A question about Apologetics.

[anami]

Since i have been posting on religious and philosophical forums i have come across this term for what i have gathered is a sect of Christianity.
You could peel me off the floor with a spoon!

apol·o·get·ics ** *P***Pronunciation Key**(-pl-jtks)
n. (used with a sing. verb)
The branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines.

Formal argumentation in defense of something, such as a position or system.

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.



a·pol·o·get·ic ** *P***Pronunciation Key**(-pl-jtk) also a·pol·o·get·i·cal (--kl)
adj.
Offering or expressing an apology or excuse: an apologetic note; an apologetic smile.

Self-deprecating; humble: an apologetic manner.

Serving as or containing a formal justification or defense: an apologetic treatise on church doctrine.

n.
A formal defense or apology.

The above is what puts me on the floor.
Does anyone know why i am surprised?
Can anyone explain this choice of title?

thanks

 

[Pah]

It is not a sect of Chritianity but a method to defend what is believed to be an inerrant Bible. It has a wide following in fundementalist and born again denominations. I am moving this to the discussion area as a more appropiate forum

 

[angellous_evangellous]

It is not a sect of Chritianity but a method to defend what is believed to be an inerrant Bible. It has a wide following in fundementalist and born again denominations. I am moving this to the discussion area as a more appropiate forum

Your definition here is a little to narrow. An apology from each Christian group will produce something different. My thread "theology answers theological questions" is an informal apology of why I believe what I do with respect to creationism. An apology is simply "why we think and act in a certain manner," and Christian apologetics officially started with Justin Martyr's Apologies in the second century. They were written to Roman governors to explain that Christians were not worthy of being killed - we were being accused of various crimes that had nothing to do with our religion.

 

[anami]

Your definition here is a little to narrow. An apology from each Christian group will produce something different. My thread "theology answers theological questions" is an informal apology of why I believe what I do with respect to creationism. An apology is simply "why we think and act in a certain manner," and Christian apologetics officially started with Justin Martyr's Apologies in the second century. They were written to Roman governors to explain that Christians were not worthy of being killed - we were being accused of various crimes that had nothing to do with our religion.

ok, my point is to ask if anyone knows why in the heck they call the defense of any religion, but especially christianity, apologetics?

This would be due to what the definition of apology was before apologetics became a theological term.

 

[Scuba Pete]

If it takes a felon to commit a felony, God must be an iron!

 

[angellous_evangellous]

ok, my point is to ask if anyone knows why in the heck they call the defense of any religion, but especially christianity, apologetics?

This would be due to what the definition of apology was before apologetics became a theological term.

Apology is not a theological term. It was a practice in the ancient times and continues today. In the west, the tradition was started by Socrates: giving reasonable account for beliefs and behaviour. It was used especially by philosophers and then by religious groups who were being persecuted by the Romans and Greeks. Josephus and Philo provided apologies for the Jews and Christian philosophers provided apologies later. C.S. Lewis may have been the most effective recent Christian apologist, and I have not been impressed with anyone else recently.

 

[SoliDeoGloria]

The call for Christians to get involved in Apologetics comes from 1 Pet 3:15 "but sanctify Christ as LORD in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense (apologia) to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentileness and reverence;"

Sincerely,
SoliDeoGloria

 

[anami]

Apology is not a theological term. It was a practice in the ancient times and continues today. In the west, the tradition was started by Socrates: giving reasonable account for beliefs and behaviour. It was used especially by philosophers and then by religious groups who were being persecuted by the Romans and Greeks. Josephus and Philo provided apologies for the Jews and Christian philosophers provided apologies later. C.S. Lewis may have been the most effective recent Christian apologist, and I have not been impressed with anyone else recently.

So do you think the current word and definition came after and is an alteration of the meaning into a simple and inapproprite "I'm sorry."?

 

[The Voice of Reason]

I rarely get involved in any debate that deals with the Bible, and I might be well advised to keep my mouth shut now - but - when I see the term "apologetics" used in relation to Christianity, I do not take it in the sense of "I'm sorry" - rather, I take it to be used in the vein of defending one's beliefs (no apology necessary).

TVOR

 

[anami]

I rarely get involved in any debate that deals with the Bible, and I might be well advised to keep my mouth shut now - but - when I see the term "apologetics" used in relation to Christianity, I do not take it in the sense of "I'm sorry" - rather, I take it to be used in the vein of defending one's beliefs (no apology necessary).

TVOR

Yes, so then you may understand why i asked. It is not in the vein of i'm sorry but how did the term sorry (to be sorry, a sad example) come from a word meaning to defend? Depending on which use came first.

i am overanalytical and i can't get over the irony of this and i want to know which of the six ways is this ironic.