism
Hindu apologetics began developing during the British colonial period. A number of Indian intellectuals had become critical of the British tendency to devalue the Hindu religious tradition. As a result, these Indian intellectuals, as well as a handful of British Indologists, were galvanized to examine the roots of the religion as well as to study its vast arcana and corpus in an analytical fashion. This endeavor drove the deciphering and preservation of Sanskrit. Many translations of Hindu texts were produced which made them accessible to a broader reading audience.
In the early 18th century, Christian missionary Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg engaged in dialogues with several Tamil-speaking "Malabarian" Hindu priests, and recorded arguments of these Hindu apologists. These records include German-language reports submitted to the Lutheran headquarters in Halle, and 99 letters written by the Hindu priests to him (later translated into German under the title Malabarische Korrespondenz from 1718 onwards).[26]
During 1830–1831, missionary John Wilson engaged in debates with Hindu apologists in Bombay.[27] In 1830, his protege Ram Chandra, a Hindu convert to Christianity, debated with several Hindu Brahmin apologists in public. Hindu pandit Morobhatt Dandekar summarized his arguments from his 1831 debate with Wilson in a Marathi-language work titled Shri-Hindu-dharma-sthapana.[28] Narayana Rao, another Hindu apologist, wrote Svadesha-dharma-abhimani in response to Wilson.[29]
In the mid-19th century, several Hindu apologist works were written in response to
A range of Indian philosophers, including
Islam
'Ilm al-Kalām, literally "science of discourse",[32] usually foreshortened to kalam and sometimes called Islamic scholastic theology, is an Islamic undertaking born out of the need to establish and defend the tenets of Islamic faith against skeptics and detractors.[33] A scholar of kalam is referred to as a mutakallim (plural mutakallimūn) as distinguished from philosophers, jurists, and scientists.[34]
Judaism
Jewish apologetic literature can be traced back as far as
In response to modern Christian missionaries, and congregations that "are designed to appear Jewish, but are actually fundamentalist Christian churches, which use traditional Jewish symbols to lure the most vulnerable of our Jewish people into their ranks",
Pantheism
Some pantheists have formed organizations such as the World Pantheist Movement and the Universal Pantheist Society to promote and defend the belief in pantheism.[40]
Native Americans
In a famous speech called "Red Jacket on Religion for the White Man and the Red" in 1805,
In literature
Plato's Apology may be read as both a religious and literary apology; however, more specifically literary examples may be found in the prefaces and dedications, which proceed many Early Modern plays, novels, and poems. Eighteenth century authors such as Colley Cibber, Frances Burney, and William Congreve, to name but a few, prefaced the majority of their poetic work with such apologies. In addition to the desire to defend their work, the apologetic preface often suggests the author's attempt to humble his- or herself before the audience.[42]
See also
References
- ^ a b "ἀπολογία". Blue Letter Bible-Lexicon. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
- ^ "Apologetics". The Advent. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- Cross, F. L., ed. (2005). "Apologists". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, κατηγορία and ἀπολογία[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Acts 26:2". Blue Letter Bible. 19 September 2016.
- ^ "Phl 1:7". Blue Letter Bible. 19 September 2016.
- ^ "1Pe 3:15". Blue Letter Bible. 19 September 2016.
- ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- ^ "Making the Crooked Straight, by Udo Schaefer, Nicola Towfigh, and Ulrich Gollmer". bahai-library.com.
- ^ Walters, Michael (2007). NONE BUT "WE HEATHEN": SHAKU SŌEN AT THE WORLD'S PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS (PDF) (Master of Arts). University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- . Retrieved 30 May 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-6462-1211-1.
- ^ Dharmasiri, Gunapala (1974). A Buddhist critique of the Christian concept of God: a critique of the concept of God in contemporary Christian theology and philosophy of religion from the point of view of early Buddhism. Colombo: Lake House Investments – via WorldCat.
- ^ Brent, James. "Natural Theology". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
- ^ J. David Cassel. "Defending the Cannibals: How Christians responded to the sometimes strange accusations of their critics." "Defending the Cannibals". Archived from the original on 2011-08-21. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
- ^ Tacitus, Annals XV.44
- ^ "Why Early Christians Were Despised". Christianity Today (Church history timeline). Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ^ "Catholic Education Resource Center: The Scott Hahn Conversion Story". Archived from the original on July 18, 2012.
- ^ "Fr. Robert Barron". wordonfire.org. Archived from the original on 2015-02-08. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
- ISBN 978-1604592467.
- ^ "Kenneth Hensley".
- ^ Coulter, Paul (2011-05-10). "An Introduction to Christian Apologetics". Bethinking. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ^ Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief. John Frame-Joseph Torres - P&R Publishing - 2015 p. 67f
- ISBN 0-671-21426-8(p. 43)
- ^ Richard F. Young 1981, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Richard F. Young 1981, p. 25.
- ^ Richard F. Young 1981, p. 26.
- ^ Richard F. Young 1981, p. 28.
- ^ Richard F. Young 1981, p. 15.
- ^ Richard F. Young 1981, p. 177.
- ^ Winter, Tim J. "Introduction." Introduction. The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008. 4–5. Print.
- ISBN 1438109075
- ISBN 1441127887.
- ^ John Granger Cook (2000) The Interpretation of the New Testament in Greco-Roman paganism p.4., Mohr Siebeck Verlag, Tuebingen, Germany
- ^ "APOLOGISTS". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906.
- ISBN 978-90-429-1753-8, p. 125.
- ^ About Us, Outreach Judaism website. Accessed January 9, 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-7591-0204-0, p. 285, note 4.
- ^ "The Pantheist Credo". World Pantheist Movement.
- ^ "Red Jacket on the Religion of the White Man and the Red by Red Jacket. America: I. (1761-1837). Vol. VIII. Bryan, William Jennings, ed. 1906. The World's Famous Orations". bartleby.com. 10 October 2022.
- ^ "Apology". Britannica Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
Bibliography
- Richard Fox Young (1981). Resistant Hinduism: Sanskrit Sources on Anti-Christian Apologetics in Early Nineteenth-century India. De Nobili Research Library. ISBN 9783900271091.
External links
- Media related to Apologetics at Wikimedia Commons