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For the various schools or theories of Christian Apologetics, click "Theory" (also on the menu to the left).
Apologetics is the defense of the faith against attacks by those who are outside the church. The term sometimes refers to attempts to
evangelize the unsympathetic. It is a discipline that can be learned and improved over time. Polemics is a related discipline. It is the defense of the faith against those inside the church who would undermine its core doctrines.
Cynically, you might say that apologetics is the defense of current church orthodoxy or
dogma against heretics -- that is, against those who disagree with the declared doctrines
of the church (as distinct from the declared doctrines of Scripture).
Under this view, the reformers were Catholic heretics. Reformation
doctrine became the orthodoxy of Protestantism. Those who disagree
with that orthodoxy are labelled heretics by the Protestants. Orthodoxy is too often in the eyes of the beholder. Some see apologetics as divisive; others would argue that it unites. Confessions and Creeds are products of apologetics. They unite their subscribers under a banner of biblical truth -- at least as they conceive it.
The arguments of Polemics (i.e., arguments in support of Protestant orthodoxy) will be found on the Doctrine
page (and sub-pages). Check out the Heresies and Cults
pages too. Please, don't confuse the essentials of the faith (which
must be defended) with matters of indifference (matters of Christian
liberty). Of course, you may disagree with which category a particular
doctrine belongs to.
That's OK. "May God be true and every man a liar" (Rom 3:4).See the Ecclesiology Page for more about that.
Here's a useful
apologetics website: "Coffee Cup Apologetics" at http://ccapologetics.wordpress.com/
Apologetics requires a broad knowledge of the world, and a
keen sense of the dividing line between that knowledge and
the knowledge of God. Remember, Christianity is a reasonable
belief system that can be argued and articulated in a rational fashion.
But it is also revelation, and not merely an intellectual conclusion. Apologetics therefore has its limits. See the Eight Cannots.
Nonsense Challenges to Inerrancy:
Maybe
you've heard that domesticated camels didn't exist in the Near East
until the 9th century BC. So when camels are mentioned in Gen 12 and
24, it's supposed to invalidate the reliability of Scripture. The Greek
word for such nonsense is thppppffftt! The claim is based on that
always reliable method of carbon-dating. The problem is... well, click here
to read how such renowned "scientists" can be so patently wrong: they
tend to leave behind common sense and contradictory evidence.
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