The third group of writers were intellectuals who provided a systematic defense of Christianity. Known as Apologists, they were men who had been educated in classical culture and were recognized leaders in the churches. They denied the charges made against the Christians, addressed the emperor or the senate in a plea for justice, contended against Gnosticism and paganism, and tried to preserve traditional teachings that had come down from the Apostolic Age. Athenagoras used philosophy to defend Christianity. Aristides set forth Christianity as the highest development of ancient religion. Latin Apologists in the third century aggressively attacked paganism with strong confidence in the coming victory of their faith. Minucius Felix, a Roman lawyer, was perhaps the first apologist to use the Latin language in defining Christianity. Justin Martyr is the best-known Apologist. He was of heathen parentage and was trained in Greek philosophy in the schools of Asia Minor. In his Apology, he defended Christianity and explained Christian worship. In his Dialogue, he told of his own long search for truth from Stoicism to Platonism and eventually to Christianity.
Impact: The result of the writings of the Apologists was to dignify Christianity and give it a place as a reasoned system of thought, not merely as a passing spiritual fad.