Folia Theologica 19. (2008)
Perendy László: Judging Philosophers - Theophilus of Antioch on Hellenic inconsistency
JUDGING PHILOSOPHERS 217 e.g. providence, divine justice, the fate of the soul after death. The quotations from these collections could have been inserted into the text of the Ad Autolycum sometimes only in a strained way. The other characteristic feature of his way of quoting is his accuracy, or one could even say, his excessive pedantry. This phenomenon in itself would not make us suspicious about his lack of Hellenic erudition. But if we compare his extant work with those of the other apologists, it becomes quite obvious that he was not imbued with the profane culture of his days. One has the impression that in a way Hellenic culture was alien to him. He virtually never quotes anything by heart. He always has to make use of a written record of a philosophical or poetic work. His judgement about profane culture is very similar to that of Ta- tian: obviously negative. He does not try to find any value which is common Hellenism and biblical culture. If he happens to find a piece of truth in the works of the Hellenes, he accuses them of plagiarism.45 His knowledge of Hellenic culture seems to be rather superficial and biased. However, we must not forget that - except for a few fragments - we are not in the possession of his other and numerous works, so we can pass judgement about his philosophical erudition only on the basis of his extant work. But the Ad Autolycum is obviously a rich source of information about the main concerns of Christian apologetics and catechesis in Antioch from the end of the second century. 135-138. 45 N. Zeegers, Les trois cultures de Théophile d'Antioche...,
