Carl Andresen (1909-1985) posed questions of continuing relevance: what was the attitude of early Christianity to the intellectual history of antiquity, how did it categorize theology and philosophy with respect to each other, how did it defend the Bible's claim to truth against concurrent systems of thought? This study provides an extensive and detailed reconstruction of the meeting of the world of antiquity and Christianity, including the history of their influences. Christianity proves to be an integral part of its world, whilst also influencing and transfiguring this environment.