Editing Apologetics (section)

===Christianity===
{{Main article|Christian apologetics}}
[[File:Shield-Trinity-Scutum-Fidei-English.svg|thumb|260px|The [[Shield of the Trinity]], a diagram frequently used by [[Christianity|Christian]] apologists to explain the [[Trinity]]]]

Christian apologetics combines [[Christian theology]], [[natural theology]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/theo-nat/ | title=Natural Theology | publisher=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy | access-date=10 March 2015 | author=Brent, James}}</ref> and [[philosophy]] in an attempt to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, to defend the faith against objections and misrepresentation, and to show that the Christian doctrine is the only world-view that is faultless and consistent with all fundamental knowledge and questions.

Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries. In the [[Roman Empire]], Christians were severely persecuted, and many charges were brought against them. Examples in the Bible include the Apostle Paul's address to the Athenians in the [[Areopagus]] ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2017%3A22-34&version=NIV Acts 17: 22-34]). J. David Cassel<ref>J. David Cassel. "Defending the Cannibals: How Christians responded to the sometimes strange accusations of their critics." {{cite web|url=http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1998/issue57/57h012.html |title=Defending the Cannibals |access-date=2012-09-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821133320/http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1998/issue57/57h012.html |archive-date=2011-08-21 }}</ref> gives several examples: [[Tacitus]] wrote that [[Nero]] fabricated charges that Christians started the [[Great Fire of Rome|burning of Rome]].<ref>Tacitus, Annals XV.44</ref> Other charges included [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]] (due to a literal interpretation of the [[Eucharist]]) and [[incest]] (due to early Christians' practice of addressing each other as "brother" and "sister"). [[Paul the Apostle]], [[Justin Martyr]], [[Irenaeus]], and others often defended Christianity against charges that were brought to justify persecution.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/why-early-christians-were-despised-11629610.html|title=Why Early Christians Were Despised|website=Christianity Today (Church history timeline).|access-date=21 September 2016}}</ref>

Later apologists have focused on providing reasons to accept various aspects of Christian belief. Christian apologists of many traditions, in common with Jews, Muslims, and some others, argue for the existence of a unique and personal God. [[Theodicy]] is one important aspect of such arguments, and [[Alvin Plantinga]]'s arguments have been highly influential in this area. Many prominent Christian apologists are scholarly philosophers or theologians, frequently with additional doctoral work in [[physics]], [[cosmology]], [[comparative religions]], and other fields. Others take a more popular or pastoral approach. Some prominent modern apologists are [[Douglas Groothuis]], [[Frederick Copleston]], [[John Lennox]], [[Walter Ralston Martin|Walter R. Martin]], [[Dinesh D'Souza]], [[Douglas Wilson (theologian)|Douglas Wilson]], [[Cornelius Van Til]], [[Gordon Clark]], [[Francis Schaeffer]], [[Greg Bahnsen]], [[Edward John Carnell]], [[James White (theologian)|James White]], [[R. C. Sproul]], [[Hank Hanegraaff]], [[Alister McGrath]], [[Lee Strobel]], [[Josh McDowell]], [[Peter Kreeft]], [[G. K. Chesterton]], [[William Lane Craig]], [[J. P. Moreland]], [[Hugh Ross (creationist)|Hugh Ross]], [[David Bentley Hart]], [[Gary Habermas]], [[Norman Geisler]], [[Scott Hahn]], RC Kunst, [[Trent Horn]], and [[Jimmy Akin]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0088.html/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718093548/http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0088.html/|url-status=dead|title=Catholic Education Resource Center: ''The Scott Hahn Conversion Story''|archive-date=July 18, 2012}}</ref>

Apologists in the [[Catholic Church]] include [[Robert Barron (bishop)|Bishop Robert Barron]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wordonfire.org/about/fr-robert-barron/|title=Fr. Robert Barron |access-date=2015-02-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208104703/http://www.wordonfire.org/about/fr-robert-barron/|archive-date=2015-02-08|url-status=dead |website=wordonfire.org}}</ref> [[G. K. Chesterton]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Everlasting Man|last=Chesterton|first=G K|publisher=Wilder Publications|year=2008|isbn=978-1604592467|location=Radford|page=180}}</ref> [[Scott Hahn|Dr. Scott Hahn]], Trent Horn, [[Jimmy Akin]], [[Patrick Madrid]], Kenneth Hensley,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catholicapologeticsacademy.com/faculty/kenneth-hensley/|title=Kenneth Hensley}}</ref> [[Karl Keating]], [[Ronald Knox]], and [[Peter Kreeft]].

[[John Henry Newman]] (1801–1890) was an English convert to [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]], later made a [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]], and [[beatified]] in 2010. In early life, he was a major figure in the [[Oxford Movement]] to bring the [[Church of England]] back to its Catholic roots.  Eventually his studies in history persuaded him to become a Roman Catholic. When John Henry Newman entitled his spiritual autobiography ''[[Apologia Pro Vita Sua]]'' in 1864, he was playing upon both this connotation, and the more commonly understood meaning of an expression of contrition or regret.

Christian apologists employ a variety of philosophical and formal approaches, including [[Ontological argument|ontological]], [[Cosmological argument|cosmological]], and [[teleological argument]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bethinking.org/apologetics/an-introduction-to-christian-apologetics?Strongs=G627|title=An Introduction to Christian Apologetics|last=Coulter|first=Paul|date=2011-05-10|website=Bethinking|access-date=21 September 2016}}</ref> The Christian presuppositionalist approach to apologetics uses the [[transcendental argument for the existence of God]].<ref>Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief. John Frame-Joseph Torres - P&R Publishing - 2015 p. 67f</ref>

[[Tertullian]] was an early [[Christianity|Christian]] apologist. He was born, lived, and died in [[Carthage]]. He is sometimes known as the "Father of the [[Latin Church]]". He introduced the term ''[[Trinity]]'' ({{Langx|la|trinitas}}) to the Christian vocabulary<ref>''A History of Christian Thought'', [[Paul Tillich]], Touchstone Books, 1972. {{ISBN|0-671-21426-8}} (p. 43)</ref> and probably{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} the formula "three Persons, one Substance" as the Latin "tres [[Persona]]e, [[Consubstantial|una Substantia]]" (from the [[Koine Greek]] "treis [[Hypostasis (religion)|Hypostaseis]], [[Ousios|Homoousios]]"), and the terms ''Vetus Testamentum'' ([[Old Testament]]) and ''Novum Testamentum'' ([[New Testament]]).

====The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints====
{{further|Mormon studies#Apologetics}}
There are Latter-day Saint apologists who focus on the defense of [[Mormonism]], including early church leaders, such as [[Parley P. Pratt]], [[John Taylor (1808-1887)|John Taylor]], [[B. H. Roberts]], and [[James E. Talmage]], and modern figures, such as [[Hugh Nibley]], [[Daniel C. Peterson]], [[John L. Sorenson]], [[John Gee]], [[Orson Scott Card]], and Jeff Lindsay.

Several well known apologetic organizations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, such as the [[Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies]] (a group of scholars at [[Brigham Young University]]) and [[FairMormon]] (an independent, not-for-profit group run by Latter Day Saints), have been formed to defend the doctrines and history of the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] in general and the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] in particular.