APOLOGETICS, LITERATURE OF. — If apologetics, considered as an autonomous science, is of recent origin, the apologies that prepared the way for it go back to the very beginnings of Christianity and accompany its entire history. The word “apology” is here taken in its strictest and most current theological sense, namely, as a defense against attacks by unbelievers concerning, more or less directly, the rational foundations of the Catholic faith. Thus understood, apologetics is distinct from polemics and controversy. In technical dogmatic terminology, polemics is the defense of a truth of faith against heretics or dissident Christians, while controversy is properly a discussion among Catholics, who share the same faith, on questions freely debated among them.
This branch of literature, a special field of Christian literature, is of great interest, for it reveals with what method and arguments eminent philosophers, writers, historians, and scientists have, over twenty centuries, responded to attacks of every kind by unbelievers and demonstrated the reasonableness of the Catholic religion. Following a chronological order, a brief historical-literary synthesis is presented here, divided into three major periods: ancient, medieval, and modern, corresponding to the three principal phases of Christianity’s struggle against its adversaries who denied its divine and revealed origin.
1. **Ancient Period.** — Christianity presented itself to the pagan world not as the cult of a single people, nation, or race, but as a universal religion obligatory for all, under penalty of eternal damnation; not as the worship of a new divinity compatible with other cults, but as a coherent system of doctrines and laws in antithesis to the beliefs—and above all the morals—of paganism; not as a religious philosophy open to free discussion by every adherent, nor as an extra-rational ascetic or mystical experience, but as a faith of divine authority, founded on a supernatural revelation whose existence had to be demonstrated. A religion of this kind was bound to be a sign of contradiction, as its Founder had foretold, and it imposed upon its followers the duty of defending and rationally justifying its truth.
During the period of the great pagan persecutions, Christians were accused of horrible crimes: of cannibalism (because of the Eucharist), of incest (on account of the rite of the kiss of peace), and of other atrocities. They were called atheists because they did not worship the gods; socially useless because of a supposed political inertia; and even enemies of the human race. But the principal accusation, which would later form the core of the apologies of the early centuries, was the Christians’ refusal to perform certain external rites of the official Roman religion, symbols of patriotism, whose observance was believed to ensure the salvation, prosperity, and greatness of the Roman Empire (see: ACCUSES AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS).
To the popular calumnies and the persecutions by civil authority was added the hostility of the intellectual class: philosophers, writers, and historians of great renown. Some philosophers wrote systematic works against the doctrines of the Christians, their sacred books, and their Founder.
Another great adversary of Christianity was Judaism. The Jews denied the Messiahship of Jesus Christ and regarded Christianity as a schism that weakened the synagogue and a scandal because of its failure to observe the entire Mosaic law. Neither the Jews of Palestine nor those of the Diaspora published any important works against the Christians during the patristic age, but they spread slanderous and insulting falsehoods against them orally and were zealous accusers and instigators of persecutions, as Tertullian calls them.
It was necessary to respond to pagan and Jewish accusations, to vindicate against persecutory laws—which were to last until the Edict of Constantine (313)—the right to legal existence, to refute the sophisms of the philosophers, and to demonstrate the falsity of paganism and post-Christian Judaism. But this defensive and negative task was not enough. To convert pagans and Jews to Christianity, it was necessary to prove positively the truth of the new religion. This positive demonstration interests us more, for in it we find all the essential arguments of our apologetic theses, which have withstood the logic of twenty centuries. As early as the second century, writings in defense and justification of Christianity were called by the Greek term *apologies*, the name then given to the judicial defense of an accused person before a tribunal. Their content is largely conditioned by the contingent needs of the defense, and to this practical end the choice of arguments is subordinated. As for literary form, the earliest apologies are commonly “discourses” in the technical sense of the word; later, the properly so-called “treatise” appears. In disputes with the Jews, the “dialogue” is preferred, presupposing a common basis of discussion.
The majority of the apologies of the early centuries were directed against pagans, whether as appeals to emperors and statesmen or as instruction for the people or private individuals.
