Athenagoras

Athenagoras was a Christian philosopher who lived in Athens in the second century. Almost nothing is known about his personal life. Later writers said little about him, and the few traditions that grew up are not trustworthy. He appears in the record at one moment, when he wrote a bold and thoughtful letter to the Roman emperors. That letter has survived, and it is enough to show what kind of man he was.

He lived in the city that had been the center of Greek learning. Athens was full of schools of philosophy, and he was trained in that world. He seems to have been a man of education who came to Christ and brought his learning with him. In an age when Christians were despised, he did not hide his faith. He used the tools of his training to speak on behalf of his fellow believers.

Christians in those years were hated and hunted. Rumors went around that they were atheists, because they refused to worship the gods of the empire. It was also said that they held secret meals at which they ate human flesh, and that they practiced incest. These slanders led to mob violence, to arrests and to executions. Believers were told they would be set free if they denied Christ, and many chose death instead.

Around the year AD 177, Athenagoras wrote A Plea for the Christians and addressed it to the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. He opened by asking for fair treatment. He pointed out that people of other religions were not punished merely for their names, and that Christians should be judged on their conduct. He asked that they be tried for crimes if any could be proved and not condemned for a name alone. He wrote in the polished style of an educated Greek and spoke with respect to the rulers.

He then answered the three charges one by one. To the claim of atheism, he replied that Christians worship the one true God who made all things. He explained that the Christian understanding of God is higher than the myths of the poets. He wrote of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and he set out the Christian faith in a way that shows how clearly the early church held to the Trinity. To the charge of cannibalism and incest, he replied with the plain facts of how Christians lived. They did not even attend the bloody games of the arena, because they held life as sacred. They kept themselves in purity and many of them remained unmarried to serve God. He asked how people of that character could be guilty of such crimes.

He wrote a second work called On the Resurrection of the Dead. In it he defended the belief that God will raise the bodies of the dead. He reasoned that God who made the body in the beginning is able to raise it again, and that the purpose of human life requires that the whole person, body and soul, stand before the Creator. The book was written to answer the objections of educated pagans who found the idea foolish.

There is no record that his plea was successful in changing the policy of the empire. Persecution continued in many places. Yet his writing remains as a lasting witness. It shows that Christians were not afraid to reason in public and that they trusted the truth to speak for itself. It also shows that the belief in the unity of God, the deity of Christ and the work of the Spirit was held by the church early and firmly.

He was a man who risked something by writing, since his words could have been read as defiance of the state. He wrote with courage and with courtesy. He did not seek revenge on those who slandered the church. He asked only to be heard and to have the truth examined. His life shows that Christian faith can speak to the powerful with calm and dignity, and that the defense of the gospel is itself an act of love.