• Although supposedly directed to outsiders, such apologetic
literature played an important role in shaping Jewish identity, by
portraying the tradition in terms understandable to the wider world.• In the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles has many of the
elements of apologetic literature: “The way” is portrayed as
benevolent and nonthreatening to the social order. Luke tries to
show that the Christian movement is continuous with Israel and is
philanthropic in character.• The Christian literature termed “apologetic” in the 2nd and 3rd
centuries shared certain features.
o The device of addressing the emperor was probably fictional,
though it is possible that a reading by authorities might occur.o A consistent feature—one not likely to endear the movement
to Gentiles—was an attack on idolatry, that is, the religious
practices of the larger world.o Positively, a case would be made for the legal innocence of
Christians and the injustice of persecuting them.The Emergence of Intellectual Self-Consciousness
• By casting convictions in language intelligible to the wider world,
apologetic literature contributed to the development of a sense
within Christianity of having a place in that wider world and created
a reasoned case for the religious movement.
• An anonymous composition from the 2nd or early 3rd century called
the Letter to Diognetus emphasizes the idea that Christians are like
their neighbors in every respect but bring benefit by being the “soul
of the world.”• Before his martyrdom in 165, Justin wrote a first apology
addressed to Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, a second
apology addressed to the Roman Senate, and a Dialogue with
Trypho, defending Christian claims to a Jewish interlocutor. Justin