Defending and Defining the Faith: An Introduction to Early Christian Apologetic Literature

In Early Christian Apologetics, D.H. Williams offers a comprehensive presentation of Christian apologetic literature from the second to the fifth century, considering each writer within the intellectual context of the day. Williams argues that most apologies were not directed at a pagan readership. In most cases, he says, ancient apologetics had a double object: to instruct the Christian and to persuade weak Christians or non-Christians who were sympathetic to Christian claims. Traditionally, scholars of apologetics have focused on the context of persecution in the pre-Constantinian period. By following the links in the intellectual trajectory up though the early fifth century, Williams prompts deeper reflection on the process of Christian self-definition in late antiquity. Taken cumulatively, he finds, apologetic literature was in fact integral to the formation of the Christian identity in the Roman world.Defending and Defining the Faith: An Introduction to Early Christian Apologetic Literature is written by D.H. Williams and published by Oxford University Press. ISBNs for Defending and Defining the Faith are 9780190620523, 0190620528 and the print ISBNs are 9780190620509, 0190620501. Additional ISBNs include 9780190620516.