The first apologist known to us is the Athenian Quadratus, who around 125 presented to Emperor Hadrian, who had come to Athens, an apology of Christianity, of which only a few words survive, preserved by Eusebius (Hist. eccl., IV, 3), but of great interest. Quadratus, in fact, attests that at his time there were still people who had been healed or raised from the dead by Christ: this is already the demonstration of the truth of Christianity through the proof of miracles. Of many other apologists of the second century (Aristides of Pella, Miltiades, Claudius Apollinaris, Melito of Sardis, Apollonius), the works have been entirely lost. The apology of the Athenian philosopher Aristides, addressed, according to Eusebius, to Hadrian as Quadratus’ apology was, or according to others to Antoninus Pius (c. 140), was rediscovered toward the end of the last century. Aristides demonstrates, through a comparative examination of religions, that only the Christians
They have a true notion of God and know how to translate into their practical lives the perfection of the truths of their religion. But the greatest apologist of the 2nd century is the philosopher and martyr St JUSTIN, who was converted to Christianity after long and vain search for religious truth in the various pagan philosophical schools. He wrote the so-called First Apology (147–61) and the Second Apology, a brief appendix to the first and slightly later, both addressed to Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, and then (155–61) the Dialogue with Trypho (Italian trans., Rome 1920, Turin 1929–30). The fundamental thesis of the two apologies is the demonstration that Christianity contains all the truths of philosophy and is in fact the most perfect philosophy, accessible to all, capable of transforming morals, as is proved by the holy life of Christians. Justin therefore seeks agreement between Christian revelation and the highest doctrines of pagan philosophy, and in this he will be followed by almost all the Greek apologists; whereas the Latin apologists will prefer to insist on the contrasts between the perfection of revealed doctrine and the errors, absurdities and corruption of paganism. The Dialogue with Trypho is an apology against the Jews, in which Justin answers the principal Jewish objections to Christians and demonstrates that Jesus is the true Messiah, arguing especially from the prophecies of the Old Testament.
Belonging to the struggle between Christianity and philosophy, but only in a broad sense to the apologies, are the Discourse to the Greeks (150–73; Italian trans., Turin 1921) by the philosopher Tatian and the Satire of the Pagan Philosophers (Italian trans., Prato 1884), of uncertain date but probably of the 2nd century, by the philosopher Hermias. These are two exaggerated and partial critiques of the perpetual contradictions of pagan philosophies. Another philosopher, Athenagoras of Athens, who after his conversion continued, following the example of Aristides and Justin, to wear the philosopher’s cloak, wrote (c. 177) a Supplication for the Christians (Italian trans., Turin 1913), addressed to Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, which is one of the most beautiful literary apologies of ancient Christianity. With solid, clear and methodical reasoning Athenagoras defends Christians against the three great pagan accusations of atheism, incest and cannibalism, demonstrates rationally the unity of God and illustrates the perfection of Christian morality. The apology Three Books on the Faith of the Christians to Autolycus (180–85; Italian trans., Venice 1798) by St THEOPHILUS, bishop of Antioch, is no longer addressed to emperors or to the people, as were the earlier apologies, but to a pagan friend of the author. Theophilus, not a philosopher but an elegant and learned writer, demonstrates the absurdity of paganism and the truth of Christian doctrine, which is shown by its simple exposition. The very fine Letter to Diognetus (Italian trans., Genoa 1912), of unknown author and probably of the 2nd century, answers a pagan’s questions about the difference between Christian worship and that of pagans and Jews, about the new life led by Christians and about the late origin of Christianity.
