Apologetics in the Roman Empire

About this book

"This book is the first to tackle the origins and purpose of literary religious apologetic in the first centuries of the Christian era by discussing, on their own terms, texts composed by pagan and Jewish authors as well as by Christians." "Previous studies of apologetic have focused primarily on the Christian apologists of the second century. These, and other Christian authors, are also represented in this volume but, in addition, experts in the religious history of the pagan world, in Judaism, and late antique philosophy examine very different literary traditions to see to what extent techniques and motifs were shared across the religious divide." "These studies, ranging in time from the New Testament to the early fourth century, and including novel contributions by specialists in ancient history, Jewish history, ancient philosophy, the New Testament, and patristics, will put the study of ancient religious apologetic on to a new footing and make the book of value to scholars in each of these various disciplines."--Jacket.