In Defence of Christianity: Early Christian Apologists

281 Pages·2014·5.76 MB·English

by  Jakob Engberg

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A EARLY CHRISTIANITY
In Defence of Christianity examines the early Christian apologists in their context in C
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thirteen articles divided in four parts. Part I provides an introduction to apology and
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apologetics in antiquity, an overview of the early Christian apologists, and an outline IN THE CONTEXT
of their argumentation. The nine articles of Part II each cover one of the early apolo-
gists: Aristides, Justin, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, the author of the Letter to
OF ANTIQUITY
Diognetus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Minucius Felix. Part III contextualises
the apologists by providing an English translation of contemporary pagan criticism of
Christianity and by discussing this critique. Part IV consists of a single article discussing y
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how Eusebius depicted and used the apologists in his Ecclesiastical History. ni
a Edited by David Brakke, Anders-Christian Jacobsen, Jörg Ulrich
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Jakob Engberg is Associate Professor of Church History at the Department of Culture b
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and Society at Aarhus University (Denmark). n
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Anders-Christian Jacobsen is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the De- b
partment of Culture and Society at Aarhus University (Denmark). o
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Jörg Ulrich is Professor of Church History at the Faculty of Theology at the University Ja 15
of Halle-Wittenberg (Germany).
ISBN 978-3-631-62383-1
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In Defence of Christianity
EARLY CHRISTIANITY
IN THE CONTEXT
OF ANTIQUITY

Edited by David Brakke,
Anders-Christian Jacobsen,
Jörg Ulrich

Advisory board:
Hanns Christof Brennecke, Ferdinand R. Prostmeier
Einar Thomassen, Nicole Kelley
Jakob Engberg, Carmen Cvetkovic
Ellen Muehlberger, Tobias Georges

Volume 15

Zu Qualitätssicherung und Peer Review Notes on the quality assurance and
der vorliegenden Publikation peer review of this publication

Die Qualität der in dieser Reihe Prior to publication, the quality
erscheinenden Arbeiten wird vor der of the work published in this
Publikation durch die Herausgeber der series is reviewed by the editors
Reihe sowie durch Mitglieder des of the series and by members of
Wissenschaftlichen Beirates geprüft. the academic advisory board.
Jakob Engberg/Anders-Christian Jacobsen/
Jörg Ulrich (eds.)

In Defence of Christianity
Early Christian Apologists
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the
Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available
in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

In defence of Christianity : early Christian apologists / Jakob Engberg,
Anders-Christian Jacobsen, Jörg Ulrich (eds.). —1 [edition].
pages cm. — (Early Christianity in the context of antiquity,
ISSN 1862-197X ; Volume 15)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-3-631-62383-1
1. Apologetics—History—Early church, ca. 30–600.
I. Engberg, Jakob, 1971– editor of compilation.
BT1115.I5 2014
239'.1—dc23
2014017237

Translated by Gavin Weakley
from J. Engberg/A.-C. Jacobsen/J. Ulrich (eds.),
Til forsvar for kristendommen – tidlige kristne apologeter,
København 2006.

