The task of recommending the truth claims of the Gospel by means of persuasive arguments in its favour, and of defending it against objections to it by the proffering of sound arguments, in the hope of men and women coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
An apologist is, it would follow, a person whose gift and ministry it is to accomplish such a task. At the same time the term 'Apologists' or 'Apologetes' is also given to a number of early Christian writers who—living in the 2nd Cent AD when the growing Church was encountering increasing hostilities both from Jews and pagan Gentiles—sought to defend the Christian faith from misrepresentation and attacks. The more renowned among them includes Quadratus, Justin, Titian, Theophilus, and Tertullian.
The word has its origin in the Greek, apologia, meaning "defence," such as is provided by a legal counsel on behalf of his client in a court of law.
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