Apologists are authors or speakers known for taking on the points in debates that either are placed under popular scrutinies or viewed under persecutory examinations. The term comes from the Greek word apologia, meaning a speaking in defense.
The term apologist applies especially to early Christian writers (circa 120–220AD) who recommended their faith to outsiders. Since the 1800s, the controversies over Deism, Atheism, the Enlightenment, Humanism, and theories of Feuerbach, Marx, Freud and Darwin, have spurred both Catholic and Protestant apologists to reply. The Roman Catholic G. K. Chesterton, the Anglican C. S. Lewis, the Lutheran John Warwick Montgomery, the Roman Catholic Hugo Anthony Meynell, and the Presbyterian Francis Schaeffer were among the most prolific Christian apologists in the 1900s.
In the summer of 2008, Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church Pastor David and wife Jody spent one week of Pastor David's doctoral sabbatical studying apologetics at Oxford University in England. Their dream of equipping the members of Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church with tools to defend their faith became reality in 2009 with The Defenders, a casual on-going group event open to all adults in the Coronado community.
| MEETINGS | to resume in early 2010 |
|---|---|
| CLASS SIZE | 13–16 people |
| INVITATION | open to the adult men and women in the community |
| PURPOSE | to develop confidence in explaining and defending biblical worldview to people with other perspectives |
| LEADERS | Pastor David and Jody McElrath |
| FORMAT | group discussion |
| CHILD CARE | no |
| LOCATION | Kirk House parlor |
| COST | none |
| REGISTRATION | none required |
| CONTACT | Email Jody McElrath (619) 435-5157 |