Apology

Initially, in ancient Greek law , apology is a defensive speech at court . For example, the works of the same name “The Apology of Socrates” in Plato and Xenophon are two versions of the protective speech of Socrates . Also known are "Apology" of Apuleius (he defended from accusations of witchcraft) and the apology of the rhetorician Libanius .

By apology in Christianity is meant the defense of the Christian faith from external attacks. In a broad sense, this is the name of any text that defends Christianity, in a narrow sense, the text of early Christianity. The author of apology is called an apologist (apologist), and the science of defense (the art of defense) of the Christian religion is called apologetics .

Early Christianity

In early Christian literature there are many apologetic works that defend Christianity and are directed against its persecutors. Such writings in modern historical and church texts are called apologies, and often they directly had this name. Apologists are primarily called early Christian writers , mainly from the II - III centuries .

Apologies (and apologists) differ in the language in which they are written

The last apologist was Theodorit Kirrsky ( V century ).

Apologies addressed to the Roman authorities

The content and form of the apologies depended on what aspect of the Christian doctrine was attacked and from whose side. The first persecutor of Christianity was the pagan Ancient Roman state power , and therefore the first apologies at the beginning of the II century had the form of political journalism (political treatises ) addressed to the Roman emperors and rulers.

They were approached by apologists:

• Aristide of Athens
• Codrat
• Meliton sardic
• Claudius Apollinaris, bis. Hierapol
• Justin Martyr
• Afinagor

Controversy Against the Jews

After some time, the authors of apologies began to turn them against the polemical writings of the Jews and pagans. The starting point of the anti-Jewish polemic was the Old Testament recognized by both parties. The thesis was proved with the support of him: Jesus Christ was indeed the promised Messiah in the Old Testament prophecies .

The following apologies are written against the Jews:

• Justin Martyr. Dialogue against Trifon ( lat. Dialogus contra Tryphonem ).
• Tertullian. Against the Jews. ( lat. Adversus judaeos )
• Ariston of Pella. Dialogue with Jason (not preserved)

Controversy against ancient religion and philosophy

The struggle against ancient paganism and ancient philosophy was one of the main goals of early Christian apologetics. At first, Christians defended themselves against accusations of atheism (refusing to worship the gods), immorality, and refusing to submit to the state. Then apologies pass from defense to accusation of the other party (paganism). They begin to prove the impotence of the pagan gods, the immorality of the content of ancient mythology , the immorality of the cult of ancient religion, the inconsistency of philosophies. From which it is concluded that the Christian religion is superior to ancient religion and philosophy: Christianity alone possesses the truth, that is, knowledge of the true God exclusively and prescribes service to God, which only leads to salvation.

Anti-linguistic apologies:

• Minucius Felix . Octavius ​​( Latin Octavius ).
• Tertullian. Apologetic ( Latin Apologeticus ).
• Tertullian. To pagans ( lat. Ad nationes )
• Cyprian De idolorum vanitate.
• Tatian
• Theophilus of Antioch
• Arnobius

Some apologists protect Christianity from certain philosophies:

• Origen . Against Celsus eight books ( lat. Contra Celsum ). - Origen in this work refutes materialism .
• Tertullian . About the soul ( lat. De anima ). - In this work Tertullian justified the doctrine of the soul, based on the common experience of consciousness for all people and its necessary manifestations.

In the apologetic texts the foundations of Christian theology were laid, in particular, Theophilus of Antioch and Tertullian coined the term " Trinity ".

After Christianity defeated the pagan religion and reworked ancient philosophy and became the state religion in the 4th century, apologetic literature gradually disappeared as superfluous. The place of apologetic writings was taken polemical (for example, the controversy against heresies).

Middle Ages

Under the conditions of complete domination of Christianity in Western Europe during the era of medieval scholasticism, protection against an external adversary was not needed. Nevertheless, the term “apology” applies to texts against Islam and Judaism (there were few of them). Equally, it applies to a large group of texts whose purpose was to fight heresies (although, again, these were mostly polemical writings).

Revival and Reformation

In the Renaissance, apologetic texts defended the Christian faith from humanistic interest in ancient culture and, in particular, from the tendency towards the revival of ancient paganism. Examples:

• Marsilio Ficino . On the Christian religion. ( Latin: De religione christiana , 1475 ).
• Juan Luis Vives ( Louis Vives ) . On the truth of the Christian faith ( lat. De veritate fidei christianae , 1543 ).

