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Early Church Motanismul
Early Church Motanismul
History
The First Five Centuries
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Begins June 19, 2012
Table of Contents
Early Church History
Introduction..1
Nature Preparation and Context of Christianity...14
The Second Century.32
Textual Criticism in the Patristics.123
The Lords Day in the Patristic Era..132
Patrology..167
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I.
INTRODUCTION
A. Warrant for the Study of Church History
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ii.
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10
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1. Not infallible
a) No infallible sources
b) No infallible interpretation. Although this is true with
respect to our interpretation of Scripture, it is further
complicated by the fallibility of the sources we use for
our study.
2. Limited information
a) In terms of what is available to us (the evidence that
survived)
b) In terms of whose perspective is preserved (the
learned and others in power)
G. Church History and the Development of Godly Character
12
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2. Gratitude: Because of what God has done for us, not only will
we refuse to congratulate ourselves for our historical
accomplishments, but we will be filled with gratitude for
Gods faithfulness to get us here.
13
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I.
This idea appears in the Old Testament, when the Syrians said (I.
Kings xx., 23): "Their gods are the gods of the hills therefore are they
stronger than we"; in the erection of the Roman Pantheon
(Uhlhorn's Conflict, p. 37), by which the Romans hoped to enjoy the
protection of the gods of conquered nations, as well as of their own
deities; and, curiously, in Homer, where Olympus is divided against
itself, Juno and Minerva favoring the Greeks, Venus and Mars the
Trojans, and Jupiter and Neptune drawn now to one side and then to
the other by the importunities of the partisan deities.
It appears more decisively in the ridicule in which Greek and Roman
writers indulged in opposing this claim of Christianity.
Porphyry hated Christianity, because it interfered with nature
worship (Neander, I., 70). Julian scoffed at its extravagance. "The
Germans and Romans and Greeks," he says, "have different natures,
different customs, different codes of laws, and must also have
different religions. The union of all nations in one religion is an
absurdity." (Neander, I., p. 51.)
ii.
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i.
Of all other religions, Buddhism was the only one of the ancient
faiths that aimed to extend itself, and this solely on ethical
grounds. Mohammedanism, since the Christian era, has been a
proselyting religion to build up a great empire. Mormonism, in
our day, has similar aims.
iii.
ii.
iii.
iv.
2|Page
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ii.
iii.
3|Page
i.
ii.
iii.
The ethics of Socrates and Plato are lofty in aim, and so are those
of Buddha and Confucius; but they are never enforced by the duty
of love to God and love to man.
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iv.
ii.
ii.
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ii.
iii.
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v.
6|Page
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
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v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
Pharisees
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Sadducees
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Zealots
Samaritans
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2. Roman Rule (63 BC-AD 70): During the first century, the whole
of Mediterranean Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East was
controlled by the Roman Empire. Below are four unifying
features of the Roman Empire during this time: [Letters a, c, d
below are adapted from N R Needham, 2,000 Years of Christs
Power, Part One: The Age of the Early Church Fathers
(Evangelical Press, 1997, 2002), 25-33.
a) Political loyalty
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i.
ii.
iii.
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iv.
ii.
ii.
3. Philosophy
a) The 1st and 2nd centuries AD mark the high-point of Stoic and
Cynic influence
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ii.
iii.
1. Initial connections
a) Relations between Rome and Judea were from moderate to
good from about 161 BC to the first century. For example,
during Herod Antipaters reign (37 BC-AD 4), Jews were
exempt from military service, and did not have to take part in
any pagan rituals, not even emperor-worship.
b) As we move further into the 1st century AD, Rome considered
Christianity a sect of Judaism and because of that, the church
received the same perks as the Jews. Christianity, like Judaism,
was given status as a legal religion (a religio licita), which
protected the Christian church from state-sanctioned, official
persecution.
2. Theological considerations:
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ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
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ii.
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Jewish redefinition
Christian redefinition
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I.
1. Summary:
a) The spread of Christianity was not hindered by the death of the
apostles.
b) New nations were reached, new churches were founded, and
renovated characters and lives attested everywhere the power
of the new religion.
Page 33 of 524
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
Origen (d. 254): Contr. Cels. I, 7, 27; II. 13, 46; III. 10, 30; De
Princ. l. IV. c. 1, 2; Com. in Matth. p. 857, ed. Delarue.
vi.
Eusebius (d. 340): Hist. Eccl III. 1; v. 1; vii, 1; viii. 1, also books
ix. and x.
vii.
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iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
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vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
xi.
xii.
The last, most extensive, and most severe was under Diocletian
and Galerius in 303.
i.
ii.
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iii.
Celsus, about the same period, but and life unknown. Work
known only in reply of Origen. His attack is a ferocious one,
uniting argument and wit and sarcasm; assails the
incarnation, God cares for men no more than for flies, would
not sacrifice his glory for an earthly life. It is a degrading
religion that cares for sinners and outcasts instead
philosophers; and Christians are made up chiefly of workmen
and slaves. The New Testament writers were willful deceivers,
and Jesus himself a magician trained in Egypt. In spirit and
method and style, Celsus resembled Theodore Parker and
many of the modern new atheists. He anticipated most of the
objections of later writers.
iv.
v.
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ii.
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iii.
iv.
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1. Introduction
a) Spread of Christianity due eminently to Moral Influence of
Christianity
i.
10
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11
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iii.
12
i.
ii.
iii.
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iv.
v.
vi.
13
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[The custom, in these primitive times, seems to have been for everyone,
on the Lord's day, at the close of public worship, to bring to the notice of
the assembly the case of the poor, the aged, the widow, or the orphan, of
whose necessities he had any knowledge; and forthwith provision was
made for such from the public fund created by their weekly
contributions. This custom is distinctly specified by Justin Martyr in the
middle of the second century, and by Tertullian at the close of it, as is
indicated in the following paragraphs:
Of those who have abundance and are willing, each at his pleasure gives
what he thinks fit. What is collected is deposited with the president, who
succours the fatherless and the widows, and those who are in bonds, and
the strangers who are sojourning among us. In a word, he provides for
all who are in need."
"What is collected in the public chest is no dishonorable sum, as if it
belonged to a purchased religion. Everyone makes a small contribution
on a certain day, or when he chooses; provided only he is willing and
able; for no one is compelled; all is voluntary. The amount is, as it were,
a common fund of piety, since it is expended, not in feasting or drinking
or indecent excess, but in feeding and burying the poor, and in
supporting children of either sex who have neither parents nor means of
subsistence, and old men now confined to their houses and incapable of
work; in relieving those who have been shipwrecked ; and, if there are
any in the mines, or in the islands, or in prison, provided they suffer for
the cause of God's religion, they are the recipients of the bounty to which
their confession entitles them. But even the working of a charity like this
is made, by some, a cause of censure against us."
Numerous instances remain on record of the boundless charity of the
early Christians, of which, in this boasted age of Christian benevolence,
we have no parallel. Cyprian, A. D. 250, against the remonstrance of
Christian friends, sold the estate which he inherited, to supply the
necessities of the poor. At another time, by his own indefatigable efforts,
he raised, from his persecuted, afflicted flock, the extraordinary sum of
four thousand dollars to redeem some Christian captives of Numidia,
and forwarded it with a letter to the churches of Numidia, full of
Christian sympathy and tenderness.'
14
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15
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no hope. Not so, however, did it seem to us, but only a peculiar and
practical trial. The greater part of our people, in the abundance of their
brotherly love, did not spare themselves; and, mutually attending to
each other, they cheerfully attended to the sick without fear, and
ministered to them for the sake of Christ. Many of them died, after their
care had restored others from the plague to health. The best among our
brethren, priests and deacons, and some who were celebrated among
the laity, died in this manner; and such a death, the fruit ^of great piety
and strong faith, is hardly inferior to martyrdom. Many who took the
bodies of their Christian brethren into their hands and bosoms, closed
their mouth and eyes, and buried them with every attention, soon
followed them in death. But with the heathen, matters stood quite
differently : at the first symptom of sickness, they drove a man from
their society, they tore themselves away from their dearest connections,
they threw the half dead into the streets, and left thousands unburied,
endeavouring by all the means in their power to escape contagion,
which, notwithstanding all their contrivances, it was very difficult to
accomplish." Layman Coleman, Ancient Christianity Exemplified.
16
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iii.
17
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18
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19
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20
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21
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22
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23
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24
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iv.
v.
25
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26
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27
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vi.
35
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36
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vii.
37
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39
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40
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ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
b) Gnosticism
i.
41
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42
i.
ii.
Belief that the creation of the world was the result of a precosmic disaster which accounted for the present misery of our
lot.
iii.
iv.
The Gnostic gospel was an attempt to arouse the soul from its
sleep-walking condition and to make it aware of the high
destiny to which it is called.
v.
The world was in the iron control of evil powers whose home
was in the seven planets, and after death the elect soul would
be faced by a perilous journey throughout the planetary
spheres back to its heavenly home.
vi.
vii.
Page 74 of 524
viii.
ix.
x.
xi.
xii.
xiii.
c) Montanism
43
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44
ii.
iii.
iv.
During the first century we can see the local churches creating
their ministry. The same independence marks their action in
the second century. They can be seen changing the ministry
they have inherited. The beginnings of the change date from
the early decades of the second century; by the end of the
century it was almost complete. The change was twofold, and
concerned both the prophetic and the local ministry. Stated in
the briefest manner it may be described thus: the " prophetic "
ministry passed away, its functions being appropriated by the
permanent office-bearers of the local churches; and every local
church came to supplement its organization by placing one
man at the head of the community, making him the president
of the college of elders. The one part of the change which came
about in the second century, that which gave the senate of the
congregation its president, was simple, natural and salutary; it
came about gradually and at different times in the various
portions of the Empire; it was effected peacefully, and we hear
of no disturbances in consequence.' The other change, which
meant the overthrow of the " prophetic " ministry of the
apostolic and immediately subsequent period, was a
revolution, provoked a widespread revolt and rent the >
Church in twain.
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45
vi.
Page 77 of 524
46
vii.
viii.
The very fact that the office-bearers could render the service
of the prophets and teachers inevitably tended to place them,
the permanent officials of the local churches, permanently in
the position of the exhorters, instructors, and leaders of the
public worship of the communities. Hence, while we can trace
the presence and the power of the prophetic ministry during a
great part of the second century, we can also see that
complaints against false prophets became more and more
conmion, and that there was a tendency to make, the test of
true prophecy subordination on the part of the prophets to the
control of the permanent office-bearers of the churches.
Lindsay, Ibid.
ix.
x.
Page 78 of 524
xi.
xii.
But is it, then, the case that Montanism represented the older
mindan older freedom of prophesying? Not in the least. The
Church never in fact committed herself at all to any position
with reference to the rights and powers which would be
allowed to those whose real inspiration she could recognise.
She did not admit Montanist inspiration and then deny that it
had accompanying rights; she simply denied that it was
inspiration. She was taking up no new line towards prophecy
whatever. Charles Gore, The Ministry of the Christian Church.
d) Marcion
47
i.
ii.
Excommunicated in 144 AD
iii.
iv.
Did not reject the OT, but accepts it as a divine revelation, and
insists that it be taken literally. But he maintained that the God
revealed therein could not be the God and Father of Jesus
Christ, who is absolutely good.
v.
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vi.
vii.
48
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ii.
They sought to obtain for them tolerance under the civil laws
and to demonstrate to their persecutors that the Christian
religion is the only true one.
b) Charges:
49
i.
ii.
iii.
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iv.
v.
vi.
c) Aim:
i.
ii.
50
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iv.
e) Character:
51
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ii.
f) Significant works
52
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
Page 84 of 524
vi.
vii.
viii.
5. Main characters
a) Justin Martyr (100-165 AD)
53
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
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vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
Insisted that Christ was not a mere man but was also God. At
his birth he had been worshipped by the Magi, and there could
be not question of a holy life being rewarded by elevation to
divine rank.
ii.
iii.
54
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d)
nd
55
iii.
iv.
v.
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56
vi.
vii.
viii.
Page 88 of 524
57
i.
ii.
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iii.
Basil the Great, in answer to the inquiry, who has left any
written directions respecting the use of the form of invocation
in the blessing of the elements, replies that nothing is recorded
respecting it, and proceeds to say, We do not content
ourselves with the instructions of the apostle or of the gospel,
but we premise and subjoin other things as of great force in
this solemnity, which hare been received from unrecorded
instructions (Epistle 27, De Spirit. Sanct.).
iv.
v.
Yet, in spite of this fact, the four main historical liturgies share
elements:
All of them direct that, previous to communion, those
who intend to communicate shall exchange ^ the kiss of
peace.'
In all of them, the more particularly solemn part of the
service commences with words exactly answering to
the English, Lift up your hearts,'etc., as far as Holy
Father, almighty, everlasting God.
All contain the hymn, Therefore with angels and
archangels,etc. with very trifling varieties of
expression.
Also, they all contain a prayer for the whole state of
Christ's church militant, as the Anglican churchs liturgy.
58
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Roman
Lift up your
hearts, etc.
Oriental
The Kiss of Peace.
Therefore with
angels, etc.
Lift up your hearts, Lift up your hearts, Prayers for the dead.
etc.
etc.
Therefore with
angels, etc.
Commemoration
of the Lords
words.
The oblation.
Commemoration
of our Lords
words.
59
Alexandrian
The Kiss of Peace.
Gallican
Prayers for the church
on earth.
Therefore with
angels, etc.
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The oblation.
Consecration
prayer.
60
Commemoration
of our Lords
words.
The oblation.
Consecration
prayer.
Breaking of bread.
The Lords Prayer.
Communion.
Commemoration of our
Lords words.
The oblation.
Consecration prayer.
Breaking of bread.
The Lords Prayer.
Communion.
Page 92 of 524
vi.
Thus it appears, that the four original forms, from which all
the liturgies in the world have been taken, resemble one
another too much to have grown up independently, and too
little to have been copied from one another. They were
probably all constructed upon the basis of the form prescribed
in the Apostolical Constitutions; or, at all events, were
composed in conformity with some model of the third orfourth century. The prayers for the dead, which they all
contain, are unscriptural, and, therefore, unwarranted and
vain; some expressions in the consecration of the elements are
obvious departures from primitive doctrine; and the
appropriation of false titles, introduced after the composition
and use of the forms themselves, is as plainly opposed to
Christian simplicity and truth. But, together with these defects,
we recognise in these ancient formularies much that is truly
pious and devotional (Riddle, Christian Antiquities, p. 377).
