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A Plea for the Christians

St. Athenagoras of Athens · c. 177 AD

1h 51m read
Ante-Nicene

A sophisticated philosophical defense of Christianity addressed to Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, refuting charges of atheism, cannibalism, and incest.

Table of Contents

1Injustice Shown Towards the Christians2Claim to Be Treated as Others are When Accused3Charges Brought Against the Christians4The Christians are Not Atheists, But Acknowledge One Only God5Testimony of the Poets to the Unity of God6Opinions of the Philosophers as to the One God7Superiority of the Christian Doctrine Respecting God8Absurdities of Polytheism9The Testimony of the Prophets10The Christians Worship the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost11The Moral Teaching of the Christians Repels the Charge Brought Against Them12Consequent Absurdity of the Charge of Atheism13Why the Christians Do Not Offer Sacrifices14Inconsistency of Those Who Accuse the Christians15The Christians Distinguish God from Matter16The Christians Do Not Worship the Universe17The Names of the Gods and Their Images are But of Recent Date18The Gods Themselves Have Been Created, as the Poets Confess19The Philosophers Agree with the Poets Respecting the Gods20Absurd Representations of the Gods21Impure Loves Ascribed to the Gods22Pretended Symbolical Explanations23Opinions of Thales and Plato24Concerning the Angels and Giants25The Poets and Philosophers Have Denied a Divine Providence26The Demons Allure Men to the Worship of Images27Artifices of the Demons28The Heathen Gods Were Simply Men29Proof of the Same from the Poets30Reasons Why Divinity Has Been Ascribed to Men31Confutation of the Other Charges Brought Against the Christians32Elevated Morality of the Christians33Chastity of the Christians with Respect to Marriage34The Vast Difference in Morals Between the Christians and Their Accusers35The Christians Condemn and Detest All Cruelty36Bearing of the Doctrine of the Resurrection on the Practices of the Christians37Entreaty to Be Fairly Judged