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54-459: At times, apologetics or fundamental theology is called "general dogmatic theology," dogmatic theology proper being distinguished from it as "special dogmatic theology." In present-day use, however, apologetics is no longer treated as part of dogmatic theology but has attained the rank of an independent science, being generally regarded as the introduction to and foundation of dogmatic theology. Dogmatic theology often incorporates theological ethics ,

108-507: A Marathi-language work titled Shri-Hindu-dharma-sthapana . Narayana Rao, another Hindu apologist, wrote Svadesha-dharma-abhimani in response to Wilson. In the mid-19th century, several Hindu apologist works were written in response to John Muir 's Mataparīkṣā . These include Mata-parīkṣā-śikṣā (1839) by Somanatha of Central India , Mataparīkṣottara (1840) by Harachandra Tarkapanchanan of Calcutta , Śāstra-tattva-vinirṇaya (1844-1845) by Nilakantha Gore of Benares , and

162-513: A central fundamental truth and thus appears completely through it as borne and controlled by a certain, immediately given Principle in the very Essence of Faith." Herman Bavinck , likewise, seems to see the terms as generally synonymous, although generally considering dogmatics to be a broader science, implementing kerygmatics, or the study of the church's creeds and confessions . Bavinck will also refer to dogmatics in organic terms , considering it an outgrowth and logical material ordering of what

216-650: A critique (published later in 1861 as part of Dharmādharma-parīkṣā-patra ) by an unknown Vaishnava writer. A range of Indian philosophers, including Swami Vivekananda and Aurobindo Ghose , have written rational explanations regarding the values of the Hindu religious tradition. More modern proponents such as the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi have also tried to correlate recent developments from quantum physics and consciousness research with Hindu concepts. The late Reverend Pandurang Shastri Athavale has given

270-443: A definition of it as an organic science, one that has "an organic unity" and considers "three factors: Scripture, church, and Christian consciousness." According to Bavinck, dogmatics includes kerygmatics, or the study of the church's creeds and confessions, and thus must also consider the material ordering of its thoughts in relation to God. Within 21st century theology, Anglican theologian John Webster has worked considerably with

324-605: A more popular or pastoral approach. Some prominent modern apologists are Douglas Groothuis , Frederick Copleston , John Lennox , Walter R. Martin , Dinesh D'Souza , Douglas Wilson , Cornelius Van Til , Gordon Clark , Francis Schaeffer , Greg Bahnsen , Edward John Carnell , 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 , David Bentley Hart , Gary Habermas , Norman Geisler , Scott Hahn , RC Kunst, Trent Horn , and Jimmy Akin . Apologists in

378-560: A plethora of discourses regarding the symbolism and rational basis for many principles in the Vedic tradition . In his book The Cradle of Civilization , David Frawley, an American who has embraced the Vedic tradition, has characterized the ancient texts of the Hindu heritage as being like "pyramids of the spirit". ' Ilm al-Kalām , literally "science of discourse", usually foreshortened to kalam and sometimes called Islamic scholastic theology ,

432-545: A project of both Scripture and Lutheran Confessionalism ( Book of Concord ); Bavinck considers his project within the boundaries of the Three Forms of Unity ; and Webster was a Retrieval Theologian who drew ubiquitously from Conciliar formulae. In its broadest distinction, then, John Webster specifies thus in the Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology : ‘Dogmatics’ is often, though not exclusively, used to denote

486-543: 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

540-573: A science"), he goes on to describe dogmatics in terms of criteria, falsifiability, authority bases, and a priori versus a posteriori principles. He writes, "Dogmatics is the critical question about dogma, i.e., about the Word of God in Church proclamation, or, concretely, about the agreement of the Church proclamation done and to be done by man with the revelation attested in Holy Scripture." This

594-422: A stance against a heretical teaching. These creeds or dogmas that came out of the church councils were considered to be authoritative and binding on all Christians because the church officially affirmed them. However, Dogmatic theology as a field is not to be confused with conciliar theology or kergymatics, the former often retrieving and constructively drawing on the latter. One of the purposes of dogmatic theology

