Folia Theologica 21. (2010)
Perendy László: An Enigmatic Apology - Aristides on God's created world
AN ENIGMATIC APOLOGY 95 (11-3)."44 Later he adds: "Dass die frühchristliche Theologie ihre philosophischen Voraussetzungen nicht unmittelbar vom genuinen Platonismus übernahm, sondern vom sog. mittleren Platonismus, der besonders durch Albinos repräsentiert wurde und durch eine Verschmelzung platonischer, aristotelischer und stoischer Elemente charakterisiert war, hat erst die neuere Forschung zutage gefördert."45 Some authors, for example A. Waibel, point out that we can also find traces of Epicureism and Scepticism in the criticism of the pagan philosophies: "Als erster christlicher Philosoph tritt Aristides von Athen auf, der in seiner an Antoninus Pius (138-161) gerichteten Schutzrede mit dem aus der Natur gewonnenen Gottesbegriff die Wahrheit der heidnischen Religionen bemisst und zur Bekämpfung des Polytheismus die Waffen des Epikureismus und Skeptizismus ergreift, aber auch stoische und peripatetische Gedanken nicht verschmäht."46 We can conclude the treatment of the introductory part of the Apology and Aristides' concept of God with a passage by B. J. Otten. He refers to the Apology when he writes about the attitude of the apologists towards the transcendence of God in general. They defended the doctrine of the church against both the pagan philosophers and the Gnostic tendencies: "They are quite commonly accused by their critics of overemphasizing God's transcendence and His incomprehensibility to the human mind, but this criticism does not appear altogether just. They were certainly very far removed from making of God a mere abstraction, as did some of the Greek philosophers before them; and also from placing Him in isolated grandeur beyond all contact with the world of His own creation, as did the Gnostics whose theories they rejected as absurd. They ascribe to Him in a prééminent degree the fullness of all physical and moral perfections (,..)."47 The other main parts of the Apology where we can find cosmological elements are in the chapters about the Barbarians or Chaldeans. As we have already seen, there are several differences between the Syriac version and Greek one. In the Greek version we can find the following 44 Scheffczyk, L., Schöpfung und Vorsehung, Freiburg - Basel - Wien 1963. 36. 45 Ibid. 46 Waibel, A., Die natürliche Gotteserkenntnis in der apologetischen Literatur des zweiten Jahrhunderts, München 1916. 7. 47 Otten, B. J., A Manual of the History of Dogmas, St. Louis - London 1917- 1918.116.
