Tantárgy adatlapja
Brief subject description:
The second century Greek apologists, defending Christians against the charges leading to persecution, are important also because of their new theological ideas and the rhetorical skills used to express their thoughts. They also developed moral norms that reflected biblical and Stoic precedents.
Theoretical knowledge to be acquired:
The moral charges against Christians in the first and second centuries; the philosophical and legal arguments against the beliefs attributed to them; Aristides’ argumentation for a right concept of God; Justin’s two apologies in defence of the church and his Dialogue with a representative of Jewish exegesis; Tatian points out the inconsistencies of Greek paideia; the presentation of the two works of Athenagoras in defence of the belief of Christian and their morality; the three books of Theophilus of Antioch, titled Ad Autolycum, which served also the purposes of catechesis.
List of the most important required literature (2–4 pieces) with bibliographical details (author, title, edition or specific pages, ISBN):
Robert M. Grant: Greek Apologists of the Second Century, Philadelphia, 1988. ISBN 9780334005353
László Perendy: Tatianus Grammaticus? Tatian’s Discordant Voices about the Achievements of Greek Grammarians, in Studia Patristica. Papers presented at the Eighteenth International Conference on Patristica Studies held in Oxford 2019. Edited by Markus Vinzent, Volume 23: Apocrypha et Gnostica; Ignatius of Antioch – the Mysterious Bishop (Edited by Kevin Künzl); The Second and Third Centuries, Peeters, Leuven – Paris – Bristol, CT, 2021, 203–214.
List of the most important recommended literature (2–4 pieces) with bibliographical details (author, title, edition or specific pages, ISBN):
Stuart E. Parsons: Ancient Apologetic Exegesis. Introducing and Recovering Theophilus’s World, Cambridge, 2015. ISBN 9781625648099
László Perendy: The Faces of God as the Earliest Christian Apologists Saw Them, in Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum (ed.), I volti di Dio nel cristianesimo antico. Secc. I-IX. XLIX Incontro di Studiosi dell’Antichità Cristiana (Roma, 11-13 maggio 2023) (Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum, 165), Pontificium Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum - Nerbini International, Roma, 2024, 229–238.
Applied teaching methods:
academic lecture; presentation of apologetical works
Evaluation criteria:
in accordance with the Regulations of Studies and Exams
Contribution of the subject to the acquisition of competence elements as defined in the Training and Outcome Requirements
Elaborate on how competence elements specified in the Training and Outcome Requirements are/may be achieved:
The student knows the history of the second century AD, when the first Greek Christian apologists (Aristides, Justin, Tatian, Athenagoras, and Theophilus of Antioch) responded to the charges against Christians. In possession of the knowledge of the content of their literary works the student can start dialogue about their oeuvre in a scholarly way.