ISSN 1862-197X
ISBN 978-3-631-62383-1 (Print)
E-ISBN 978-3-653-04643-4 (E-Book)
DOI 10.3726/ 978-3-653-04643-4
© Peter Lang GmbH
Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Frankfurt am Main 2014
All rights reserved.
Peter Lang Edition is an Imprint of Peter Lang GmbH.
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This publication has been peer reviewed.
www.peterlang.com
Table of Contents
Apology in Context
Jakob Engberg / Anders-Christian Jacobsen / Jörg Ulrich VII
Part I: Introduction
Apologists and apologetics in the second century
Jörg Ulrich 1
Part II: The early Christian apologists
Aristides
Nils Arne Pedersen 35
Justin Martyr
Jörg Ulrich 51
Tatian
René Falkenberg 67
Athenagoras
Anders-Christian Jacobsen 81
Theophilus
Jakob Engberg 101
Heaven-borne in the World:
Α Study of the Letter to Diognetus
Anders Klostergaard Petersen 125
Clement of Alexandria
Paganism and its positive significance for Christianity
Jesper Hyldahl 139
Tertullian
Niels Willert 159
Minucius Felix, Octavius
Svend Erik Mathiassen 185
Part III: Contemporary Greco-Roman authors
regarding Christians and Christianity
Condemnation, criticism and consternation
Contemporary pagan authors‘ assessment
of Christians and Christianity
Jakob Engberg 201
VI Table of Contents
The other Side of the Debate 2
Translation of Second Century
pagan Authors on Christians and Christianity
Jakob Engberg / Patrick M. Fritz / Robert B.N. Hansen / John Møller Larsen 229
Part IV: Eusebius‘ use of the early apologists in the Ecclesiastical History
The defenders of Christianity in the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius
Marie Verdoner 239
Bibliography ＲＵＳ
Apology in Context
The current volume is a translation of an anthology published in Danish and
presents some of the fruits of the collective research project at Aarhus Univer-
sity, Jews, Christians and pagans in antiquity – Critique and apologetics.1 The editors
wish to thank Gavin Weakley for the translation from Danish into English.
They also express their gratitude to Beate Gienke and Nicholas Alexander
Marshall who took care of all the matters of the volume´s completion, including
the layout. The project Jews, Christians and pagans in antiquity – Critique and apolo-
getics investigated the debate between various religious and cultural groups in
antiquity. This exchange involved harsh criticism and heated defence as well as
the conscious or unconscious adoption of those positions and arguments taken
and used by other groups. The apologetic works from the second and early
third century which are presented and analysed in this anthology were central
in the interaction between Christians and pagans and, to a lesser extent, Jews.
The volume contains, apart from this preface, thirteen articles in four parts.
Part I: Introduction
In part I, consisting of one long article, Jörg Ulrich provide an introduction to
the concepts of apology and apologetics in antiquity, an overview of the ear-
ly Christian apologists and their works, and a presentation of their primary
lines of thought and argument. Ulrich highlights the insecure legal position of
Christians, the contemporary religious diversity, and the contemporary philo-
sophical debate and polemic as some of the key reasons for the rise of Christian
apologetic literature. Ulrich shows that later ages (particularly in Protestant
Europe) have often judged the apologists quite negatively. Their writings have
been viewed as ideologically uninteresting because they only touch minorly on
key theological issues, and their aim of defending Christianity in the language
of the world of their day has been seen as illegitimate. Ulrich argues that the
renewed research interest in the apologists, represented by the research project
Jews, Christians and pagans in antiquity – Critique and apologetics, should result in
the realisation that some of the problems addressed by the apologists have the-
ological and social relevance today as the church in Europe again finds itself in
a religious and culturally pluralistic society.
Part II: The early Christian apologists
Part II is the main section of the volume and comprises nine articles – each
covering one of the early Christian apologetic works. The articles are pre-
sented in roughly chronological order.
1 J. Engberg / A.-C. Jacobsen / J. Ulrich (eds.), Til forsvar for kristendommen – tidlige kristne apo-
logeter, Copenhagen 2006.
VIII Jakob Engberg / Anders-Christian Jacobsen / Jörg Ulrich
In the first article, Nils Arne Pedersen analyses the oldest surviving Christian
apology by Aristides. Through his analysis of this small apology addressed to the
Emperor, Pedersen shows that from the beginning, Christian apologetics sought
to promote Christianity and not just defend it. Aristides compares, the Christian
way of life and divine worship with that of the Greeks, barbarians and Jews. The
depiction of the Jewish way of life and divine worship is relatively positive, but
Christians are presented as being superior on all points. The apology has a com-
plicated reception history, as it has had both indirect and direct influence on later
ancient and medieval literature in regions as far apart as India and Scandinavia.
Pedersen clearly identifies these fascinating traces from the past to the present.
In the second article, Jörg Ulrich analyses the preserved parts of Justin Mar-
tyr‘s apologetic works, comprising two apologies and a philosophical dialogue.
Justin also wrote other apologetic works, including Address to the Greeks, which
have not been preserved. Justin is described as the most important early Greek