61
i.
ii.
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iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
62
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vii.
viii.
ix.
63
i.
ii.
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iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
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vii.
b) Gestures
i.
65
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
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vi.
vii.
viii.
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i.
ii.
iii.
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ii.
iii.
Congregational singing:
The prevailing .mode of singing during the first three
centuries was congregational. The whole congregation
united their voices in the sacred song of praise, in
strains suited to their ability.
Their music, if such it could be called, was, of
necessity, rude and simple. Indeed, it appears to have
been a kind of recitative or chant. The charm of their
sacred music was not in the harmony of sweet sounds,
but in the melody of the heart(Coleman).
68
69
v.
vi.
vii.
Power:
70
71
i.
ii.
72
iii.
iv.
73
v.
vi.
74
vii.
viii.
4. Images in Worship
i.
75
76
ii.
iii.
iv.
77
ii.
78
iii.
79
iv.
80
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
81
vi.
vii.
b) Order
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
As time went on, the account of the resurrection from all four
Gospels would be read successively. Then during the time of
Pentecost, from Easter to Whitsunday, the Acts of the Apostles
was read. The West also read the Epistles and Revelation
during this season.
c) Manner
i.
82
83
ii.
Yet, we must not make the mistake of thinking that reading the
Scriptures was like the modern method. The mode of reading
was very unlike that in common use; it was indeed a recitative
or chant; each syllable was uttered with a measured cadence
and modulation, in a style and manner midway between that of
singing and ordinary reading (Coleman).
iii.
iv.
The reading was begun and closed with a set form. Before the
reading began, the deacon enjoined silence, and often called
aloud again, Attention! Attention! (Chrysostom Homily 3 in 2
Thess.). The reader, according to Cyprian, began by saying,
Peace be with you (Council of Carthage iii.c.4; Augustine Ep.
155; City of God, 22. C. 8). Then the reader proceeded, saying,
Thus saith the Lord in the lesson from the Old Testament, or
from the Gospels," etc., or again, Beloved brethren, in the
Epistles it is written." This was said to awaken attention and
veneration for the word read.
v.
vi.
vii.
But it was a general rule of the ancient church that the hearers
sat during the ordinary reading of the Scriptures and arose
when the Gospels were recited. If in the delivery of a sermon
the preacher introduced a passage from the Gospels, the
assembly immediately arose; which was the frequent occasion
of much noise and confusion. The reason for this usage in
relation to the Gospels is given by Chrysostom as follows:If
the letters of a king are read in the theatre with great silence,
much more ought we to compose ourselves, and reverently to
arise and listen when the letters, not of an earthly king, but of
the Lord of angels, are read to us (Chrysostom, Homily i. in
Matthew).
84
i.
ii.
85
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
b) Preachers
86
i.
ii.
87
iii.
iv.
v.
The early church was emphatic that a woman was not to teach.
The apostolic rule forbidding a Woman to teach was most
cautiously observed (Apostolic Constitutions, iii. 9).The
Montanists are, indeed, an exception to this remark, but
Tertullian, himself one of this sect, complains of this abuse (De
Bapt. C. 17; De praescript. C. 41). The fourth Council of Carthage
forbid it: Let no woman, however learned or pious, presume
to teach the other sex in public assembly (C. 99).
88
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
89
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
90
vii.
91
I.
c) Polycarp (69 - 155) For many years the pastor of the church of
Smyrna Asia Minor. Irenaeus (130 - 200) states that he was a
disciple of the Apostle John. In writing to the Philippian church
(115), he makes about fifty clear quotations from many of the NT
books. He said "Whoever perverts the saying of the Lord that
one is the firstborn of Satan."
d) Tatian (110 - 172) A learned teacher who was "converted" to
Christianity and studied under Justin Martyr at Rome. He turned
to Syrian Gnosticism. He wrote the "Diatessaron" in which he
combined the four Gospel narratives into one, eliminating the,
genealogies and all passages referring to Christ's Jewish descent.
e) According to Metzger, the heretic Marcion (died 160) also did this
with his copy of the Gospel of Luke. The Diatessaron was so
corrupted that in later years a bishop of Syria threw out 200
copies, since church members were mistaking it for the true
Gospel.
f) Dionysius (died 176) Bishop of Corinth. He complained that his
own letters had been tampered with, and worse yet, the Holy
Scriptures also.
g) Metzger states, "Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian,
Eusebius and many other Church Fathers accused the heretics of
corrupting the Scriptures in order to have support for their
special views".
h) Burgon Says, "Even the orthodox were capable of changing a
reading for dogmatic reasons. Epiphanius states that the
Orthodox deleted he wept' from Luke 19 : 41 out of jealousy for
the Lord's divinity."
a) The manuscripts were from the East and kept there for some
time: So who held the Autographs? Speaking in terms of regions,
Asia Minor may be safely said to have had twelve (John,
Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Philemon, 1
Peter, 1 and 2 and 3 John, and Revelation), Greece may be safely
said to have had six (1 and 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 and 2
Thessalonians, and Titus in Crete), Rome may be safely said to
have had two (Mark and Romans)as to the rest, Luke, Acts, and
2 Peter were probably held by either Asia Minor or Rome;
Matthew and James by either Asia Minor or Palestine; Hebrews by
Rome or Palestine; while it is hard to state even a probability for
Jude it was quite possibly held by Asia Minor. Taking Asia Minor
and Greece together, the Aegean area held the Autographs of at
least eighteen (two-thirds of the total) and possibly as many as
twenty-four of the twenty-seven New Testament books; Rome held
at least two and possibly up to seven; Palestine may have held up
to three (but in A.D. 70 they would have been sent away for safe
keeping, quite possibly to Antioch); Alexandria (Egypt) held none.
The Aegean region clearly had the best start, and Alexandria the
worstthe text in Egypt could only be second hand, at best. On
the face of it, we may reasonably assume that in the earliest
period of the transmission of the N.T. Text the most reliable copies
would be circulating in the region that held the Autographs.
Recalling the discussion of Tertullian above, I believe we may
reasonably extend this conclusion to A.D. 200 and beyond. So, in
the year 200 someone looking for the best text of the N.T would
presumably go to the Aegean area; certainly not to Egypt
(Pickering).
b) The language was better understood in the East than West: Bruce
Metzger observes that the Hellenized section of the population in
Egypt "was only a fraction in comparison with the number of
native inhabitants who used only the Egyptian languages (B.
Metzger, Early Versions, 104).
c) The East was stronger and with less heretical dominance. Kurt
Aland states: Egypt was distinguished from other provinces of
the Church, so far as we can judge, by the early dominance of
gnosticism. He further informs us that "at the close of the 2nd
century" the Egyptian church was "dominantly gnostic" and then
goes on to say: "The copies existing in the gnostic communities
could not be used, because they were under suspicion of being
corrupt ( K. and B. Aland, The Text of the New Testament (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), pp. 52-53).
d) The majority of the corruptions were interjected into the text by
the end of the 2nd century: From the early third century onward
the freedom to alter the text which had obtained earlier can no
longer be practiced. Tatian is the last author to make deliberate
changes in the text of whom we have explicit information.
Between Tatian and Origen Christian opinion had so changed
that it was no longer possible to make changes in the text whether
they were harmless or not (Kirkpatrick, "Atticism and the Text of
the Greek New Testament", Neutestamentliche Aufsatze
(Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet, 1963), pp. 129-30); Zuntz
also recognized all of this. "Modern criticism stops before the
barrier of the second century; the age, so it seems, of unbounded
liberties with the text. (The Text, 11); "The overwhelming
majority of readings were created before the year 200", affirmed
Colwell."It is no less true to fact than paradoxical in sound that
the worst corruptions to which the New Testament has ever been
subjected, originated within a hundred years after it was
composed", said Scrivener decades before.
INTRODUCTION
A. General Views on the Lords Day
Page1
I.
b) There are many and various groups that hold this, such as
Lutherans, Anglicans, and Evangelicals. Charles P. Arand in
Perspectives on the Sabbath: 4 Views argues for this view, Sabbath
commandment was given only to the Jews and does not concern
Christians; though rest and worship are still required, these are not
tied to any particular day.
B. The Term Lords Day
Page2
1. Linguistic:
Page3
b) Apostolic Example: This "first day of the week" appears again in Acts
20:7 as the day on which the worship of the "breaking of bread" took
place, and the impression given by the context is that Paul and his
companions prolonged their visit to Troas so as to join in the service.
c) Apostolic Injunction: Again, 1 Corinthians 16:2contains the
command, "Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by
him in store," where the force of the form of the imperative used (the
present for repeated action) would be better represented in English
by "lay by on the successive Sundays."
d) Note: Worship is here not explicitly mentioned (the Greek of "by him"
is the usual phrase for "at home"), but that the appropriateness of
the day for Christian acts involves an appropriateness for Christian
worship is not to be doubted.
e) Note: Indeed, since the seven-day week was unknown to Greek
thought, some regular observance of a hebdomadal cycle must have
been settled at Corinth before Paul could write his command. Finally,
the phrase, "first day in the week" is found elsewhere in the New
Testament only in Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19.
The word in all passages for "first" is poor Greek (mia, "one," for
prote, a Hebraism), and the coincidence of the form of the phrase in
Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 with the form used by all four
evangelists for the Resurrection Day 'is certainly not accidental; it
was the fixed Christian base, just as "Lord's day" was to the writer of
Ev. Pet.
Page4
II.
Page5
is lost.
Page6
e)
f)
Page7
1. Ignatius
a) Our earliest evidence from the second century is given by Ignatius,
the bishop of Antioch, in letters he wrote somewhere around the year
115.
b) He warned Christians to reject those who preach the Jewish law
(Philadelphians 6:1).
Page8
Page9
a) Our next evidence comes from the Epistle of Barnabas, which was
probably written from Alexandria, perhaps as early as A.D. 70 or as
late as 132. He writes against Jewish sacrifices, fasts, circumcision
and other laws. Those laws were types prefiguring Christ. He gives a
figur a tive meaning for unclean meat laws, and then a figurative
meaning for the Sabbath: Attend, my children, to the meaning of
this expres sion, He finished in six days. This implieth that the Lord
will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with him a
thousand years.[5]
ii.
iii.
He associates the new age with the eighth day which he then
associates with the eighth day of the week: Wherefore, also, we keep
the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again
from the dead.
iv.
Page10
b) On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country
gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the
writings of the prophets are read.... Sunday is the day on which we
all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which
God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the
world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the
dead.
i.
ii.
Justin replied that Christians were indeed obedient to God, even when
obedience was extremely painful: We too would observe the fleshly
circumcision, and the Sabbaths, and in short all the feasts, if we did not
know for what reason they were enjoined you namely, on account of
your transgressions and the hardness of your hearts. For if we patiently
endure all things contrived against us by wicked men...even as the new
Lawgiver commanded us: how is it, Trypho, that we would not observe
those rites which do not harm us I speak of fleshly circumcision, and
Sabbaths and feasts?
iii.
Justin explained the reason Christians ignored the Jewish laws: We live
not after the law, and are not circumcised in the flesh as your
forefathers were, and do not observe sabbaths as you do.... An eternal
and final law namely, Christ has been given to us.... He is the new
law, and the new covenant.... The new law requires you to keep
perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose
you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you.... If
there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so;
if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true
sabbaths of God.
iv.
v.
Justin argued that, since Sabbaths and sacrifices and feasts began with
Moses, then they ended with Christ, who was the new covenant. Not
only do Gentiles not have to keep the Sabbath, Justin concluded that the
just men who are descended from Jacob do not have to, either.
vi.
Page12
vii.
4. Irenaeus
a) Irenaeus, leader of the church in Lyons (modern-day France) in the
last half of the second century, also gives us lengthy comments on
the Sabbath, and his views probably reflect those of Asia Minor, since
that is where he was from. He had also been in Rome and may have
been influenced by Justin Martyr.
b) Irenaeus, commenting on the grainfield incident of Matthew 12,
notes that Jesus did not break the Sabbath, but Irenaeus gives a
rationale that applies to Christians, too:
d) The idea is that, since all believers are priests, and priests are free to
work on the Sabbath serving God, then Christians are free to work on
the Sabbath. Regardless of the validity of his reasoning, he obviously
did not believe that Christians had to keep the Sabbath. Just as
circumcision was symbolic, he says, the Sabbath command was, too,
typifying both morality and prophecy: The Sabbaths taught that we
should continue day by day in Gods service...ministering continually
to our faith, and persevering in it, and abstaining from all avarice,
and not acquiring or possessing treasures upon earth. Moreover, the
Sabbath of God, that is, the kingdom, was, as it were, indicated by
created things; in which [kingdom], the man who shall have
persevered in serving God shall, in a state of rest, partake of Gods
table.
Page13
c) The Lord...did not make void, but fulfilled the law, by performing the
offices of the high priest...justifying His disciples by the words of the
law, and pointing out that it was lawful for the priests to act freely
[Matthew 12:5]. For David had been appointed a priest by God,
although Saul still persecuted him. For all the righteous possess the
sacerdotal rank. And all the apostles of the Lord are priests.
e) Irenaeus, like Justin, said that the patriarchs before Moses did not
keep the Sabbath. But he also said that they kept the Ten
Commandments and that Christians also had to! His discrepancy can
be explained in two ways. Bauckham suggests that Irenaeus used the
term Ten Commandments loosely, as synonymous with the natural
law, as suggested in 4.16.3. Another possibility is that Irenaeus
considered a moral person to be de facto keeping the Sabbath
command, as suggested in 4.16.1 and in another work: Nor will he
be commanded to leave idle one day of rest, who is constantly
keeping sabbath, that is, giving homage to God in the temple of God,
which is mans body, and at all times doing the works of justice.
5. Tertullian
a) In the late second century and early third century, Tertullian also
rejected the literal Sabbath, said that the patriarchs did not observe
it, interpreted it in terms of morals, and worshipped on
Sunday.[24] He gives yet more evidence that second-century
Christians had, as far as we can tell, abandoned the Sabbath and
observed Sunday as the day for Christian worship.
