Greek Word Study | 627: defense (apologia)

1 Peter 3:15 (CSB) says, "but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you."

The Greek word for "defense" is apologia.  The Complete Word Study Dictionary says it means "to give an answer or speech in defense of oneself.  A plea, defense before a tribunal or elsewhere."  

The NIV Study Bible (1 Pt 3:15) says the word can simply mean "answer."  The ESV Study Bible (1 Pt 3:15) says it means "to provide a rationale for their faith."  The MacArthur Study Bible (1 Pt 3:15) adds, "the believer must understand what he believes and why one is a Christian, and then be able to articulate one's beliefs."  The Reformation Study Bible (1 Pt 3:15) says apologia "may suggest response to abusive or derisive inquiries from hostile people.  Such a response includes an explanation of the main points of Christianity."  The NKJV Study Bible (1 Pt 3:15) says, "Peter assumes that the Christian faith will be falsely accused. He therefore encourages Christians to have rational answers to respond to those false accusations."

The NKJV Word Study Bible says of apologia, “This is primarily a technical term referring to a legal defense against a specific charge or accusation.  Plato’s Apology gives an account of Socrates’ legal defense of himself against charges that included corrupting the young people of Athens.  Paul gave a legal defense of himself (Acts 25:16; 2 Tim 4:16) and asserted that in his legal affairs he was defending the very gospel itself (Phil 1:7; 16).  While defenses were normally oral speeches, on at least one occasion Paul defended himself in writing against charges leveled by his critics within the church at Corinth (1 Cor 9:3).”

The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology says it is a branch of theology that "attempts to render the Christian faith persuasive to the contemporary individual. For unbelievers, it is belief forming; it helps to defuse attacks upon Christianity, and to establish Christianity as credible by giving intellectual support to the explanatory value of a biblical world view. For believers, it is belief sustaining; it nurtures Christian faith by calling believers to love their Lord with their minds."