It has been disputed among critics whether the first apology in the Latin language is the Octavius (end of the 2nd century; Italian trans., Arezzo 1902, Genoa 1912, Florence 1918, etc.) by Minucius Felix or the Apologeticum (197; Italian trans., Asti 1913, Brescia 1936, etc.) by Tertullian. The two works resemble each other in many points. The Octavius is a most elegant and learned dialogue between a pagan and a Christian, with the author as arbiter, in which paganism is criticized and the beauty of the faith and the purity of Christian morals are demonstrated. The Apologeticum, addressed to the governors of the provinces of the Roman empire, is a masterly juridical defence of Christianity, with a decisive refutation of pagan accusations, concluding that Christian doctrine is true and that the lives of Christians are blameless. Tertullian also left other writings of an apologetic nature: Ad Nationes (197), to denounce the crimes of the pagans and refute polytheism; De testimonio animae (after 197; Italian trans., Tortona 1887), to illustrate the famous text of the Apologeticum: «O testimonium animae naturaliter christianae!» (ch. 17); the letter Ad Scapulam (211–13), to remind this governor of Africa of the divine punishments against persecutors of Christians; Adversus Iudaeos (200–206), to demonstrate the messiahship of Jesus Christ by the proof of the prophecies of the Old Testament and the transience of the Old Covenant.
Turning to the Greek apologies, we find at the beginning of the 3rd century the trilogy of CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Exhortation to the Greeks, The Instructor and the Stromata (200–202). The head of the Alexandrian school does not aim at the legal status of Christianity nor at refuting pagan accusations; rather, once again, he seeks to reconcile Greek philosophy with Christian doctrine and to show that the latter is the best philosophy; and being an educator, he seeks gradually to lead the pagan to Christianity. In the Exhortation to the Greeks he demonstrates the errors of paganism; in The Instructor (Italian trans., Turin 1937) he sets forth Christian ethics to pagans; in the Stromata he illustrates the transcendence of Christianity over pagan philosophy.
His great disciple ORIGEN wrote (244–48) the important apology Contra Celsum, directed against the author of the work True Discourse, which was a general and systematic attack on the Christian religion and its founder. Origen methodically refutes Celsus’ objections and positively demonstrates the divinity of Christianity, arguing from the miracles of Jesus Christ, contemporary miracles, messianic prophecies and the holiness of Christians.
Among the Latins, St CYPRIAN also wrote apologies: the treatise That Idols are not Gods (c. 246) is a refutation of polytheism; the treatise To Quirinus (c. 248) demonstrates with biblical texts that Christianity legitimately succeeded Judaism; the treatise To Demetrianus (c. 252) proves that Christianity is not the cause of public calamities.
Two other apologists of the age of St Cyprian are Arnobius and his pupil Lactantius. The rhetorician Arnobius, who remained a convinced pagan until the age of fifty, in order to show the sincerity of his conversion wrote (c. 304) the Adversus Nationes, in which he proves the divinity of Christianity by the miracles of its founder, by the wonderful spread of the new religion and by the admirable harmony of Christian doctrines with the highest truths of philosophy, while in the second part of the work he offers, we might say today, a Voltairean critique of pagan doctrine, cults and customs. Lactantius, with the work Divine Institutes in Seven Books (c. 304), wished to produce a kind of manual of apologetics, systematically summarizing and expounding what had already been written on the subject. In the first three books he refutes the errors of paganism, and in the following books he demonstrates that true wisdom and true religion are found only in divine revelation, communicated to us by Jesus Christ, Son of God, as is proved by the fulfilment in him of messianic prophecies and by his miracles. This work was very successful, especially for its literary qualities, for which Lactantius was called the Christian Cicero.
Deserving only brief mention, on account of their slight apologetic value, are the Instructiones and the Carmen apologeticum of the poet Commodian, whom some suppose to have lived in Africa during the persecution of Decius (249–51), in which case he would be the first Latin Christian poet, while others place him in the 4th or 5th century.
