Apologetics in the Roman Empire: Pagans, Jews, and Christians (review)

Mark Edwards, Martin Goodman, and Simon Price, editors In association with Christopher Rowland. Apologetics in the Roman Empire: Pagans, Jews, and Christians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp. x + 315 pp. $82.00.

At this price, only specialized research libraries will be able to purchase this volume, but it will be money well spent. Each of the eleven essays makes a contribution to the field, and unlike many other collections of essays, there is good cross-referencing. The book appears to be a product of true collaboration. Only two of the essays deal primarily with non-Christian material: Josephus' Against Apion and Philostratus' The Life of Apollonius. In addition to covering the second-fourth century Christian apologists, the contributors cast the net more widely to encompass apologetic aspects of works not often considered in this category, like Justin's Dialogue with Trypho and Constantine's Oration to the Saints. There is much discussion, in the introduction and in each essay, about precisely what constitutes "apologetics;" the contributors generally eschew the notion of an apologetic genre, but they try to identify apologetic (defensive) strategies in a variety of genres.

The first essay, by Loveday Alexander, demonstrates that while the Acts of the Apostles contains a series of apologetic scenarios, in which the characters are charged with various offenses, the work as a whole is not principally or even very effectively apologetic. Charges are often leveled against the Christians in the text that are never refuted (Acts 16.20-21; 17.6-7), and the narrator passes up numerous opportunities for the characters to defend themselves (pp. 34-35). When Paul finally does speak up in Acts 22-25, all but one of the speeches are about Jewish issues. The Romans are usually bystanders who manifest a neutral, uncommitted stance (Acts 28.21-22; p. 43).

The essay on Josephus by Martin Goodman locates Against Apion in the context of anti-Jewish propaganda in the Flavian dynasty. As Goodman has argued in other writings, Josephus could have remained silent in such circumstances, but he showed great courage in defending himself and his nation (pp. 55-56). Tessa Rajak sums up her argument in the title of her essay: "Talking at Trypho: Christian Apologetic as Anti-Judaism." She calls needed attention to the harshly polemical aspects of the text, often missed because of the philosophical window dressing. She also makes good comparisons with the Qumran literature (pp. 72 and 80), as she notes that both Justin and the authors of the Qumran pesharim see themselves as the true Israel. I would add that the polemical language of the Qumran texts is often even stronger than Justin's against those Jews who do not see the light.

The essays on the Greek and Latin Christian apologists provide good descriptions of the works in question, but they rely heavily on the earlier work of Robert Grant, Arthur Droge, and T. D. Barnes. On p. 127, Simon Price makes an interesting distinction between the Greek apologies and the Latin ones: the Latins focus on Rome and its traditions, while the Greeks, even Justin who is writing in Rome, do not. This ties in with Mark Edwards' similar analysis of Arnobius and Lactantius, who see themselves as citizens of a new city which has replaced the old (pp. 220-21).

The three most original and insightful essays are those by Simon Swain on The Life of Apollonius, Michael Frede on Against Celsus, and Mark Edwards on The Oration of Constantine. Swain astutely treats Philostratus' text as an apology of sorts for Hellenism. Frede delves into the circumstances surrounding Origen's response to Celsus, and Origen's intended audience. Edwards argues that the Oration dates from a.d. 314, that Constantine wrote it himself, that it influenced Eusebius, and that Constantine was more of a committed, creative theologian than is usually recognized. Space does not permit a detailed treatment of...