Christian apologetics (Greek: ἀπολογία, "verbal defence, speech in defence") is a field of Christian theology that presents historical, reasoned, and evidential bases for Christianity, defending it against objections.
Christian apologetics have taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in the early church and Patristic writers such as Origen, Augustine of Hippo, Justin Martyr and Tertullian, then continuing with writers such as Thomas Aquinas and Anselm of Canterbury during Scholasticism. Blaise Pascal was an active Christian apologist before the Age of Enlightenment, and in the modern period Christianity was defended through the efforts of many authors such as G. K. Chesterton and C. S. Lewis. In contemporary times Christianity is defended through the work of figures such as Richard Swinburne, J. P. Moreland, Ravi Zacharias, Robert Hutchinson, John Lennox, Doug Wilson, Lee Strobel, Francis Collins, Hugh Ross, Henry M. Morris, Alister McGrath, Ken Ham, Alvin Plantinga, Frank Turek and William Lane Craig. Beyond Europe and North America Christian apologetics is less popular and not so widely publicized.