Athenagoras: A Study in Second Century Christian Apologetic

102 Pages·1972·13.39 MB·English

by  Leslie W. Barnard

t8
ATHtrNAGORAS
sEStHtKruRY
IN
CHRISTIAN APOLOGETIC
I
by
Leslie
Barnard
ffi
Athenagoras, the late-second century apologht, was almost unknoztm in
chri.stiatt anti.Etity attd has not a.ttracted much a.ttention from modern
schplars.
This study examines systematically what is kno,um of Athenagoras'life,
his anrks, his background i.n Greek philosophy and in tlu bihlical and
Clvi.stian trad.ition. H'is docnines of God, of the Logos-Son, the HoIy
spirit and the Trinity are discussed as is his doctrine of creati.on and of
mon. Athenagoras'knowledge of the Church and Liturgy i's shown to be
more extensizte than has been sometimes thought. Finally his strong ernphasis
on the Christian life and his witness to the moral goodness found among
chri.stians from all classes of society are shoam to be congincing proofs of the
dffirence Christi.onity had made fut its coming into the Graeco'Roman wotld.
Dr Barnard atgues that the zsalue of Athenagoras'work lies in his sensi-
tioi.ty to the intellectual currents of his time ttich he sotqht to adaqt to the
seroice of the Christian fahh. In the contemportry dialogue with non'
Christiail faith and philosophies Atlrcnagoras'work may have something o
value to contibu.te.
Athenagoras, apologiste chr6tien de la fin du second si6cle, n'a pas
suscit6 chez les historiens modernes un int6r0t suffisant. Cette 6tude
expose en d6tail tout ce que nous connaissons sur la vie et I'ceuvre
d'Athenagoras, ainsi que sur sa place dans le cotrtexte philosophique
et dans la tradition chr6tienne otr il se situe. Son enseignement sur Dieu,
le Logos-Fils, le Saint-Esprit, la Trinit6, I'univers et I'homme es
analys€ avec soin. L'auteur prdsente une 6tude neuve sur I'Eglise et la
liturgie selon Athenagoras. Il souligne la doctrine morale de celui-ci,
appuy6e sur une exp6rience originale de la communaut6 chr6tienne.
En montrant avec quelle vivacit6 intellectuelle Athenagoras entrait
en dialogue avec les principales tendances philosophiques de son temps
I'auteur relie son 6tude i la confrontation contemporaine entre chr€tiens
et non-croyants.
Imprim€ en Fratue
TH:EOLOGIE HISTORIQUE
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR ETUDES PUBLIEES PAR LES PROFESSEURS DE THEOLOGIE
A L'INSTITUT CATHOLIQUE DE PARIS
COLLECTION FONDll:E PAR LE CARDINAL DANIll:LOU
A HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHURCH TO A.D. 325
DIRIGll:E PAR CHARLES KANNENGIESSER
C. B. Moss : DEFENDER OF THE FAITH
STUDIES IN THE ApOSTOLIC FATHERS AND THEIR BACKGROUND 18
JUSTIN MARTYR: HIS LIFE AND THOUGHT
ATHENAGORAS
A STUDY IN SECOND CENTURY
CHRISTIAN APOLOGETIC
by
LESLIE W. BARNARD
BEAUCHESNE
RUE DE RENNES, II7
PARIS
CONTENTS
Page
Abbreviations .
7
CHAPTERS:
I. Introduction: His Life. . . . . 9
2. Works. . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3· Philosophical Background . . . 37
4. Galen, Marcus Aurelius and Celsus . 53
5. Biblical and Christian Background. . 69
6. Doctrine of God. . . . . . . . 81
7· The Logos - Son . . . . . . . 93
8. The Holy Spirit and the Trinity The Angelic
Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
9. The Creation and Doctrine of Man. II5
10. Knowledge and Being. . . . 135
II. The Church and the Liturgy. 145
12. The Christian Life 163
13. Conclusion .. 177
Select Bibliography. 185
Indexes. . . . . .
