ly (personally, not through a lawyer) to the speech for the
prosecution--[Greek: kataegoria]. Sometimes defendants' speeches passed
into literature, e.g. Plato's splendid version of the _Apology_ of
Socrates. Thus, in view of persecution or slander, the Christian church
naturally produced literary "Apologies," The word has never quite lost
this connotation of standing on the defensive and rebutting criticism;
e.g. Anselm's _Apologia contra insipientem Gaunilonem_ (c. 1100); or the
Lutheran _Apology for the Augsburg Confession_ (1531); or J.H. Newman's
_Apologia pro vita sua_ (1864); or A.B. Bruce's _Apologetics; or
Christianity Defensively Stated_ (1892). Of course, defence easily
passes into counterattack, as when early apologists denounce Greek and
Roman religion. Yet the purpose may be defence even then. And there is
perhaps a reason of a deeper kind for holding Apologetics to the
defensive. Christianity is a prophetic religion. Now a prophet does not
argue; he declares what he feels to be God's will. For himself, he
rests, like the mystic, upon an immediate vision of truth; but he
differs from most mystics in having a message for others; and--again
unlike most mystics--he addresses the hearer's _conscience_, which we
might call (in one sense) the mystic element in every man--or better,
perhaps, the prophetic. Can the positive grounds for a prophet's message
be analysed and stated in terms of argument? If so, apologetics is
literally a science, and it is pedantry to claim the defensive and
pretend to throw the _onus probandi_ upon objectors. But, if not, then
apologetics is a mere auxiliary, and is only "a science" in so far as it
presents a _conscious_ and _systematic_ plea. Bruce's title, and his
programme of "succouring distressed faith," imply the latter
alternative; the moral appeal of Christianity, primary and essential;
its confirmation by argument, secondary. The view has its difficulties;
but it is hignly suggestive.

The word [Greek: apologia] is used by Origen (_Contra Cel._ ii. 65, v.
19) of the general Christian defence. But the introduction of the
adjective "apologetic" and of the substantive "apologetics" is recent.
They are serviceable as bracketing together (1) Natural Theology or
Theism, (2) Christian Evidences--chiefly "miracles" and "prophecy"; or,
on a more modern view, chiefly the character and personality of Christ.
The lower usage of Apology (as expression of regret for a fault) has
tipped man