Distinguished church historian Robert M. Grant has written an important introduction to the thought and writings of the theologians who addressed the Greco-Roman world in the second century. He gives a full picture of the apologists, who taught and led important Christian communities even as they attempted to create sympathy and understanding among pagan emperors and intellectuals.
Dr. Grant brings together the early church and the Greco-Roman world in which it arose. In doing so he clarifies an important chapter in the history of Christian theology. The apologists, who were fully involved in both the church and the world, illuminate the social and cultural context of a critical period in the history of Christianity.
These apologists defended Christianity against the crude charges that led to persecution and martyrdom; the most notable, Justin, became a martyr himself. Dr. Grant notes that the apologists are important not only for church and state but also for theology and for the rhetoric used to express their thoughts. They defined and defended their own stand as they defended Christianity against two charges: the first, that Christians were godless, having neither image nor temples; the second, that Christians violated the sexual mores at their meetings. The apologists counterattacked by inveighing against pagan sexual morality. They went on to develop norms of their own that reflected biblical and Stoic precedent. Additionally, they discussed the meaning of justice in the context of the Roman failure to investigate their way of life before condemning them to death.
While this book touches on many disciplines, it will be of special interest to students of theology, classicists, and church historians.