ATHENAGORAS, an Athenian philosopher, who was converted from paganism to Christianity. He flourished after the middle of the second century, and was held by his cotemporaries in high estimation for his learning, acuteness, and zeal. Having spent his youth at Athens in the company of the sages and rhetoricians of that period, he removed to Alexandria, then a great theatre of learning. Here our philoso pher keenly entered into the disputes of the time, and directed the whole torrent of his eloquence and eru dition against Christianity. Deeming it necessary to acquire a thorough knowledge of the system which lie intended to overthrow, he applied himself with eagerness to the reading of the scriptures. His can dour, if we may judge from appearances, was equal to his zeal, and infinitely superior to that of most con ' troversialists either ancient or modern. For on care fully perusing the sacred volume, reflecting on the important and long-desired discoveries which it con tains, and weighing impartially the arguments of the primitive fathers against the absurdities of polytheism ; this,true philosopher became a convert to the reason of his antagonists, and thenceforward became a power ful champion of the cross. He is said to have been the founder of the Alexandrian school, and to have had Clemens Alexandrinus among his disciples.
The church being about this time greatly oppress ed in the East, Athenagoras wrote a remonstrance on the subject, addressed to the Emperors Marcus Au, relies Antoninus, and Lucius Aurelius Commodus. This remonstrance, containing the principles of Chris tianity, and a justification of secession from paganism, was presented, according to the opinion of some wri ters, by Athenagoras in person, who, it is asserted, had for that purpose been sent at the head of an em bassy to the imperial court, about A. D. 168. Others however reject this opinion, on the grounds that such an embassy is not once alluded to in history ; that the common title of the piece is in some manu scripts or " defence ;" and that even weirgoa, .which may signify "request" as well as " embassy," is •iever applied to the instructions of an ambassador, but to his mission. Be this however as it will, the apology or embassy still exists, and is couched in language of con siderable elegance. The frequent inversions and paren theses betray, a little too sensibly, the art of the rheto rician :- the epithets, too, bestowed on the emperors, are unwarrantably strained, and bordering even on blasphe my ; but with all these defects, which indeed belong to the period rather than to the man, the style has undoubted pretensions to the character of Attic ; and the train of reasoning, particularly in exposing the pagan superstition, is remarkably forcible and happy.
Athenagoras wrote also a book on " The Resurrec tion of the Dead." In this treatise, which is also preserved, the author properly confines himself chiefly to mere reason, since in a controversy with infidels, an appeal to scripture were evidently fruitless.
The Platonic philosophy influenced, in no small degree, the theological tenets of Athenagoras. He endeavoured to explain, on the principles of that school, the nature of the Deity, the particular energy of the Logos in the divine mind, and the eternal and necessary coexistence of the Father and the Son. He maintained, in opposition to the Peripatetics and others, the entire and absolute distinction between God and matter ; and he supposed that these two principles, one spiritual and intelligent, the other im perfect and untractable, were connected by interme diate existences, partaking of the nature of both. These beings he considered or evil according as spirit or matter predominated. The evil kind he further subdivided into two classes, of which one consisted of those angels who originally transgressed the divine command-; and the other, of the souls of those giants who were produced by the intercourse of the angels with the daughters of men. This phi losopher was one of those who recommended and practised celibacy as a piece of meritorious mortifica tion, and viewed second marriages with the utmost abhorrence. Altogether, the writings of Athena goras savour strongly of that subtlety which distin guished the Grecian schools. He never, it is said, could sink the lofty philosopher into the plain Chris tian, but retained, even in his dress, the badges of that profession to which he had been educated.
The two remaining treatises of Athenagoras have undergone many impressions, of which the reader will find a long list in Fabricius. The best is that published at Oxford in 1706. The romance, en titled, " True and Perfect Love," has, we know not why, been ascribed to the same Athenagoras. It is for the most part but a compilation of passages from Herodotus, Plutarch, Q. Curtius, Jamblichus, and Heliodorus, and has all the appearance of being the production of some modern Greek. There are ten or twelve more of the same name mentioned by au thors ; but few of them are of any note.
See Athenag. Philos. Atheniensis Opera, passim. Cave, H. L. v. t. Fabricii Bibl. Grcec. vol. v. 1. 5. Baronii Annal. Eccles. v. ii. Diet. de Bayle. Lard ner's 1Vorks, v. ii. Brucker's Hist. Philos. by En field, v. ii. (E)