Early Christianity faced numerous challenges, both from external persecution and internal doctrinal disputes. Among the most prominent defenders of the faith were Origen, Tertullian, and Justin Martyr. These early Christian apologists made significant contributions to the intellectual and theological foundation of Christianity, employing various methods to defend and propagate their beliefs. This article details their contributions, examining how their approaches influenced the development and resilience of Christian thought throughout history.
1. Justin Martyr: The Philosopher-Apologist
Justin Martyr was born into a pagan Greek family around 100 CE. He grew up studying different schools of Greek philosophy searching for signs of a god by studying the likes of the Stoics, the Peripatetics, the Pythagoreans, and the Platonists — but he found nothing.
One day, Justin came into a conversation with an anonymous old man who told him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and Christianity, the Hebrew prophets who existed before the Greek philosophers, and the fulfilled prophecies of the Bible. After meeting with the man, Justin dedicated his life to spreading Christianity, which became the one true philosophy for him.
During Justin Martyr’s time (c. 100-165 CE), Christians faced deadly persecution from the Roman Empire. Roman authorities viewed Christianity with suspicion and considered it a subversive and secretive cult that rejected their traditional pantheon of gods. The figure of Jesus as a savior for the Jews and Gentiles was also seen as a threat to the political system and the power of the emperor.
Dialogue With Trypho
Justin adopted a reasoned approach to defending Christianity against pagan critics, Jewish non-believers, and heretics, specifically in a way that made sense to a skeptical Roman audience. In his work Dialogue with Trypho, Justin engages in a fictional debate with a Jewish philosopher.
During this time, many Jews did not believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, viewing him instead as a false prophet who failed to fulfill the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. Through this dialogue, Justin aimed to persuade Jewish audiences by presenting arguments that demonstrate the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies through Jesus Christ. He meticulously compares scriptural passages to highlight how the life and teachings of Jesus aligned with the expectations of the Jewish Messiah, thereby attempting to bridge the theological divide and convince Jews of the truth of Christian claims.
First and Second Apologies
In his next work addressed to the Roman emperors, Justin’s First and Second Apologies defended Christianity against accusations of atheism and immorality. He argued that Christians, far from being a threat to the empire, were morally upright and philosophically sound.
Justin used logical arguments to refute charges and to explain Christian rituals and beliefs, thereby seeking to dispel misconceptions about the faith. He also introduced the concept of the Logos, which identifies Christ as the pre-existent divine reason (Logos) active in the world. This made Christian doctrine more accessible to those familiar with Stoic and Platonic thought.
Throughout the rest of Justin’s life, he would travel back and forth to Rome and engage in many public debates with pagan philosophers and thinkers. In his Second Apology, he specifically wrote to the Roman Senate, when Marcus Aurelius had just become the new Emperor. The cynic, Crescentius, reported Justin to the Roman authorities, claiming he was an atheist. Justin was arrested and asked to make a sacrifice to the Roman gods, or be tortured, to which he replied, “We are Christians; we do not offer sacrifice to idols.” Justin was beheaded for his disobedience.
Justin Martyr’s contributions to Christianity are profound, as he provided some of the earliest comprehensive defenses of the faith through his apologetic works, engaging with both pagan philosophy and Jewish thought to articulate and rationalize Christian doctrine, thereby laying an intellectual foundation for future theological development.
2. Tertullian: The Lawyer of Christianity
Tertullian (c. 155-240 CE) was a legal expert who lived in Carthage, a province of the Roman Empire. At the time, the Severan Dynasty, particularly under Emperor Septimius Severus, had initiated policies that made it illegal for Jews to convert to Christianity and made Christianity a prosecutable offense.
Tertullian was a very skillful debater and knew how to break down arguments and use them to defend Christianity against heretics. In his work Adversus Marcionem (Against Marcion), Tertullian refuted the teachings of Marcion, who was a prominent heretic who rejected the Old Testament of the Bible and proposed a dualistic view of Christianity. Tertullian accused him of going beyond Christianity and its Jewish roots and towards more philosophical teachings. Tertullian defended the unity of scripture and the continuity of the Old and New Testaments, and affirmed that Jesus Christ did become a physical human, and was the Son of God.
Tertullian also advocated for Christians to be granted religious freedom and acceptance from Rome, writing in his Apology, “that every person should be able to worship according to his own convictions. For one person’s religion neither harms nor hurts another.”