Page14
ii.
i.
In support of that position, Samuele Bacchiocchi argues that Sundaykeeping was a Roman Catholic innovation that became widespread
because of the authority of the Roman church[25] Samuele
Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Biblical
Perspectives, 1987).
ii.
iii.
Page15
b) Bacchiocchis theory
Although Rome could influence some areas of the empire, it would not
have been able to change long-standing customs, especially in the East,
without any visible evidences of controversy, especially when those
customs were based on apostolic practice. Another major difficulty with
Bacchiocchis theory is that Sunday-keeping is documented before the
reign of Hadrian and outside of Rome: Ignatius of Antioch was not a
Sabbath-keeper and presumably observed Sunday, and the Magnesians
and Philadelphians (and probably the other churches to which he
wrote) probably agreed with him in this. Barnabas gives evidence that
Alexandrians were observing Sunday early in the second century. In no
case is there evidence that the change in day of worship was recent. For
Justin, too, there is significant evidence that Justin may have been an
observer of Sunday long before a.d. 155 and long before he visited
Rome ([27] Maxwell, p. 138.
Page16
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
Strand gives a convincing critique: Would it not be somewhat farfetched to look to a pagan religion fostered mainly by soldiers in the
Roman legions as the source for the Christian day of worship?... Why
would Christians who were ready to give up life itself rather than to
adopt known pagan practices (e.g., Justin Martyr, who did precisely this)
choose an obviously pagan Sunday as their Christian day of worship (
Strand, p. 90).
viii.
Page17
c) Other theories
Page18
ix.
I suggest that these writers, even though they were from various parts
of the empire, have a common hermeneutic because that same
hermeneutic was used in the Gentile mission ever since Acts 15: a
mission that did not require Gentiles to keep the laws of Moses,
including the Sabbath. It is unlikely that churches throughout the
empire would, without controversy, develop the same practice unless
that practice had been present from the beginning. It is also unlikely
that people throughout the empire would give the same reasons for
their practice unless those reasons had also been present from the
beginning. Their common hermeneutic is evidence of antiquity.
i.
I would also like to note that Jewish Christians had a practical need for
meeting times that did not conflict with synagogue observance. The
second-century writers show that the vast majority of Christians met on
Sunday and did not keep the Sabbath. They give no clues to suggest that
Sunday was a recent innovation. This suggests that Sunday observance
began in the first century.
ii.
iii.
Page19
d) A practical need
iv.
v.
When Gentiles first began to be added to the church, they were Godfearing Gentiles who attended synagogue meetings and would also need
an after-Sabbath meeting time for Christian worship. Eventually
Gentiles from pagan backgrounds were also added, in Alexandria,
Ephesus and Rome. These converts were not in the habit of attending
synagogue, but they would nevertheless meet with the others after the
Sabbath. Thus there were two groups of Christians: those who kept
Sabbath and met after the Sabbath, and those who ignored the Sabbath
and met only after the Sabbath. This dual development would have been
common throughout the empire, since Jews lived in many cities, and
evangelists preached to the Jews first. But the need for dual worship
meetings would have ceased in most cities as Gentiles became the large
majority. Anti-Jewish sentiment could have accelerated this
development.
vi.
vii.
This hypothetical reconstruction explains how an initially Sabbathkeeping Jewish group could become a Sunday-keeping Gentile group
within a generation, and it explains how this could have been done
throughout the empire simultaneously with a minimum of controversy:
It was part of Christianity from the beginning.
Page20
viii.
The Acts 15 conference had already concluded that Gentile converts did
not need to keep the Law of Moses and, judging by rabbinic writings,
uncircumcised Gentiles were not expected to keep the Sabbath. Paul,
writing to a church that contained both Jews and Gentiles, downplayed
the significance of days (Romans 14:5). He explained that the Sabbath
(like sacrifices) had typological significance and was not a matter for
judging Christians (Colossians 2:16). And he criticized any observance
of any days that were obligations (Galatians 4:10). The writer of
Hebrews explained that the Sabbath typologically prefigured a spiritual
rest, and it is that latter rest that Christians should strive to enter
(Hebrews 4:1-10).
ix.
7. Review
a) The earliest Jewish Christians observed the Sabbath; Gentiles did
not.
b) Writings of the second century unanimously report Christians
meeting on Sundays.
c) No church had the power to enforce a change in day in both west and
east; this suggests that Sunday had been observed from the
beginning.
d) Many Sunday-keeping Christians would rather die than compromise
with paganism.
e) Question: Is this evidence that Christianity went astray as soon as
the apostles died, or evidence that the church understood Paul
correctly?
f) Why was there no controversy about the change?
1. Tertullian
Page21
2. Origen
Page22
b) To illustrate the excellence of the Lords day above the old Saturday
sabbath, Origen somewhat allegorically yet nevertheless
convincingly proves his point in his seventh Homily on Exodus, where
he argues that as "it is plain from Holy Writ that manna was first
given on earth on the Lords day . . . , and rained none on the sabbath
day, let the Jews understand that from that [?!] time our Lords day
was set above the true sabbath . . . For on our Lords day, God always
rains down manna from heaven . . . for . . , the words which are
preached to us have come down from God . . ."
c) And Origen is also believed to have written: "Therefore relinquishing
judaical observances of the (Saturday) Sabbath, let us see of what
sort the observance of the (Sunday) Sabbath ought to be to the
Christian. On the day of the Sabbath it behoves that nothing of all
worldly works should be done. If therefore you cease from all secular
employment and carry on nothing worldly and are at leisure for
spiritual occupation and go to church, giving ear to the reading and
treating of the Divine Word and think of heavenly things and are
solicitous about the future hope and have before your eyes the
coming judgment and have not respect to present and visible things,
but to the unseen and future, this is the observance of the Christian
Sabbath."
3. Fabian
Page23
a) A few years later, Bishop Fabian of Rome (236-250 AD.) wrote of the
ecclesiastical maintenance of "seven deacons in the city of Rome . . .
who attend to the services enjoined on them week by week, and on
the Lords day and the solemn festivals" (cf. I Cor. 16:1 & 2 with Acts
6:1-3), and further decreed that "on each Lords day the oblation of
altar should be made . . . in bread and wine" (cf. Acts 20:6, 7).
Page24
a) The fourth century was to see Sunday come into its own as the
official "sabbath" or day of rest throughout the Roman Empire which
was then becoming more and more Christianized, at least in name.
Page25
g) Once the die had now been cast, more Sunday legislation soon
followed. On the 18th of April of the same year 321, Constantine
wrote to Bishop Hesius of Cordova that the liberation of slaves by
Christians would be valid even if not taken cognizance of by the
state, provided it occurred before the whole congregation of
believers850, and on the 3rd of June he decreed that as it would be
very agreeable to fulfil all vows to liberate ones slaves on Sunday,
all should "have liberty for every act of emancipation and
manumission on this feast day"851, on this sancta dies
Dominica852.
Page26
Page27
Page28
Page29
Page30
Page31
h) And in the Church of North Africa, Lords day observance was also
the godly rule. Bishop Augustine of Hippo (354-430) declared that
"we celebrate the Lords day" which "was by the resurrection of
Christ declared to Christians; and from that time it began to be
celebrated as the Christian festival". And Bishop Theophilus of
Alexandria (fl. 398) declared: ". . . we honour and keep holy the
Lords day, seeing on that day it was that our Lord Jesus completed
His resurrection from the dead . . . it is called as well the first [day],
because it is the beginning of our life, as also the eighth day, because
it has expelled the Sabbath observance of the Jews."
III.
CONCLUSIONS
A. The Sabbath Day
The attitude of the Fathers is that with the passing of the whole system,
temple, sacrifice, circumcision, clean and unclean, went the sabbath as a
sign (Irenaeus, Haer. 4.I6.1f., PG vii. 1012f.; Origen, Contr. Cels. 2.7, PG
xi. 805, etc.).
ii.
Clement of Alexandria stresses this point of view, that man needs a day
of rest (Strom. 6;16, PG. x. 364).
ii.
i.
Page32
ii.
iii.
Page33
Page34
Page35
16.
Sunday is a holy day (Dionysius of Corinth, in Eusebius, HE
4.23, PG xx. 388).
(Picture of early Christians celebrating the Lords Supper in San Callisto Catacomb / 3rd century)
Table of Contents
I.
I.
Introduction to Patrology
A. Definition of Patrology
1. Patrology: The study of the writings of the Fathers of the
Church, has more commonly been known in England as
"patristics", or, more commonly still, as "patristic study".
2. Patristic: An adjective used to refer to the first centuries in the
history of the church, following the writing of the New Testament
(the "patristic period"), or scholars writing during this period (the
"patristic writers"). For many writers, the period thus designated
seems to be c.100-451 (in other words, the period between the
completion of the last of the New Testament writings and the
Council of Chalcedon).
3. Patrology is the science which deals with the life, writings, and
doctrine of the orthodox writers of Christian antiquity. Christian
antiquity means roughly the first eight centuries of the Church,
including the period about the death of Charlemagne as well as the
era of persecution, the ages of Constantine and Theodosius. It was
really one, composed of two partsGreek and Latin. As a result,
the writers are venerated by the whole of Christendom (Patrick J.
Hamell, Handbook of Patrology, 9).
4. Father: The title Father of the Church, which has its origin in the
name of "Father" given to pastors/bishops/elders as early as the
second century, was commonly used in the fifth century to
designate the old ecclesiastical writers - ordinarily bishops - who
died in the faith and in communion with the Church.
a) According to modern theologians, the title applies
only to those writers who have the four following
qualifications: orthodoxy of doctrine, holiness of life,
ecclesiastical sanction, and antiquity.
b) Practically, however, it is given to many others who
do not possess the first three requisites. Nobody,
indeed, would dream of eliminating from the list of the
"Fathers" such men as Tertullian, Origen, Eusebius of
Caesarea, Faustus of Riez, etc. Errors have been laid to
their charge, but these mar their works without making
them more dangerous than useful; whilst they are wrong
on a few points, there is in them much that is good. At
all events, they eminently deserve the title of
Ecclesiastical Writers.
4
b) Identification
(1) The four great doctors recognized by the Latin Church are:
Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory;
(2) The four great ecumenical doctors of the Greek Church are:
Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, Athansius, and John Chsysostom.
B. Terms in Patrology
1. Alexandrian school: A patristic school of thought, especially
associated with the city of Alexandria in Egypt, noted for its
Christology (which placed emphasis upon the divinity of Christ) and
its method of biblical interpretation (which employed allegorical
methods of exegesis). A rival approach in both areas was
associated with Antioch.
2. Antiochene school: A patristic school of thought, especially
associated with the city of Antioch in modern-day Turkey, noted for
its Christology (which placed emphasis upon the humanity of
Christ) and its method of biblical interpretation (which employed
literal methods of exegesis). A rival approach in both areas was
associated with Alexandria.
3. Apollinarianism: Apollinarius was born about AD 310 at
Laodicea in Syria and became a lay reader under Bishop
Theodotus, who was an Arian. Apollinarius error was to deny the
human nature of Jesus Christ. He taught that Jesus did not have a
human soul, but that the Logos became one with the flesh in Marys
womb and functioned as His soul. Under this theory, Jesus was
totally divine, had no human nature at all, and could not be
tempted. Apollinarius critics, including Gregory of Nyssa, showed
that Apollinarius teachings contradicted the Biblical accounts of
Jesus human experience. Gregory also pointed out that according
to Hebrews 2:17, Jesus had to have a human nature in order to
redeem humanity. Apollinarius left the Church to start his own sect
in AD 375. His teachings were condemned by Bishop Damasus of
Rome by AD 377, by the Council of Alexandria in AD 378, the
Council of Antioch in AD 379, and the Ecumenical Council of
Constantinople in AD 381. The Roman Emperor implemented the
Councils rulings in his decrees between AD 383388 by outlawing
Apollinarian worship. Apollinarius also taught millennialism, which
the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople also ruled heretical.
4. Arianism: A major early Christological heresy, which treated
Jesus Christ as the supreme of God's creatures, and denied his
divine status. The Arian controversy was of major importance in the
development of Christology during the fourth century.
5. Augustinianism: A term used in two major senses. First, it refers
to the views of Augustine of Hippo concerning the doctrine of
salvation, in which the need for divine grace is stressed. In this
sense, the term is the antithesis of Pelagianism. Second, it is used
to refer to the body of opinion within the Augustinian order during
10
11
12
E. Objectives in Patrology
1. Life of Fathers: study of their life is important and useful
because it helps toward understanding of their character and the
circumstances under which their works were written
2. Writings of the Fathers: The works must be authentic, and an
analysis must be made.
3. Doctrine of the Fathers: We should note the following
concerning their doctrine:
a) The various points on which a father insisted, points
in which a step forward is made that mark the writer as a
pioneer.
b) His opinions on controverted questions of his day or
controverted topics of later periods.
c) The points of his teaching requiring an explanation,
favorable interpretation, or condemnation.
F. Methodology in Patrology
1. General method: not mentioning the New Testament writings,
but describing, in part at least, and very briefly, the heterodox
writings best known in the early centuries.
2. The question may be raised here: Is Patrology to comprise not
only the history of the life and works of the Fathers, but also a
summary of their doctrine; that is, must Patrology supply the
elements of a Patristic Theology? Theoretically, yes; but in practice
nothing could be more difficult. A Patrology which would attempt to
give even a very condensed summary of the teaching of each and
every Father would have to be very lengthy and full of repetitions.
If, on the other hand, such a work simply pointed out teachings not
original and instead limited itself to what is proper and personal in
each, it would give a false - because incomplete -impression of
each author's doctrine.
3. For this reason we feel that is most profitable to outline the main
characters and then give the main development of doctrine. We
shall follow this method. By means of doctrinal synthesis,
Patrology can prove to be helpful in assisting us in understanding
where we as a church have come from.
13
G. Importance of Patrology
1. Witnesses to the Source of Theology: The Fathers enshrine
tradition. Yet, how do we determine when they speak as
witnesses? Romanism states when they agree with the Church,
but this is terribly misleading. The proper criterion is the Bible. If
they do not conform to a historical, grammatical interpretation of the
Scriptures, then they must be rejected as in error.
