Program / Course 24: Apologetic Practicum / Lesson 5.3
What you will learn
- Describe several historical models of public Christian witness.
- Explain what Paul at Athens did and how interpreters read it.
- Compare the apologists, the martyrs, the monastics, the Reformers and modern public speakers.
- Judge which models fit different callings, including the calling to private, quiet faith.
The big idea
Christians have borne witness in public in many ways: by speech, by writing, by suffering, by charity and by quiet lives. No single model has been universal. Paul addressed philosophers at Athens, Justin wrote to an emperor, martyrs gave witness by their deaths, monks withdrew, Reformers preached and printed and modern Christians use radio, books and online media. Understanding these models helps a student see that public speech is one calling among several, and that many faithful Christians have never spoken publicly at all.
Key terms
- Witness
- In the New Testament, testimony to what one has seen or known of Christ. The Greek word martys, meaning witness, gave rise to the word martyr.
- Apologist
- A writer or speaker who defends the faith with reasons, especially to outsiders.
- Martyr
- A person who dies for the faith rather than renounce it.
- Evangelism
- Sharing the good news (gospel) of Christ in order to invite faith.
- Public square
- The shared space of a society in which ideas and public life are discussed.
- Quiet witness
- Bearing witness through conduct, service and presence more than through speech.
- Areopagus
- A hill and council in Athens, where Paul spoke according to Acts 17.
Background
The New Testament presents witness in several forms. Jesus told his disciples they would be his witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). He also said that people would see their good works and glorify God (Matthew 5:16), and Peter urged wives and others to witness through conduct (1 Peter 3:1 and 2:12). Paul speaks of himself as preaching publicly and also of those who aspire to lead a quiet life and work with their hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11).
Acts 17 describes Paul at Athens. He reasoned daily in the marketplace, met Stoic and Epicurean philosophers and spoke before the Areopagus. He began with an altar to an unknown god and quoted pagan poets, then spoke of creation, repentance, judgment and the resurrection. Some mocked, some wished to hear more, and a few believed (Acts 17:32 to 17:34). Interpreters differ on how to read the scene. Some see a model of engaging culture, and others point out that Paul reportedly left Athens soon after and that he later told the Corinthians he came to them in weakness and not with persuasive words (1 Corinthians 2:1 to 2:5). Both readings deserve a hearing.
Later centuries multiplied the models. This lesson surveys them. It does not select one as best, since callings differ.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Paul at Athens
Paul’s speech starts from his hearers’ own world: their altar, their poets and their longing to know God. He then moves to the claims that are distinctive to the gospel, including the resurrection of the dead. The reaction is mixed. The scene suggests respect for the audience, knowledge of their culture and plain speaking about the message.
Students of the passage differ about its results. Some regard Athens as a partial failure, since few converted. Others point to the conversion of Dionysius the Areopagite and Damaris, and to the fact that the apostle did not change his message to please the crowd.
Step 2: The early apologists and martyrs
In the second century, writers such as Justin Martyr, Aristides and Athenagoras wrote defenses addressed to emperors and the educated public, answering charges that Christians were atheists, cannibals or disloyal. They argued that Christians were moral citizens and that the faith was reasonable. Justin was himself executed around 165.
Martyrs gave a witness that no argument could. Their deaths, as Tertullian is often quoted to say, were seed, though the exact words (‘the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church’) are a later paraphrase of his Apology. Many early Christians, women and men, witnessed only through steadfastness.
Step 3: Monastic and pastoral witness
When persecution ended in the fourth century, many Christians went to the desert to give witness by a life of prayer. Monasteries became centers of hospitality, education and care of the poor. In the Middle Ages, preaching orders such as the Dominicans and Franciscans took the gospel into towns, and universities debated in public.
In the East, Orthodox saints such as John Chrysostom preached boldly in the city, and many others were hidden holy people whose witness was found in prayer and care. Both forms belong to the tradition.
Step 4: The Reformation and after
In the sixteenth century, the printing press made public witness a mass activity. Luther’s tracts, Calvin’s Institutes and Catholic responses at Trent and in the work of figures such as Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila shaped public life. There were also martyrs on several sides, and wars of religion in which Christians killed one another, a record that haunts later witness.
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries brought revival preaching, missionary societies and social reform campaigns, such as abolition, led by Christians including Wilberforce. In the twentieth century, Christians such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, Maximilian Kolbe and Mother Maria Skobtsova gave public witness in conflicts with unjust power. Radio and television extended preaching, and C. S. Lewis’s wartime talks reached large audiences.
Step 5: Today’s choices, including quiet ones
Today a Christian can speak in public on digital platforms, write, teach, serve, vote or work in a public role, or live quietly while caring for family and neighbors. All are recognized in the New Testament, which speaks of different gifts (1 Corinthians 12). Some are called to teach publicly, and others are called to be unnoticed.
Students who prefer privacy do not fall short of the tradition. The monastic and hidden saints show that faithful witness need not be public. The optional later units of this course offer guidance to those who choose speech, and the course is complete without it.
- Which historical model of witness do I most admire, and why?
- What did Paul do at Athens that I could learn from, and what would I be cautious about?
- What are the risks of public witness, including to the witness?
- What forms of witness are open to me in my situation?
- How do I judge between a call to speak and a call to stay quiet?
- What would it mean to witness by conduct in my own setting?
