Christianity in the Second Century

<p>Tatian is a significant figure in the early Church his work both representing and revealing his second-century context. This study offers a detailed exploration of his thought. It is also a valuable introduction to the entire period particularly the key developments it witnessed in Christianity.<br>Emily Hunt examines a wide range of topics in depth: Tatian's relationship with Justin Martyr and his Oration to the Greeks; the Apologetic attempt to defend and define Christianity against the Graeco-Roman world and Christian use of hellenistic philosophy. Tatian was accused of heresy after his death and this work sees him at the heart of the orthodox/heterodox debate. His links with the East and his Gospel harmony the Diatessaron lead to an exploration of Syriac Christianity and asceticism.<br>In the process scholarly assumptions about heresiology and the Apologists' relationship with hellenistic philosophy are questioned and the development of a Christian philosophical tradition is traced from Philo through Justin Martyr to Tatian - and then within several key Syriac writers. <br>This is the first dedicated study of Tatian for more than forty years.</p>