Folia Theologica et Canonica 1. 23/15 (2012)

SACRA THEOLOGIA - László Perendy, Athenagoras on the Triune God of Christians

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PERENDY LÁSZLÓ

Pouderon finds an interesting parallelism with Galen’s way of arguing91 about the finality of the human organs. Their common source is Plato.92

Pouderon’s final conclusion about the apologist’s treatment of causality and finality reveals that despite his terminological and philosophical borrowings, Athenagoras remains deeply Christian:

En résumé, le parti-pris tout à la fois causaliste et finaliste d’Athénagore apparaît bien un héritage philosophique: celui de Platon, d’Aristote et des Stoïciens. Mais ce qui le rend si différent des uns et des autres, c’est qu’au Dieu chrétien, qui est Amour et Bonté, Dieu personnel, correspond un dessein propre, celui d’un Père aimant, et qui se veut aimé. Il faut comprendre en ce sens les synonymes qu’Athénagore donne au mot Providence:- èntpéÀeta: D. R. XVIII, 2 et 3 [cf. Platon, Lois X, 900d];-(pt)A.aKr|: D. R. XVIII, 2;- (ppovxtç: D. R. XIX. 4; XX, 2,

qui relèvent plus de la sollicitude paternelle que de l’ordonnance cosmique!93

III. The Mosaic of his Icon of God

Having surveyed the three periods of scholarly research we can state that although Athenagoras’ Legatio is an apologetic work and not a work on dogmatic theology, his doctrine of God is elaborated to a large extent. His God is àyÉvvr|Toç, àîStoç, à7ta0f|ç, àôtatpexoç, àôpaxoç. and áxaxáÁriTtxoq, as already Gustave Bardy observed. Athenagoras proves that there can be no other god besides the Creator of All. Although God is not corporeal, there is no place for another creator either in this universe or in another. In Barnard’s wording: if there were another god besides the Lord of the Universe, this second god would not have another universe to rule. He reminds his pagan readers that Plato himself believed in one God, creator of the universe. Nothing changeable can be imagined in God. Crehan makes the important observation that in Athenagoras’ mind God’s goodness is an inseparable property of his being, but it is not identical with him. He can share his goodness with created beings, which does not mean sharing his divinity. Already Johannes Geffcken observed94 that Athena91 See Festugière, A. J. - Tonneau, R. M„ Le Compendium Timaei de Galien, in Revue des études grecques 65 (1952) 97-118.

92 Pouderon, BAthénagore d'Athènes, 246-247.

93 Pouderon, B., Athénagore d’Athènes, 247.

94 Geffcken, J., Zwei griechische Apologeten, Leipzig-Berlin 1907. 199.