Eusebius of Caesarea's two-part defense of Christianity (
The Preparation for the Gospel and
The Proof of the Gospel) could have been the ultimate argument winner--if the books were not so difficulty to read! While I don't recommend reading these works for pleasure, one can get an excellent sense of Eusebius' overall plan just by looking at the chapter headings of each book of the
Preparation and the
Proof. Look over the headings of any book of either work. Cite here a chapter/section title that intrigues you. What does Eusebius seem to be adding to the earlier Christian apologetic arguments we've looked at?
Chapter 4's title is very intriguing to me. "Our adoption of belief in the greatest blessings is not uncritical as to time". This title alone explains that even though Christianity was "adopted" by many people, it doesn't mean that it is critical to the time period, proving that people will either believe or not believe.
ReplyDeleteI looked through book one and within it I chose VI Primitive theology of Phoenicians and Egyptians. This was a rather clever work done here by Eusebius. He, like many other early apologists, sought to be able to dismantle the idea of polytheism. He explains away its oddities and defends why they were so destructive. Pointing out the flaws of the nations and societies that chose to follow such a primitive version of God as he was seen in polytheistic faiths. It worked out to be quite a great defense all, be it just saying, hey, they failed, and they failed, and they failed; how can this belief be authentic in any way?
ReplyDeleteTanner Simon