Pour toute documentation sur nos publications s'adresser 191
aux Editions Beauchesne
II7, rue de Rennes - Paris-VIe.
Tous droits de traduction, de reproduction ou d'adaptation
en quelque langue et de que/que lacon que ce so it
reserves pour tous Ies pays.
© 1972, by EDITIONS BEAUCHESNE.
ABBREVIATIONS
A.C.W. Ancient Christian Writers.
B.G.U. Aegyptische Urkunden aus den Museen zu Berlin: Griech.
Urkunden.
C.A.H. Cambridge Ancient History.
C.Q. Classical Quarterly.
C.Q.R. Church Quarterly Review.
D.C.B. Dictionary of Christian Biography.
H.E. Eusebius : Ecclesiastical History.
H.T.R. Harvard Theological Review.
J.B.L. Journal of Biblical Literature.
J.E.A. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology.
J.E.H. Journal of Ecclesiastical History.
J.T.S. Journal of Theological Studies.
P.G. Migne : Patrologia series graeca.
P.L. Migne : Patrologia series latina.
RA.C. Reallexikon fiir Antike und Christentum.
RB. Revue Benedictine.
S.T. Studia Theologica.
T.Q. Theologische Quartalschrift.
T.&U. Texte und Untersuchungen.
V.C. Vigiliae Christianae.
V.T. Vetus Testamentum.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION : HIS LIFE
THE SECOND CENTURY APOLOGISTS
The second century of the Christian era saw the high water
mark of Roman provincial civilisation. Everywhere the insti
The author wishes to thank Professor Charles Kannengiesser S J tutions and culture of Graeco-Roman society were accepted
for so kindly accepting this book for inclusion in the series Thiolo and reigned supreme. The Pax Romana allowed an ease of
gie Historique. He also wishes to acknowledge a loan made by the travel which has only been rivalled by the technological
University of Leeds towards the cost of this publication. advances of the twentieth century. In the second century of
our era new cities had arisen, deserts had been reclaimed,
great buildings, temples, libraries and schools dominated the
horizon and the inhabitant of the remotest town saw sights
which would have astonished his ancestors. Wars on any great
scale no longer plagued mankind, prices were low for the
peasant and material well-being was more in evidence than
at any time before the seventeenth century. Gibbon wrote of
this period :
If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the
world, during which the condition of the human race was
most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation,
name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the
accession of Commodus. The vast extent of the Roman Empire
was governed by absolute power, under the guidance of virtue
and wisdom. The armies were restrained by the firm but
gentle hand of four successive emperors, whose characters
and authority commanded involuntary respect 1.
I. Decline and Fall 0/ the Roman Empire. Ch. 3.
10 ATHENAGORAS HIS LIFE II
Yet underneath this veneer of material well-being and out the Church in its day-to-day existence. This recognition of the
ward progress there was much anxiety. Moral insecurity secular world by the Church was fraught with great moment
was widespread as a living belief in the efficacy of the state for it foreshadowed the possibility of a future modus vivendi
deities declined. This insecurity found expression in the between Church and Empire That however was to lie in the
4.
literary remains of the period. Marcus Aurelius, an exact future. The immediate concern of the second century Apolo
contemporary of the subject of this book, viewed human life gists was to present Christianity as the crowning perfection
as beginning with stage plays and processional pomp, following of the highest ideals of the Graeco-Roman world by a skilful
with sham fights, the throwing of bones to puppies and crumbs adaptation to contemporary philosophical trends.
