Ryszard Paciorkowski

The chapter examines the work of Ryszard Paciorkowski, one of those who continued the Warsaw tradition of total apologetics. An important area of his research concerned the ecclesiology of St Augustine, particularly its possible use in an empirical approach to the credibility of the Church. A second distinctive field was his study of extraordinary and paranormal healings, especially those associated with Lourdes. Paciorkowski employed medical and phenomenological analysis to determine whether certain cases could be explained by natural causes and whether they might function as religious signs. The chapter presents his work as an original attempt to apply empirical methods to classical apologetic questions concerning the credibility of Christianity.