Whereas apologetics has often been associated with negative connotations, it is dealt with in this volume as a form of narrative self-assertion as well as a form of critical self-reflection and as an individual and a collective need to justify oneself using religious and philosophical methods. The essays focus not only on the religious aspect in self-definition but also on the structure and the assertion of one's identity as a comprehensive self-creating act of "lifting oneself into a state of consciousness". This volumes shows how the boundaries and the transition between religious apologetics and philosophical argumentation are fading and indicates that they will have to be redefined in individual cases. It also combines historical and contemporary case studies from Judaism, Christianity and Islam.