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648-449: A twofold task: an analytic-expository task, in which it attempts orderly conceptual representation of the content of the Christian gospel as it is laid out in the scriptural witness; and a polemical-apologetical task in which it explores the justification and value of Christian truth-claims." He will likewise refer to it variously as "a positive science," "ecclesiastical science," and "a critical science." The Roman Catholic Congregation for

702-645: Is "the systematic understanding of the truth content of the Christian faith," which "develop out of the essence of faith." For Johnson, there is an "organic unity" to dogmatics that develops "from one central, basic truth," i.e. the essence of faith and its primary referent, God, and thus he considers it "scientific" ( videnskabelige ). Within the Dutch Reformed tradition of Neo-Calvinism , Herman Bavinck devoted four volumes to dogmatic theology. In volume one of Reformed Dogmatics, Bavinck considers variously definitions of dogmatic theology, arriving ultimately at

756-453: Is a form of theism in which God created the universe and established rationally comprehensible moral and natural laws but no longer intervenes in human affairs. Deism is a natural religion where belief in God is based on application of reason and evidence observed in the designs and laws found in nature. The World Order of Deists maintains a web site presenting deist apologetics that demonstrate

810-474: Is a recognized rule that the method must follow the substance to be treated, and that within science different methods must be used for the different branches of science, e.g. that one must distinguish between a natural scientific and a historical scientific method ... theology requires its own method, which cannot be easily adopted from other areas of science ... No science is without assumptions, but it shows its scientific ability by correctly inventing and applying

864-407: Is an Islamic undertaking born out of the need to establish and defend the tenets of Islamic faith against skeptics and detractors. A scholar of kalam is referred to as a mutakallim (plural mutakallimūn ) as distinguished from philosophers, jurists, and scientists. Jewish apologetic literature can be traced back as far as Aristobulus of Paneas , though some discern it in the works of Demetrius

918-595: Is an integrative, holistic, and organic science that spans the breadth of ecclesial consciousness about its relationship to God as sub specie Dei : "Rather than reducing theology to a set of propositions or a historical narrative, dogmatics seeks to be a form of wisdom that explores and articulates the mystery of God’s self-revelation in Christ through the Spirit..." Of dogmatic theology as a science, in his book, Dogmatisk Metode ( Dogmatic Method ) , Hans Ording writes, It

972-1155: Is held to have given the expression its supremacy. Noel Alexandre , the Gallican theologian, possibly introduced it in the Roman Catholic Church (1693; Theologia dogmatica et moralis ). Both Roman Catholic and Protestant authorities agree that the expression was connected with the new habit of distinguishing dogmatics from Christian ethics or moral theology, e.g. Calixtus, though earlier usages conflate terms, e.g. L.F. Reinhard. The exact relationship varies in 19th century dogmatics: for example, Isaak Dorner considers ethics to be dependent on dogmatics, although separate; Hans Lassen Martensen considers them separate but interdependent, dogmatics being ethical and ethics being dogmatic; and Gisle Johnson considers ethics to be an organic outgrowth of faith and dogmatics. In another direction dogmas and dogmatic theology were also contrasted with truths of reason and natural theology . Apologetics Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία , apología , 'speaking in defense')

1026-473: Is modeled in Scripture. John Webster seems to hint at a similar distinction, often referring to 'dogmatic order,' and some distinction seems assumed when he writes that "prolegomena to systematic theology are an extension and application of the content of Christian dogmatics (Trinity, creation, fall, reconciliation, regeneration, and the rest), not a ‘pre-dogmatic’ inquiry into its possibility." Likewise, in

1080-682: Is most frequently associated with the defense of Christianity, the term is sometimes used referring to the defense of any religion in formal debate involving religion. Many apologetic books have been written in defence of the history or teachings of the Baháʼí Faith . The religion's founders wrote several books presenting proofs of their religion; among them are the Báb 's Seven Proofs and Bahá'u'lláh 's Kitáb-i-Íqán . Later Baháʼí authors wrote prominent apologetic texts, such as Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl 's The Brilliant Proof and Udo Schaefer et al.'s Making