to fish, the futile industry of ants and the scurrying of panic The literary activity of the Apologists was but part of a
stricken mice, and finishing as puppets jerking on a string. wider literary disposition which began to pervade Greek
For the Stoic Emperor, engaged in administering a wide-flung Christianity in the earlier years of the second century. In the
Empire, the whole of waking life was little more than a dream last third of that century it had reached proportions that
and a delirium and man's activities smoke and nothingness 2. astonish the modern reader. As Goodspeed has well said :
It would be tempting to imagine that such pessimism was « The volume, variety, and vigour of this literature must be
empty rhetoric but this does not seem to have been the case. realised if we are to understand what manner of faith it was
Marcus Aurelius was in dead earnest about the human condi that was beginning to turn the Graeco-Roman world upside
tion, as were many of his contemporaries, and he does not down, for not the least of the elements of its strength was the
mince his words. Such pessimism about the human lot, held intellectual attack it was making upon paganism 5. »
against a background of immense material progress and well The writings of the Apologists are mostly in the form of
being, was bound to lead, in the minds of thoughtful persons, the speech or dialogue composed according to the rules of
to a hatred of the body and the material world and, in fact, Greek rhetoric and sometimes addressed to the reigning
we find this endemic to the culture of the period. It appears Emperor. They refute pagan slanders (atheism, i.e. denial
in many different forms in myths and fantasies and, in its of the state-gods, incest and cannibalism were the usual ones),
extreme form, in Docetism and Gnosticism. This widespread reveal the absurdities of pagan myths and defend monotheism
pessimism and insecurity was one facet of the complex situa and belief in the resurrection. They try to show that Greek
tion facing the Christian Apologists. philosophy, which rested on human reason, knew only part of
Christianity had begun as a semitic faith and its doctrines the truth whereas Christianity, as a revealed religion, knew
had at first been expressed in Jewish terms. However with the the whole truth because in Christ the Logos, the divine Reason,
spread of the faith in the Graeco-Roman world, and the influx in its entirety dwelt. The Apologists did not scruple to use
of Gentile converts into the Church, it became necessary to technical philosophic terms which were the current stock
express the Gospel in new thought forms. Within the New in-trade of educated pagans. It is however an error to believe
Testament the Johannine literature served this end 3. However that in doing this they so hellenized Christianity as to dilute
in the second century Christians began to emerge into the its central doctrines. They were first and foremost Churchmen
world and to enter into discussions with pagan philosophers,
no longer confining their activities solely to the problems of
4. W. H. C. FREND, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church
(Oxford 1965), p. 236.
2. M. Ant. 7.3; 2.17.1; 10.31. E. R. DODDS, Pagan and Christian in an 5. A History of Early Christian Literature (revised ed. Chicago 1966), p. 5.
Age 0/ Anxiety (Cambridge 1965), ch. 1 gives a brilliant account ofthis period. Goodspeed describes the first Christian centuries as «an age of writers,
3. Although it could also be understood by Jews. Contemporary scholar publishers, books, and readers to a degree that may well surprise the modem
ship has perhaps gone too far in stressing the Hebraic background of this reader and give him a new idea of the intelligence and reading interest of
literature to the exclusion of the Hellenistic. Christian circles in the second and third centuries» (op. cit., p. 6).
12 ATHENAGORAS HIS LIFE 13
and their object was to christianize hellenism, not to hellenize and unexamined pistis 9». It was part of the purpose of the
Christianity. So their first aim was the same as that of the Apologists to refute these assertions and to state a reasoned
present day missionary, viz. to defend and establish mono case for the Christian Faith. The life and contribution of
theism as the foundation of the Gospel. Without this no Athenagoras, who has a honoured place among the Apologists,
further progress would have been possible. We should not, must now concern us.
therefore, expect in their writings a full exposition of the
Christian Faith such as would be given to Christians. Their
purpose was apologetic and we cannot therefore reconstruct LIFE
from their writings, with the possible exception of Justin
Martyr, a systematic statement of their beliefs. Athenagoras, author of one of the ablest of the Greek Apo
The production of the apologetic literature had begun in the logies, was virtually unknown in Christian antiquity. He is
reign of Hadrian but reached its climax in the decade ending not noticed by Tertullian, Eusebius, Jerome, or Suidas and the
in 180. During this decade Christians were being challenged by first and almost only Patristic writer to quote him is Methodius
the prophetic movement known as Montanism which drew on of Olympus who may have been martyred in 31I. In his De
the latent apoca1ypticism of Asia and Phrygia. Moreover pagan Resurrectione Animarum against Origen there is an unmista
philosophers began to challenge Christianity on its own ground kable quotation from Athenagoras' Legatio with his name
and a few of their writings are known to us. Fronto, Marcus appended and Epiphanius and Photius also reproduce the
10
Aurelius' teacher and a famous rhetor, wrote against the Chris fragment from Methodius and recall Athenagoras' name
11.
