Aristides

Aristides
/ar'euh stuy"deez/, n. ("the Just")
530?-468? B.C., Athenian statesman and general.

* * *

(2nd century AD) Athenian philosopher, one of the earliest Christian Apologists.

His Apology for the Christian Faith discussed the harmony in creation and the nature of the divine being and stated that barbarians, Greeks, and Jews were all inadequate in their conception of the deity and their religious practices. Long considered lost, the Apology was reconstructed in the late 19th century.

* * *

▪ Athenian philosopher

flourished 2nd century

      Athenian philosopher, one of the earliest Christian Apologists, his Apology for the Christian Faith being one of the oldest extant Apologist documents. Known primarily through a reference by the 4th-century historian Eusebius of Caesarea, Aristides addressed his Apology either to the Roman emperor Hadrian (reigned 117–138) or to his successor Antoninus Pius (reigned 138–161). A primitive, general apology, Aristides' simple argument was the forerunner of the more personal and literary apologies in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries, such as those produced by Athenagoras and Tertullian.

      In the perspective of a pagan philosopher, Aristides' Apology begins with a discussion of the harmony in creation and, in the manner of the Stoic philosophers, establishes a correlation with the Divine Being responsible for the creation and preservation of the universe. Aristides reasons that such a Being would need to be eternal, perfect, immortal, all-knowing, the Father of mankind, and sufficient to himself. He then divides the pre-Christian human race into three categories according to their idea of deity and religious practices. In his judgment, all were inadequate: the barbarians, including the Babylonians (Chaldeans) and the Egyptians, with their cults of the elements of the universe and animals; the Greeks (Greek religion) with their worship of anthropomorphic gods whose infamies made them anything but divine; and the Jewish monotheistic ideal, deserving respect because of its faith in the Creator, genuine prophets, superior standards of morality, and social conscience, but excessive in devotion to angels and external ceremonies. Only the “new nation,” as Aristides called the Christians, has a true idea of God, who creates all things through his Son and the Holy Spirit. Christian worship of God is manifested by a highly moral life based upon the commandments of Christ, to whom they look for the resurrection of the dead and life in the world to come. Profoundly impressed by the lofty mission of the new religion, Aristides stressed the charity of the Christian community and insisted that, although few in number, Christians were justifying the continued existence and salvation of the world by their intercession before God.

      Long considered lost, Aristides' Apology was discovered in the late 19th century in fragmentary Armenian and Syriac versions. With the subsequent identification of a complete Greek version contained in the medieval Christian legend of Barlaam and Josaphat, the reconstruction of Aristides' original text finally was achieved. English translations were done by J.R. Harris (1893) and by D.M. Kay in The Ante-Nicene Fathers (1924).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Aristides — or Aristeides (Greek Polytonic|Ἀριστείδης, 530–468 BC) was an Athenian soldier and statesman. He was one of the 10 commanders against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon under Miltiades.Aristides was nicknamed the Just because he was popularly …   Wikipedia

  • Arístides — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Este artículo trata sobre el estadista. Para el nombre propio, véase Arístides (nombre). Ostracón con el nombre de Arístides. Arístides (en griego Ἀριστείδης, por lo que la transcripción correcta es Ar …   Wikipedia Español

  • Aristides — • A Christian apologist living at Athens in the second century Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Aristides     Aristides     † …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Arístides — fue un estadista ateniense del siglo V adC. Era hijo de Lisímaco y primo de Calias. Fue uno de los generales que protagonizó la batalla de Maratón. Al año siguiente fue nombrado arconte. En el 482 adC fue desterrado con el método del ostracismo.… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Aristīdes — Aristīdes, 1) A. der Gerechte, Sohn des Atheners Lysimachos; kämpfte 490 v. Chr. als Feldherr gegen die Perser bei Marathon; war 489 Archon, u. obgleich gerecht u. rechtschaffen, wurde er doch von Themistokles, dessen Plänen er widerstrebte,… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Aristīdes — Aristīdes, s. Aristeides …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Aristides — Aristīdes (Aristeides), der Gerechte, athen. Staatsmann und Feldherr, geb. um 540 v. Chr., war bei Marathon (490) einer der 10 Anführer der Athener, wurde als Gegner des Themistokles 483 durch Ostracismus aus Athen verbannt, aber 480… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Aristides [1] — Aristides, Athener von altem Geschlechte, war Feldherr in der Schlacht von Marathon, wurde aber besonders auf Betreiben des Themistokles verbannt, weil er eine ganz entgegengesetzte Politik für Athen anrieth, als Themistokles verfolgte, der die… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Aristides [2] — Aristides aus Milet, im 1. oder 2. Jahrh. n. Chr., Verfasser der sog. »milesischen Geschichten«, unseren Novellen ähnlich, lüsternen Inhalts, von der vornehmen Welt sehr gerne gelesen; es ist nichts von ihnen auf uns gekommen …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Aristides [3] — Aristides, Aelius, aus Adriani in Mysien, geb. 117 n. Chr., berühmter Reisender, Gelehrter und der erste Redner seiner Zeit, an geistiger Kraft seinen gelehrten Zeitgenossen jedenfalls überlegen, erwirkte von Kaiser M. Aurelius eine nachhaltige… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Aristides [4] — Aristides, Philosoph aus Athen, zum Christenthum bekehrt, reichte Kaiser Hadrian eine Vertheidigung des Christenthums ein, die als trefflich galt, aber nicht auf uns gekommen ist …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”