Athenagoras

   1) (second century)

   Philosopher.

   Athenagoras was the author of one of the earliest apologies for Christianity. Dedicated to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and to his son Commodus, it defended the Christians against the charges of atheism, cannibalism and incest. Written from a Platonic standpoint, Athenagoras stresses the admirable conduct of Christians and demands equal rights of citizenship for them. He is also thought by some scholars to be the author of a work on the resurrection of the dead. His writings are significant in that they are among the first to uphold the doctrine of the Trinity.

   The Apology of Athenagoras, edited and translated by W.R. Schoedel (1972);

   L.W. Barnard, Athenagoras: A Study in Second Century Christian Apologetic (1972).

   2) (1886–1972)

   Patriarch and Ecumenist.

   Athenagoras was born in Vasilikon in Greece. As Archbishop of the Americas in the 1930s, he ended a schism within the United States Greek Church. In 1948 he became Ecumenical Patriarch (Patriarch of Constantinople). During his reign, he organised the Panorthodox Conferences of the National Orthodox Churches and did much to bring about better cooperation. He also revoked the orders of excommunication which had been in force between Rome and Constantinople since 1054. After a meeting with Pope Paul VI in Jerusalem in 1964 greater understanding was achieved between the Churches of the East and West. Athenagoras was thus a highly significant figure in the ecumenical movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

   C.G. Patelos (ed.), The Orthodox Church in the Ecumenical Movement (1978).