1134-420: Is similar to earlier definitions arrived at in the nineteenth century by Danish Lutheran theologian Hans Lassen Martensen and Mediating theologian Isaak August Dorner . A unique approach is found in the dogmatics of Norwegian Lutheran theologian Gisle Johnson , who attempts to construct dogmatics after Kierkegaard as pertaining primarily to the essence of faith ( Troens Væsen) . According to Johnson, dogmatics

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1188-420: Is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their faith to outsiders were called Christian apologists . In 21st-century usage, apologetics is often identified with debates over religion and theology . The term apologetics derives from

1242-562: Is thought to have first appeared as differentiated from theologia moralis by G. Calixtus in his 1634 Epitome theologiae moralis , and appears first as a title of a book in 1659 by L.F. Reinhard ( Synopsis theologia Christianae dogmaticae ). A. M. Fairbairn holds that it was the fame of Petau which gave currency to the new coinage "dogmatic theology"; and though the same or related phrases had been used repeatedly by writers of less influence since Reinhard and Andreas Essenius , F. Buddeus ( Institutiones theol. dogmat. , 1723; Compendium , 1728)

1296-634: Is to be done to determine the specific distinctives that separate systematics from dogmatics. Primarily, the word "dogma" originates from the Greek, δόγματα, used in Acts 16:4 and 17:7 and finding early referents in the Septuagint of Esther 3:9 and Daniel 2:13. Within scholastic theology, the word took on the connotation of "a doctrine absolutely necessary to the faith," i.e. a binding ecclesiastical decree. The term "dogmatic theology" ( theologica dogmatica )

1350-405: Is to formulate and communicate doctrine that is considered essential to Christianity and which if denied would constitute heresy , although this is not its sole purpose. More precisely, "The adjective serves the cause of precision and theological differentiation." Dogmatic theology or dogmatics has variously been defined as the ecclesial science of theology, or the scientific material ordering of

1404-606: The Ancient Greek word apologia ( ἀπολογία ). In the Classical Greek legal system, the prosecution delivered the kategoria ( κατηγορία ), the accusation or charge, and the defendant replied with an apologia , the defence . The apologia was a formal speech or explanation to reply to and rebut the charges. A famous example is Socrates ' Apologia defense, as chronicled in Plato's Apology . In

1458-535: The Catholic Church include Bishop Robert Barron , G. K. Chesterton , Dr. Scott Hahn , Trent Horn, Jimmy Akin , Patrick Madrid , Kenneth Hensley, Karl Keating , Ronald Knox , and Peter Kreeft . John Henry Newman (1801–1890) was an English convert to Roman Catholicism , later made a cardinal , and beatified in 2010. In early life he was a major figure in the Oxford Movement to bring

1512-619: 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 , cosmological , and teleological arguments . The Christian presuppositionalist approach to apologetics uses

1566-589: The Koine Greek "treis Hypostaseis , Homoousios "), and the terms Vetus Testamentum ( Old Testament ) and Novum Testamentum ( New Testament ). There are Latter-day Saint apologists who focus on the defense of Mormonism , including early church leaders, such as Parley P. Pratt , 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

1620-706: The Koine Greek of the New Testament , the Apostle Paul employs the term apologia in his trial speech to Festus and Agrippa when he says "I make my defense" in Acts 26 :2. A cognate form appears in Paul's Letter to the Philippians as he is "defending the gospel" in Philippians 1:7, and in "giving an answer" in 1 Peter 3:15. Although the term apologetics has Western, primarily Christian origins and

1674-410: The prefaces and dedications , which proceed many Early Modern plays, novels, and poems. Eighteenth century authors such as Colley Cibber , Frances Burney , and William Congreve , to name but a few, prefaced the majority of their poetic work with such apologies. In addition to the desire to defend their work, the apologetic preface often suggests the author's attempt to humble his- or herself before

