The Beginnings of Christian Philosophy

Lecture 12

I

n the 2nd and 3rd centuries, four distinct “ways of being religious” that
had already characterized Greco-Roman culture emerged with greater
clarity within Christianity. These were: the way of participation in divine
benefits, the way of stabilizing the world, the way of transcending the world,
and the way of moral transformation. If we define religion as “a way of life
organized around experiences and convictions concerning ultimate power,”
we can see that these variations have to do with distinct perceptions of that
power and its purpose. This lecture traces the development in particular of
the way of moral transformation from the New Testament to the 4th century.

Four “Ways of Being Religious”
• The “way of participation in divine benefits” was by far the
dominant way of being religious among pagans.
o It was exemplified by the 2nd-century rhetorician Aelius
Aristides, who was chronically ill and spent his life in devotion
to the healing god, Asclepius.

o In 2nd- and 3rd-century Christianity, this mode is found in those

manifestations that emphasize the presence of divine power

in the empirical realm: the display of the divine in signs and

wonders, healings, prophecies, and even martyrdom.

•    The “way of stabilizing the world” supports the first way of

being religious by providing the means for festivals, feasts, and

all other practices. It includes such figures as the Greco-Roman

priest of Apollo and the philosopher Plutarch, who insisted on the

link between authentic religion and true civilization, the “city of

gods and men.” We find this type of religious sensibility among

the bishops, such as Irenaeus, who patrolled the boundaries

of orthodoxy.