Related content

• A priori and a posteriori
• Abraham Kuyper
• Absolution
• Absolution (religious)
• Actus purus
• Adam
• Adiaphora
• Adoption (theology)
• Adventism
• Age of the Earth
• Alvin Plantinga
• Amillennialism
• Anabaptist
• Anglican doctrine
• Anglicanism
• Anglo-Catholicism
• Antichrist
• Apocalypse
• Apocalypticism
• Apologetics
• Apophatic theology
• Apostolic Age
• Apostolic succession
• Argument
• Argument from a proper basis
• Argument from beauty
• Argument from consciousness
• Argument from degree
• Argument from desire
• Argument from free will
• Argument from inconsistent revelations
• Argument from love
• Argument from miracles
• Argument from morality
• Argument from nonbelief
• Argument from poor design
• Argument from reason
• Argument from religious experience
• Arguments for the existence of God
• Arminianism
• Assumption of Mary
• Assurance (theology)
• Assyrian Church of the East
• Atheist's Wager
• Atonement in Christianity
• Attributes of God
• Augustine of Hippo
• Axiom
• Baptism
• Baptism with the Holy Spirit
• Baptists
• Believer's baptism
• Bible
• Biblical apocrypha
• Biblical canon
• Biblical cosmology
• Biblical hermeneutics
• Biblical inerrancy
• Biblical inspiration
• Biblical law in Christianity
• Biblical studies
• Biblical theology
• Big Bang
• Blaise Pascal
• Book of Isaiah
• Books of the Bible
• Byzantine Iconoclasm
• C. S. Lewis
• Caesaropapism
• Calvinism
• Cataphatic theology
• Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Catholic Traditionalism
• Charismatic Christianity
• Christ
• Christadelphians
• Christian angelic hierarchy
• Christian anthropology
• Christian apologetics
• Christian art
• Christian Bible
• Christian Church
• Christian denomination
• Christian eschatological views
• Christian eschatology
• Christian ethics
• Christian Fundamentalism (religious movement)
• Christian liturgy
• Christian mortalism
• Christian music
• Christian perfection
• Christian Reconstructionism
• Christian Scientists
• Christian soteriology
• Christian symbolism
• Christian teaching about the Devil
• Christian theology
• Christian tradition
• Christian views on sin
• Christianity
• Christianity and other religions
• Christocentric
• Christological argument
• Christology
• Church Fathers
• Cicero
• Clement of Alexandria
• Conciliarism
• Conciliarity
• Conditional preservation of the saints
• Confessional Lutheran
• Congregationalist polity
• Constantine the Great
• Conversion to Christianity
• Cornelius Van Til
• Cosmological argument
• Counter-Reformation
• Covenant theology
• Covenantalism
• Creation myth

Christian apologetics

Christian apologetics (Greek: ἀπολογία, "verbal defence, speech in defence") is a field of Christian theology that aims to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, defend the faith against objections, and attempt to expose the flaws of other world views. Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle, writers such as Origen and Augustine of Hippo, and continuing with modern Christian philosophy through the efforts of many authors such as G. K. Chesterton and C. S. Lewis. Apologists have based their defense of Christianity on historical evidence, philosophical arguments, scientific investigation, and arguments from other disciplines. "Christian polemic" is a term used for apologetics which primarily criticizes or attacks other belief systems.

Several biblical passages have historically motivated Christian apologetics. R.C. Sproul, quoting the First Epistle of Peter (^{[1 Pet3:15]}), writes that "The defense of the faith is not a luxury or intellectual vanity. It is a task appointed by God that you should be able to give a reason for the hope that is in you as you bear witness before the world." The verse quoted here reads in full: "but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect."