A few words as to what we know of his general history.

From the title prefixed to his apology, we may infer that he was born at Athens. He styles it "An Apology for Christians, by Athenagoras, an Athenian, a philosopher, and a Christian." That he was a converted Gentile, is apparent from the following interesting incident recorded by Philip. "Being earnestly engaged to write for Celsus against the Christians, and reading the Sacred Scriptures that he might more completely refute them, he was so affected by the Holy Spirit, that instead of a persecutor, he became, like the great apostle Paul, a teacher of the faith which he had persecuted." But where, or at what pe

riod of his life this took place, is not so apparent.

It would seem that he removed from Athens and went to Alexandria, where he taught the Platonic philosophy; and this, as is quite possible, in connexion with teaching Christianity; for he seemed still fond of styling himself "a philosopher" at the time of writing his apology, and doubtless continued, like many other converted philosophers, to wear their cloak as a distinctive badge.

The period of his death is alike uncertain with that of his birth. Perhaps it was at the time when Pantaenus took charge of the school, viz. A. D. 181.

Two small works of his remain to the present time, which are highly spoken of by Mosheim and others as evincing superior talent in composition, great learning, and a strong predilection for philosophy. In his apology, already named, it is remarkable that he adduces passages from the Old Testament, but none from the New. He here defends the Christians from the charges of incest, of atheism, and of eating the flesh of murdered children; accusations so frequently, so cruelly, and yet so absurdly brought against them. In his work "On the Resurrection of the Dead," he argues wholly on principles of reason, to the neglect of the Scriptures, as his object was to meet the objections of philosophers. In this point, he is followed in Butler's incomparable work on the analogy between natural and revealed religion.

The effect of so early and so striking an example in favor of a taste for philosophy in the school, may well be considered as

1 Guer. P. I. p. 22.

2 Mosheim, Ecc. Hist. Cent. II. Part II. c. 2. 5.

great and permanent, especially when we consider the beauty and power of his compositions, which continued to be read when his living voice had become silent in death.

We pass now to some notice of his successor,

PANTAENUS.

Here, too, our knowledge is scanty as to many of the circumstances of the life of this distinguished teacher. When or where he was born, we know not. Philip Sidetes assigns Athens as his birth place. But as his pupil and successor, Clement of Alexandria, calls him a "Sicilian bee," many have been led to conclude that he was born in the island of Sicily. This appellation, however, may have been given him by his admiring pupil merely as indicative of his diligence or the excellence of his productions, as Sicily was proverbial for its "Hyblæan" honey. Photius speaks of him as "a disciple of those who had seen the apostles." According to Eusebius, "he was bred up in the precepts and institutions of the Stoics." To this philosophy he continued to be much attached; and Cave, in his life of this father, observes, that he might well be fond of it, as the Stoics resembled the Christians in their moral principles much more than did any other sect of philosophers; for "they held, that nothing was good but what was just and pious, and that nothing was evil but what was vicious and dishonest; and that a bad man could never be happy, nor a good man miserable ;" and that God's providence is universal, and he is to be adored by all.

It is manifest from the brief notice of Eusebius,2 that Pantaenus took charge of the school in the beginning of the reign of Commodus, about A. D. 181. Here he probably continued in a regular course of teaching till A. D. 203, when himself and Clement, (who had become his assistant in A. D. 190,) were compelled to flee from the persecution under Severus; but in A. D. 206, he is supposed to have returned, and to have had the nominal, if not the active charge of the seminary, in connexion with Clement and Origen, till A. D. 211, about which time he died at a very advanced age.

At some time during his life, he appears to have performed a sort of mission among the people of India. Concerning this sacred expedition, three questions of some interest remain still 1 Euseb. V. 10.

2 Euseb. V. 9. 10.

undecided, viz. Where did he go? When? And at whose instigation? To each of these inquiries we will devote a moment's attention. But to do this to the best advantage, it may be well first to repeat the short notice which Eusebius has left us of this tour. I give it in the old translation of 1692. After speaking of Pantaenus as most eminent for his learning among those attached to the school of the faithful at Alexandria, Eusebius adds: "Moreover, 'tis said, he showed so great a willingness of mind and ardency of affection towards the publication of the divine word, he was declared the preacher of Christ's gospel to the nations of the East, and journeyed as far as India. For there were many evangelical preachers of the word even at that time, who, inflamed with a divine zeal, in imitation of the apostles, contributed their assistance to the enlargement of the divine word, and the building men up in the faith. Of which number Pantaenus was one, and is reported to have gone to the Indians. Where, as 'tis famed, he found the gospel according to Matthew, among some that had the knowledge of Christ there before bis arrival; to whom Bartholomew, one of the Apostles, had preached, and left them the gospel of St. Matthew written in Hebrew; which was preserved to the foresaid times. Moreover, this Pantaenus, after many excellent performances, was at last made governor of the school at Alexandria; where, by his discourses and writings, he set forth to public view the treasures of the divine points."