2. Theological Training: Without a proper study of the fathers,
ones theological training is incomplete. All the great theologians of
the past studied the fathers carefully because all theology rests
upon the exegesis of Sacred Scripture. It was in the form of
scriptural commentaries that theology developed for many
centuries. So a study of the exegetical works of the Fathers is
indispensable for the theologian and exegete.
3. Christian Unity: All Christian bodies hold the Fathers in high
esteem. There is a certain unity that has been established by the
Fathers over core Christian truths, such as the Trinity, Hypostatic
Union of Christ, original sin, and the nature and necessity of grace.
A study of the Patristic writings should bring Christians to a better
knowledge of Christs teaching and promote unity by emphasizing
common core beliefs and the necessity of allowing for legitimate
differences.
4. Inoculation against Error: By understanding the Fathers, we are
vaccinated against the same types of errors through which they
sifted and to which they carefully crafted responses. Nothing is new
under the sun!
5. Synthesis of Learning: A study of the Fathers reveals that the
various theological topics that are often studied individually are truly
connected with other doctrines in an organic way. If one topic is
dealt with in a wrong way, then other topics with be ill affected.
6. Help to Teachers/Preachers: A study of the Fathers provides
immense help to teachers and preachers by giving them a full
grasp of theological truths, examples to follow, and illustrative
materials to draw from.
H. Sources of Patrology
1. Guides to Patrology
14
15
16
18
19
II.
Apostolic Fathers
A. Introduction
1. Definition of the Apostolic Fathers
a) "Apostolic Fathers" is the name given to a certain
number of writers or writings (several of which are
anonymous) dating from the end of the first or from the
first half of the second century.
b) The name has been selected because the authors
are supposed to have known the Apostles and also
because their works represent a teaching derived
immediately, or almost immediately, from the Apostles.
These writings are, indeed, a continuation of the
Gospels and of Apostolic literature.
2. There are about ten Apostolic Fathers. One-half of their
writings is made up of epistles (Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp,
Pseudo-Barnabas) ; the other half comprises doctrinal,
parenetic or disciplinary treatises (The Didache, the "Secunda
Clementis," the Shepherd of Hermas, Papias, The Apostles'
Creed).
3. Character of the Apostolic Fathers
a) While these works are a continuation of the Gospels
and Apostolic literature, they have neither the intense
vividness of the canonical, inspired books nor the
fullness of theological thought found in the literature of
a later period.
b) With the exception of Ignatius, their authors do not
show much intellectual power or ability, which goes to
prove that, in the beginning, the Church recruited her
members chiefly from among the illiterate.
c) Nevertheless, the writings of these men are of great
value to us, both on account of their antiquity and
because they show how the Christians of the second
and third generations understood the work of Christ and
of his Apostles.
B. Writers
20
1. Clement
a) Biography
(1) According to tradition, Clement was the fourth bishop of
Rome. Nothing prohibits our identifying him with the Clement
of whom Paul speaks when writing to the Philippians (Phil. 4:3)
and still less with Flavius Clemens, a consul, cousin of the
Emperor Domitian, who was beheaded in 95 or 96.
(2) Clement probably knew the Apostles. He was presumably a
freedman, or the son of a freedman. Clement was certainly in
some respects a remarkable elder, since he made a profound
impression on the early Church. Two "Letters to Virgins," two
"Letters to James," the brother of the Lord, and a collection of
Homilies are ascribed to him, besides the so-called "Second
Letter to the Corinthians."
(3) At the end of the 4th century Rome honored him as a martyr;
the alleged acts of his martyrdom, however, are not authentic,
but belong to another Clement, a Greek martyr buried at
Cherson.
21
22
(a) The Epistle is divided into two main parts. The first
is general (iv-xxxviii) and contains a series of
exhortations to the practice of charity, penance,
obedience, humility, faith, etc., calculated to insure a
spirit of concord among the faithful. The train of thought
is interrupted (xxiii-xxx) by a lengthy parenthesis on the
certainty of the future resurrection. The second part
(xxxix-lix) deals more directly with the troubles at
Corinth. God, says Clement, established the
ecclesiastical hierarchy and sent Christ. Christ
appointed the Apostles, who appointed bishops and
deacons, who in turn, as the necessity arose, chose other
men to succeed them. To these men the faithful owe
submission and obedience, and this is why they who
drove the presbyters from office have sinned. They must
do penance and withdraw for a time from Corinth, in
order that peace may be re-established. Then follows a
long prayer (lix, -3 lxi), in which praises to God and
supplications for the Christians and for the authorities
succeed one another. The letter concludes with fresh
exhortations to unity and with spiritual good wishes
(Ixii-lxv).
(7) Estimation
(a) In the early Church the Epistle of Clement was held
in the greatest esteem. Some authors even went so far as
to rank it with the inspired writings. Irenaeus calls it
"very powerful"; Eusebius pronounces it "grand and
admirable" and testifies to the fact that in several
churches it was read publicly at the meetings of the
faithful [ H. E., iii, 16].
(b) The letter is worthy of such esteem because of the
happy blending of firmness and kindness which
characterizes it, and the shrewdness of observation,
delicacy of touch and lofty sentiments which the author
manifests throughout. The great prayer at the conclusion
has a majestic swing. Unfortunately, the abuse of Old
Testament quotations, especially in the first part, often
interferes with the development of the author's thought
and prevents it from attaining its highest flight.
(8) Theological
(a) Ecclesiology:
(i) Rome states that the Epistle of Clement is
of great importance because it marks a
supposed "epiphany of the Roman primacy,"
23
(b) God
(i) The leading thought is that of the One God,
the Lord (; cf. 49:6 and 47 fin. with 48
init.) of the world, the Creator, and, in this sense,
the Father (e.g., 35:3; 192).
24
(c) Christ
(i) Christ is sent from God to deliver us (42:1;
59:2). In that God elected Christ, he elected us
through him as his own people (64; 59:3). As to
his nature, he is the Son of God, exalted above
the angels (36, following Heb. 1:3ff.); the Lord
Jesus Christ; the sceptre of the majesty of God:
and yet he came as the Humble One into the
world (16:2).
(ii) Already in the Old Testament he spoke
through the Holy Ghost (22:1). In harmony with
this, his descent from Abraham is by the term
discriminated from another descent
(32:2). The sufferings of Christ are described as
the sufferings of God (2:1), unless in this
passage we are to read instead
of (Funk).
(iii) Christ is the only mediator of our salvation.
Through him we have become Gods
possession (via. b). He is to us a helper in
weakness and a high-priest in the offering of
gifts (prayers; cf. 61:3). Through his mediation
we are made capable of seeing God and tasting
immortal knowledge; through it, faith, (godly)
fear, peace, patience, temperance, and wisdom
() become the portion of the Christian
(64).
(iv) Out of love Christ gave his blood for ushis
flesh for our flesh, his soul for our souls (49:6;
21:6). By the blood of the Lord there is
redemption () to all that believe and
hope in God (12:7).
(v) This blood, which was shed for the sake of
our salvation, is so precious to the Father of
Christ, that it has obtained the grace of
repentance for the whole world. The humility and
patience which Christ maintained in his lifes
25
(d) Believers
(i) As to the personal standing of the believer,
Clement teaches: They were all (Old Testament
saints) therefore glorified and magnified not
through themselves nor their works, nor the
righteousness which they wrought, but through
his will. And we therefore, being called through
his will in Christ Jesus, are not justified through
ourselves, neither through our wisdom nor
knowledge nor piety nor works which we have
done in the holiness of our hearts, but through
the faith through which God Almighty has
justified all men from the beginning (32:3, 4).
(ii) Such are the paths of blessedness (31:1);
faith in Christ brings us everything good (22:1).
Clement writes thus with a full conception of the
wide scope of his words, for he follows them
immediately with the remark, that good works
are not thereby excluded, but on the contrary
zeal in such works is required (33:1, 7, 8). This
is as truly Pauline as the definition of faith as
confidence (, 35:2; 26:1; cf. 2:3;
58:1).
(iii) The humble temper of mind (16-19) and
believing trust in God, obedience to God, and
unreserved self-surrender to him (10:1; 11)
obtain salvation. But this line of thought is limited
by another: Blessed are we, beloved, if we shall
have fulfilled the commandments of God in the
unity of love, that so through love our sins may
be forgiven us (50:5).
26
(e) Summation:
(i) This document makes it clear that the ideas
embraced in the apostolic proclamation have
been preserved in the church, but that there may
be already traced a lack of independent scrutiny
of these ideas and of deeper penetration into
their significance.
(ii) One does not receive the impression that
the biblical conception of Christs work and the
significance of faith are really understood and
inwardly appropriated. However, in passing this
judgment, we should bear in mind the particular
object of Clement in the preparation of the work.
2. Ignatius
a) Biography:
(1) Ignatius, also callel Theophorus, according to tradition
succeeded Evodius, the first bishop of Antioch [ Eusebius, H. E.,
iii, 22]
(a) Rome teaches that Peter was also the first bishop of
Antioch, which all testimony is against this.
(b) The name mentioned is Eusebius [Symeon] is
probably son of Clopas and Mary [Hegesippus]. Clopas
is associated with Alpheus, and therefore Eusebius is
speaking of Symeon the brother of James, son of
Alpheus. Moreover, Eusebius refers to this Symeon as
the pastor at Jerusalem at the same time.
27
b) Text
(1) The letters of Ignatius have reached us in three different
recensions:
(a) The longer recension, besides the seven letters
mentioned, more or less enlarged, contains six others: a
letter by a certain Maria of Cassobola to Ignatius and
five letters of Ignatius to Maria of Cassobola, the people
of Tarsus, Antioch and Philippi, and Hero, a deacon of
Antioch, - in all, thirteen letters.
(b) The shorter recension, in Syriac, which contains in
an abbreviated form the three letters to Polycarp, to the
Ephesians, and to the Romans.
(c) The mixed recension, comprising the seven letters to
the Ephesians, the Magnesians, the Trallians, the
28
c) Date:
(1) When were these letters written? Evidently at a date which
coincides closely with that of the death of Ignatius, although it is
difficult to fix this date exactly. One thing alone seems certain,
vis., that Ignatius suffered martyrdom under Trajan (98-117).
(2) The acts of his martyrdom indicate the ninth year of Trajan
(107); Jerome [De Vir. ill., 16] says the eleventh year (109).
Seeberg - 110. Walker - 110-117. ANF, 107 or 116. We shall
hardly err, therefore, if we place the date of his martyrdom, and
consequently also that of the composition of his letters, about the
year 110.
d) Occasion
(1) The main purpose of Ignatius in all his letters, except that to
the Romans, is to warn the faithful against the errors and
divisions that certain agents of heresy and schism endeavored to
sow among them.
(2) The doctrine these men were trying to spread was a certain
kind of Judaizing Gnosticism: on the one hand, they urged the
preservation of Jewish practices; on the other they were
Docetists, i. e., they saw in the humanity of Jesus only an unreal
appearance.
29
e) Theology
(1) Christology
(a) Christ is God, our God, and my God (Eph.
inscr.; 18:2. Rom. inscr.; 3:3; 6:3. Polycarp, 8:3). He is
God, (Smyrn. 1:1), (Trall. 7:1), the only Son
of the Father, , (Rom. inscr.),
and the Lord, (Polyc. 1:2).
(b) Ignatius uses the formula in Son and Father and in
Spirit (Magn. 13:1; in 2 is doubtful; cf.
Lightf.). He was with the Father before time began
(Magn. 6:1). At the, end of the days he became man
and this as a revelation of the One God, the Father,
who has manifested himself through his Son Jesus
Christ, who is his word, , proceeding from
silence (Magn. 8:2; cf. 9:2: our only teacher, and
Rom. 8:2: the genuine mouth in whom the Father truly
spake).
(i) Thus the Johannine term, Logos, was
authentically interpreted. Christ is the Word, or
the Mouth of God, i.e., the revelation of God.
Remarkable, further, is the combination of faith
and love with the triadic formula (e.g., Magn.
13:1. Ep. 9:1; cf. 1 Clem. 58:2; 46:6).
(ii) Were both formulasthey possess
something of the character of formulas already
in the New Testamenthanded down together
in the instruction preceding baptism?
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
b) Writings
(1) Irenaeus speaks of a certain number of letters written by
Polycarp [ Eusebius, H. E., v, 20, 8], but we have only his letter
to the Philipplans, written on the occasion of Ignatius' sojourn
among them. Ignatius had induced the Christians of Philippi to
write to the faithful of Antioch and congratulate them upon the
fact that the persecution, which had carried away their bishop,
was now at an end. The Philippians had requested Polycarp to
send their letter to the brethren at Antioch by the same
37
c) Theology
(1) The epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians assumes that those
to whom it is addressed acknowledge the divinity of Christ, the
fulfillment of his mission on earth, and his subsequent
glorification and exaltation above heaven and earth (1:2; 2:1;
9:2). It is just as firmly held that Christ suffered on account of
our sins for our redemption (1:2; 8:1). He knows also that we are
saved by grace, not by our own works, through Jesus Christ (1:3
extr.); and, further, that only upon the assumption that we now
have faith can we attain the glory which should crown our
earthly life (if we walk worthily of him, we shall also reign with
him, if we believe, 5:2. Cf. 2:1; 8:2). Faith, love, and hope are
the content of the Christian life (3:3).
(2) But the practical force of his exhortations is laid upon the
requirement that we walk in the commandment () of the
Lord (4:1; 5:1; 2:2). Only he who possesses faith, love toward
God and his neighbor, and hope fulfills the commandment of
righteousness. He who has love is far from all sin (3:3). The
righteousness () of the Christian consists in his moral
38
4. Barnabas
a) Introduction
(1) Under the name of Barnabas we have a letter preserved in
two principal codices, the Sinaiticus (4th century) and the
Hierosolymitanus (1056). With one voice Christian antiquity
indicated as the author of this letter Barnabas, the companion of
Paul, although it placed it among the antilegomenai grafai, that
is to say, contested its canonicity.
