III. Of books properly to be called Apologetics, as defined above, there are none in English, though Far- rar, Critical History of Free Thought (1863), covers the ground generally. Many manuals of apologetics have been issued in Germany, of which the following are the most important: Stein, Die A pologetik des Christen- thums, als Wissenschaft dargestellt (Leipsic, 1824, 8vo) ; Sack, Christliche Apologetik (Hamburg, 1829, 8vo); Steudel, Grtmdz&ge einer Apologetik fur das Chnstenthum (Tubingen, 1830, 8vo); Drey (Rom. Cath.), Apologetik als wissenschaftliche Nachweisung des Christenthums in seiner Erschei'nung (Mainz, 3 vols. 1838-47, 8vo). On the relation of apologetics to other branches of the- ology, see Lechler, Ueber den Bcgriff der Apologetik (Studien und Kritiken, 1839, part iii) ; Kienlen, Die Stellung der Apologetik (Studien und Kritiken, 1846). On the history of apologetics, and on the nature of the Christian evidences, see Tzschirner, Geschichte del Apologetik (Leipsic, 1805) ; Farrar (as cited above) ; Hagenbach, Encyklopddied. theol. Wissmschaften, § 81 ; Heubner, art. Apologetik, in Ersch undGruber's Ency- klop.; Herzog, Real-Encykhpadie, i, 430; Lechler, Ge- schichte d. Deismus (1841, 8vo) ; Pelt, Theol. Encyklo- pddie; McCosh, The Supernatural in relation to the Natural, ch. iii (Cambridge, 1862, 12mo) ; Hampden, Introduction to the Philosophical Evidences of Christian- ity; Conybeare, Lectures on Theology, ch. i; Hill's Di- vinity, ch* i ; Steele, Philosophy ,fth>- Evidences (Edinb. 1834, 8vo); Shedd, Hist, of Doctrines, bk. ii; Van Sen- den, Geschichte der Apologetik (transl. from the Dutch, Stuttgart, 2 vols. 1846, 8vo) ; Hagenbach, Hist, of Doc- trines, §§ 28, 29, 117, 157, 238 ; Beck. Dogmengeschichte, § 32 sq. ; Barnes, Readjustment of Christianity (Presb. Quar. Rev. July, 1862). See also Apology ; Deism ; Evidences; Rationalism.
Apologists. See Apology.
Apology (a-oXoyia, a defence), a discourse, or ar- gument, in defence n/some person or doctrine that has been attacked or misrepresented, The use of this term, as applied to religious truth, is to be carefully distinguished from its application in ordinary conver- sation, in which it generally means an excuse made for some person or thing which deserves censure. Hence, those who are unacquainted with the derivation of the word have ignorantly argued that the existence of apologies for Christianity implies the weakness of the claims of Christianity itself. In the early church, the defences of Christianity presented to heathen emperors by the Christian writers were called Apologies, and
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the writers themselves are styled Apologists. The same name was afterward given to defences of Chris- tianity against pagan writers and other opponents, and the science of defending Christianity is called Apolo- getics (q. v.). In this article we propose to give a brief history of the apologies or defences of Christian- ity from the beginning until the present time. Chris- tianity has had to contend against four classes of op- ponents— Jews, Pagans, Mohammedans, and Ration- alists. These four heads would form a convenient division of the history, if treated according to the parties opposing Christianity ; but it will be more convenient here to follow the chronological order, ma- king three periods — the Early Age, the Middle Age, the Modern Age.
I. The Early Age (down to the sixth century). — The Jews, from their affinity to the new religion, seem to have opposed it most bitterly in the beginning. The grounds of their unbelief are stated in the N. T. itself, and are the same now, in substance, as then. The apostles argue apologetically with the Jews when they undertake to show by the prophecies and types of the O. T. that Jesus was Messiah. Later writers in this age are, Justin Martyr (dialogue with Trypho, the Jew) and Origen (against Celsus, who personates a Jew- ish opponent). The Judaizing teachers in the church had also to be met and answered. See Ebionites. Rationalism also soon appeared in the spiritualistic theories of the Gnostics. See Gnosticism. The pa- gan attacks, though often borrowing Jewish objections, were founded on the pagan view of God and the world, both as religion and philosophy. They anticipate many of the modern forms of infidelity. "Substan- tially the same objections are urged by the sceptical mind from age to age, and substantially the same re- plies are made. Infidelity is the same over and over again — reappearing in new forms, it is true, so that it seems to the time and the church like a new thing under the sun, yet ever remaining identical with it- self, it makes very much the same statements, and elicits very much the same replies" (Shedd, History of Doctrines, i, 104). When Christianity first ap- peared, it was thoroughly antagonistic to the pagan public opinion of the times. The first formal attack in the shape of books appeared in the second century, beginning with Celsus (q. v.), who attacked the whole idea of the supernatural, whether in Judaism or in Christianity. Lucian of Samosata (f about 200) at- tacked Christianity with the shafts of wit and ridi- cule. He was followed by the Neo-platonists (q. v.), Porphyry (q. v.), and Hierocles (q. v.). The lead- ing arguments against Christianity in the first three centuries, witli the replies to them by the Christian apologists, are thus summed up by Dr. Schaff: "1. Against Christ : his illegitimate birth ; his associ- ation with poor, unlettered fishermen, and rude pub- licans ; his form of a servant, and his ignominious death. But the opposition to him gradually ceased ; while Celsus called him a downright impostor, the Syncretists and Neo-platonists were disposed to regard him as at least a distinguished sage. 2. Against Christianity : its novelty ; its barbarian origin ; its want of a national basis ; the alleged absurdity of some of its facts and doctrines, particularly of regeneration and the resurrection ; contradictions between the Old and New Testaments, among the Gospels, and between Paul and Peter; the demand for a blind, irrational faith. 3. Against the Christians: atheism, or hatred of the gods; th<> worship of a crucified malefactor; poverty, and want of culture and standing; desire of innovation; division and sectarianism ; want of patri- otism ; gloomy seriousness ; superstition and fanati- cism ; and sometimes even unnatural crimes, like those related in the pagan mythology of (Edipus and his mother Jocaste (concubitus GEdipodet), and of Thyestes and Atreus (fpidce Thyesteee). Perhaps some Gnostic sects ran into scandalous excesses ; but as against the