Early Apologetics

Created @February 15, 2022 5:02 PM

Reviewed

Class Heritage

Exam Exam 1

Previous Page: Apostolic Fathers

Greco-Roman Views of Christians

1. Atheism-

a. Christians’ rejection of the Greek and Roman gods was seen as atheism

2. Treason-

a. Christians’ refusal to worship the emperor was called treason

3. Cannibalism-

a. The practice of the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist was thought of as cannibalism

i. The phrases “eating the Lord’s body” and “drinking his blood” combined with
taking in babies that were left to die left some to assume cannibalism

4. Uncultured-

a. Hebrew scripture reflected Hebrew people, who were often seen as poor and uncultured
by the Greeks and Romans

5. Wicked-

a. They saw Jesus as a magician, a “worker of wickedness”, which was considered a crime
(doing things like casting out demons) – quote Celsus, 2nd-century Greek philosopher

6. Irrational-

a. Because incarnation is irrational, it can’t happen and it needed extra defense

7. Offensive-

a. The cross was seen as offensive, feminizing Jesus

8. Hysterical-

a. The women who saw Jesus after the resurrection were called hysterical and
untrustworthy

All of the above points were things where Christianity needed defense, leading to apologetics

Early Apologetics

Early Apologetics 1
 Justin Martyr

“All truth is God’s truth”

He had a background as a Greek philosopher who converted to Christianity

He argued that Christianity is the “true philosophy”

His apologies seem to more address the points of atheism and irrationality

He combined Christianity with Greek philosophy, to show the reason of Christianity

He also had this idea that anyone who is in pursuit of truth, is in pursuit of Jesus, meaning
all who follow reason are, at least to an extent, Christian

It’s similar to the idea of “anonymous Christians” where you follow Christ, without
necessarily knowing you do

Ex: identifying as a Buddhist, yet then all your beliefs and actions line up with the
teachings of Jesus, so without identifying as one, it could be argued that you are
one

Note: this is more-so just an idea, not like a widely accepted belief amongst all

Jesus as the Logos

Stoicism- Logos is subordinate to God, thus has a seed of divine reason

Logos Supermatikos- Logos is pre-existent (John 1)

By showing Christianity as having earlier roots, it gains more repute

Logos is Noetic- Logos is the basis for all truth (1 Cor. 10:1-4)

Logos is moral- Logos is the embodiment of moral law

Logos is psychological- it is an original form of thinking

Logos achieves soteriology (salvation)- Jesus is the embodiment of Logos, and through him
we gain salvation

Tertullian
“Christianity is the antithesis of philosophy”

Complete opposite of Justin Martyr

People who are driven away by Justin’s argument, are drawn back in by Tertullian

Economic Trinitarianism and Persona & Substantia

“What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?”

Heresy = Modalism

Early Apologetics 2
 Modalism- seeing God similar to an actor. He can only be one part at a time

Greco-Roman ears hear this as polytheism, think it is heresy

Persona & Substantia

Persona (mask)- God is three masks, shows in 3 different parts

Substantia (substance)- underneath the mask, it’s all the same

Economic Trinitarianism-

All 3 parts serve different functions but have the same substance.

All 3 parts are distinct, but equal in power

Origen
Pre-existence of souls

Souls existed, sinned, fell into bodies (even Jesus fell into body)

Universalism

Through Jesus, all souls are redeemed and make it to heaven. (this includes satan)

Allegorical Reading

Reading the bible more as figurative, and metaphorical, and less literal

Next Page: Early Church Persecution

Early Apologetics 3