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Marcus Aurelius, to whom Athenagoras addressed his letter
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 t took a lot of courage for an obscure Athenian
philosopher to write a letter to his emperor, challenging him to change
his ways! Why did he do it? Because of the extreme persecution his fellow
Christians were experiencing under Emperor Marcus Aurelius, now considered
to be one of the most enlightened Roman emperors.
Savage
Treatment for Christians
Christians were being targeted again for arrest and unthinkable persecution.
Earlier emperors Nero, Domitian, and Trajan had made a policy of persecuting
believers, and Aurelius was following their example. In addition, persecutions
were happening in small towns and local communities all over the Roman
Empire.
For example, the city of Lyons, Gaul (modern-day France) unleashed a
savage persecution on Christians. Many suffocated in dungeons, while others
were tortured with fire in an arena or tossed and dragged by maddened
beasts. The slave girl Blandina is a classic example. For three days prior
to her execution she publicly endured every cruelty, but never stopped
encouraging her fellow sufferers.
Athenagoras could not sit by idly while fellow Christians suffered such
cruelty. So in AD 177, he penned his letter, Embassy for the Christians. The letter was addressed "To the Emperors Marcus Aurelius Anoninus
and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, conquerors of Armenia and Sarmatia, and
more than all, philosophers." Athenagoras must have hoped that Emperor
Aurelius, who was a fellow philosopher, would respond to his logical appeal.
What did Aurelius think when he received the letter? Did he even read
it? Or was it tossed aside unread? We will never know. But Athenagoras'
words are still studied by scholars today.
What Was the Complaint?
Athenagoras pleaded for equal rights for Christians. All kinds of religions
were allowed to flourish in the empire, even the silliest and most wicked.
Christianity alone was singled out for persecution. Furthermore, when
Christians were brought to court, the normal rules of trial were violated.
Many were condemned merely for bearing the name "Christian."
They were punished for things they never dreamed of doing: atheism, cannibalism
and incest.
Athenagoras answered the charges, showing first that Christians believe
in 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..."
Even Some Pagans Say the Same
Even some of the Greek and Roman poets and philosophers had taught that
there is just one God, said Athenagoras, so why should Christians be penalized
for saying the same thing? In chapter six he quoted Plato as saying, "To
find out the Maker and Father of this universe is difficult, and when
found, it is impossible to declare Him to all."
We Are NOT Atheists
Christians in those days were accused of atheism because they refused
to worship the Roman gods. Athenagoras stated, "...we are not atheists,
therefore, seeing that we acknowledge one God, uncreated, eternal, invisible,
impassible, incomprehensible, illimitable, who is apprehended by the understanding
only and the reason, who is encompassed by light, and beauty, and spirit
and power ineffable, by whom the universe has been created through His
Logos, and set in order and is kept in being...for we acknowledge also
a Son of God."
But among us you will find uneducated persons, and artisans, and old
women, who by their deeds exhibit the benefit arising from their persuasion
of its truth: they do not rehearse speeches but exhibit good works;
when struck, they do not strike again; when robbed, they do not go to
law; they give to those that ask of them, and they love their neighbors
as themselves. --Athenagoras, Chapter eleven of the Embassy
He explained why Christians do not offer sacrifices to pagan gods or
worship the universe. How could Christians worship gods who themselves
had been created, according to the myths, and who lived immoral lives
which even the pagan philosophers could not accept? In the same spirit,
how could Christians worship the cosmos-- however impressive it is--when
it is merely a creation?
Our Good People Don't Commit Atrocities
Christians were accused of cannibalism because they spoke of Christ’s
body and blood during communion. They were accused of sexual immorality
because of the closeness of Christian fellowship, so Athenagoras needed
to explain that Christians held a higher sexual standard than non-Christians,
many of them growing old without ever marrying, in the hope of drawing
closer to God. Yes, Christians called each other brother and sister, but
it was only to express the relationship they had as children of God. As
for cannibalism, the charge was too absurd; far from killing and eating
people, Christians even forbade abortion and rescued babies whom pagans
threw on the rubbish heaps.
An Appeal to the Best in the Emperor
Athenagoras closed his argument with a final appeal to the emperor and
his son. "And now do you, who are entirely in everything, by nature
and by education, upright, and moderate and benevolent, and worthy of
your rule, now that I have disposed of the several accusations, and proved
that we are pious and gentle, and temperate in spirit, bend your royal
head in approval. For who are more deserving to obtain the things they
ask, than those who, like us, pray for your government, that you may,
as is most equitable, receive the kingdom, son from father, and that your
empire may receive increase and addition, all men becoming subject to
your sway? And this is also for our advantage that we may lead a peaceable
and quiet life, and may ourselves readily perform all that is commanded
us."