(2) Modern critics unanimously deny the genuineness of the
letter. When the Epistle was written, Barnabas was certainly no
longer alive and, even if he had been, he would not have adopted
the violent and severe attitude evinced throughout this document.
b) Occasion
(1) The letter was intended for certain converts from paganism,
whom a few Judaic Christians - more Jewish than Christian were trying to persuade that the Old Law was still in force. To
refute this claim the author devotes the greater part of his letter
(i-xvii) to showing that the Mosaic observances have been
abrogated and that the ancient covenant of God with the Jewish
people ceased with the death of Christ and the promulgation of
the Christian law. He goes farther and asserts that these
traditional observances in reality never existed in the sense in
39
c) Origin
(1) Alexandria and Egypt are commonly designated as the
birthplace of the Letter of Barnabas. It is there we find it first
quoted (by Clement of Alexandria) and there it was held in great
veneration.
(2) We could suspect this also from the strong allegorism
displayed throughout the work. The author sees, for instance, in
the 318 slaves of Abraham the figure of Christ and of His cross
(T = 300, ih = 18). He believes in the millennium.
d) Date
(1) It is difficult to determine the date of this composition. All
depends on the interpretation we give to chapters iv and xvi.
Funk and Bardenhewer place it under Nero's reign (96-98); Veil,
Harnack, and Oger, under the Emperior Hadrian (117-131).
e) Theology
(1) Note: Despite the repulsive extravagances of Alexandrian
exegesis found in this author, he preserves the fundamental ideas
of the apostolic period in a relatively pure form.
(2) Christology:
(a) The pre-existence of Christ is affirmed, and with it
his divine creative activity (5:5, 6). He will one day
return again as Judge in divine omnipotence (15:5). He
is not Son of man, but Son of God (12:10; 7:9). He
appeared in the flesh, since men cannot look even upon
the created and perishable sun (5:10, 11).
40
41
42
43
44
b) Text
(1) The complete original text was discovered only in 1873, by
Philotheos Bryennios in the Codex Hierosolymitanus, which
dates from 1056. The principal edition appeared in 1883. It has
since been followed by many others. Besides the original Greek,
there exist also a Latin version of the first six chapters[3] and a
few fragments from an Arabic translation. Quotations in the
Adversus Aleatores and by Optatus prove that there must have
existed, as early as the 2ndcentury, a Latin version, different
from the one we possess now, which contained the whole work.
c) Content
(1) The Didache may be divided into four clearly distinct parts:
(a) a moral catechesis (i-vi),
(b) a liturgical instruction (vii-x);
(c) a disciplinary instruction (xi-xv),
(d) a conclusion of an eschatological nature (xvi).
(2) The moral catechesis teaches us what we must do (The Way
of Life, i-iv) and what we must not do (The Way of Death, v, vi).
(3) The liturgical instruction treats of Baptism, how to
administer it and how to prepare oneself for its reception (vii);
45
fasting (viii, 1); prayer (viii, 2, 3), and the celebration of the
Holy Eucharist (ix, x).
(4) The disciplinary instruction is concerned with the manner of
dealing with preachers, and especially with itinerant apostles (xi,
3-6), prophets (xi, 7-12; xiii, I, 3-7), travelling brethren (xii), and
teachers who settle in the com- munity (xiii, 2) ; then passing on
to the interior life of the Church, it prescribes the divine service
for Sundays and lays down the line of conduct to be followed
with regard to bishops, deacons, and the brethren of the
community (xiv-xv).
(5) The conclusion is a warning to be vigilant because the
coming of the Savior is at hand. It contains also a description of
the signs which will precede and accompany the parousia (xvi).
d) Author
(1) The Didache is an anonymous writing and its author is
unknown. Whoever he was, he fused the different parts of the
work into a harmonious whole. The problem is to ascertain
whether he made use of works already in existence and, more
especially, whether the first six chapters (the moral catechesis)
constituted an independent treatise, which the author
appropriated and incorporated with his work.
(2) A few indications here and there seem to favor this view.
Under the title of The Two Ways a short moral treatise seems to
have been in circulation.
(3) The author of the Didache and several other writers who
have cited him. may have merely performed a work of
transcription. This conclusion, however, is not certain. As to the
hypothesis that The Two Ways was a Jewish work, Christianized
by the addition of passages I, 3 to II, 1, we must say that it is not
substantiated by the facts.
e) Date
(1) The dates fixed upon by critics for the composition of the
Didache fall between the years 50 and 160. The work was
probably composed between 80 and 110.
(2) The basis for such a conclusion is the fact that the liturgy
and hierarchy which the author describes, are quite primitive;
there is no trace in the work of a creed or a canon of the
Scriptures, and no allusion is made to pagan persecution or
Gnosticism.
46
(3) On the other hand, the writer is acquainted with the gospels
of Matthew and Luke and entertains an obvious mistrust towards
wandering Christian teachers who visit the communities. This
state of affairs is characteristic of the end of the first century.
f) Origin
(1) It is impossible to determine precisely the place where this
work was composed.
(2) It was certainly written in the East, but nothing warrants our
saying with certainty whether its birthplace was Syria, Palestine,
or Egypt.
g) Significance
(1) The Didache is a work of considerable importance. Apart
from its dogmatic content, it gives us a pretty accurate picture of
what was, in those early times, the interior life of the Christian
communities from the point of view of moral teaching, the
practices they observed, and the form of government under
which they lived.
(2) Some authors have seen in this work the most ancient of
Christian rituals.
h) Theology
(1) Note: This document can be employed in tracing the History
of Doctrines only with the most extreme caution, since we know
that it was not designed to present a statement of Christian
teachingnot even of any particular doctrines.
(2) Christology
(a) The designations of Christ as the Son of God (16:4),
as the God (or is the proper reading?) of David
(10:6), and as the Servant of God (9:3; 10:2, 3) are to be
interpreted in the same sense as in the documents
already examined.
(b) We have also already met the representation of God
as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (7:1, 3), preserved in the
baptismal formula.
(3) Salvation
47
48
b) Author
(1) The hypothesis that this epistle is identical with the Letter of
Soter to the Corinthians [ Eusebius, H. E., iv, 23, II], spoken of
by Denis of Corinth, is therefore untenable. Neither can this
homily be attributed to Clement. The silence of ancient writers
militates strongly against such an hypothesis, and "style, tone,
and thought are in such complete contrast with the (authentic)
Letter to the Corinthians that from internal criteria alone we
should be justified in refusing to attribute this second
composition to the author of the first Letter "[Hemmer].
49
c) Content
(1) As the work is not an orderly treatise on a particular subject,
its contents are difficult to analyze. After affirming the divinity
of Christ, the author dwells at length on the value of the
salvation He has brought us and on the care with which we
should observe the commandments (i-iv).
(2) We can work out our salvation only by waging a continual
warfare against the world. Let us then embark for this heavenly
battle (v-vii) and strive to practice the Christian virtues of
penance, purity, mutual love, trust in God, and devotion to the
Church (viii-xvii).
(3) Conclusion: Let us work for our salvation, come what may:
Glory be to God! (xviii-xx).
d) Character
(1) It is plain that this discourse is not a homily, properly so
called, upon a specific text of Scripture, but a stirring exhortation
to live a Christian life and thereby to merit heaven. "The thought
is often very commonplace, expressed awkwardly and not
always definitely. The composition is loose and devoid of
orderly plan, but there are a few striking sentences scattered here
and there." It is the work of a writer who is inexperienced, yet
full of what he has to say and who, at times, expressed himself
with unction.
(2) A number of critics, struck by the resemblance existing
between this work and the Shepherd of Hermas, have concluded
that it was written in Rome. The analogy, however, is not very
pronounced. Others have perceived in vii, 1, 3, where mention is
made of wrestlers who hasten to the combat under full sail and of
Christians embarking for battle, an allusion to the Isthmian
games, and think that the ex- hortation was read at Corinth. This
would explain how, in the manuscripts, it came to be placed
alongside of the Letter of Clement to the Corinthians. The
hypothesis does not lack probability.
e) Date
(1) As to the date of composition, critics agree in placing it in
the first half of the second century, more precisely between 120
and 140.
50
(2) This would be before the rise of the great Gnostic systems of
which the writer does not seem to be aware.
f) Theology
(1) The sermon opens with the demand: It is necessary for us to
think of Jesus Christ as of God, as of the Lord of the living and
the dead (1:1). In proportion as we underestimate him will we
also underestimate the salvation to come (1:2). Of his person, it
is said: Christ the Lord who saves us, being first spirit, became
flesh and thus called us (9:5). That is, he who was at first a
spiritual being became flesh. But the author appears to regard
this spiritual being, and likewise the Holy Ghost, as a creature of
the Father. Male and female (Gen. 1:27) are applied
respectively to Christ and to the church as a spiritual entity
(14:2).
(2) God sent Christ to us as Savior and author of immortality
( ) and through him reveals to us the
truth and the heavenly life (20:5). It is said, indeed, that Christ
suffered for our sakes (1:2), and that he had compassion upon the
lost (2:7). But these ideas are, for the author, mere formulas. The
work of redemption means for him that Christ has abolished the
darkness of foolish creature-worship (1:6, 7) and brought us
instead the knowledge of the Father of Truth (3:1; 17:1) and
imparted to us his laws (3:4). The promise of immortality is
added as a reward for the keeping of his commandments (11:1).
(3) The conception of the Christian life corresponds with the
above. The controlling thought is: that we give to him some
recompense (), or some fruit worthy of what he has
given to us (1:3; 9:7, cf. 15:2). This consists herein: that we, in
view of the magnitude of the work of Christ, confess him as the
Saviour (3:3), and that we thus confess him by doing what he
says and not disregarding his commandments (3:4), or we
confess him by our works ( 4:3). Doing thus, we
may live without fear of death (5:1). The Christian should
preserve his baptism without stain. It has publicly cleansed him
from his sins (6:9; 8:6, here called a seal). He who in this way
serves God is righteous (11:1, 7; 12:1), and he who does
righteousness shall be saved (19:3). But he who transgresses
Christs commandments incurs eternal punishment (6:7). No
person nor thing can then save him: nor anyone be our
comforter, if we shall not be found having holy and righteous
works (6, 9 and 7). For doing such works men must, it is true,
have faith as a prerequisite; but faith is nothing more (in contrast
with doubt ) than a believing of the divine promise of
reward (11:1, 5:6).
51
(4) But now, since men are sinful and full of evil lust (13:1;
19:2), this demand takes the form of a call to repentance. To this
the preacher summons (8:1f.; 9:8; 13:1; 16:1; 17:1; 19:1). This
embraces, first the forsaking of the former sins (13:1), and then
at once the fulfilling of the Lords commandments (8:3, 4).
Repentance is for the author not a change of mind, but a change
of habits by good works. This repentance () is the
recompense which we owe to God and Christ (9:8).
(5) The externalizing of the moral life is further manifest in the
fact that the orator (on the basis of Tobit 12:8, 9) recommends
certain particular works as peculiarly suited to repentance for
sins: Almsgiving is, therefore, excellent as a repentance for
sins; fasting is better than prayer; but almsgiving better than
either . . . for almsgiving becomes a lightening of the burden
() of sin (16:4).
(6) If man has thus fulfilled the will of God, or Christ, striven
against his evil passions, and done good, he receives from God
eternal life in the kingdom of God (eschatologically conceived)
as the reward for his works (8:4 and 11:7; 12:1; 6:7; 9:6; 10:4).
The day of judgment is already approaching (16:3). But the
Christian receives his reward in the body in which he was called.
The resurrection of the body dare not be called in question (9:1
5, cf. also 9:4). The kingdom of God will begin at the second
coming of Jesus. Terrible tortures are impending over those who
deny Jesus and do not keep his commandments (17:4.7).
(7) This last and latest, book of the so-called Apostolic
Fathers is beyond question the furthest removed from the
Christianity of the apostolic age. What we have been able to
detect in incipient form in the other Fathers here meets us in
clear and un-disguised form. Christ is essentially the Teacher of
the knowledge of God and the new Lawgiver. Christianity is the
reception of this teaching and this law into the heart and life. The
motives prompting to the keeping of the law thus given are the
consideration of the magnitude of the gift of God and faith in the
promise of reward.
52
b) Title:
(1) The title of the work is borrowed from the personage who
plays the principal part in the second division of the work, the
Angel of Penance to whose care Hermas has been entrusted,
(2) The angel appears to him in the guise of a shepherd (Vision
v).
c) Author
(1) Who was the author of this book? Origen saw in him the
Hermas whom Paul greets at the end of his Epistle to the
Romans (xvi, 14).
(2) Others have made him a contemporary of Clement of Rome,
according to vision ii, 4, 3.
(3) By far the most probable opinion is that based upon the
authority of the Canon of Muratori, and that of the Liberian
Catalogue, which makes Hermas a brother of Pius I (c. 140-155).
"As to the Shepherd" says the Muratorian Fragment, "it has been
written quite recently, in our own time, in the city of Rome, by
Hermas, while Pius, his brother, occupied, as bishop, the see of
the Church of the city of Rome."
(4) This evidence seems conclusive. It does not, however, give
us any details concerning the life of Hermas. The author, in his
book, furnishes us with these. According to his autobiography,
Hermas was a slave and a Christian. He was sold at Rome to a
Christian lady, named Rhode, who soon set him free. He then
applied himself to agriculture and commerce and rapidly
acquired great wealth. In consequence, he began to neglect the
moral guidance of his family and, more especially, failed to
correct his wife and children, who led vicious lives. Then came
the persecution.
(5) Hermas and his wife confessed the faith, but their children
apostatized, denounced their parents, and indulged in all kinds of
debauchery.
(6) The result was that Hermas lost his fortune and was reduced
to the possession of a small farm, situated on the road leading to
the Roman Campagna; this was enough to support him. The trial
he had undergone proved very helpful.
53
d) Content
(1) The end he had in view was to call sinners to repentance.
Hermas is conscious of grave disorders which have crept into the
Roman Church (Simil., viii, 6-10; ix, 19-31), not only among the
laity, but even among the clergy. Ought not these sinners to
repent? Certain imposters denied it (Simil., viii, 6, 5). Hermas
affirms that they should.
(2) Will this repentance, which is necessary, be useful to those
who perform it, and will it merit pardon for them? Some rigorist
teachers thought it would not, and asserted that the only
beneficial repentance was that performed before baptism
(Mandat, iv, 3, l); Hermas announces in the name of God that, at
least at the moment when he is writing, one repentance after
baptism is both possible and efficacious, and affirms that his
express mission is to invite sinners to take advantage of such a
favor.
