Athenagoras on Christian Ethics
At first sight Athenagoras's treatment of Christian ethics in his Supplicatio pro Christianis xi and xii appears to be anti-philosophical. According to Athenagoras the Christian way of life is based on doctrines taught by God and not by man. Ethical precepts are not derived from dialectical exe...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
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| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
1969
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| In: |
The journal of ecclesiastical history
Year: 1969, Volume: 20, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-5 |
| Online Access: |
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| Summary: | At first sight Athenagoras's treatment of Christian ethics in his Supplicatio pro Christianis xi and xii appears to be anti-philosophical. According to Athenagoras the Christian way of life is based on doctrines taught by God and not by man. Ethical precepts are not derived from dialectical exercises, but are Christian dogmas which come from God and through Scripture (xi p. 128, 11 ff.). The basis for his discussion of Christian ethics is a conflation of Mt. v. 44 f. and Lk. vi. 28 (xi p. 128, 14 ff.). This represents a change in his method of argumentation from his earlier theological discussion (vi–x) where he proceeded on the basis of reasoning (λογισμοὐς) which was then confirmed by Scripture (ix p. 126, 29 ff.). Furthermore, for him ethics is motivated by a knowledge of the Trinity (xii p. 129, 17 ff.) and is the following of correct knowledge governed by an expectation of the Judgment (xii p. 129, 3 ff.). However, Geffcken and Ubaldi have shown that Athenagoras uses certain philosophical traditions in this discussion, and that his attack on the sophists was in good philosophical form. This article will examine Athenagoras's method of argument to determine more clearly what philosophical models he did in fact use. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-7637 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of ecclesiastical history
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0022046900049800 |