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Concept
Athenagoras of Athens
Summary
Athenagoras (ˌæθəˈnægərəs; Ἀθηναγόρας ὁ Ἀθηναῖος; c. 133 – c. 190 AD) was a Father of the Church, an Ante-Nicene Christian apologist who lived during the second half of the 2nd century of whom little is known for certain, besides that he was Athenian (though possibly not originally from Athens), a philosopher, and a convert to Christianity.
Athenagoras' feast day is observed on 24 July in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
In his writings he styles himself as "Athenagoras, the Athenian, Philosopher, and Christian". There is some evidence that he was a Platonist, as Dr. A. Wilder puts it: “Pantaenus, Athenagoras and Clement were thoroughly instructed in the Platonic philosophy, and comprehended its essential unity with the Oriental systems”. A convert to Christianity, Athenagoras went to Alexandria and taught at what would become its celebrated Christian academy.
Although his work appears to have been well-known and influential, mention of him by other early Christian apologists, notably in the extensive writings of Eusebius, is strangely absent. It may be that his treatises, circulating anonymously, were for a time considered as the work of another apologist, or there may have been other circumstances now lost. There are only two mentions of him in early Christian literature: several accredited quotations from his Apology in a fragment of Methodius of Olympus (died 312) and some untrustworthy biographical details in the fragments of the Christian History of Philip of Side (c. 425). Philip of Side claims that Athenagoras preceded Pantaenus as head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria (which is probably incorrect and contradicted by Eusebius) and notes that Athenagoras converted to Christianity after initially familiarizing himself with the Scriptures in an attempt to controvert them.
From the rhythm of his sentences, and the arrangement of his material, it can be surmised that he attended a school of rhetoric.
Official source
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