tians in a form calculated to gain a hearing in Rome 6. Lucian However Methodius tells us nothing about the apologist
of Samosata, who had been a member of the Church, in his beyond the fact that his apology was known in the late-third
satire De morte Peregrini 11-16 (c. 170 A.D.) mocks the Chris or early fourth centuries.
tians for their love of the brethren and contempt of death. A The earliest facts about Athenagoras' life are given by Philip
little later c. 178 came Celsus' True Word (" AA'Yle~C; A6yoc;) of Side, deacon of Chrysostom (fifth century), in a fragment
which had to wait for two generations for Origen's reply in preserved, according to Dodwell12 by Nicephorus Callistus
,
his great work Contra Celsum. This hostility on the part of or some other late Greek historian :
some philosophers continued in later centuries especially
among the neo-Platonists Porphyry, Hierocles and the Empe Athenagoras was the first head of the school at Alexandria,
ror Julian. What astonished the early pagan observers was the flourishing in the times of Hadrian and Antoninus, to whom
Christians' total reliance on unproved assertion and their also he addressed his Legatio for the Christians; a man who
embraced Christianity while wearing the garb of a philosopher,
willingness to die for the indemonstrable. Galen, the great
and presiding over the academic school. He, before Celsus, was
physician and philosopher, by no means an unsympathetic
bent on writing against the Christians; and studying the divine
observer, said that they lacked phronesis, intellectual insight,
scriptures in order to carryon the contest with the greater
which was the rational basis of courage, self-control and jus
accuracy, was thus himself caught by the Holy Spirit, so that,
tice For Celsus they were the enemies of science, quacks
7. like the great Paul, from a persecutor he became a teacher of
who said that knowledge is bad for the health of the soul 8. the faith which he persecuted. Philip says that Clement, the
Later Porphyry was to repeat this protest against an irrational
«
9. Adv. Christ., fro 1.17. See further E. R. DODDS, Pagan and Christian
in an Age of Anxiety, p. 121.
6. MIN. FEL., Octavius 9.6, 31.2. 10. 37. I : 7t'le:ufLoc 7te:pl. 't'~'1 {»)."1J'I l.XO'l. xoc6&m:p tMX6lj xocl. •A 6lj'locy6p~ ..•
7. R. WALZER, Galen on Jews and Christians (Oxford 1949), pp. 14-15. II. EPIPH., Haer. 64.21; Photius Bib!. Cod. 234.
8. C. Cels. 3.75. 12. Dissertationes in Irenaeum (1689) 488; (Migne, P.G. 6.182).
14 ATHENAGORAS HIS LIFE 15
writer of the Stromata, was his pupil, and Pantaenus the pupil not place it higher than that, that Philip of Side's account of
of Clement. Pantaenus too was an Athenian, and was a Pytha its early days contains elements of historical truth. The school
gorean in his philosophy. had continued in existence until Philip's own day and he him
self had been a member and was perhaps instrumental in
Philip of Side is generally regarded as an unreliable Church effecting its transference to Side, his birthplace, during his
historian and his Christian History was severely criticized in lifetime. Certainly his information about the school could have
antiquity by Socrates and Photius 13. There are obvious and been more trustworthy than his knowledge about other periods
glaring mistakes in this passage which render it suspect. of Church history Presumably he would not have mentioned
20.
