|
Apologetics is the
defense of the faith against those who attack it from
outside. The term is sometimes used to refer to attempts to
evangelize the unsympathetic. A related discipline is Polemics,
which is the defense of the faith against those who undermine it
from within. Cynically, you might say that it is the defense of
church orthodoxy or dogma against heretics - those who disagree with
the declared doctrine of the church (as distinct from the declared
doctrine of Scripture). The Reformers were therefore Catholic
heretics, and Reformation doctrine became the orthodoxy of
Protestantism. Those who disagree with that orthodoxy are now
labelled heretics by the Protestants. The arguments of Polemics will
be found on the Doctrine page since, in my own
estimation, the doctrine of the Reformers is the doctrine of
Scripture. Of course, you may be inclined to disagree. That's OK.
"May God be true and every man a liar" (Rom 3:4).
Here's a very useful
apologetics website: "Coffee Cup Apologetics" at http://ccapologetics.wordpress.com/
Some additional apologetic
arguments are contained on the Cults Page.
There is an excellent article addressing the differences
between Catholics and Protestants from CRI (showing that Catholicism
is not a cult and it is not monolithic). also has a number of
apologetic arguments. 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, not an
intellectual conclusion. | 
