The field of study relating to the positive defense of the Christian faith and the refutation of unbelief is apologetics. The word apologetics is derived from the Greek word apologia (a-pə-lō-gē-ə). It appears in the following biblical passage: ". . . [A]lways be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in you . . . (1 Peter 3:15). The word defense in this passage is from apologia. Rogers and Rogers say, "The word was often used of the argument for the defense in a court of law. . . . [I]t can also mean an informal explanation or defense of one's position" (575). “. . . [A]pologetics is the working out and presentation of intellectual, scientific, and philosophical arguments . . ." (Brown 51). All of this, by the very nature of the case, entails a logical (correctly reasoned) defense.
Apologetics is also called Christian Evidences because it involves the study of the evidence that provides the foundation for the case for the Christian faith. The foundation of the case for Christianity is concerned with the available evidence for (1) the existence of God, (2) the divine origin, and thus ultimate credibility, of the Bible, and (3) the deity of Jesus of Nazareth. These are the three primary areas with which Christian Apologetics is concerned.
Charles C. Pugh III
Warren Christian Apologetics Center
Brown, Colin. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Vol. 1 Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978.
Rogers, Cleon L. Jr. and Cleon L. Rogers III. The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.