Athenagoras did not address the Legatio to Hadrian and Anto a writer so little known as Athenagoras unless he had found the
ninus but to Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, as the ascription name in Rhodon's catalogue. The philosophic, medical and
to the work shows. In any event, even assuming the ascription psychological knowledge which the apologist possessed, and
is by a later hand, which is unlikely, the reference to the deifi which he sought to harmonise with theology, would certainly
cation of Hadrian's favourite Antinous, who was drowned in be appropriate for the encyclopaedic conception of teaching
the Nile, in Leg. 30 as due to « your predecessors» clearly which was an Alexandrian tradition both in the Christian cate
excludes dating the work to Hadrian's reign. It is just possible chetical school and in the Museum and Jewish schools.
that Philip may have misread the ascription in his MS. of the There is one other small piece of evidence which supports
Legatio which read Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucian the connexion of Athenagoras with Egypt. This is found in a
Aurelius Commodus 14. Then the association of Athenagoras passage in Athenagoras' second work, De Resurrectione 12 :
with the Alexandrian catechetical school given in the passage
has also been regarded as without historical foundation 16. For instance (to make use of an illustration, that our meaning
Eusebius, it is true, in one passage traces the succession from may be clear), a man makes a house for his own use; but for
Pantaenus through Clement to Origen in opposition to the cattle and camels and other animals of which he has need he
16
tradition of Athenagoras, Clement, Pantaenus given by Philip. makes the shelter suitable for each of them; not for his own
use, if we regard the appearance only, though for that, if we
Yet elsewhere Eusebius' account suggests that Pantaenus had
look at the end he has in view, but as regards the immediate
two periods as head of the school broken by a missionary tour
object, from concern for those for whom he cares.
to the East and India, during which apparently Clement may
have taken over It is also noteworthy that Alexander of
17. It seems unlikely that Athenagoras would have mentioned a
Jerusalem, in his letter to Origen, speaks of Pantaenus and
shelter for camels in such a casual way as this, unless he was
Clement as if they were both known to Origen and had each
familiar with this animal in his everyday experience. The camel
been his master These notices show that the early succes
18. was unknown in Greece and Asia Minor but in Egypt it was
sion of the Alexandrian catechetical school is the subject of
used in the postal service and would have been a familiar sight
reasonable doubt and it is just possible, although we should
19
in the streets.
The only other source of information about Athenagoras is
13. SOCRATES, H.E. 7.27; Photius Cod. 35.
14. J. H. CREHAN, A.C.W. 23, p. 5 thinks this is a possibility. the title and inscription to the Legatio 21. The principal MS.,
15. C. C. RICHARDSON, Early Christian Fathers (London 1953), p. 290.
16. H.E. 6.6.
17. H.E. 5.10. composition probably dating from the third quarter of the second century.
IS. Eus., H.E. 6.14. This work, which was not a heretical composition, had a philosophical colou
19. There may have been an earlier tradition of Christian apologetic in ring which reminded Clement of Plato.
Alexandria before the Catechetical School came into prominence. Clement 20. J. H. CREHAN, A.C. W. 23, pp. 5-S to whom I am much indebted.
of Alexandria quotes several times from the Traditions of Matthias (Misc. 21. It is disputed whether the original MS. contained the title. J.C.T.
ii.9.45; iii.4.26; Vii.13.S2; iv.6.35 f)~ which is apparently an Egyptian OTTO, Corpus Apo!ogetarum Christianorum Saeculi Secundi (Jena IS58). Vol. 7,
16 ATHENAGORAS
HIS LIFE 17
the Arethas Codex (Parisinus Graecus 451), runs: « The lega direct use of Philo by early Christian writers seems to have been
tion (1tpeO'~e[lX) of Athenagoras of Athens, a Christian philoso confined to those associated with Alexandria.
pher concerning Christians, to the Emperors Marcus Aure
22, Dr. W. H. C. Frend has recently sought to place Athenagoras
lius Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, Armenian
in N.W. Asia, rather than in Alexandria or Athens on the
26,
and Sarmatian Victors, and, what is more, philosophers.))
grounds that the Apologist alludes to Proteus Peregrinus'
The implication of this is that Athenagoras was an Athenian and
public suicide as the crowning spectacle of the Olympic Games
a philosopher which character he retained after his conversion
in 165. Lucian's 'Proteus' in De morte Peregrini then actually
to Christianity. This confirms Philip of Side's statement that
existed and threw himself into the fire after a life of about
he embraced Christianity while wearing the garb of a philo
sixty-five years, during part of which he had been a Christian in
sopher. At what stage in his career Athenagoras came to Alexan
Palestine Lucian places him in Prusa in N. Pisidia and Dr.