We now proceed to inquire, in the first place, who were these Indians to whom Pantaenus went? Cave remarks, that men of no inconsiderable note have supposed them a colony from that part of India lying about the river Indus, who early removed and settled in Ethiopia; and in proof of the existence of such a colony, Eusebius and Philostratus are cited, the latter of whom calls the Ethiopians a colony of Indians, and an Indian generation.2

But to this supposition it appears a sufficient objection, that Eusebius speaks of Pantaenus as having gone to the East, not to the South, and having gone as far as India.

Another opinion, and one for which the authority of Jerome is cited, is, that they were what we should now understand by the people of India. There appears, however, to be no necessity for supposing this father to have taken so long a journey; but, on the

1 Ecc. Hist. V. 10.

2 See Cave, Patres Apostolici, p. 189.

contrary, there is a considerable degree of probability in the supposition, that he did not in fact go so far. For the name Indians was often given by the Greeks to the Arabians, Persians, and other nations in the East; and the fact that he found the gospel of Matthew among this people in Hebrew, left by Bartholomew, induces us to believe that the country was Arabia Felix, where that apostle is supposed to have labored, and where many Jews are known to have resided, who would of course be the sort of people to have the gospel in Hebrew, or in the Hebrew character, as that may be all which is meant by the expression. We may then, on the whole, conclude that this celebrated mission of Pantaenus was to some part of Arabia.

We now pass to inquire for the time of this mission. Cave and others suppose it to have been about ten years after the commencement of his office in the school. But as there is no notice of his leaving the school at this time, and as it is not probable that he would leave so important a station for such a purpose, we more rationally conclude, with Guerike, that this mission was performed before entering on his catechetical office. And with this position agrees the above cited account of the transaction as given by Eusebius.

It remains to inquire, at whose instigation the mission was undertaken. The account from Eusebius would lead us to believe it a benevolent project, originating in the ardent and devout mind of Pantaenus himself, and in accordance with the missionary spirit of his age. But Jerome speaks of his being sent by the bishop of Alexandria, at the solicitation of certain ambassadors from among the Indians. Both, however, may be true, as he may have formed this purpose first in his own mind, and subsequently such a request may have been made to the bishop. from that people, to send them a man to teach them the way God more perfectly, of which, as it would seem, they already had some knowledge. As to the degree of success attendant on this mission, we are not particularly informed.

of

Soon after his return, he most probably entered on the work of theological instruction; and doubtless much better prepared. for infusing a practical and missionary spirit into his pupils, than he could have been by a merely sedentary and speculative life.

He is uniformly spoken of as a man of uncommon powers and acquisitions, and in language comporting with that already

1 See note to Mosheim's Ecc. Hist. I. p. 120.

quoted from Eusebius. Mosheim supposes him to have been the first who composed explanations of the sacred volume.1 None of his works are now extant, and he is thought to have given most of his instruction viva voce. That he profited greatly by his knowledge of profane literature, is asserted by Origen, his great coadjutor and one of his successors.

His immediate successor, however, was Clement, his former pupil and prime associate.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.

This distinguished man is styled sometimes an Athenian and sometimes an Alexandrian, and both perhaps truly; as we may well suppose, with Cave, that Athens was his birth place, while Alexandria was the chief theatre of his labors. He was originally a pagan philosopher, and travelled in quest of knowledge in Greece, Calabria, Palestine, and Egypt; and listened, as he informs us, to various teachers. One of his teachers was a Jew by birth; several were from the East; but the last and best of all whom he found, was the revered Pantaenus with whom he settled down in contentment. He speaks of these his christian preceptors generally in terms of high commendation, as "blessed and truly worthy and memorable persons,-preserving the sincere tradition of the blessed doctrine which they had immediately received from the holy apostles, Peter, James, John, and Paul." We may well suppose that during his travels, he also listened to the heathen philosophers of note who came in his way, though the fact is not expressly noted.

Whether he was converted before he reached Alexandria, does not appear; but we should naturally consider him as at least very favorably disposed towards the christian teachers, from the fact of his having listened to so many of them, and from his "carefully seeking out Pantaenus in Egypt," instead of casually meeting him. This, it is indeed possible, he may have done merely as a philosopher of the truly eclectic cast, for such he was in an eminent degree, as his writings and declarations assure us. In the spirit of this sect, then so flourishing, he might

1 Ecc. Hist. I. p. 153.

2 See his Life of Clem. Alex. p. 194. 3 Clem. Strom. lib. I. Euseb. V. II.