Tertullian’s Affiliation With Montanism
Tertullian would go on to join the Monanists, a group that was considered heretical by the Catholic church in the 2nd century. The Montanists believed that authentic Christianity required a mystical encounter with the Holy Spirit and proposed the idea of a dual-layered classification of believers, differentiating between ordinary followers and the pneumatikoi, or “spirit-filled” Christians. Montanism was considered heretical due to its emphasis on new revelations from the Holy Spirit, rigid ascetic practices, and a challenge to ecclesiastical authority, which disrupted the unity and orthodoxy of the early Christian church.
Tertullian’s contributions to Christianity are significant, as he not only advanced early Christian theology through his extensive writings but also laid the groundwork for the development of Latin Christian literature and doctrine, influencing the church for centuries to come.
3. Origen: The Scholar-Theologian
Origen (c. 185-253 CE) was one of the most influential and controversial figures in early Christian theology. As a scholar and head of the catechetical school of Alexandria, Origen produced an extensive body of work that sought to systematize Christian doctrine and defend it against heretical interpretations.
Dialogues and Apologies: Origen and the Refutation of Celsus
The 2nd century saw significant philosophical and religious debates as Christianity continued to grow within the Roman Empire. Pagan philosophers often viewed Christianity as an irrational and socially disruptive movement. If a Christian was not a pagan or Jewish, then what were they?
Among the most notable critics was Celsus, a Greek philosopher who wrote a comprehensive critique of Christianity titled On the True Doctrine around 178 CE. Celsus criticized the kind of people who were attracted to Christianity, famously saying,
“The call to membership in the cult of Christ is this: whoever is a sinner, whoever is unwise, whoever is childish—yea, whoever is a wretch—his is the kingdom of God. And so they invite into membership those who by their own account are sinners: the dishonest, thieves, burglars, poisoners, blasphemers of all descriptions, grave robbers. I mean — what other cult actually invites robbers to become members?”
According to Celsus, the crowd that Christianity attracted further discredited their ability to be philosophers or compete with the Roman elite. In response, Origen took on the challenge of defending his faith with a work called Contra Celsum or Against Celsus. This was no small feat; Celsus’s critique was sharp, extensive, and pointed, attacking the core beliefs and practices of Christianity.
Origen approached this task with a blend of scholarly rigor and passionate faith. He meticulously addressed Celsus’s arguments one by one, using both philosophical reasoning and scriptural evidence. What stands out in Origen’s work is his ability to remain respectful and thoughtful, even when defending his beliefs against harsh criticism.
Exegesis and Hermeneutics
Origen’s contributions to exegesis and hermeneutics were groundbreaking and had a lasting impact on Christian theology, driven by a profound belief in the layered meanings of sacred scripture. He approached the Bible not just as a historical document but as a living text brimming with divine wisdom, accessible through multiple interpretive lenses. Origen proposed that every scriptural passage could be understood on at least three levels: the literal, the moral, and the spiritual, or allegorical. This process encouraged readers to look beyond the surface narrative and has gone on to shape how modern theologians interpret the Bible today.
Influence on the Reformation
Fast forward to the 16th century, and we see Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon taking up the mantle of Christian apologetics, albeit in a radically different context. Defending faith and beliefs has become a part of the Christian identity from the beginning.
Martin Luther (1483-1546) started a revolution when, on October 31, 1517, the German monk posted his infamous Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church, listing various criticisms of the Catholic church, such as the critique of indulgences, the primacy of repentance, the Pope’s authority to remit sins, biblical authority over church doctrine, the role of faith, and the focus on the accumulation of wealth by the Church, rather than the well-being of its flock.
Going against the core beliefs of the Catholic church, Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) published and presented the Augsburg Confession at the Diet of Augsburg in June of 1530. This outlined the differences between the Lutherans and the Catholic Church, such as Article IV of Justification which declared salvation came through faith alone, Article VII, stating that rituals, traditions, or ceremonies are not necessary, and lastly, Article IX, that child baptism should be rejected and is unnecessary for children to be saved. These Lutheran belief systems came to be known as the evangelical tradition and by the early 1520s, the church had become a piecemeal religious scene that has lasted for centuries.
Just as Justin Martyr and Tertullian sought to clarify and defend Christian doctrine against external and internal adversaries, Luther employed their strategies to challenge church practices and emphasize the primacy of scripture and faith.
The systematic theology and scriptural exegesis pioneered by Origen also provided a scholarly foundation that Luther built upon, enabling him to engage in rigorous theological debates that echoed the intellectual rigor of the early apologists. Thus, the legacy of these early defenders was evident in Luther’s reformative zeal and his ability to inspire a transformative movement within Christianity.
Bibliography
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