27.
dria, if such he did, and the manner of his conversion, is
Frend would, on this ground, locate Athenagoras in N.W.
unknown-as is his exact position in the catechetical school
Asia. However against this is the fact that Athenagoras did
which was probably very loosely organised in his day. Clement
not compose his Legatio until between eleven and fifteen years
of Alexandria never mentions Athenagoras by name although
after the suicide which, by then, must have been widely
there are indications that he may have read his works. This
known in the Graeco-Roman world. It is quite possible that
should cause no surprise as many early Christian writers fail
Athenagoras had heard about it before he became a Christian
to mention their contemporaries
23. and, at such a distance of time, his knowledge is no proof
There is one other notice which supports the view that
that he himse1fwas living in Asia at the time of the composition
Athenagoras was associated with the Christian Platonist school
of the Legatio. Moreover if this was the case it is very strange
in Alexandria. The Alexandrian writer Boethus, according to
that he nowhere refers to the stormy outbreaks of persecution
Photius 24, dedicated his treatise 'Difficult Expressions in Plato' in that province in the years 176-180, i.e. contemporary with
to a certain Athenagoras. It seems possible that this is our apo his work, a period marking the high water-mark of the unpo
logist as elsewhere in his work Photius mentions Athenagoras
pularity of Christians in the East. Thraseas, Bishop of Eume
the apologist unmistakably and without giving him a quali
neia, was martyred at Smyrna (Eus. H.E. 5.18.13, 24.4) pro
fying title. A reasonable inference is that the dedication of the
bably in I76-177 and his fellow townsmen Gaius and Alexander
work refers to the same person. Another small pointer in the
died at Apamea as anti-Montanist martyrs (Eus. H.E. 5.16.22.)
Alexandrian direction is Athenagoras' use of the Philonic
The Jews were also involved in these outbreaks. Yet not a
terms ~veeov 1tveu(.L1X and t:XO''t'IXO't~ AOytO'(.LOU 25 in Leg. 9; word about them appears in either of Athenagoras' works
although in Leg. 1-3 he refers in a general way to the injustice
of the persecutions of Christians for the 'name'.
XIII attributes it to an eleventh century scribe. O. GEBHARDT, Texte und
As to the details of Athenagoras' life and work in Alexandria
Untersuchungen I, 3, p. 183 holds that the title was written by Baanes the
Scribe. A. HARNACK, however, in Realencyklopaedie far protestantische Theo nothing can be deduced from his two works beyond the fact
logie und Kirche (Leipzig 1896) 2, p. 208 maintains that Arethas, rather than that he opposed the charges of atheism, incest and cannibalism
Baanes, inscribed the title.
22. « 'Christian philoEOpher' sce;",~ to have been a sort of primitive Chris frequently brought against Christians and that he may have
tian honorary degree. " E. J. GOODSPEED, A History of Early Chri,tian Lite presented his apology to the Emperor(s) in person 28. His
rature (Revised ed. Chicago I966), p. 104.
23. So Origen with Clement. The fact that Athenagoras does not mention
Herac1eon the Gnostic should also occasicn no surprise. He is barely men
26. Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church (Oxford I965), pp. 273,
tioned by Irenaeus (adv. Haer. 2.4 r) or by Tertullian (adv. Val. 4) and we 285-6.
cannot be certain of his date, although the decade I70-I80 seems most likely. 27· L. BAUR, Peregrinus (genannt Proteus) in Lexikon far Theologic und
24. Bibliotheca I55. Kirche 8 (Freiburg 1936) 82.
25. De Spec. leg. 49 and De decal. 35, 175. 28. Leg. II. See further pp. 22-24.