The father of ecclesiastical history, Eusebius of Caesarea, wrote many important apologetic works: the *Praeparatio evangelica* (313–25), addressed to pagans to answer their objections against Christianity and demonstrate its transcendence over paganism; the *Demonstratio evangelica*, of which only the first ten books remain, written in the same period as the previous work, to prove that Judaism was the prophetic preparation for Christianity; the *Theophania* (c. 333), a summary of the *Demonstratio evangelica*, preserved in a Syriac version; the *Elementarium introductionis* (before 311), in ten books, of which only four books and some fragments of the others survive, concerning messianic prophecies; the *Contra Hieroclem* (c. 312), a vigorous refutation of the magistrate Hierocles, who claimed to oppose Christ’s miracles with the legendary wonders attributed in Philostratus’ novel to Apollonius of Tyana. Other apologetic writings by Eusebius have been lost, including the major work *Contra Porphyrium*, in 25 books. Eusebius sought not only to repel hostile attacks but also to prove positively the divinity of Christianity, basing his demonstration on the now traditional motives of credibility: the messianic prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Gospel miracles, and the wondrous history of the Christian religion.
Also belonging to the apologies of the 4th century are: the *Oratio contra Graecos* (c. 320) by St. Athanasius, which demonstrates the falsity of polytheism and the truth of monotheism; the treatise *De sancto Babyla*, *Contra Julianum et paganos* (c. 387), and the pamphlet *Quod Christus sit Deus*, against Jews and pagans (c. 387) by St. John Chrysostom, which prove the divinity of Jesus Christ through the arguments of miracles and prophecies. The greatest Christian poet of the 4th century, Prudentius, wrote the poem *Contra Symmachum* (402–403) to refute the defense of paganism made in 383 by the prefect of Rome, Symmachus. The allegorical poem *Psychomachia*, in which Prudentius described the soul’s struggle between Christian virtues and pagan vices, is more moral in genre than apologetic.
The greatest of the Church Fathers, St. Augustine, also made a supremely valuable contribution to apologetics. Precious apologetic elements are found in many of his works, especially the following: *De vera religione*; *De fide rerum quae non videntur*; *De utilitate credendi*; *De divinatione daemonum*; *Adversus Iudaeos*. But his monumental work *De civitate Dei* (413–26; Italian trans., Florence 1927–30; ibid. 1938; Turin 1939, etc.) is considered the most important apology of its kind, transformed into a philosophy of history. The first part, defensive, repels the accusations of pagans against Christianity and offers a keen critique of paganism. The second part, positive, demonstrates that the only religion destined by Providence to guide humanity from the beginning to the end of the world toward its salvation is Christianity.
The *Historiae adversus paganos* (417–18; Italian trans., Florence 1849) by Paul Orosius, a disciple of Augustine, develops the thesis of *De civitate Dei*, namely that Christianity was not the cause of the evils afflicting the Roman Empire at that time. Of the work *Pro sancta Christianorum religione contra Iulianum impium* (c. 433) by St. Cyril of Alexandria, only the first ten books and scattered citations of the remaining twenty survive. It is a refutation of the writing *Contra Galileos* by Julian the Apostate, who asserted that the Christian religion was a degeneration of Judaism with some pagan additions. The last great apology of ancient Christianity is the *Therapia Graecorum malorum* (429–37; Italian trans., Florence 1931) by Theodore, bishop of Cyrrhus in Syria. With great erudition, Theodore, after protesting with Eusebius of Caesarea against the calumny of those who accused Christians of instilling only blind credulity in their followers, to cure the ignorance of pagans—which was the cause of all their spiritual ills—demonstrates the absurdity of the philosophical and religious doctrines of paganism and the transcendence of the dogmatic and moral truths of Christianity.
