Like Justin, Athenagoras defends Christians against the incest and cannibalism slanders. He also uses pagan sources to point toward Christian truth. What do you see in this work that might have been especially helpful in drawing educated pagans toward Christianity, or at least in making them more tolerant of Christians?
Athenagora's plea is for Christians to stand fair trial and not be persecuted for their name's sake. He insists that Christians of the time followed the doctrines that, when followed, make it nearly impossible to break the law. Good Christian citizens should respect their government and commit to functioning as a citizen.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it would be hard to tell a bunch of pagans they are falsley worshiping wood and clay. Athenagoras does a great job in differentiating what it means to believe in one God. This is a great leap in one step, and Athenagoras nails it when he says there is a great interval between Creator and creation. He goes so far to say that Christians do not worship the universe.
I think a lot of what Athenagoras has to say would upset the pagans. He says Thales and Plato point to Intellegence or Virtue would be something like what a Christians call God.
In poetry the Greeks draw up great themes. Euripides asks what orders tediousness and Aristotle is content to have feed for his livestock. Woe to the man who doesn't know why he's awake, happy is the man that knows why he's tired.
I interpreted what I was reading in Athenagoras’ Plea for the Christians was not a complete abandonment of Pagan ideas, but more of an incorporation. He didn’t discredit the pagan God’s of the stars, he said that God made the stars so he made them too…or at least I got that vibe reading it. This would be a great way to EASE people into a new religion. It makes a compelling argument for why the Christian God is different and can’t be seen, the creator had never been created, and his apology explains the unsee-able very well. I haven’t seen that in the other writing we have read so far.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the anti-Christian positions centered on cannibalism, incest, and atheism. This leads to the idea that these were frowned upon even by the pagans. But why would these be the ideas that people would have taken away from attending a Christian meeting/services? Were they looking only at the religion superficially or perhaps picking things they knew could be distorted and misconstrued?
ReplyDeleteAthenagoras countered these ideas using the skills he had used as a philosopher to lead the reader to see that what others were saying about Christianity was wrong. He also developed his arguments in such a way to show that he thought the Christian way was the better way if compared to polytheism.
People familiar with the works of the Greek philosophers would probably know about Athenagoras’s work on Plato and recognize that he was a knowledgeable writer. His prestige could have been an enticement for people to learn more about Christianity since he had converted. Like a modern celebrity endorsing products on television lend an air of respectability to the product they are selling.
Jerry Taylor
Athenagoras addresses his “A Plea for the Christians” to “the Emperors Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, conquerors of Armeian and Sarmatia, and more than all, philosophers.” That is the start of his constant flattery of his intended audience and reminders of how intelligent and reasonable they are. If I were being addressed that way, even if I thought I was being shined on, I would want to listen to and consider carefully what was said.
ReplyDeleteIf I wanted to truly be just, I would be swayed by his argument that the Roman empire is tolerant of many different people who worship many different types of gods. “In short … men offer whatever sacrifices and celebrate whatever mysteries they please. The Egyptians reckon among their gods even cats, and crocodiles, and serpents, and asps, and dogs. And to all these … the laws give permission … deeming, on the one hand, that to believe in no god at all is impious and wicked, and on the other, that it is necessary for each man to worship the gods he prefers, in order that, through fear of the deity, men may be kept from wrong doing.” He then points out the double standard of the treatment of Christians. He says that Christians suffer not just from property being seized or reputations insulted (which they accept because they believe in turning the other cheek and not returning blow for blow), but that they are losing their very lives. I think that his arguments are so logical and so persuasive, especially when combined with the facts about the Christians actually being model citizens who pray for and support the government, that I would feel very unjust in continuing to persecute Christians.
I agree with Comfort in that Athenagoras is so logical and uses such clear reason to convince the pagans that Christians are being singled out for persecution unjustly. In this way, he reaches more educated pagans. He appeals to Greek tradition of philosophy to help communicate his message. He uses comparisons to gods that the pagans are familiar with as well.
ReplyDeleteClaire
In his book "A Plea for the Christians" Athenagoras is telling emperors and philosophers of that time basically to recognize Christianity as a religion rather than label them as atheists. During the time of Athenagoras, you can see that his trying to make a case that Christianity should be respected with the other religions of the time. In Chapter 4 of the Plea, he is making, "But us, who distinguish God from matter, and teach that matter is one thing and God another, and that they are separated by a wide interval". After saying this he goes on by saying essentially this ideal is nothing like atheist poking fun at the philosophers at the time because they are in awe of this new idea of Christianity and some of the teachings of this religion goes against some philosophers of that time.
ReplyDeleteI think Athenagoras makes a convincing argument as well as being persuasive in the fact that religion should be open, and others should show some respect even if they don't agree with them.
One of the first things that would help pagans be drawn to Christianity or even more tolerant, was in chapter 4. It is known even today that pagans believe in multiple gods, mostly of Nordic origin (Thor, Loki, Odin, ect..) and don't put their faith or trust in just one god. In this chapter, Athenagoras brings up the fact that Christians are in fact not atheists, since that means that people believe that there is no god at all, but are rather monotheistic. He writes, "But, since our doctrine acknowledges one God, the Maker of this universe, who is Himself uncreated (for that which is does not come to be, but that which is not) but has made all things by the Logos which is from Him, we are treated unreasonably in both respects, in that we are both defamed and persecuted." (A Plea for Christian, Chap. 4) This would have piqued the interest of some of the pagans and got them to look into or even join the Christian faith.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that would potentially make pagans interested or even want to join the faith is the fact that Athenagoras brings up philosophers that everyone of that time would have been aware of. Not only does he bring them up, he dives into the fact that they neither confirmed nor denied the fact that God existed. The philosopher that he believed was a Christian was Plato. He writes in chapter 6, " Plato, then, says, To find out the Maker and Father of this universe is difficult; and, when found, it is impossible to declare Him to all, conceiving of one uncreated and eternal God." (A Plea for Christians, Chapter 6). This again would have piqued the interest of the pagans and would have maybe helped them turn to Christianity.
It would have been hard to get pagans to go from being polytheistic to monotheistic since they were used to worshipping many gods and not just one, but some may have found the fact that they only have to worship one God to be attractive and something they wanted to follow.