Ecclesiastical writer
fl. c. 175 · 2nd c. · 2 works
Athenagoras of Athens (flourished c. 175) was a Greek Christian philosopher and apologist about whose life almost nothing certain is known. He identified himself as "Athenagoras, the Athenian, philosopher and Christian," and early tradition holds that he was an Athenian trained in Greek philosophy, particularly Platonism, who converted to Christianity. Some later, less reliable accounts associate him with the catechetical school at Alexandria. He is notably absent from the major early church historians such as Eusebius and Jerome, and survives largely through his own two writings.
His principal work, the Presbeia peri Christianon, known in Latin as the Legatio pro Christianis and in English as the "Plea" or "Embassy for the Christians," was composed around 176-177 and addressed to the emperors Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus. Cast as a formal petition to philosopher-rulers, it asks that Christians be judged on evidence of actual crimes rather than condemned for the mere name. Athenagoras systematically answers three standing accusations against Christians: atheism, ritual cannibalism (the so-called Thyestean banquets), and incest (Oedipal unions).
Against the charge of atheism he set out a reasoned argument for the unity of one eternal God, supplemented by an early exposition of the Trinity, while quoting pagan poets and philosophers to expose the absurdity of idol worship. He countered the charge of cannibalism by pointing to the Christian reverence for human life, including their opposition to abortion and to the gladiatorial games, and met the charge of incest with the Christian ideal of purity and the sanctity of marriage. His later treatise, On the Resurrection of the Dead, defends the bodily resurrection on philosophical grounds and is regarded as the first complete exposition of that doctrine in Christian literature.
Athenagoras stands out among the second-century apologists for the clarity, restraint, and philosophical sophistication of his reasoning, addressing his pagan rulers on their own intellectual terms. His writings survive in a single manuscript, and he was little quoted in antiquity, with Methodius of Olympus among the earliest to draw on the Embassy. Modern scholars generally rank the quality of his work above that of his contemporary apologists, valuing him as a model of reasoned, irenic Christian argument engaging Greek thought.
Sources: Encyclopædia Britannica — Athenagoras · Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent) — Athenagoras · Encyclopedia.com — Athenagoras