The Apologies of Aristides and Melito
This episode contains two of the earliest Christian apologies from Aristides and Melito.
The Apology of Aristides may be the oldest surviving defense of Christianity recorded outside the Bible. For a long time, one of the only known references to this work was a quote from Eusebius in the fourth century, where he described Aristides as follows:
“Aristides also, a man faithfully devoted to the religion we profess, like Quadratus, has left to posterity a defense of the faith, addressed to Hadrian. This work is also preserved by a great number, even to the present day.”
Eusebius further recounts that this apology was presented to Emperor Hadrian in Athens around AD 125, that Aristides was a philosopher, and that because of his defense, along with that of Quadratus, which has been lost, the Emperor forbade the government to punish Christians without investigation and trial.
The text itself has a rather interesting history. It was known to Eusebius and Jerome, but became lost to most of the Church until 1878, when an Armenian Monk at the Mechitarite convent of Saint Lazarus at Venice published a copy that had been translated into Armenian centuries before. In 1889, a Syriac translation was found in the Convent of St. Catharine on Mount Sinai, confirming the previous publication. As a result of the dedicated work of Christian scholars maintaining and preserving these critical writings we can still be encouraged by the faith of Aristides well over a thousand years after his death.
In his apology, Aristides classifies different religions and explains how the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Greeks, and Jews are all misguided. He ends with a declaration of the Christian faith which focuses on Christ’s saving work and the virtuous deeds that Christians ought to perform in response. When read in the context of other apologies in this collection, the Apology of Aristides is nothing unique. However, by virtue of this being one of the first Apologies, and, according to Jerome the template used by Justin Martyr, there is a good chance that is because Aristides’ work helped to define the genre.
The second apology presented here is from Melito, who wrote around AD 170. He was Bishop of the Church in Sardis and likely knew Polycarp and Irenaeus. While few of his writings remain, he was profoundly influential on the likes of Tertullian and later Jerome for his work in defining the Old Testament Canon of Scripture. He was ultimately martyred, likely by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, around 177.
The Apology itself is a discourse that he gave in front of Antoninus Caesar and represents an example of how the Early Church called nonbelievers to faith. It follows a familiar pattern, beginning with a rejection of the religious and moral norms of the day. Melito then introduces Christ as the supreme being who is greater than all gods and philosophies. Finally, he ends with an individual call to live a moral and upright life as we wait in faith to inherit the eternal salvation offered in Christ. While later texts, like Lactantius’ Divine Institutes, are more thorough, Melito’s Apology remains a simple and honest call to faith directed to one of the most powerful men in the world.
If you would like to read more of the writings of the Early Christian Fathers, please visit ccel.org to view the full collection.