From the Writings of Athenagoras about the Trinity
Nor let anyone think it ridiculous that God should have a Son.
For though the poets, in their fictions, represent the gods as no better
than men, our mode of thinking is not the same as theirs, concerning either
God the Father or the Son. But the Son of God is the Logos of the Father,
in idea and in operation; for after the pattern of Him and by Him were
all things made, the Father and the Son being one.
And the Son being in the Father and the Father in the Son, in oneness
and power of spirit, the understanding and reason of the Father is the
Son of God. But if, in your surpassing intelligence, it occurs to you
to inquire what is meant by the Son, I will state briefly that He is the
first product of the Father, not as having been brought into existence
(for from the beginning, God, who is the eternal mind, had the Logos in
Himself, being from eternity instinct with Logos) but inasmuch as He came
forth to be the idea and energizing power of all material things, which
lay like a nature without attributes, and an inactive earth, the grosser
particles being mixed up with the lighter.
The prophetic Spirit also agrees with our statements. "The Lord"
it says, "made me, the beginning of His ways to His works."
The Holy Spirit Himself also, which operates in the prophets, we assert
to be an effluence of God, flowing from Him, and returning back again
like a beam of the sun. Who, then, would not be astonished to hear men
who speak of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
and who declare both their power in union and their distinction in order,
called atheists?
Who Was Athenagoras?
The Embassy for the Christians made the earliest defense of the
Trinity that we know of. In another book, Athenagoras set forth the first
sustained defense of the doctrine of the resurrection. With credentials
like that, you would think he would be well known. In fact, he does not
have high name recognition now, nor did he in his own day. He was hardly
mentioned by other early church writers.
Why? It wasn't because he lived so long ago. Justin Martyr, who died
ten years before the Embassy came out, is famous. It wasn't because
Athenagoras was unpublished. His writings have been known for centuries.
Why then? Perhaps it is because he said nothing about himself in his
writings. He offered nothing dramatic or flashy, just sober arguments.
Indeed, the only hard fact we have about Athenagoras is that he was an
Athenian. An old account that may or may not be true says that he was
converted to Christ while reading the Bible to debunk it.
But his solid and beautiful defense of Christianity tells us all we really
need to know about Athenagoras. As long as Christian fathers are read,
he will shine among them.
Paul's Preaching Keeps Bearing Fruit
Generations ago, passing through Athens, Paul was troubled by the idolatry
in the city. (Acts 17:16-34) He spoke out and some Stoic and Epicurean
philosophers began to argue with him. "He seems to be advocating
foreign gods," they said and brought him to a meeting on Mars Hill
(the Areopagus).
The Athenians, who always liked to hear new ideas, listened to him until
he declared that God had raised Jesus from the dead to prove Christ's
right to judge all men. Then some began to mock. A number of others believed
the gospel, however, including a member of the Areopagus named Dionysius
and a woman named Damaris. A church sprang up in the heart of Greece's
most philosophical city.
About one hundred and ten years later, a member of that little church
that Paul had founded picked up Paul's teaching on the resurrection and
ran with it, writing a philosophical argument to prove that resurrection
was a reasonable belief. Some of Athenagoras' arguments may not have stood
the test of time, but Paul's speech on Mars Hill had produced fruit close
to home!
Resources:
- "Athenagoras." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian
Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
- Domaszewski, Alfred von. Geschichte der Roischen Kaiser Leipzig:
Verlag von Quelle & Meyer, 1909.
- Hubbard, Elbert. Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great.
New York: William H. Wise, 1916.
- Mattingly, Harold et. al. Roman imperial coinage vol II. London:
Spink and son, 1926.
- Pratten, B.P. in The Ante-Nicene fathers: translations of the
writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325. Alexander Roberts and
James Donaldson, editors. American reprint of the Edinburgh edition.
Revised and chronologically arranged, with brief prefaces and occasional
notes, by A. Cleveland Coxe. New York: Scribner's, 1926.
©2005 by Christian History Institute, Box 540, Worcester, PA 19490.
Tel.: 610-584-3500, Fax: 610-584-6643, E-mail: glimpses@chinstitute.org,
Web: http://www.chinstitute.org. Prepared by Dan Graves, MSL, with Ken
Curtis, Ph.D., Dawn Moore, Tracey L. Craig, Ann T. Snyder and Beth Jacobson.
Photo credits: p. 4 - Dover Publications Inc.; all others - CHI Archives. |
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