ABSTRACT
In response to the persecution of Christians and the development of factions within Christianity, “apologists” emerged in the second century. Apologists, from the Greek word for defense in a court of law, attempted to defend what they took to be the true faith. Offering a defense of the faith was not new to Christianity. Even in the earliest writings of the New Testament, there are clear indications that the first disciples of Jesus (such as Peter) and later church leaders (including the Apostle Paul) spent much time “defending,” “contending,” and “persuading” others to believe that Christianity was the true and right view of God and salvation (e.g. 1 Peter 3:15; Acts 17:2-4; 19:8; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Philippians
1:7, 27; Jude 3). In response to the conditions of the mid-second century, however, apologetics took on new fervor.
