What are "apologetics" ?? Usually a term used by Christians, what is it?

Answer 1

From the Greek word APOLOGIA. (And, no, it doesn't have anything to do with apologizing for what you believe in.) It means "a formal defense of something you believe strongly in". People come up with arguments against what you believe, and your apologetics are the reasoned responses that you give. See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologetics

Since you are Messianic, I think that Dr David Stern's Messianic Jewish Manifesto would be a good starting point for Messianic Apologetics.
http://www.messianicjewish.net/cgi-bin/webstore/quikstore.cgi?category=messianic_judaism&page=webstore.html&search=yes

Also read this web-site:
http://tnnonline.net/theonews/messianic-issues/basic-apologetics/

And also consider Dr Michael Brown's work (though he isn't as Messianic as he could be):
http://www.RealMessiah.com/

Those will give you a jumping off point. Christians will use their apologetics against you to attempt to prove that Torah is done away with, that the Church replaced Israel and all sorts of other unBiblical concepts. Likewise there are rabbinic apologetics about why Messiah has not yet come. Your beliefs are not truely yours until you can successfully give them away. You need to have your apologetics in place so that you know how to properly respond at every turn.

Now on the lighter side of things - who would have thought that there would be a Messianic Hip-Hop group that would do "Hip-Hologetics" - see:
http://www.HaZakim.com

And of course, no discussion of apologetics would be complete without mentioning the parody band ApologetiX:
http://www.ApologetiX.com/

Answer 2

The word "apologetics" comes from the Greek word "apologia," It means, "a verbal defense." It is used eight times in the New Testament: Acts 22:1; 25:16; 1 Cor. 9:3; 2 Cor. 7:11; Phil. 1;7; 2 Tim. 4:16, and 1 Pet. 3:15. But it is the last verse that is most commonly associated with Christian apologetics.

"but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence," (1 Pet. 3:15, NASB).
"Apologetics is the work of convincing people to change their views."Therefore, Christian apologetics is that branch of Christianity that deals with answering any and all critics who oppose or question the revelation of God in Christ and the Bible. It can include studying such subjects as biblical manuscript transmission, philosophy, biology, mathematics, evolution, and logic. But it can also consist of simply giving an answer to a question about Jesus or a Bible passage.

Answer 3

I've always heard this and only had an idea of what it was so I looked it up at dictionary.com

Apologetics-the branch of theology concerned with the defense or proof of Christianity.

It is pretty much irrelevant now. Very old school and just plain annoying. I heard a guy speak not too long ago who had majored in Christian apologetics and he was so off the mark on everything that we just zoned out whenever he spoke. I'm sure there are some old school, traditional Christians who will disagree. To each his own.

Answer 4

Derived from a Greek word, apologia, defined in Liddell & Scott Greek dictionary as "a speech in defence, defence"
The word appears several places in the New Testament, probably the best example to explain its relevance to Christian apologetics can be found in I Peter 3:15 (translated as 'defense', 'answer', depending on Bible version)

Answer 5

The word comes from the Greek and means to defend, to answer. Apologetics deals with defending the faith by revealing the truth.

Answer 6

Apologetics is a religious method of answering what are seemingly contradictory elements of religion. It uses knowledge of the Bible and church history to give an answer when a detractor points out a potential flaw in religious belief.

Answer 7

Apologetics is really the opposite of faith. IT is seeking to prove faith things by rational thought. Christians who would study fossils etc to seek to prove evolution is wrong would be apologists as opposed to those who says "the Bible says it, that settles it." There seems to be much value in proving what you believe from both perspectives, but faith normally has the upper hand, and if you can't prove for example "the existance of God" faith would take over and be the final evidence.

Answer 8

"Apologetic" in the noun form? I've only heard of it as the adjective, where a person is very sorry. I guess an apologetic would be someone who's constantly apologizing for things, even when it's unnecessary?

Answer 9

Apologetics are used when one answers questions concerning faith beliefs with scriptural answers;

Knowing what scriptures are appropriate to use as answers to faith-based questions.

Answer 10

As an apologist myself I think that it means a Christian who uses secular logic to defend spirtiual truth. We typically have backgrounds in biology, physics, theology of all kinds, history and archeology. We often study debate methods as well. Oh yeah you ususally have to know the Bible really good and be called to do it.