apologist, and Ulrich manages to skilfully explain and focus on the points of
originality in his thinking, theology, Christology, and ethics, while also placing
him in a contemporary philosophical and theological context. Justin Martyr‘s
writings reveal that he had received a philosophical education prior to his con-
version – an education which Ulrich shows he uses actively in his works.
Tatian was a student of Justin Martyr, and like his tutor he also wrote an Ad-
dress to the Greeks – an evangelistic apologetic work addressed to a pagan public.
Tatian‘s work is therefore the earliest preserved example of this type of apologet-
ic work. In the third article, René Falkenberg analyses this work and concludes
that Tatian clearly had great religious and philosophical experience, and was
therefore able to present Christianity using arguments and concepts familiar to
educated outsiders. Falkenberg also discusses Tatian‘s person and personality,
which he characterises as unyielding. Falkenberg suggests that this intransi-
gence may have been one of the reasons that Tatian was regarded and judged by
his Western contemporaries and successors, such as Ireneus, as a heretic.
In the fourth article by Anders-Christian Jacobsen we return to an apol-
ogy addressed to an emperor. Despite the superficial literary similarity with
the apologies of Aristides and Justin, Jacobsen shows that Athenagoras chose
a more ambitious literary form than his predecessors in his apology – a form
which may reflect increasing Christian self-awareness. Jacobsen raises two
questions which are much debated by scholars studying Athenagoras. The first
is whether Athenagoras had a deep or only superficial knowledge of philoso-
phy. The second is whether the work really was submitted to the Emperor, or
whether the address was purely a literary convention. Jacobsen concludes that
Athenagoras was deeply familiar with parts of Plato‘s philosophy and aware of
the contemporary middle Platonism of his day. In terms of the address, Jacob-
sen argues that the work was directed to the Emperor, but that Athenagoras
also had other readers in mind whom he wished to influence.
Theophilus’ three books To Autolycus are the first examples of apologetic
works addressed to a pagan acquaintance. Luke‘s writings dedicated to a per-
Apology in Context IX
son by the same name were clearly known to Theophilus the apologist, who
therefore viewed himself as part of a tradition. Jakob Engberg argues that the
books were evangelistic in relation to the reader, the addressee, Autolycus, and
other non-Christians, but also suggests that Christians would have been able to
find arguments within the works to use in conversation with outsiders. Others
have argued that the books drew on existing catechetical material. Drawing
on this theory, Engberg claims that recently converted Christians may have
used the books. Theophilus actively refers to his own conversion in his com-
munication with the addressee and other intended or actual readers. Engberg
argues that Theophilus uses these references to make his apologetic arguments
credible, as well as to promote identification between himself, as an author
and convert, and the reader. Theophilus‘ example is intended to motivate the
non-Christian reader to be converted, and to confirm the recently converted
reader in the significance of their own conversion.
The sixth article covers a small apologetic work addressed to a pagan col-
league, Diognetus, by an author unknown to us today. In this article, Anders
Klostergaard Petersen recounts the unique survival of this work, from the time
it was purchased at a fish market in Constantinople in 1436, after centuries of
neglect, until it was burnt during the German bombardment of Strasbourg in
1870. Anders Klostergaard Petersen takes us closer to the anonymous author
via the work by demonstrating his rhetorical schooling and the position he and
Diognetus enjoyed in the educated upper social echelon of the Greco-Roman
world. Petersen shows that the author defends Christians against a number of
accusations ranging from promiscuity to political subversiveness and ungod-
liness. The article classifies the genre of the Letter to Diognetus as a protreptic
speech with evangelistic aims. Petersen introduces a model for apologetic lit-
erature ranging from apologetics as a form of consciousness to more formal
apologies, and classifies the Letter to Diognetus as an apologetic work.
Jesper Hyldahl has written the seventh article, which analyses one of the
major early Christian authors, Clement of Alexandria. Hyldahl notes that
Clement is rarely analysed in the context of the apologists, and therefore
discusses whether Clement can be seen as an apologist. Hyldahl concludes,
pointing among other things to Clement’s primary intention, that his works
cannot be classified as belonging to an apologetic genre in a narrow sense,
but notes that they contain a number of traditional apologetic themes. Rather
than defending Christianity from the accusations of the outside world, Clem-
ent strived to demonstrate that Greek education and philosophy had value,
as it could lead a person to Christ. Despite this difference of intent, Hyldahl
offers two reasons which demonstrate convincingly that it is fruitful to ana-
lyse Clement‘s works as apologetic writings, comparable to other apologetic
writings. Firstly, Clement expounds a positive view of philosophy, as was
already evident in the classic apologist, Justin Martyr. Secondly, Clement has
an evangelising and edifying purpose in his writings – a purpose which cor-
responds to many of the other apologists.