(3) Lastly, how should repentance be performed? Hermas
describes the process in the course of his book. These three
ideas, the necessity of repentance, its efficacy, and its requisite
conditions, form the ground- work of The Shepherd.
(4) Hermas does not present these ideas as his own. In order that
they may be the more readily accepted by his readers, he
presents them as moral instructions that he has received through
the special agency of supernatural manifestations. He assumes
the attitude of a seer and a prophet, like those who existed in the
first days of the Church, and his entire book is nothing more than
an account of the visions and revelations which have been made
to him.
(5) From this point of view, viz., that of the form, The Shepherd
is divided into three parts, which comprise, respectively, five
Visions, twelve Commandments, and ten Similitudes (or
parables). This distinction is made by the author himself, but it
54
e) Date
(1) The Shepherd was evidently written at Rome. The
Muratorian Fragment affirms that it was composed during the
pontificate of Pius I, between 140 and 155, or thereabouts.
(2) The best we can do is to accept this date, which is supported
by what Hermas says about the persecutions, the state of the
Roman Church, and the errors which were beginning to circulate
in his time.
f) Esteem
(1) From the moment of its appearance The Shepherd was
received with high esteem in both the East and the West. Several
Fathers (Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and
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g) Theology
(1) Christology
(a) Hermas associates salvation directly with the
Person of Christ (Sim. 9:12:46). His views in regard to
this, however, furnish nothing really new.
(b) It is a perversion to make him a representative of an
adoptionistic Christology, as though teaching that Christ
was a man chosen of God, in whom the Spirit of God
dwelt, and who, after having proved himself worthy, was
elevated to a position of lordship (Harnack, DG., ed. 3,
p. 182f.).
(c) Christ, the Son of God, is as well the ancient Rock,
out of which the tower of the church is hewn, as the new
Door through which we enter this tower. The Son of
God is, indeed, more ancient () than
any creature; insomuch that he was in counsel with his
Father at the creation of all things (Sim. 9:12:2, 3). He
could very well have protected his people through an
angel (Sim. 5:6.2; cf. 2:2); but he did more, since he
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8. Papias
a) Papias is known to us through Irenaeus and
Eusebius. He was bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, a
friend of Polycarp, and, having conversed with the
immediate disciples of the Apostles, belonged, at the
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b) Practically
(1) As was noted before the literature of the Apostolic Fathers is
almost completely concerned with the inner workings of the
early Christian communities. They reveal local communities
exemplifying to a high degree the ethical and practical
implications of the gospel. What is more amazing is that these
local communities felt a great degree of oneness with other
churches with whom they had no hierarchical connection.
(2) Rome can write Corinth and effect a reversal of its recent
change of leadership by the simple expedient of brotherly
exhortation. The epistles of Ignatius, Pseudo-2nd Clement, and
the Didache all are evidence of a high concern for the
maintenance of the Apostolic tradition and the shunning of false
teachers. Cf. also Polycarps response to Philippi.
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b) Characteristics:
(1) Sacramentalism.
(a) Ignatius manifests incipient sacramentalism in these
words: They hold aloof from the Eucharist and from
services of prayer, because they refuse to admit that the
Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which
suffered for our sins and which, in his goodness, the
Father raised (from the dead).
(b) Hermas speaks as follows of the water of baptism.
He refers to "a great tower, built upon the waters." This
explanation follows, "Hear then why the tower is built
upon the waters. It is because your life has been, and
will be, saved through water." The ceremonies
surrounding baptism also betray the growing
sacramentalist flavor of Christian thinking.
(c) Now about baptism: this is how to baptize. Give
public instruction on all these points, and then "baptize"
in running water, "in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit." If you do not have running
water, baptize in some other. If you cannot in cold, then
in warm. If you have neither, then pour water on the
head three times "in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit." Before the baptism, moreover, the one who
baptizes and the one being baptized must fast, and any
others who can. And you must tell the one being baptized
to fast for one or two days beforehand.
(2) Penance and Satisfaction.
(a) Again the Shepherd of Hermas provides the clearest
illustration of incipient Catholicism here. "Listen," he
said: "all who once suffered for the name of the Lord are
honorable before God; and of all these the sins were
remitted, because they suffered for the name of the Son
of God. And why their fruits are of various kinds, and
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c) Conclusions:
(1) The Supernatural Character of the Scriptures of the Apostles
(a) This is strikingly deduced from the facts we have
been considering
(b) Cunningham sums this up when he states the
following: The striking contrast between the writings of
the apostles and their immediate successors has been
often remarked, and should never be overlooked or
forgotten. Neanders observation upon this subject is
this: "A phenomenon singular in its kind, is the striking
difference between the writings of the apostles and the
writings of the Apostolic Fathers, who were so nearly
their contemporaries. In other cases, transitions are
wont to be gradual; but in this instance we observe a
sudden change. There are here no gentle gradations, but
all at once an abrupt transition from one style of
language to another; a phenomenon which should lead
us to acknowledge the fact of a special agency of the
divine Spirit in the souls of the apostles."
(2) The Speed of Early Decline from the Plane of Apostolic
Thought.
(a) The Churchs apprehension of the teaching of the
Apostles was not lost through a slow decline into the
middle ages. Rather there is a swift plummet into the
simplistic thinking of the Apostolic Fathers. It is from
that low point of understanding (out of which error
quickly developed) that the church has only through
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III.
Apologists
A. Introduction
1. Name:
a) The name Apologists is given to a group of writers
more especially of the second centurywho aimed to
defend the Christians from the accusations brought
against them.
b) They sought to obtain for them tolerance under the
civil laws and to demonstrate to their persecutors that
the Christian religion is the only true one.
2. Charges:
a) Christianity had scarcely begun to spread in the
Roman world, when it found itself beset with vexations
and persecutions of all kinds.
(1) The principal accusation made against Christians was that of
atheism.
(a) Contrary to the civil law, the Christians refused to
adore the gods of the empire and practiced a religion
not approved by the Roman Senate. In the eyes of the
State, therefore, they were atheists, guilty of practicing a
forbidden religion (religio illicita), and therefore
enemies of the State and its fundamental institutions.
(2) To this charge were added base calumnies, which were soon
circulated among the people and accepted even by a few eminent
writers.
(a) One report was that, in their meetings, the
Christians feasted upon the flesh of infants, previously
slaughtered and then sprinkled with flour; and were not
ashamed of practicing such immoralities as the
intercourse of Oedipus with his own mother.
(b) Intellectualists and politicians accused them of
indolence, i. e.; of shunning the world and business and
taking no interest in the prosperity of the State,
neglecting the affairs of this life for those of a future life.
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3. Aim:
a) The main effort of the Apologists was to refute these
accusations and to show that Christianity had the right
to exist. To attain this end, their work could not remain
purely negative, but had to include a positive
demonstration of the excellence and truth of the
Christian religion.
b) Such a demonstration necessarily involved them in
an attack upon paganism, for a successful vindication of
the superiority of Christianity demanded that a contrast
be drawn between it and the State religion. The work of
the Apologists, therefore, was not purely defensive; it
was also controversial and expository.
4. Object: The apologies were directed partly against the pagans
and partly against the Jews.
a) The pagans may be divided into three groups.
(1) Those of the first group take the form of requests or
petitions addressed to the Emperor and to the Senate. The
emperors of the Antonine dynasty were looked upon as just and
moderate philosophers from whom philosophers like Justin and
Athenagoras could hope to obtain a hearing. It is doubtful,
however, whether or not these apologies addressed to the
emperors were really brought to their notice. They were aimed at
the public, though written in the form of open letters to the
emperors.
(2) The apologies of the second class are addressed directly to
the people. Such are, for example, the numerous Discourses to
the Greeks of the second and third centuries.
(3) Lastly and these form the third class, a few apologies
were addressed, at least primarily, to private individuals, e. g.,
the three books of Theophilus of Antioch to Autolycus and the
Epistle to Diognetus.
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5. Character:
a) From a literary point of view, the writings of the
Apologists are generally superior to those of the
Apostolic Fathers. Several of their authors had been
trained in the schools and had studied philosophy: they
gloried in the fact that they still remained philosophers,
even though they had embraced Christianity. This may
easily be seen from the vigor of their thought and
reasoning.
b) It is betrayed also by certain peculiarities of style,
which often remind us of the sophists (professional
grammarians and rhetoricians). Moreover, a number of
these writings, at least, are fairly extensive and touch on
the most important questions of moral and dogmatic
theology. They are the first attempts at scientific
theology made in the Church.
B. Apologists
1. LOST APOLOGIESARISTIDES OF ATHENS
a) We know of about twelve Apologists in the second
century, but out of this number there are about five
whose works have been entirely lost or from which we
have only a few passages.
b) Quadratus
(1) Among them is Quadratus, whom certain critics have
identified with the prophet of the same name spoken of by
Eusebius [H. E., iii, 37, 1; v, 17, 2].
(2) He presented to the Emperor Hadrian (117-138) an apology
which Eusebius had read and from which he quotes one sentence
[H. E., iv, 3].
c) Aristo of Pella
(1) To Aristo of Pella, we owe the first treatise against the Jews,
written about 140, a Disputation between Jason and Papiscus
concerning Christ.
(2) In this work, Jason, a Christian, with the help of the
prophecies, proves against Papiscus, a Jew from Alexandria, that
Jesus is the Son of God.
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d) Militiades
(1) Miltiades, very probably from Asia Minor, wrote between
160 and 193.
(2) He composed three apologies, so Eusebius tells us, one
Against the Greeks, a second Against the Jews, and a third "To
the Princes of this World, an apology of the philosophy he
followed."[H. E., v, 17, 5]
(3) Nothing remains of these writings.
e) Apollinaris
(1) The same may be said of Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis in
Phrygia, who flourished in the time of Marcus Aurelius (161180).
(2) We know through Eusebius that he was the author of an
apology addressed to this emperor (probably in 172), five books
Against the Greeks, two books On Truth, which appear also to
be an apology, and two books Against the Jews [H. E., iv, 26, i;
27].
f) Melito
(1) We may note, finally, the apology of Melito, Bishop of
Sardis, likewise addressed to Marcus Aurelius.
(2) Eusebius quotes three passages from it [H. E., IV, 26, 5-11].
Melito is the author of another work, entitled On Truth,[Ibid., 2]
also a defense of Christianity.
(3) The Oratio Melitonis philosophi quae habita est coram
Antonio Caesare has nothing to do with the Bishop of Sardis.
Syriac seems to be the language in which this work was
originally written. A recent opinion ascribes it to the Gnostic
Bardesanes.
g) Aristides
(1) The earliest Apologist whose work we possess in its entirety,
is Aristides, a philosopher of Athens, whom Eusebius names
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immediately after Quadratus [H. E., IV, 3. 3]. For a long time
his apology was given up as lost, but it was found both in a
Syriac version and in a revised Greek text of the legend of SS.
Barlaam and Joasaph. We possess also a fragment in Armenian,
but the Syriac text is the best of the three.
(2) The contents of this apology are simple enough: the whole
question of the differences between pagans and Christians is
reducible to the knowledge of the true God. God exists, for the
existence and order of the world prove it. He must be eternal,
impassible, and perfect. Now if we examine the beliefs of the
four classes of men that make up humanity,the barbarians, the
Greeks, the Jews, and the Christians, we find that the last
mentioned alone have the right conception of God and of the
worship due Him. The barbarians have worshipped as gods the
elements and famous men (iii-vii). The Greeks have created gods
who were slaves to passion. The Jews have certainly known the
true God, but they have worshipped Him in a childlike way and
have worshipped the Angels more than Him (xiv). The
Christians alone know Him and serve Him with a pure
conscience by leading a life worthy of Him (xv-xvi).
Consequently, cease to persecute the Christians and be converted
to their religion.
(3) This treatise, evidently the work of an energetic man who
was convinced of what he said, was addressed about 140 to the
Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161).
2. JUSTIN MARTYR
a) Biography
(1) One of the earliest and most eminent of the Apologists of the
second century is Justin. Born between 100 and 110 of heathen
parents at Flavia Neapolisthe modern Nablus and the ancient
Sichem he felt at an early age a strong attraction for
philosophy. He has himself given us a sketch of his intellectual
and moral development (Dial. i-viii); artificial details may be
discerned here and there, but the substance is certainly true. He
received lessons successively from a Stoic, a Peripatetic, and a
Pythagorean, but none satisfied him. Platonism seemed to afford
him some peace of mind; but a venerable old man, whose
acquaintance he had made (probably at Ephesus), pointed out to
him the insufficiency of philosophy and urged him to study the
Scriptures and the teachings of Christ.
(2) Justin followed this advice and was converted about A. D.,
130.
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b) Works
(1) Introduction
(a) We are acquainted with the titles of nine or ten of
Justin's authentic works: Eusebius mentions the two
Apologies, a Discourse against the Greeks, A Refutation
against the Greeks, a writing known as De Monarchia
Divina, another entitled The Psalter, a treatise On the
Soul, written in the form of scholia, and the Dialogue
with Trypho.
(b) Justin, on his part, speaks of a Syntagma against all
the Heresies, [I Apol., xxvi, 8] which perhaps comprised
the treatise Against Marcion, cited by Irenaeus [Adv.
Haer., iv, 6, 2]
(c) Apart from a few citations or fragments, only three
of these works have reached us in a single manuscript,
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the Codex Parisinus 450, of the year 1364. They are the
two Apologies and the Dialogue with Trypho.
(2) First Apology
(a) The First Apology is addressed to Antoninus Pius,
Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus, to the Senate and
the whole Roman people. Antoninus Pius reigned from
138 to 161, but a number of indications in the text of the
address lead us to conclude that it was written between
150 and 155. To all appearances it was written in Rome.
(b) The plan which the author followed in his
composition is not easy to trace, but critics generally
admit a twofold category of considerations and proofs.
(c) The "proposition" occupies ch. i-iii. The Christians
must not be condemned if they are innocent of the crimes
laid to their charge. That they are innocent Justin proves
in two ways.
(i) By a direct refutation (iv-xiii). The Christians
are not atheists, although they do not adore
idols; neither are they immoral, or homicides, or
enemies of the Empire. They are virtuous and
peaceful citizens.
