WHAT IS APOLOGETICS ?

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APOLOGETICS 

" In the beginning... God." The first words of the bible ( see Gen 1:1 ) affirm essential teaching of the Christian faith: Before all else, God is. It's a reality that seems obvious to most Christians, yet many people doubt or deny it

Challenges are often issued to other articles of the Christian faith, such as the resurrection of Jesus Christ and specifically the pope. For the reason, Christians -and Catholic Christians in particular -often find themselves defending their beliefs in conversations with non-believers

The Greek word for "defense" is APOLOGIA. Our English word "apology" is derived from it. In its classical definition, "apology" did not mean an admission of wrong, as the modern English word suggests. Rather, an apology was a defense or justification of a belief. for example, an account of Socrates defense of his teaching

In the present context, "apologetics" refers to the reasonable defense of the Christian faith. It is one aspect of our Lord Jesus talked about when he urged us to love God with all our minds ( see Lk 10:27 ). Faith is not opposed to reason; in fact, reason, rightly understood, is faith support.



The foundations of Christians apologetics were laid by our Lord himself when he presented "many proofs" of His resurrection ( see Acts 1:3 ), including his appearance to skeptical, hard-nosed, "doubting" Thomas and the other apostles. The resulting apostolic proclamation of the gospel included eyewitness testimony as a central feature 

St. Paul likewise engaged in apologetics, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks of the truth of Christianity. His reasoned style of evangelization is demonstrated in his sermon on the Areopagus, Mars Hill, in philosophy-dominated Athens, and in his determinations to "become all things to all, to save at least some". The apostle's approach to sharing and defending his faith should encourage Catholics today to follow his example



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