Ch. 12. Are, then, those who consider life to be this, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die” [cf. I Cor. 15:32], and who regard death as a deep sleep and forgetfulness [cf. Hom., Iliad, XVI. 672], to be regarded as living piously? [pg 134] But men who reckon the present life as of very small worth indeed, and are led by this one thing along—that they know God and with Him His Logos, what is the oneness of the Son with the Father, what the communion of the Father with the Son, what is the Spirit, and what is the unity of these and their distinction, the Spirit, the Son, and the Father—and who know that the life for which we look is far better than can be described in word, provided we arrive at it pure from all wrong-doing, and who, moreover, carry our benevolence to such an extent that we not only love our friends … shall we, I say, when such we are and when we thus live that we may escape condemnation, not be regarded as living piously?
(C) Moralistic Christianity
The moralistic conception of Christianity, i.e., the view of Christianity as primarily a moral code by the observance of which eternal life was won, remained fixed in Christian thought along with the philosophical conception of the faith as formulated by the apologists. This moralism was the opposite pole to the conceptions of the Asia Minor school, the Augustinian theology, and the whole mystical conception of Christianity.
For additional source material, see above, [§ 16].
Theophilus, Ad Autolycum, II, 27. (MSG, 6:27.)
God made man free and with power over himself. That [death], man brought upon himself through carelessness and disobedience, this [life], God vouchsafes to him as a gift through His own love for man and pity when men obey Him. For as man, disobeying, drew death upon himself, so, obeying the will of God, he who desires is able to procure for himself everlasting life. For God has given us a law and holy commandments; and every one who keeps these can be saved, and obtaining the resurrection, can inherit incorruption.
(D) Argument from Hebrew Prophecy
The appeal to the fulfilment of Hebrew prophecy was the main argument of the apologists for the divine character of [pg 135] the mission of Christ. The exegesis of the prophetic writings was in the spirit of the times. Hebrew prophecy was also regarded as the source of all knowledge of God outside of Israel. The theory that the Greeks and other nations borrowed was employed to show the connection; in this the apologists followed Philo Judæus. No attempt was made either by them or by Clement of Alexandria to remove the inconsistency of this theory of borrowing with the doctrine of the Logos; see above, under “Logos Doctrine;” also [§ 20].