were philosophers in spirit; they could enforce respect by their learning and their large, rounded sympathy, where rhetorical denunciation and ecclesiastical anathemas would only have been listened to with a frown of anger, or a look of disdain.  Pagan youths would have listened to Clement when he spoke of Plato as ‘the truly noble and half-inspired,’ while they would have looked on Tertullian as an ignorant railer, who could say nothing better of Socrates than to call him the ‘Attic buffoon,’ and of Aristotle than to characterize him as the ‘miserable Aristotle.’”

Tatian and Hermes also looked upon Greek philosophy as an invention of the devil.  Irenaeus was more discriminating.  He opposed the broad and lax charity of the Alexandrines, but he read the Greek philosophy, and when called to the bishopric of Lyons, he set himself to the study of the Gallic Druidism, believing that a special adaptation would be called for in that remote mission field.[30] Basil was an earnest advocate of the Greek philosophy as giving a broader character to Christian education.

There were among the Fathers many different types of men, some philosophically inclined, others better able to use practical arguments.  Some were more successful in appealing to the signs of the times, the clear evidences of that corruption and decay to which heathenism had led.  They pointed to the degradation of women, the prevalence of vice, the inordinate indulgence in pleasures, the love of excitement, the cruel frenzy of the gladiatorial shows, the unrest and pessimism and despair of all society.  One of the most remarkable appeals of this kind is found in a letter of Cyprian to his friend Donatus.  “He bids him seat himself in fancy on some mountain top and gaze down upon what he has abandoned (for he is a Christian), on the roads blocked by brigands, the sea beset by pirates, the camps desolated by the horrors of many wars, on the world reeking with bloodshed, and the guilt which, in proportion to its magnitude, was extolled as a glory.  Then, if he would turn his gaze to the cities, he would behold a sight more gloomy than all solitudes.  In the gladiatorial games men were fattened for mutual slaughter, and publicly murdered to delight the mob.  Even innocent men were urged to fight in public with wild beasts, while their mothers and sisters paid large sums to witness the spectacle.  In the theatres parricide and infanticide were dealt with before mixed audiences, and all pollution and crimes were made to claim reverence because presented under the guise of religious mythology.  In the homes was equal corruption; in the forum bribery and intrigue ran rife; justice was subverted, and innocence was condemned to prison, torture, and death.  Luxury destroyed character, and wealth became an idol and a curse."[31] Arguments of this kind were ready enough to hand whenever Christian teachers were disposed to use them, and their descriptions found a real corroboration in society as it actually appeared on every hand.  None could question the counts in the indictment.