2. Middle Ages
In this long period of victorious faith, defenses of the rational credibility of Christianity are not very numerous nor, generally, of great value. The principal adversaries continue to be the Jews, to whom the Muslims are added. Renowned Arab philosophers (Avicenna, Averroes) deny Christian revelation, proclaim the absolute autonomy of reason, use Aristotelian philosophy to combat Catholic doctrine, and indeed the very foundations of natural religion.Against the Jews, Christian apologists demonstrate the messiahship of Jesus Christ through the proofs of prophecy and miracles, the abrogation of the Mosaic law, replaced by the law of the Gospel, and the divinity of Christianity, especially proven by the argument of its miraculous triumph over paganism and Judaism. Similar arguments are advanced against Islam, with the counter-proof that Muhammad provided no historical supernatural evidence of his prophetic mission and that his doctrine, especially its morality, is irreconcilable with the teaching of the Old Testament and in perfect antagonism with the Gospel. Many apologies against Jews and Muslims remain unpublished and of unknown authorship. Most of the apologies of this period have been collected in Migne’s *Patrologiae* (PG and PL). A scornful disdain for the adversary, often accompanied by insult and sometimes calumny, and a poor understanding of the doctrines of Judaism and especially Islam, dominate much of this literature, though in the later centuries of the Middle Ages it shows greater competence in the issues addressed. This progress was due to two factors: the conversion to Christianity of Jews and Muslims, who became defenders of their new faith against the errors they knew well from their former coreligionists, and the establishment in Spain, through the efforts of St. Raymond of Peñafort, of a center for the linguistic and doctrinal training of apologists against Muslims and Jews. The field of defense was also broadened, and more general apologies appeared against all kinds of adversaries of the divinity of Christianity. In the period of the Renaissance of ancient Greco-Roman ideals, humanist apologists presented Christianity as the perfection of all ancient truth.
Among the many apologists against Judaism we may mention: St. Isidore of Seville (d. 636), *De Fide catholica ex Vetere et Novo Testamento contra Iudaeos* (PL 83, 449–538); St. Fulbert (d. 1028), *Tractatus contra Iudaeos* (PL 141, 305–18); St. Peter Damian (d. 1072), *Antiquus contra Iudaeos* and *Dialogus inter Iudaeum requirendum et christianum e contrario respondentem* (PL 145, 41–68); Peter Alfonsi (d. c. 1140), *Dialogus Petri cognomento Alphonsi ex iudaeo Christiani, et Moysi iudaei* (PL 157, 535–672); Peter the Venerable (d. 1156), *Tractatus adversus Iudaeorum inveteratum duritiem* (PL 189, 507–660). There were also numerous apologists against Muslims, including: St. John of Damascus (d. 789), *Disputatio inter Saracenum et Christianum* (PL 96, 1336–48); the aforementioned Peter the Venerable, *Summula quaedam brevis contra haereses et sectam diabolicae fraudis Saracenorum sive Ismaelitarum* and *Adversus nefariam sectam Saracenorum* (PL 189, 651–58; 661–720); Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, *Cribratio Alcorani* (1459); Cardinal John of Torquemada (d. 1468), *Tractatus contra principales errores perfidi Mahometi*. Great success was achieved by, and it was translated into many languages, the *Confutatio sectae Mahometanae* (Italian trans. 1540) by the Spanish Muslim Juan Andrés ‘Abdallah, who converted in 1487.
But the work that made an epoch was: *Pugio fidei adversus Mauros et Iudaeos*, written in Latin and Hebrew in 1270 (Paris 1642 and 1651, Leipzig 1687) by the converted rabbi who became a Dominican, Raimondo Martini, a pupil of St. Raymond of Peñafort. The work consists of three parts: the first refutes the errors of philosophers who deny divine revelation; the second offers an erudite critique of Judaism, drawing not only on Holy Scripture but also on Talmudic tradition and rabbinic theology, and demonstrates through Old Testament prophecies the messianity of Jesus Christ; the third part defends the principal Christian dogmas against attacks by unbelievers.
For the purpose of converting Muslims, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the *Summa catholicae fidei contra gentiles* (1261–64), aiming especially at the errors of Arab philosophers. St. Thomas refutes these errors indirectly by demonstrating that Catholic doctrines of a philosophical order are proven true by reason, and that those of a dogmatic order are not contrary to reason. The work, which is properly a philosophy of revealed doctrine, consists of two parts. The first part (II. I–III) treats questions of natural theology, proven directly true by reason alone; the second part (I. IV) expounds the mysteries of faith, founded on divine revelation, whose credibility is proven by the prophecies of the Old Testament, the miracles of Jesus Christ, and the conversion of the world to Christianity—a miracle that sums up and perpetuates all others.
