Apologetics and Apologetic Re-Comprehension in Gustavo Bontadini

The article aims at showing the reasons that led Gustavo Bontadini to become explicitly interested in apologetics in the last phase of his thought. Moreover, it offers an account of the nature and function that he attributed to apologetics in the context of its coeval crisis in philosophical and theological thought. The article is divided into three parts: the first outlines Bontadini's understanding of the contemporary task of apologetics in the face of the fideism manifested by postconciliar Catholic theology and the debate on the dehellenization of Christianity. The second considers the nexus between apologetics and << apologetic re-comprehension >>, which qualifies Bontadini's view of apologetics and its relationship with metaphysics and Christian philosophy. In the third and concluding part, some considerations are made on the relevance and value of Bontadini's conception of apologetics while showing some critical elements concerning his proposal for the << rigorization >> of rational theology.