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Plea for the Christians

Athenagoras, ANF 2

d1
To the Emperors
1. Injustice Shown Towards the Christians
2. Claim to Be Treated as Others are When Accused
3. Charges Brought Against the Christians
The Christians are Not Atheists, But Acknowledge One Only God
5. Testimony of the Poets to the Unity of God
6. Opinions of the Philosophers as to the One God
7. Superiority of the Christian Doctrine Respecting God
8. Absurdities of Polytheism
9. The Testimony of the Prophets
10. The Christians Worship the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
The Moral Teaching of the Christians Repels the Charge Brought Against Them
12. Consequent Absurdity of the Charge of Atheism
13. Why the Christians Do Not Offer Sacrifices
14. Inconsistency of Those Who Accuse the Christians
15. The Christians Distinguish God from Matter
16. The Christians Do Not Worship the Universe
The Names of the Gods and Their Images are But of Recent Date
18. The Gods Themselves Have Been Created, as the Poets Confess
19. The Philosophers Agree with the Poets Respecting the Gods
20. Absurd Representations of the Gods
21. Impure Loves Ascribed to the Gods
22. Pretended Symbolical Explanations
23. Opinions of Thales and Plato
24. Concerning the Angels and Giants
25. The Poets and Philosophers Have Denied a Divine Providence
26. The Demons Allure Men to the Worship of Images
27. Artifices of the Demons
28. The Heathen Gods Were Simply Men
29. Proof of the Same from the Poets
30. Reasons Why Divinity Has Been Ascribed to Men
Confutation of the Other Charges Brought Against the Christians
32. Elevated Morality of the Christians
33. Chastity of the Christians with Respect to Marriage
The Vast Difference in Morals Between the Christians and Their Accusers
35. The Christians Condemn and Detest All Cruelty
Bearing of the Doctrine of the Resurrection on the Practices of the Christians
37. Entreaty to Be Fairly Judged