apologia 的詞源

「辯護，辯解」，1784年，拉丁形式的 apology（參見）；由J.H. Newman的 "Apologia pro Vita Sua"（1864年）普及。它保留了英語 apology 的較早意義以及希臘原意的意義，特別是教父們使用的意義。

In common Greek, apologia refers to the speech that an accused person delivered in court, rejecting the charges filed against him or her. The apologists of the second century chose this term because they wanted to show that the charges filed against Christians were unjustified and that the truths of their faith could be described and defended. An apologia was dedicated to the Roman empoeror, who certainly never read it. [Max L. Stackhouse, "Apologia," 1988]

在普通希臘語中， apologia 指的是被告在法庭上所作的演講，拒絕對他或她提出的指控。二世紀的辯護者選擇這個術語，因為他們想表明對基督徒提出的指控是不公正的，並且他們信仰的真理可以被描述和辯護。一個 apologia 是獻給羅馬皇帝的，他肯定從未閱讀過它。[Max L. Stackhouse, "Apologia," 1988]