The Philosophers of the First Three Centuries of the Church

heaven, that all this had been foretold in the Holy Scrip-
ture; in this most venerable and oldest book of the
world, in this book, where the fate of em-
pires and nations, centuries before the event, is to be
read, revealed just as circumstantially. This subject
JustinJustin Martyr (c. 100–165 AD), an early Christian apologist who sought to reconcile Greek philosophy with Christian faith., TatianTatian the Syrian (c. 120–180 AD), a student of Justin Martyr and author of the Address to the Greeks., Theophilus of AntiochTheophilus of Antioch (died c. 183–185 AD), a 2nd-century bishop known for his defense of Christianity against paganism. and many
others deal with with an admirable strength and clar-
ity, as one will see in the following from the excerpt, and
the analysis of their learned works.

But how are these great men more to be admired,
than when they come to speak of the holiness of the Gospeloriginal: Evangelium, on the
purity of Christian moral teachingoriginal: Sittenlehre — the ethical framework or code of conduct derived from the scriptures., and the heroic
virtues through which the Saviororiginal: Heiland has set himself as a
pattern for the human race. The reverence and love for these sublime virtues, the
inner conviction of the divinity of their teacher,
whom they hear, and whom they follow, their unshakable
confidence, to be with this their Master one day, and
to become partakers for a whole eternity of his bliss and
glory, places those expressions upon their
tongue, which are entirely fire, entirely persuasion. This
made them insensitive to everything dazzling and se-
ductive the world could offer, or everything terrible and
painful it could threaten; through this they always triumphed over all
that hell either itself has done, or inspired others to do,
to crush, to exterminate, and to destroy them.
One might say their soul was permeated and
embraced by the Godheadoriginal: Gottheit; they see His holiness, jus-
tice, and generosity completely unveiled without a veil before them, and
dwell, because of their total separation from the
earth