(ii) This refutation alone would suffice; but it
does not satisfy Justin. Convinced that
Christianity is persecuted only because it is
misapprehended, he devotes most of the
remaining chapters of his First Apology to
explaining to the pagans the Christian religion in
its moral teaching (xvi-xvii), in a few of its
dogmas (xviii-xx), in its founder and its history
(xxi-xxiii; xxx-lv), in its worship and the initiation
of its adepts (lxi-lxvii). xxiv-xxix and lvi-lx form
two parentheses, in which the author returns to
a subject he had previously treated, or speaks of
the counterfeits of Christianity set up by the
demons. The conclusion is contained in lxviii:
Justin again demands that Christians be not
condemned without examination and without
trial.
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3. TATIAN
a) Introduction:
(1) Tatian was born of heathen parents, probably in 120, in
Assyria, i. e., in the country situated beyond the river Tigris. He
received a Greek education, studied history, rhetoric and
philosophy, and became a sophist, travelling from city to city to
deliver his speeches and give his lessons in ethics. He studied
many different religions and was initiated into several mystery
cults, but nowhere found satisfaction. It was in reading the
Scriptures that he found the light he was seeking, and so became
a Christian [Or. 29].
(2) His conversion occurred probably in Rome. Almost
immediately he became a "hearer" and disciple of Justin and, like
him, was pursued by Crescens [Or. 19], c. 155-160. Eusebius
tells us that Tatian opened a school in Rome and that Rhodon
was one of his disciples [H. E., v, 13, i, 8]. It is not known
whether this took place before or after the death of Justin. In
either case, Tatian did not remain faithful to the teaching of his
master: he abandoned the Church in the twelfth year of Marcus
Aurelius. Eusebius and Epiphanius say that he founded the sect
of the Encratites. According to Irenaeus he denied that Adam
was saved, condemned marriage as fornication, and believed in a
series of eons.
(3) Tatian had probably left Rome by this time. He withdrew
into Mesopotamia, the land of his birth, and there spent the last
days of his life. We do not know the date of his death.
(4) A comparison has often been drawn between the character
and disposition of Tatian and that of Tertullian. This comparison
is justified because, although Tatian has not the genius of
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4. ATHENAGORAS
a) Biography:
(1) Athenagoras is mentioned neither by Eusebius nor by
Jerome, and we know very little about him. He was an Athenian
philosopher, though perhaps not born in Athens. According to a
sketch in the Christian History of Philip of Side, who wrote c.
430, he was at first a heathen, and became a Christian by reading
the Scriptures.
(2) Perhaps he lived for a time in Alexandria.
b) Writings
(1) Character
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c) Apology
(1) The apology is entitled Supplication for the Christians. It
was addressed to the Emperors Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and
Lucius Aurelius Commodus. The titles given to Marcus Aurelius
and to Commodus, as well as the reference, in the first chapter,
to the profound peace then prevailing, enable us to fix the date of
the composition of this work between December A. D. 176, and
the first months of 178. The work was undoubtedly written at
Athens.
(2) The arrangement of ideas is most lucid. After soliciting the
attention of the Emperors, Athenagoras enumerates the three
chief accusations current against the Christians: atheism,
immorality and anthropophagy (1-3).
(3) He refutes these three calumnies successively. The
Christians are not atheists: they adore one God, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. It is true they do not offer any bloody sacrifices, nor
do they worship the pagan gods; but the true God has no need of
such crude sacrifices, and the gods of paganism are no gods at
all, but men who have been deified (4-30).
(4) The second accusation, that of immorality, is equally without
foundation. Christians profess belief in the torments of hell; they
condemn even the thought of evil. The pagans themselves
commit the atrocities of which they accuse the Christians (3134).
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5. THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH
a) Theophilus came from that part of Syria that borders
on Mesopotamia. He was born a pagan and was
converted to Christianity by meditating on the
Scriptures. Towards the year 169, he succeeded
Cornelius as bishop of Antioch. Eusebius places the
end of his episcopate in 177; most probably it lasted
until 182 or 183, for the books To. Autolycus were not
completed until after the death of Marcus Aurelius (Mar.
17, 180).
b) Theophilus received a Greek education and seems to
have had some knowledge of Hebrew. He is inferior to
Justin and Athenagoras in depth of philosophical
thought, but surpasses them in extent and variety of
literary culture. His style is lively, imaginative, and
original; his diction, elegant and ornate. He was well
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demons; they are the ones who spread against the Christians the
calumnies mentioned by Caecilius. The Christians are pure in all
their ways; their beliefs and their worship are reasonable and, in
spite of persecutions, they find in the testimony of a good
conscience a peace and happiness no one can take away. Things
must not be allowed to remain as they are: "Cohibeatur
superstitio, impietas expietur, vera religio reservetur."
(4) The fourth part (39-41) is the conclusion: Caecilius admits
his defeat and becomes a Christian.
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plays his flute. Cf. Just. Dial. 115). Their utterances are,
therefore, to be acknowledged even by the heathen as
absolute proof of the truth. Christianity, is, therefore, not
a new religion, as Celsus charged (cf. Just. i. 53. Ath. 7,
9. Theoph. ii. 9, cf. 36, the Sybils. As to this evidence
from prophecy, cf. also Celsus in Orig. c. Cels. iii. 26;
viii. 12; vi. 2). The prophets taught One God, true
morality, and future rewards and punishments (Theoph.
ii. 34 fin.; iii. 9). Their writings contain the Christian truth
(Just. Dial. 29). With their real spiritual contents,
however, was combined, on account of the hardness of
heart of the Jewish people, the ceremonial law (Just.
Dial. 1922, 42, 44, 46, 67), which contains also veiled
references to Christ (I say that a certain law was
ordained for the cultivation of piety and right living, and
a certain law and ceremony was also announced as a
mystery of Christ, or on account of the hardness of your
hearts, Dial: 44). The Jews have, by their doctrines
() supplanted those of God (Just. Dial. 78).
They are, consequently, no more the people of God. In
accordance with the prophecies, Christians from the
heathen world are now the people of God and the true
Israel (Just. Dial. 25, 26, 123, 135 fin.).
3. Theology
a) There is One God, the Creator, Adorner, and
Preserver of the world (Just. i. 6. Ath. 8. Theop. iii. 9).
The invisible God is an unbegotten, nameless, eternal,
incomprehensible, unchangeable Being, without any
needs and free from all passions (Arist. 1. Just. i. 10, 13,
25, 49, 53; ii. 6. Dial. 127. Tat. 4. Ath. 10, 13, 16, 44, 21.
Theoph. i. 4:3; ii. 10, 3, 22). He made everything for
mans sake, and is therefore to beloved (Arist. 2. Just. i.
10; ii. 4. Tat. 4. Theoph. i. 4 fin.; ii. 16). He created the
world out of nothingness and gave form to matter
(Theoph. ii. 4, 13, 10: That in some way matter was
begotten, created by God, from which God made and
formed the world). Yet, with all this, the true nature of
the living God does not find expression. There is no
advance beyond the mere abstract conception that the
Divine Being is absolute attribute less Existence.
b) In both operations, God employed the Son as
mediator. This is not to be understood in a mythological
sense (Ath. 10). He is the Logos of God. This was a
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IV.
1. The Church in the second century had not only to maintain her
right to exist against the pagans; she had also to defend her faith
against the heretics. Side by side with the Apologists, therefore,
she numbered many controversialists and doctors. Before speaking
of their works, a word should be said of the principal authors and
writings they had to confute. We shall complete the study with a
passing notice of the Apocryphal Writings, especially the New
Testament Apocrypha, a great number of which, as we shall see,
are of heretical origin.
2. In many cases we shall have to content ourselves with merely
indicating the titles of the writings, both for the sake of brevity and
because many of these works are known only by their names. With
the exception of a few books, the heretical literature of the second
century has perished, because the Church waged war against it
and also because such uninteresting works were naturally
neglected. Once the sects died out, their literary productions
passed quickly into oblivion.
3. Three great heterodox movements assailed the Church or
developed in her bosom during the second century: JudeoChristianity, Gnosticism, and Montanism. We shall devote a few
pages to each.
B. Judeo-Christian Literature
1. Introduction
a) Judeo-Christianity, known also, in its strictest and
frankly heretical form, as Ebionitism, sprang from an
excessive attachment of certain Jewish Christians to the
ceremonies and prescriptions of the Mosaic Law.
b) These Christians looked upon certain observances
that the Gospel had annulled as indispensable for
salvation and regarded Jesus as a human Messias, such
as the Jews were expecting.
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4. Judaized Christians
a) They are Christian Pharisees. They held to
circumcision and the law, demanding the practice of
these by all Christians (Just. Dial. 47). They rejected
Paul as an apostate from the law (apostata legis) and
used only a recension of Matthews Gospel, the Ebionite
Gospel of the Hebrews (Iren. adv. haer. i. 26:2).
b) Besides this, the divinity of Christ and his birth from
the Virgin were denied (Iren. iii. 21:1; v. 3). This is not to
be understood as indicating a conservative tendency,
but as a concession to Judaism.
c) Origen classifies the two kinds of Ebionites
according to their attitude toward the birth of Christ (c.
Celsus, v. 61). The son of Joseph and Mary was through
his baptism endued with the Spirit of God. He then
assumed the prophetic office, and through his piety
became the Son of God (Epiph. h. 30:14, 18). In this path
we should strive to follow after Christ, confessing that
we are justified according to the law (Hippol.). With this
are combined the crass conceptions of the millennium,
derived, it is claimed, from the prophets of the Old
Testament (Iren. i. 26:2. Jerome, on Isa. 1:18, chap.
66:20).
5. Theosophic Judaism-- Elkesai
a) As it has not been found possible always to draw the
line accurately between the first and second groups, a
similar difficulty is met in contrasting the second and
third groups, the latter of which presents a type of
Jewish Christianity marked by theosophic speculations
and strict asceticism. The existence of this class is
implied in the Epistle to the Collosians (cf. the
Alexandrian Judaism and the Essenes). This tendency
appears to have received a strong impulse during the
reign of Trajan at the beginning of the second century
through a man named (according to
Wellhausen, a man Alexius, Skizzen iii. p. 206, note, or
hidden power, Epiph.
haer. 19:2. Hippol. Ref. ix. 16, p. 468. Epiph., h. 30:17,
applies the same name to the book itself).
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1. Introduction
a) The generic name of Gnostics comprised a number
of sects the doctrines and tendencies of which were
often at great variance, but all of which claimed to be in
possession of a superior religious science and a far
more penetrating insight into Christian revelation than
that of the simple faithful and the official Church. Two
important questions above all others attracted the
attention of these sects: the origin of evil and the
manner in which the redemption was effected. Each sect
discussed these problems and each endeavored to
solve the mystery.
b) Gnostic literature was very extensive. Since the
Gnostics generally professed that men have to work out
their salvation by means of science (gnosis), they were
naturally led to write out for the use of their adepts a
good part of their teachings and secret traditions. Very
little, however, remains of all this literature, at the
most five or six complete works and a number of
fragments inserted in the writings of the historians of
heresies. In the following sketch we can mention only
the principal works.
c) We will follow the order commonly adopted in
speaking of the Gnostic sects: Syrian Gnosis,
Alexandrine Gnosis, Marcionism and Encratism. This
classification is merely provisional and questionable in
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2. Syrian Gnosis
a) It is a well-known fact that ancient authors are agreed
in recognizing Simon Magus as the father of
Gnosticism. Hippolytus gives us quotations from, as
well as an analysis of, a Revelation, the book used by
the Simonians.[Philosoph., vi, 7-20]
b) We do not know whether Cerinthus, Menander, or
Satornilus wrote anything.
c) The Nicolaites possessed some Books of Ialdabaoth,
a book entitled Noria, a Prophecy of Barkabbas, a
Gospel of Perfection (or consummation) and a Gospel of
Eve, which seems to have been an
apocalypse.[Philastrius, Haer., 33; Epiphanius, Haer.,
xxv-xxvi.]
3. Alexandrine Gnosis
a) This Gnosis is represented first by three great
leaders Basilides, Valentine and Carpocratesand
secondly by a multitude of more or less definite sects
without leaders, who have received the generic name of
Ophites.
b) Basilides taught at Alexandria, between 120 and 140,
a doctrine which, according to his followers, he received
from a certain Glaukias, interpreter of Peter. He had a
son named Isidorus, who kept up the teaching after his
father's death. Basilides wrote a Gospel, 23 or 24 books
of Commentaries on it, a few quotations of which still
remain, and some Odes, mentioned by Origen and the
Muratorian Fragment. His son, Isidorus, left three works:
On the Second, i.e., the soul of man under the influence
of the passions; Ethica, and an Exposition of the
Prophet Parchor in at least two books.
(1) The Valentinians were the most considerable and the best
known of all the Gnostic sects. Valentine himself was an
Egyptian and pretended to have studied under a certain Theodas,
a personal disciple of Paul. He preached his doctrine first in
Egypt, came to Rome under Hyginus, and resided there until the
118
c) Western Branch
(1) Heracleon belonged to the Western branch and was the
ablest of Valentine's disciples. He wrote between 155 and 180.
We have more than forty fragments, some of them lengthy, of
his commentary on John. The commentary itself probably went
no further than the tenth chapter. As a rule his exegesis is
allegorical.
(2) Ptolemy was another personal disciple of Valentinus, He has
left us a Letter to Flora, the complete text of which was
preserved by Epiphanius[ Haer., xxxiii, 3-7]. Flora was a
Christian lady, who hesitated to undertake the studies or gnosis
imposed by the Gnostics. To convince her, Ptolemy undertakes
to prove that at least part of the Old Law was the work, not of the
Supreme God, but of the Demiurge.
(3) After these two great representatives of Western
Valentinianism, we must name: Florinus, to whom Irenaeus
addressed a letter reproaching him with his blasphemous
writings; Theotimus, who wrote on the figures of the Old
Testament, and Alexander, author of a book alluded to by
Tertullian [De Carne Christi, 16, 17], which may have been
entitled Syllogisms.
d) Eastern Branch
(1) The principal writers of the Eastern branch of the
Valentinians are Marcus, Theodotus, and Bardesanes.
(2) Marcus, whom some authors assign to the Western branch,
taught in Asia Minor, c. 180. He is known to us principally
through Irenaeus, who very probably possessed one of his works
and also some of the numerous works of his sect.
