Apologetics is a defense of something or someone through certain arguments. Thus, a person’s apology is intended to justify his actions or ideas. A typical case is Plato’s dialogue “Apology of Socrates”, in which the author defends the figure of his teacher. In the area of theology there is a branch to justify and defend religious doctrines: apologetics. Apologetics
Apologetics in Catholicism requires an ideological debate
Like all religions, the Catholic has its supporters and critics. The second highlights these contradictions existing in the Catholic Church. To defend themselves in the face of these criticisms, Catholics developed an apologetic, that is, a defense or justification for their principles and behavior. As a general rule, the Catholic apologetic approach is an attempt to combat the lies and false accusations received by Catholic Church doctrine .
Christian apologetics is a defense against criticism and attacks from other Christian, Jewish or pagan currents.
One of the earliest Christian apologists was St. Justin, who in the second century. d. C, in Rome, founded a school of Christian philosophy contrary to other religious or philosophical doctrines.
The literary works of Saint Irenaeus of Lyon constitute a debate of ideas against one of the spiritual currents of antiquity: Gnosticism . Apologetics
At the beginning of the third century d. C, St. Cyprian of Carthage fought against Christians who had renounced their beliefs and their faith after being pressured by the Roman authorities.
Athanasius of Alexandria, bishop of Alexandria, during the 4th century d. C, is an intellectual reference to Christianity. He was an outspoken defender of the Trinitarian doctrine and opposed to Arianism , a Christian current that denied the Trinity .
St. Augustine of Hippo lived between the 4th and 5th centuries d. C and in his theological works he fought against those who deviated from the authentic faith, especially Pelagianism, Donatism, Arianism, Gnosticism, the Origenists and the Priscillianists. All these Christian currents were considered authentic heresies by the Catholic Church. He also opposed Manicheism, a religion of Persian origin that focused on the distinction between good and evil, whose founder Mani is considered by the Manicheans to be the true prophet sent by God.
Finally, the Christian apologists mentioned defended the doctrine of the church against those they considered deviated from the true faith. Apologetics
