Folia Theologica 21. (2010)
Perendy László: An Enigmatic Apology - Aristides on God's created world
88 László PERENDY Adhémar d'Alès7. Other translations and commentaries have been published by Edgar Hennecke8, Johannes Geffcken9, Edgar J. Good- speed10 11, Richard Raabe", Reinhold Seeberg12, Costantino Vona.13 The latest edition and translation of the Apology is the work of Bernard Pouderon (with Marie-Joseph Pierre).14 II. The Question of Authorship Although most publications originate from the decades after the discovery of the Syriac version, the end of the debate about the authorship is far from over. For a long time most authors seem to have accepted the view that it was written by an Athenian Christian philosopher, Marcianus Aristides. However, G. C. O'Ceallaigh15 challenged this view. In his opinion it was written not by a Christian, but by a proselyte to Hellenistic Judaism, in the time of Hadrian, and it was rewritten in the fourth century by a Christian. As O'Ceallaigh says, "This conclusion provides the answer to the enigmas of the Apology noted by many critics: the amazing 'leniency' shown by its 'author' toward the Jews; and the glaring contrast, in purpose, content and style, which exists between the two long passages that are so obviously Christian, and the great bulk of the basic work which is not."16 7 d'Alès, A., L'Apologie d'Aristide et le roman de Barlaam et Josaphat, in Revue des questions historiques 3/4 (1924) 354-359. For more information about the fragments of Aristides, see the following works: Krüger, G., Aristides, Apologie 15,6-16,1 im Urtext, in Theologische Literaturzeitung 49 (1924) 47-48; Pitra, J-B. (ed.), Analecta Sacra Spicilegio Solesmensi Parata, IV. Paris 1883. 282-286. 8 Hennecke, E., Die Apologie des Aristides. Recension und Rekonstruktion des Textes, Leipzig 1893. 9 Geffcken, J., Zwei griechische Apologeten, Leipzig - Berlin 1907. 10 Goodspeed, E. J., Die ältesten Apologeten, Göttingen 1914. 11 Raabe, R., Die Apologie des Aristides (TU, 91), Leipzig 1892. 12 Seeberg, R., Die Apologie des Aristides, in Zahn, T. (ed.), Forschungen zur Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons und der altkirchlichen Literatur, V. Erlangen - Leipzig 1893. 161-414. 13 Vona, C., Uapologia di Aristide (Lateranum N. S. 16), Roma 1950. 14 Pouderon, B. - Pierre, M. J. (ed.), Aristide: Apologie (SCh 470), Paris 2003. 15 O'Ceallaigh, G. C., "Marcianus" Aristides, on the Worship of God, in Harvard Theological Review 51 (1958) 227-254. 16 Ibid. 227.
