oa Unexpected Encounters

Typically, early Christian authors are not considered to be theorists of religion. In this article, by comparing the Apology of Aristides the Philosopher (second century CE) and the work of the ‘father of the science of religion’ Friedrich Max Müller, I argue that the early Christian author offers an early religionist theory of religion similar to the one formulated by Müller in the modern period. The core aim of the article is the demonstration of a proclivity to theorizing about religion that is not restricted to the Enlightenment onwards as most scholars in the field of religious studies maintain but also extends to the earliest Christian theologians.