The Apologists
The author of I Peter wrote to recent converts from paganism: “Always be prepared to make a defense [apologia] to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” (I Pet 3:15)
Formation And Struggles: The Birth of the Church AD 33-200, by Veselin Kesich
Starting in the middle of the second century, Christian apologists began to make their mark – Justin Martyr foremost among them at this time. His Dialogue with Trypho, written around 160 AD, is based on a debate with a leading spokesman of Judaism.
Christians disregard the law and place their hope in a crucified man, yet still expect favors from God. Justin replied that the God of the Christians does not differ from the God of the Jews, however Christians are “the true spiritual Israel and the descendants of Abraham.”
Justin wrote two other apologies, one each to two different emperors. If only the emperor could be convinced that the accusations against Christians were baseless (accusations of atheism, cannibalism, incest), then the harassment and persecution of Christians might end. If there are specific charges, fine; but no one should be punished merely for being a Christian.
Justin was a student of Greek philosophy, yet while he found this philosophy useful in his Christian development, he knew that philosophy alone would not bring him to a proper understanding of God and the faith. He saw that the best of pagan thought was preparation for the gospel.
…whatever things were rightly said among all the people are the property of Christians.
While he drew on the prologue of John’s Gospel (Christ as the Logos), he did not make this overt, as this gospel was a favorite of the gnostics at the time.
In his formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity, he came under the influence of Middle Platonism: a First God, being unmoved, operates through a Second God – with the Holy Spirit being third in a hierarchy. Of course, such a formulation would be considered inadequate soon enough, and cemented properly in Nicaea and Constantinople, but keep in mind that language regarding the Trinity and Christology was still being developed.
He would write of church life: both the powerless and the powerful were exposed to the gospel; philosophers and artisans and the uneducated believed; a church of every race – Greek and barbarian; those who practiced immorality now embraced chastity; those with wealth brought it to share. He cited the Sermon on the Mount as the prime example of and template for a Christian life.
He wrote a detailed account of the Sunday liturgy: the sacraments, baptism, and the Eucharist – he wanted the emperor to see that the accusations of hideous practices just were not true.
…Justin makes it clear that Baptism and the Eucharist mark the boundaries of the Christian community. Only those who are baptized and are led to the assembly of brethren participate in the Eucharist.
Only those who believe what we believe can partake of the Eucharist; this is not common bread or common drink, but through transformation become the flesh and blood of Christ. The “memoirs of the apostles” are read for as long as time permits – likely meaning the synoptic gospels. The deacons are the main links between the head of the community and the faithful.
Athenagoras of Athens would follow Justin’s teaching, coming about ten years after Justin’s martyrdom. He would answer specific accusations against Christians: atheists, cannibals, etc. Instead, Christians teach that there is one God who created the universe, being Himself uncreated and making all things through His Word. For this, Christians are punished and persecuted.
He maintained the Logos Christology, and offered a highly developed doctrine for the Trinity. There is one God, uncreated, impassable, incomprehensible; there is the Son of God, His Word, also uncreated as God had His Word always; the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets and flows from God.
“The Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son by the unity and power of the Spirit.”
This has the feeling of the formulation used by Jonathan Edwards, that the Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son.
Near the end of the second century, attracted by the willingness of Christians to suffer for their faith, Tertullian left paganism and joined the Christian community in Rome. Around 193 AD, he returned to Carthage, the place of his birth, writing his apology, To the Nations. It was a response to the Roman charges against Christians.
In court, criminals are given complete liberty to provide a defense; not so for Christians – every false charge against us must be confessed: how many murdered babies one has devoured, or how many deeds of incest has one committed – not “if,” but “how many.”. Christians are blamed if the Tiber floods and if the Nile fails to rise; they are blamed for earthquakes, famines and plagues.
“The more you torture us, the more numerous we are every time. … The blood of Christians is seed.”
A reminder of Jesus:
John 12: 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
Celsus wrote True Doctrine (AD 178), the most serious attack on the Christian religion in the second century. It could have been a reply to Justin. The original text of this work has not survived, but substantial quotations from it appear in Origen’s Contra Celsum, written some seventy years later.
Celsus pointed out inconsistencies in Hebrew Scriptures – he was critical of the anthropomorphism attributed to God, especially in Genesis. Many ad hominem attacks were thrown in for good measure: Christians and Jews were uneducated, etc.
Christians worship Jesus, a very recent man in history. Celsus saw no purpose in the idea of the incarnation; the resurrection was also criticized. He criticized Christians for performing their rites in secret, while at the same time recognizing they do this to escape a death penalty!
Conclusion
Ultimately, Origen’s reply summed up the defense of the Christian movement by the apologists that came before him. Justin and the others constructed a platform on which his work, Contra Celsum, could be built.
These second century apologists did more than provide a defense of Christianity. In defending their faith, they also contributed to Christian theological development. Yes, some of the theological statements were crude when looked at through the lens of what was to come. But coming just a generation or two after the apostles – who witnessed and were taught things almost incomprehensible – these early apologists worked to develop language that could express properly just what was witnessed.
Per Yves Congar:
“People like Justin and Origen unhesitatingly gave their life for a Christological or Trinitarian faith which they could not formulate adequately.”