Examples
Justin’s appeal
Justin addressed his First Apology to the emperor, asking for fair judgment and describing Christian worship and morals. He did not threaten or mock but laid out reasons. He appealed to justice as the standard. The text shows that public witness can mean a respectful request to be heard.
A hidden witness
A grandmother prays daily for her family and quietly helps neighbors. She never speaks about theology in public. Several members of her family later say that her life led them to take the faith seriously. (Constructed example in the manner of many Christian biographies.)
Bonhoeffer’s choice
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor and theologian, spoke publicly against Nazi policies, helped train pastors for the Confessing Church and took part in resistance. He was executed in 1945. His example is read as a case in which public witness cost his life, and it is still debated how to apply it.
Different perspectives
Catholic thought
Catholic teaching sees witness as a duty of all the baptized, with a special role for the laity in the public life of society, and asks that evangelization respect freedom. The saints include preachers, missionaries and hidden contemplatives.
Orthodox thought
Orthodox tradition honors martyrs, confessors and holy ascetics as witnesses. Many Orthodox writers stress that the most compelling witness is a transformed life and the beauty of the liturgy, as the Rus’ envoys are said to have reported after visiting Constantinople.
Protestant thought
Protestant traditions stress preaching and the priesthood of all believers, which encourages lay witness. They also include traditions of quiet, separated witness, such as some Anabaptist communities, who emphasize living the Sermon on the Mount before the world.
Scholarly view
Historians of early Christianity, such as Rodney Stark, have argued that care for the sick and the poor and the steadfastness of martyrs contributed to the spread of the faith. Others stress additional social factors. The question is debated.
Why it matters
Knowing the long history of Christian witness gives perspective. Modern online activity is one chapter in a very long story, and the examples include both heroic and shameful ones. A student can learn from Paul’s respect for his hearers, the apologists’ appeals to reason, the martyrs’ courage, the monastics’ prayer and the reformers’ boldness, and can recognize that quiet faithfulness is among the oldest and most honored forms.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Paul at Athens is a template for debating online.
Correction: It may offer principles, such as knowing the audience and speaking plainly, but the setting was a public hall in the ancient world. Interpreters also note that his approach at Athens produced mixed results and that he later spoke of a different emphasis at Corinth.
Misunderstanding: Every Christian is called to speak publicly.
Correction: The New Testament describes many gifts and callings. All Christians are asked to witness in some manner, but it need not be public speech.
Misunderstanding: Tertullian wrote, ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.’
Correction: The saying is a common summary of a line in his Apology (chapter 50), which says that the blood of Christians is seed. The widely quoted wording is a later paraphrase.
Misunderstanding: Public witness in history was always admirable.
Correction: History includes coercion, persecution of others and bitter polemic by Christians. A balanced account includes these failures.
Knowledge check
How did Paul begin his address at Athens, and what is one way scholars read it?
He began with the Athenians’ altar to an unknown god and quoted their poets, then moved to creation, repentance and resurrection (Acts 17:22 to 17:31). Some scholars see a model of engaging culture respectfully, others stress the mixed results and Paul’s later words to the Corinthians about weakness and simple preaching.
What did the second-century apologists do?
Writers such as Justin, Aristides and Athenagoras addressed defenses to emperors and the educated public. They answered charges against Christians, such as atheism and immorality, and argued that the faith is reasonable and Christians are good citizens. Justin was executed around 165.
Why is the word martyr relevant to witness?
It comes from the Greek martys, meaning witness. Early Christians who died rather than deny Christ were seen as giving the fullest witness. Their steadfastness was understood to testify to the truth of what they held, beyond what words could do.
Name two forms of witness that do not involve public speech.
Examples include a prayerful life, acts of charity, hospitality, care for the sick, faithful work, family life and monastic withdrawal. The New Testament speaks of good works being seen (Matthew 5:16) and of a quiet life (1 Thessalonians 4:11). These are recognized forms of witness.
Why is the Tertullian saying about martyrs often misquoted?
People commonly quote it in a later, tidier wording. Tertullian’s Apology, near its end, says the blood of Christians is seed. The widely repeated line is a paraphrase. Care in attributing quotations is part of intellectual honesty.
Think it through
- Which historical Christian witness inspires you most? Which troubles you?
- Does your tradition prefer public or quiet witness, and how do you feel about that?
- What might Paul’s two approaches, at Athens and at Corinth, teach about adapting to an audience?
- What form of witness is open to you right now?
Independent assignment
Four models of witness
In your own notebook, write 500 to 700 words. Choose four historical Christians or movements from the lesson (for example Paul at Athens, Justin, a desert monastic, a Reformer, Bonhoeffer or Dorothy Day). For each, write a short paragraph describing the form of witness and one lesson for today. Then write a closing paragraph on which form fits your own situation and why, including the choice to remain private. Keep this private.
Further study
- Justin Martyr, The First Apology Read the opening and some of the chapters on Christian worship, to see public defense in the second century.
- Athanasius of Alexandria, Life of St. Anthony A model of witness through withdrawal that nonetheless drew many visitors.
- Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity A readable history that covers the models in this lesson.
- John Chrysostom, On the Priesthood A bishop on public preaching and its dangers.
- Acts 17:22 Paul addresses the Areopagus.
- Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:11 Study to be quiet.
- 1 Corinthians 2:1 Paul’s approach in Corinth.