Folia Theologica 19. (2008)
Perendy László: Judging Philosophers - Theophilus of Antioch on Hellenic inconsistency
216 PERENDY, László After demonstrating the total failure of the Greek îioaôeta, Theophi- lus proposes that his pagan audience should try to find more reliable information about the genesis of the cosmos in the Bible. The prophets received information directly from the divine spirit, who was present at the creation of the world, and can bear evidence of the exact order of events. The prophetic books are more reliable also because they were written well before the works of philosophers. In addition to their antiquity, they can be trusted also because the information contained in them is not contradictory. Unlike the Hellene poets and philosophers, the prophets pronounced their views in unison with one another. This obviously cannot be otherwise, as they all were inspired by the same spirit present at the creation of the world. The information contained in the prophetic books is not partial or fragmentary, but it is complete. So if Autolycus desires to acquire the entirety of wisdom, he must look for information about the origin of the word in the Law of Moses, especially in the Book of Genesis. We can observe that there are three areas of culture present in the argumentation of the Ad Autolycum: Hellene, Jewish, and Christian. Nicole Zeegers carefully examines them in a well-documented contribution.43 Summarizing the characteristics of the presence of profane, i.e. Hellenic culture in the Ad Autolycum, she refers to previous works of hers.44 She compares Theophilus' methods of using the works of pagan philosophers, and his attitude to Hellenic culture with those of the other apologists. The differences are obvious at first sight. Unlike Tatian, Athenagoras and Clement of Alexandria, he almost always gives an exact quotation, which is often quite verbose. He often quotes not only individual authors, but also collections of quotations. These florilegia had been compiled by unknown authors. Their topics can be zum 70. Geburtstag, Band II. Griechische und Römische Religion, Tübingen, 1996, 339-368; J. H. Waszink, Some Observations on the Appreciation of "The Philosophy of the Barbarians" in Early Christian Literature, in Mélanges offerts à Mademoiselle Christine Mohrmann, Utrecht-Anvers, 1963, 41-55. 43 N. Zeegers, Les trois cultures de Théophile d'Antioche, in B. Pouderon-J. Doré (eds.), Les apologistes chrétiens et la culture grecque (Théologie Historique 105), Paris 1998,135-176. 44 N. Zeegers-Vander Vorst, Les citations poétiques chez Théophile d'Antioche, in Studia Patristica 10 (= TU 107), Berlin, 1970, 168-174; Les citations des poètes grecs chez les apologistes chrétiens du Ile siècle, Louvain, 1972.