Among the final medieval apologies, special mention must be made of the *Triumphus crucis sive de veritate fidei libri IV* (1497) by G. Savonarola (critical edition of the Latin and vernacular texts by L. Ferretti, Siena 1899). The first book treats the existence of God and His attributes and the immortality of the soul; the second demonstrates the divinity of Christianity, arguing chiefly from its moral fruits; the third examines the principal mysteries of the Catholic faith in relation to reason; the fourth responds to objections raised by philosophers, astrologers, idolaters, Jews, and Muslims against Christianity.
In the Renaissance period, the principal apology was the work of the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives: *De veritate fidei christianae libri V* (Basel 1544, London 1639). It is a dogmatic-apologetic demonstration of Catholic doctrine, with refutation of Judaism and Islamism. The final book treats the transcendence of Christianity from an ethical-social standpoint.
3. MODERN TIMES
A) APOLOGIES. — Among the countless apologies of modern times, it is necessary here to limit ourselves to the principal ones of a general character and of particular interest to the history of apologetics. Works that deal only with special apologetic questions (revelation, miracle, prophecy, Jesus Christ, the Church, Protestantism, etc.) are referred to the respective entries. Still less can we take into consideration works that belong directly to philosophy (theodicy), the history of religions, biblical studies, ecclesiastical history, etc., even if they bear the title of apology.The much-debated work *Pensées sur la religion* by B. Pascal (d. 1662) is generally considered the greatest apology of the 17th century. These are fragments of a great apologetic work left unfinished, insufficient for a definitive judgment on Pascal’s apologetic method. He acknowledges the traditional proofs of miracle and prophecy but does not find them apodictic. He substitutes the reasons of the heart, inasmuch as man, by living the Christian life, can experience its truth. As a marginal proof and last resort, he offers his famous “Argumentum a pari,” a mathematical calculation of probabilities that Pascal considered decisive but which is in reality a calculation of interest devoid of apologetic value. More faithful to the traditional method in the same 17th century is the apology *L'incrédulo senza scusa* (Florence 1690) by P. Segneri. The unbeliever, Segneri argues, is unreasonable because miracles—especially the miracle of the conversion of the world to Christianity—prophecy, Christian martyrdom, the unity and holiness of the Church demonstrate the divinity of Christianity.
French philosophism of the 18th century found a valiant defender of revealed religion in N. S. Bergier, author of *Traité historique et dogmatique de la vraie religion* (Paris 1780, 1820) and other apologetic writings: *Le déisme réfuté par lui-même* (Paris 1765, 2nd ed. 1822), against Rousseau; *La certitude des preuves du christianisme* (Paris 1767), against the insidious work *Examen critique des apologistes de la religion chrétienne*, attributed to N. Fréret; *Apologie de la religion chrétienne* (Paris 1769), against the errors of d’Holbach and Voltaire’s *Dictionnaire philosophique*. In Germany, a thorough refutation of the errors of unbelievers of the 18th century—pantheists, deists, rationalists—was made by S. Storchenau in the works: *Die Philosophie der Religion* (Augsburg 1775–81) and *Zügaben zur Philosophie der Religion* (ibid. 1785–88, 3rd ed. Cologne 1810), in which he demonstrates, by the light of reason alone, the moral necessity of revelation and its historical certainty.
In Italy too, in the 18th century, there were notable apologies against the errors of unbelievers. Important among these are those by A. Valsecchi: *Dei fondamenti della religione e delle fonti dell’empietà* (Padua 1765, Treviso 1770); *La religione vincitrice* (ibid. 1776); *La verità della Chiesa cattolica romana* (ibid. 1787). To St. Alphonsus Liguori we owe the following apologetic writings: *Verità della fede fatta evidente per il contrassegni della sua credibilità* (Naples 1762); *Verità della fede contro i materialisti... i settari... i deisti* (Naples 1767); *Riflessioni sulla verità della divina rivelazione* (Naples 1773). Also worthy of mention is the apology by A. Tassoni, *La religione dimostrata e difesa* (Rome 1800, Pisa 1817). All these apologies follow the traditional method of demonstrating with proofs of miracles in the physical, intellectual, and moral orders.
