A Plea for the Christians
c. 177
Athenagoras’s plea to Marcus Aurelius on Christian monotheism and the Father, Son, and Spirit. English by B.P. Pratten in the Ante-Nicene Fathers.
Translated by B.P. Pratten
English translation by B.P. Pratten, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. II (eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson; Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885). Public domain. Digital text via New Advent Church Fathers.
Contents
- 1. Injustice Shown Towards the Christians.
- 2. Claim to Be Treated as Others are When Accused.
- 3. Charges Brought Against the Christians.
- 4. The Christians are Not Atheists, But Acknowledge One Only God.
- 5. Testimony of the Poets to the Unity of God.
- 6. Opinions of the Philosophers as to the One God.
- 7. Superiority of the Christian Doctrine Respecting God.
- 8. Absurdities of Polytheism.
- 9. The Testimony of the Prophets.
- 10. The Christians Worship the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
- 11. The Moral Teaching of the Christians Repels the Charge Brought Against Them.
- 12. Consequent Absurdity of the Charge of Atheism.
- 13. Why the Christians Do Not Offer Sacrifices.
- 14. Inconsistency of Those Who Accuse the Christians.
- 15. The Christians Distinguish God from Matter.
- 16. The Christians Do Not Worship the Universe.
- 17. The Names of the Gods and Their Images are But of Recent Date.
- 18. The Gods Themselves Have Been Created, as the Poets Confess.
- 19. The Philosophers Agree with the Poets Respecting the Gods.
- 20. Absurd Representations of the Gods.
- 21. Impure Loves Ascribed to the Gods.
- 22. Pretended Symbolical Explanations.
- 23. Opinions of Thales and Plato.
- 24. Concerning the Angels and Giants.
- 25. The Poets and Philosophers Have Denied a Divine Providence.
- 26. The Demons Allure Men to the Worship of Images.
- 27. Artifices of the Demons.
- 28. The Heathen Gods Were Simply Men.
- 29. Proof of the Same from the Poets.
- 30. Reasons Why Divinity Has Been Ascribed to Men.
- 31. Confutation of the Other Charges Brought Against the Christians.
- 32. Elevated Morality of the Christians.
- 33. Chastity of the Christians with Respect to Marriage.
- 34. The Vast Difference in Morals Between the Christians and Their Accusers.
- 35. The Christians Condemn and Detest All Cruelty.
- 36. Bearing of the Doctrine of the Resurrection on the Practices of the Christians.
- 37. Entreaty to Be Fairly Judged.