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1728-579: The transcendental argument for the existence of God . Tertullian was an early 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 ( Latin : trinitas ) to the Christian vocabulary and probably the formula "three Persons, one Substance" as the Latin "tres Personae , una Substantia " (from

1782-880: The Apostle , Justin Martyr , Irenaeus , and others often defended Christianity against charges that were brought to justify persecution. 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

1836-715: The Bible include the Apostle Paul's address to the Athenians in the Areopagus ( Acts 17: 22-34 ). J. David Cassel gives several examples: Tacitus wrote that Nero fabricated charges that Christians started the burning of Rome . Other charges included 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

1890-548: 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. Deism

1944-698: The Crooked Straight . One of the earliest Buddhist apologetic texts is The Questions of King Milinda , which deals with the Buddhist metaphysics such as the "no-self" nature of the individual and characteristics such as wisdom, perception, volition, feeling, consciousness and the soul. In the Meiji Era (1868-1912), encounters between Buddhists and Christians in Japan as a result of increasing contact between Japan and other nations may have prompted

1998-528: The Doctrine of the Faith is charged with ensuring fidelity to Catholic teaching regarding theology and doctrine among all members of the Church – especially in disputes or unsolved issues involving theology and the faith, and in dealing with individuals (especially clergy, religious, and catechists, where orthodoxy is a special concern, but also laypeople) whose teachings or statements have been judged erroneous at

2052-666: The Lutheran headquarters in Halle , and 99 letters written by the Hindu priests to him (later translated into German under the title Malabarische Korrespondenz from 1718 onwards). During 1830–1831, missionary John Wilson engaged in debates with Hindu apologists in Bombay . In 1830, his protege Ram Chandra, a Hindu convert to Christianity, debated with several Hindu Brahmin apologists in public. Hindu pandit Morobhatt Dandekar summarized his arguments from his 1831 debate with Wilson in

2106-537: The Positives and the Antithetical Calvinists. The Seceders were largely infralapsarian and the neo-Calvinists usually supralapsarian . Kuyper wanted to awaken the church from what he viewed as its pietistic slumber. He declared: No single piece of our mental world is to be sealed off from the rest and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who

2160-686: The World Pantheist Movement and the Universal Pantheist Society to promote and defend the belief in pantheism . In a famous speech called "Red Jacket on Religion for the White Man and the Red" in 1805, Seneca chief Red Jacket gave an apologetic for Native American religion. Plato's Apology may be read as both a religious and literary apology; however, more specifically literary examples may be found in

2214-449: The assumptions that are valid for the area to be treated ... Theology has generally demanded recognition as a science, also when it comes to dogmatics. Neo-orthodox theologian Karl Barth defined dogmatic theology as the scientific exposition of the entire theoretical doctrine concerning God and God's external activity. Describing theology in general as a "scientific" ( wissenschaftlich ) discipline ("theology has no reason not to call itself

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2268-551: The audience. Neo-Calvinism Neo-Calvinism , a form of Dutch Calvinism , is a theological movement initiated by the theologian and former Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper in the first years of the twentieth century. James Bratt has identified a number of different types of Dutch Calvinism: The Seceders, split into the Reformed Church "West" and the Confessionalists; the neo-Calvinists; and

2322-617: The chronographer (3rd century BCE) traces of the style of "questions" and "solutions" typical of the genre. Aristobulus was a Jewish philosopher of Alexandria and the author of an apologetic work addressed to Ptolemy VI Philometor . Josephus 's Contra Apion is a wide-ranging defense of Judaism against many charges laid against Judaism at that time, as too are some of the works of Philo of Alexandria . In response to modern Christian missionaries, and congregations that "are designed to appear Jewish, but are actually fundamentalist Christian churches, which use traditional Jewish symbols to lure

2376-735: The church's thoughts concerning God and all things in relation to God. This falls within theology's broader claim to be the Queen of the Sciences , a claim developed and popularized by Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologiae but found as early as Clement of Alexandria in his 2nd century Stromata . Generally speaking, dogmatic theology emphasizes the importance of propositional truth over experiential, sensory perceptions, although may also integrate such components into its system. As such, as opposed to mere propositional abstraction, dogmatics