During the period of the Reformation, apologetics faded into the background, since polemical and dogmatic writings were most important. Apologies during this period, as a rule, were a defense of one or another confession .

XVII - XVIII centuries

Of the 17th century Christian apologies, the following are the most important:

• Hugo Grotius . On the truth of the Christian religion ( lat. De veritate religionis christianae , 1627 ). - The writing was intended to strengthen the religion of sailors in pagan countries, and was limited to setting out the general foundations of Christianity, without affecting the dogma .
• Blaise Pascal . Thoughts on religion ( fr. Pensées sur la réligion , 1669 ). - The book combined evidence based on prophecies and miracles with evidence stemming from an inner feeling . The presentation was fragmentary. The text is recognized as one of the significant texts of the philosophy of the New time.

A large number of apologetic texts were created in the period from the middle of the 17th to the end of the 18th century to combat the religious philosophy of deism , which advanced the idea of natural religion and rejected the supernatural foundations of religion characteristic of Christianity. Deism had the greatest influence in Great Britain , France and Germany : respectively, apologies were written precisely in these countries.

The most famous apologists are:

• Bitler The analogy of the religion of natural and religion of revelation. ( eng. The analogy of religion is natural and revealed , 1736)
• Lardner
• Leland .
• Addison
• Turruthen . Treatise on the Truth of the Christian Religion ( fr. Traité de la vérité de la religion chrétienne )
• Bonnet
• Pfaff
• Mosheim
• Sac
• Ieruzal . Reasoning about the highest truths of religion ( ger . Betrachtungen über die vornehmsten Wahrheiten der Religion , 1768 ).
• Nesselt
• Lilienthal
• Some apologists of Christianity tried to prove that divine revelation was supernatural and incomprehensible for reason, others - that the requirements of reason agree with the teachings and moral principles of Christianity.

First half of the 19th century.

• Chateaubriand F.R. de . Apology of Christianity.
• Chaadaev P. Ya . Apology of a madman.

19th century Protestantism

The content of the Protestant apologies of the second half of the XIX century determined the controversy around naturalism .

The rationalistic trend in apologetics sought, on the one hand, through the study of the human spirit to find psychological evidence that religion is based on the spiritual need embedded in human nature, that it is necessary for man, and on the other hand, to draw the conclusion from the history of religion that only Christianity fully meets the needs. Accordingly, rationalistic apologetics, trying not to contradict the scientific picture of the world , denied the supernatural (miracles and revelation).

This direction belonged to the religious-philosophical and dogmatic works of Lipsius , Pfleiderer and others. The same point of view was expressed by many polemical writings directed against the well-known texts of D. F. Strauss “Old and New Faith” (Der alte und der neue Glaube. Leipzig, 1872 ; 10. Aufl. Bonn, 1879 ) and Edward von Hartmann “Self-Destruction Christianity "(Die Selbstzersetzung des Christenthums. B., 1874 ).

In the controversy against naturalism, supranaturalism arose, which set itself the goal of protecting some of the most important points of creed: the supernatural nature of revelation and dogma that can only be derived from it (they were the most criticized). These included: miracles, the personality of God, the divinity of Jesus Christ , His incarnation , the truth of gospel tradition. Apologists of the supranaturalistic direction relied on psychological (more precisely, epistemological ) and historical arguments. The psychological arguments included the statement that the insufficiency of natural human knowledge must be supplemented by divine revelation, to the historical one — that Christianity proves the existence of this revelation by miracles, prophecies, its beginning and constant development, the inner truth and moral influence of its teachings.

Apologies of this direction:

• Lutgardt . Apologetic reports on the basic truths of the Christian faith ( German: Apologetische Vorträge über die Grundwahrheiten des Christenthums . 9. Aufl. Leipzig, 1878).
• Baumstark Christian apologetics on an anthropological basis ( German: Christliche Apologetik auf antropologische Grundlage . 2 Bde. Frankfurt, A. M., 1872-79).
• Ebrard Apologetics. ( German Apologetik . 2 Bde. Gütersloh, 1874-75).

• Apology (telecast)
• Film biography

1. ↑ Apology // Big Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2000

• Apology // Encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extra). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Apologists and Apology // The Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia . - SPb. 1908-1913.