This paper shall examine the importance of Stoic doxography in early Christian sources. Whilst doxography (the listing of philosophical opinions) has often been dismissed as unoriginal and superfluous, J. Mansfeld has strongly argued that the wide use of doxography in dialectical discussions of the Antiquity is not only source material but also key to the methodological approach of the writers. I will argue that doxography serves as a key link for better understanding the engagement between Christianity and its pagan environment as it embeds Christianity in a philosophical context, whilst demonstrating how Christianity goes beyond claims made by pagan philosophy.
As Stoic philosophy is mainly handed-down to us through doxography, it is possible to compare the Christian account to other accounts of that kind (Aëtiana, Diogenes Laertius). The “genre” of doxography aids us in our analysis of the reception of Stoicism within early Christian sources, as it reveals that Christian authors refer to Stoic opinions either to critisize them (e.g. the Stoic concept of God) or conversely in applying them as is the case with their treatment of Stoic cosmology with particular reference to the concepts of conflagration and logos. I will focus on two sources in particular: Athenagoras’ Legatio pro Christianis 6 and Tatian’s Oratio ad Graecos 3/25. Both texts explicitly refer to the Stoics in the broader framework of doxography and illuminate how Christian authors use Stoic doxography in their argumentative strategies.
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