2430-491: The concept of dogmatic theology within his project of reclaiming a "theological theology," considering it as an exercise in the ordering of the Church's doctrine in relation to God and Scripture: a scientific exercise in logical location based on assumed principles. Although in one place Webster writes in consistency with Barth, "Christian dogmatics has a double theme: God in himself and the outer works of God, theology proper and economy," he will elsewhere specify that "Dogmatics has

2484-416: The deciphering and preservation of Sanskrit . Many translations of Hindu texts were produced which made them accessible to a broader reading audience. In the early 18th century, Christian missionary Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg engaged in dialogues with several Tamil -speaking Malabarian Hindu priests, and recorded arguments of these Hindu apologists. These records include German-language reports submitted to

2538-558: The existence of God based on evidence and reason, absent divine revelation. Hindu apologetics began developing during the British colonial period. A number of Indian intellectuals had become critical of the British tendency to devalue the Hindu religious tradition. As a result, these Indian intellectuals, as well as a handful of British Indologists , were galvanized to examine the roots of the religion as well as to study its vast arcana and corpus in an analytical fashion. This endeavor drove

2592-657: The formation of Japanese New Buddhism , including the apologetic Shin Bukkyō ( 新仏教 ) magazine. In recent times, A. L. De Silva, an Australian convert to Buddhism , has written a book, Beyond Belief , providing Buddhist apologetic responses and a critique of Christian Fundamentalist doctrine. Gunapala Dharmasiri wrote an apologetic critique of the Christian concept of God from a Theravadin Buddhist perspective. Christian apologetics combines Christian theology , natural theology , and philosophy in an attempt to present

2646-502: The latter being either distributed along with or derived from it. The term dogmatic theology became more widely used following the Protestant Reformation and was used to designate the articles of faith that the Church had officially formulated. An example of dogmatic theology is the doctrinal statements or dogmas that were formulated by the early church councils who sought to resolve theological problems and to take

2700-486: The local level. In 1989, the Congregation's International Theological Commission prepared a document on doctrinal theology called "The Interpretation of Dogma." This happened when Pope Benedict XVI was Prefect of the Congregation and thus President of the commission. There is some debate as to whether or not dogmatic theology is distinct from systematic theology as a discipline. Much literature seems to implement

2754-516: The most vulnerable of our Jewish people into their ranks", Jews for Judaism is the largest counter-missionary organization in existence, today. Kiruv Organization (Mizrachi) , founded by Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi, and Outreach Judaism, founded by Rabbi Tovia Singer , are other prominent international organizations that respond "directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults, by exploring Judaism in contradistinction to fundamentalist Christianity." Some pantheists have formed organizations such as

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2808-404: The rather more determinate study and exposition of dogma, that is, of authorized church teaching . . . ‘Systematic theology’, on the other hand, is broader in compass than dogmatics, if the latter is taken to be concerned with teaching which has acquired ecclesial definition and approval, since systematic theology occupies itself more generally with Christian claims about reality. However, more work

2862-419: The same article, Webster will warn against overly segregated approaches to systematic theology that consider it as merely asynchronously reorganizing biblical content. All three theologians view dogmatic theology as something happening distinctly within their individual ecclesial realms (Lutheran, Reformed, and Anglican), as opposed to systematic theology as a more abstract science: Johnson will view his work as

2916-528: The terms synonymously, e.g. John Webster in his "Principles of Systematic Theology." Gisle Johnson 's work Grundrids af den Systematiske Theologi ( Foundations of Systematic Theology ) is self-described as both a systematic theology and a dogmatic theology containing separate sections on faith and dogmatics. Yet Johnson considers dogmatics to be contained within, yet distinct from, systematics, an ordering of truth from faith commitments. According to Johnson, dogmatics "unfolds with inner necessity step-by-step from

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