A new path was taken by Fr. R. de Chateaubriand in his celebrated work *Le Génie du christianisme* (1st ed., Paris 1802; Italian trans., 8th ed., Milan 1879). Against the calumnies of the Encyclopedists, who regarded Christianity as an absurd and ridiculous cult, hostile to reason and beauty, to letters and the arts, concluding with Voltaire that only a fool or a knave could be a Christian, Chateaubriand sought to demonstrate that Christianity is the most humane, most beneficial, most beautiful, most poetic, and most conducive to letters and the arts of all other religions, and to conclude that such a religion cannot be a human invention. But a demonstration founded exclusively on the beauty and utility of Christianity, on aesthetic and sentimental arguments, cannot prove the divine, still less the revealed, origin of the Catholic religion.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Germany produced the most powerful Christian apologies. F. Hettinger’s *Apologie des Christianismes* (5 vols., Freiburg im Br. 1863–67, 10th ed. 1907–18, ed. E. Müller; Italian trans., Pistoia 1906) demonstrates, in its first part, the rational foundations of Christianity and, in its second, defends the fundamental truths of Catholic faith. P. Schanz’s *Apologie des Christianismes* (3 vols., 3rd ed., Freiburg im Br. 1903–1906, 4th ed. 1907, 11th ed. 1907; Italian trans., Florence 1907) treats, in vol. I, of God and nature; in vol. II, of revealed religion; in vol. III, of the Catholic Church. A. M. Weiss’s *Apologie des Christianismes* (5 vols., 4th ed., Freiburg im Br. 1905–1908; Italian trans., Trento 1902–1908) follows a different method from the two preceding works. Considering the value of Christianity in relation to morals and civilization, it aims to show that only the Catholic religion perfectly corresponds to all the individual and social needs and aspirations of humanity. A work of great doctrinal and modern erudition is *Religion, Christentum, Kirche* (3 vols., Kempten 1911; 5th ed. 1923) by G. Esser, J. Mausbach, and other collaborators. Vol. I treats of God and the religion of the Old Testament; vol. II, of Jesus Christ as teacher of humanity and founder of the Church; vol. III, of the marvelous life of the Church as proof of its divine origin.
The contemporary French literature on the subject is exceedingly rich. It suffices here to recall the great apologetic encyclopedia, the *Dictionnaire apologétique de la foi catholique*, published under the direction of A. D’Alès (4 vols., 4th ed., Paris 1924–28), a completely revised edition of the *Dictionnaire apologétique* (1888) by J. B. Jaugey, and the smaller encyclopedia entitled *Apologétique*, directed by M. Brillant and M. Nédoncelle (2nd ed., Paris 1948). In this latter work, all problems directly or indirectly apologetic are treated systematically, and the principal objections of today against the Bible, dogma, and Catholic morality, and against the Church, are answered. France has also devoted a special journal to apologetics in the broadest sense, the *Revue pratique d’apologie*, later *Revue apologétique*, founded in 1905.
In Spain, the philosopher G. Balmes published his *Cartas a un escéptico* (Barcelona 1845; Italian trans., Imola 1850). These twenty-five letters, written with depth of thought and rigorous logic, defend the Catholic religion. The work *Jesucristo y la Iglesia Romana* (Madrid 1899–1902) by L. Murillo demonstrates the divinity of Jesus Christ and the divine institution of the Roman Church and defends Catholic doctrines most contested by contemporary unbelief.
Among the apologies in English, we may note: J. Poynter, *Christianity or the evidences and character of the christian religion* (London 1827; French trans. in Migne’s *Démonstrations évangéliques*, XIII, 1221–1314); Th. Moore, *Travels of an Irish Gentleman in search of a religion* (London 1833; Italian trans., Venice 1835, Florence 1850); M. J. Spalding, *Evidences of catholicity* (6th ed., Baltimore 1866); Card. H. E. Manning, *The grounds of Faith* (London 1853, 6th ed. 1890; Italian trans., Rome 1906).
In Italy, G. Ballerini’s *Breve apologia per giovani studenti* (6th ed., Florence 1920) enjoyed well-deserved success; its four small volumes treat respectively of God, man, the soul; religion; Christianity; the Church.
B) Apologetics. — The most splendid fruit of apologetic progress has been the evolution of apologies into properly so-called apologetics, now a distinct science whose proper and exclusive object is the positive, methodical, and systematic demonstration of the rational foundations of the Catholic faith.
The creation of this science was provoked by the attacks of modern unbelief, no longer directed against one or another Catholic truth but systematically concentrated against the very bases of Catholicism. Protestantism, by proclaiming the principle of “sola et sufficiens Scriptura,” made necessary the apologetic treatise on the divine institution of the Roman Catholic Church; and by deepening the concept of our intellectual adherence to revealed truth, it obliged Catholic theologians to a more profound examination of the act of faith and its relation to reason. German rationalism, English deism, and French philosophism, denying any revealed religion and indeed the possibility, utility, and knowability of any supernatural revelation, imposed upon Christian apologists a systematic treatment of the historical fact of divine revelation, preceded by a discussion of the thesis concerning the possibility, necessity, and discernibility of revelation itself.
Already in the 18th century, the scholastic study of dogmatic theology was commonly prefaced by two treatises then generally called “Christian Demonstration” and “Catholic Demonstration,” to prove the historical existence of revelation and its preservation through the Roman Catholic Church. A great impetus to systematic and scientific apologetics was given by the Vatican Council with its definitions on divine revelation, on the relations between faith and reason, and on the Church. The ever more common institution, in theological faculties, and after the constitution *Deus scientiarum Dominus* (24 May 1931), the obligatory establishment of chairs of fundamental theology, has led to the publication of many manuals of this science. Yet even for educated laypeople, a treatment of apologetic problems was necessary—one less polemical and more positive, that is, more concerned to establish the truth than to refute error, and therefore more competent and conducted according to the norms and exigencies of modern scientific method, coordinating its theses under a single formal object, critically demonstrated and with certain proofs, independent of the adversary always presupposed by apology. As to the scope of the specific subject matter of apologetics, considered as an autonomous science, much discussion has taken place; and many apologists have preferred to sacrifice scientific unity to practical and didactic needs. The various apologetic works therefore present a variety of content. Yet they treat in a systematic and scientific way all the essential problems for demonstrating the historical fact of Christian revelation and
the divine institution of the Roman Catholic Church. To these historical demonstrations, as a matter of connection, is usually prefixed the philosophical treatment of natural religion.
II. For the first five centuries: a) Texts: Collection of patristic writings (v. ASTROLOGIA); Th. V. Otto, *Corpus Apologetarum christianorum*, I, 2nd ed., Jena 1847–72; C. J. Goossens, *Die ältesten Apologeten*, Göttingen 1914; b) Studies: Manuals of the history of ancient ecclesiastical literature (Bardenhewer, Cayré, Steidle, Altaner, Mannucci and Casamassa); E. Freppel, *Les apologistes chrétiens du IIe siècle*, Paris 1860; J. Donalsdon, *The Apologetics*, London 1866; J. Rivière, *S. Justin et les apologistes du second siècle*, Paris 1907; A. Puech, *Les apologistes grecs du IIe siècle de notre ère*, Paris 1912; I. Giordani, *La prima polemica cristiana*, 2nd ed., Brescia 1943; M. Pellegrino, *Gli apologeti greci del II secolo*, Rome 1947; id., *Studi sull’apologetica antica*, 1914.
III. For the Middle Ages: M. Steinschneider, Polemische und apologetische Literatur in arabischer Sprache zwischen Muslimen, Christen und Juden, Leipzig 1877; A. Lukyn Williams, Adversus Iudaeos, Cambridge 1935.