119
120
e) Ophitic Literature
(1) Several other Gnostic writings, preserved entirely or almost
entirely in Coptic, belong to the Ophitic literature. These are the
Pistis Sophia and the writings contained in the Bruce papyrus.
(2) The work entitled Pistis Sophia, in four books, contains three
distinct writings. The first of these, which alone deserves the title
of "Pistis Sophia," comprises paragraphs 1-181, and relates the
fall and deliverance of the eon bearing that name. The second,
which probably ought to be identified with the Little Questions
of Mary (Mary Magdalen), commences with paragraph ii, and
ends with Book III. It discusses the salvation and fate after death
of the different categories of men. The third, embodied in Book
IV, describes the faults and wickedness of the Archontici, the
celebration of the mystery of water, and, finally, the punishment
of the wicked.
(3) The Bruce codex (Vth-VIth century) contains two distinct
writings. The first, in two books, is identical with the Two Books
of Jeu cited in the Pistis Sophia. One of these explains the
emanation of the eons, describes the invisible world, and
furnishes the reader with the necessary pass-words to reach the
Father. The other initiates us into the three baptisms of water,
fire, and spirit, and gives other formulas analogous to the
passwords in order to overcome the evil spirits. This treatise is
followed immediately by a second, considerably mutilated in the
beginning, which seems to be a description of the origin of the
suprasensible world and the visible cosmos.
121
(4) All these Coptic writings are translated from the Greek and
date from the third century. From the point of view of antiquity
they rank as follows: the second treatise in the Bruce papyrus
comes first, then the books of Jeu and the fourth book of the
Pistis Sophia and, finally, the first three books of this work.
f) General Teaching
(1) Without entering into the details of the various systems,
we must examine somewhat more closely their chief
features.
(2) The world of spirit and that of matter stand dualistically
opposed to each other, as above and below, as good and
bad.
(3) From the spirit-world (profundity, , the selffather, , pleroma, ), which is
internally agitated by the aeons (, sensations and
emotionsmovements of the primal spirit, or even
personal entities, substanti, Tert. adv. Val. 4. Iren. ii.
13:10; 28:4), the present world appeared by emanation or
evolution.
(4) The creator of this world was not the supreme God, but
a subordinate being, the Demiurge, or God of the Jews
(e.g., Ep. Ptol. ad. Flor.: And this Demiurge is hence also
the creator of the whole world, being different from those
other beings [the supreme God and the devil], occupying
properly a place between them), or even an angel.
(5) In the world of matter there exists a remnant from the
spirit-world, and the deliverance of this remnant is the aim
of the soteriological process. According to the proportion
of spirit in the matter in their composition, men are spiritual
(), psychical (), and carnal
() (e.g., Iren. i. 7:5. Tert. adv. Val. 29). This
classification may be used to characterize Christianity,
Judaism, and Heathenism.
(6) Sensuousness constitutes (in true heathen fashion) the
evil in men. The spirit is imprisoned in the body: It
explains the conflict in the body, that its structure
() is composed of warring elements (Hippol. Ref.
v. 8, p. 154. Cf. the hymn of the Naasenes, ib. c. 10, p. 176:
122
123
124
9:73. Agrippa Cast., in Eus. h. e. iv. 7:7. Isadore, in Cl. Al. Str.
iii. 1:1, assails the theatric ascetics. Cf. also Plot. ii. 9:15).
(11)
In keeping with the whole trend of the system of
Gnosticism, there is found in it no recognition of the resurrection
of the dead, nor of the early Christian eschatology as a whole.
The return of the spirit freed from matter to the pleroma marks
the end (cf. Iren. i. 7:1, 5. Tert. c. Val. 32).
4. Marcionism
a) Sources
(1) Iren. i. 27:24; iii. 12:12, fin.
(2) Celsus, in Orig. c. Cels. vi. 7453.
(3) Tert. adv. Marc. 11:5.
(4) Ps.-Tert. 17.
(5) Philast. h. 44, 45.
(6) Epiph. h. 41, 42.
(7) Hippol. Ref. vii. 2931.
(8) Adamantius, Dial, de orth. fid. i., ii.
b) Biography
(1) Marcion was born at Sinope in Pontus, apparently driven
from his home church in Sinope on account of adultery (Ter. iv.
4).
(2) About 135-140, he came to Rome and was received into the
Church. He soon left the Roman communion, however, and
founded a sect, which spread and became strong, and was
destined to last for many years. His death occurred, at the latest,
in the year 170.
c) Teaching
(1) Marcion's system is based upon the opposition between the
Law, the work of a just God, and the Gospel, the work of a good
God. In support of his doctrine he published a work known as
Antitheses, a collection of sentences from the Old and New
125
126
27:2. Tert. iv. 2527; i. 8:19. Epiph. h. 42:4), the latter secured
his execution on the cross. Christ thereupon went into the nether
world and there liberated the Gentiles, even the Sodomites and
Egyptians, but not the pious of the Old Testament (Iren. i. 27:3).
Paul has faithfully preserved the truth. It is to be received in faith
(cf. Apelles in Eus. h. e. v. 13:5, 7. Adam. ii. 6: he changed
them through faith, that, believing in him, they might become
good). Thus one attains the forgiveness of sins and becomes a
child of God (Adam. ii. 2:19). An earnest spirit prevailed among
the adherents of Marcion, and the strictest asceticism was
advocated, particularly celibacy (Tert. i. 29. Cl. Al. Str. iii. 3, p.
515). But the majority of men will finally be lost (Tert. i. 24),
i.e., they will be consigned to the fire of the demiurge (Tert.
1:28). The good God does not punish; but he does not desire to
have the wicked. This is his judgment (Tert. i. 27, cf. Adam ii.
4f.). The bodily resurrection is denied (Iren i. 27:3. Tert. i. 29).
(4) Such was the teaching of Marcion. The contrasts of law and
gospel, Judaism and Christianity, nature and grace, the just and
the good God, dominate all his utterances. He has presented this
distinctly in his Antithesen (Tert. i. 19; iv. 6:9). His
understanding of the Epistle to the Galatians led him to the idea
that the apostolic writings in use in the church were partly
interpolated and partly spurious. Inasmuch as he held firmly to
the literal interpretation of Scripture, the only remedy lay in
criticism of the texts of the accepted books. This led to the
publication of Marcions New Testament, which, besides a
revised Gospel of Luke, contained ten similarly emended Pauline
Epistles (Iren. i. 27:2. Tert. iv. 2, 3, 5; v.). This undertaking is an
evidence of the high place which the New Testament writings
held at that time in the regard of the church.
(5) Marcion was a practical genius. After leaving the church, he
began to work. He proposed to reform the church and restore the
pure gospel. For they say that Marcion did not so much change
the rule [of faith] by the separation of the law and the gospel, as
restore it again to an unadulterated form (Tert. i. 20). He
established congregations (Tert. iv. 5, etc.), and as early as A. D.
150 his doctrine was spread through the whole race of men
(Just. Apol. i. 26). In the sixth century, Marcionite congregations
still existed in the East, their doctrinal views having been
modified by either Gnostic or catholic influences.
(6) The sufferings of Christ redeem men from the power of the
demiurge. The Hyle as third principle, Adam. i. 27. Esnik, cf.
Adam. i. 3. Cl. Al. Str. iii. 3, p. 515). The Marcionite controversy
led the church to the clearer apprehension of two thoughts: that
the Creator and the Redeemer are the same God, and that in God
justice and mercy are combined.
127
d) Texts
(1) The best known of Marcion's disciples is Apelles. He lived
for a time with his master in Rome, but afterwards left him to
settle in Alexandria. There he modified to a certain extent the
doctrine of Marcion, but returned to Rome, where he died shortly
after A. D. 180. He wrote a work entitled Syllogisms, cited by
Ambrose [De Paradiso, 28, probably according to Origen]. This
is a very lengthy book, in which the author attempts to prove that
the Books of Moses contain nothing but lies. Another work of
his is the Revelations (fanerwseiV), which describes the
pretended revelations of a certain female visionary of the sect,
named Philumena.
(2) The Marcionites made use of a special collection of Psalms,
distinct from those of David, and also of a work bearing the
obscure title of Liber Propositi Finis, destined to supplant the
Acts of the Apostles.
5. Encratism
a) The Encratites do not seem to have formed a distinct
sect. They were found nearly everywhere and marked by
their tendency to reject as sinful both matrimony and
the use of meat. The Valentinian dissenter, Julius
Cassianus, was one of their greatest writers. He
flourished at Antioch or Alexandria c. 170. Clement of
Alexandria [Strom., i, 21; iii, 13] cites two of his works:
"Commentaries, in several books, and On
Continence, a condemnation of matrimony.
6. Montanistic Literature
a) Sources
(1) The most ancient replies and thus sources have also been
lost, e.g., those, APOLINARIUS, MELITO, APOLLONIUS,
MILTIADES, an ANONYMOUS WRITER from whom
Eusebius gives large excerpts, SERAPION (vid. Eus. h. e. v. 16
19; iv. 26:2). IREN. adv. haer. iii. 11:9. Hippol. Ref. viii. 6:19; x.
25. Ps.-Tert. 21. Philast. h. 49. Epiphan. h. 48, 49
(2) Although Hippolytus [Philosophoumena, viii, 19] speaks of
countless books written by the founders of Montanism, we know
of very few writings belonging to this sect.
(3) The oracular replies of Montanus, Maximilla, Priscilla, and
other prophets were certainly collected [Eusebius, H. E., v, 16,
128
b) The Man
(1) In A. D. 156 (Epiph. h. 48:1. According to Eus. Chron.
ed. Schoene ii. 172f., not until January, 172. Cf. h. e. iv. 27
with v. 5:4) Montanus appeared in Phrygia, and there first
found a following. Hence the designation of his teaching as
the Phrygian ( ) heresy.
(2) He and the women, Prisca and Maximilla, announced
themselves as prophets. The style of this prophecy is
indicated by the claim of Montanus: Behold man is as a
lyre, and I play upon him as a plectron. Man is asleep, and I
arouse him. It is the Lord who changes the hearts of men
and gives a heart to men (In Epiph. h. 48:4, cf. 11, 12, 13;
49:1. Anon, in Eus. h. e. v. 16:7, 9, 8). On the basis of the
writings of John, it was held that the last and highest stage
of revelation had been reached. The age of the Paraclete
had come, and he spoke in Montanus. The descent of the
heavenly Jerusalem was near at hand. It would be located at
Pepuza and Tymios (Epiph. h. 49:1. Cf. Apollon. in Eus. v.
18:2). In view of this, Christians should dissolve the bonds
of wedlock, fast strictly, and assemble in Pepuza to await
the descent of the New Jerusalem. Money was gathered for
the support of the preachers of the new doctrine.
(3) Such was probably the original form of Montanism. It
soon spread through Asia Minor, and extended into Thrace,
Rome, and North Africa, where Tertullian accepted its
teachings. The fate of Montanism was that of all
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
V.
141
142
143
(7) "It was the Catholic Church and no other which selected and
listed the inspired books of both the Old Testament and the New
Testament...If you can accept the Bible or any part of it as
inspired Word of God, you can do so only because the Catholic
Church says it is." (The Bible is a Catholic Book, p. 4).
144
145
146
147
148
149
Canon controls the Church. For the same reason the Canon cannot
be the product of the decision of the Church. The Church cannot
'make' or 'lay down' its own standard. All that the Church can lay
down is this, that it has received the Canon as a standard and rule
for faith and life, handed down to it with absolute authority ["Canon
of the New Testament", 196].
4. Roman Catholic theologians have traditionally held that the
authority of the canon was guaranteed by an infallible Church. The
Reformers sensed here a threat to the sola Scriptura principle. For
them the authority of Scripture was not dependent on the Church.
Rather it was self-authenticating and sealed to the hearts of God's
people by the witness of the Holy Spirit. (However, this witness was
generally appealed to more to affirm the overall authority of the
Bible than to validate the specific contents of the canon. For this,
appeal was made to God's overriding providence).
5. The Scripture is of divine origin, character and authority. It bears
the marks of its divinity. It clearly evidences that it is of God, but
man is unable to perceive this on his own and hence needs the
internal testimony of the Holy Spirit.
6. The Reformed and Roman Catholic positions are clearly
contrasted in the Belgic Confession, Article 5 ("The Authority of
Scripture"): We receive all these books and these only as holy and
canonical, for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith.
And we believe without a doubt all things contained in them - not so
much because the church receives and approves them as such but
above all because the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that they are
from God, and because they prove themselves to be from God
["The Belgic Confession", The Book of Forms -Reformed Churches
of Australia, Geelong: Reformed Churches Publishing House, 1991,
21].
7. The internal witness of the Holy Spirit is not communication of
additional information. It is not a divinely given proposition. It is
simply one aspect of the organic action of the sanctifying activity of
the Holy Spirit. It is always cum verbo ('with the Word'). It is an
integral element of the process by which the mind of the sinner is
enlightened and his will renewed (1 Cor.2:10-16; 1 Thess.2:4,13).
8. John Murray refers to it as "supplementary attestation. In
addition to the objective excellencies inherent in Scripture. The
Word must be allowed to establish its own claim, i.e. independently
of the Church [John Murray, "The Attestation of Scripture", The
150
151
152
153
154
155
c) Preaching of Paul
(1) Just as there was a "Preaching of Peter," so there was a
Preaching of Paul. It is mentioned in the Liber de Rebaptismate
(17), which was written in the time of Cyprian.
(2) The work does not appear to be orthodox; however, we lack
information concerning it.
157
d) Acts of Paul
(1) Quite different has been the fate of the Acts of Paul, which is
said to have contained 3560 or 3600 lines. These Acts have been
recently found in a Coptic version, although the manuscript is in
bad condition.
(2) This discovery has enabled us to ascertain that the original
text comprised the Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Paul, the
Correspondence of Paul and the Corinthians (apocryphal), and
the Acts of Paul and Thecla, which at a later date took on an
independent form. But since Tertullian affirms[De Baptismo, 17]
that the story of Paul and Thecia was composed in Asia by a
minister who was very enthusiastic about Paul, and who was
deposed for his writing, it is likely that the entire Acts of Paul are
the work of the same author and were composed in Asia. They
were orthodox in the beginning. Certain details warrant our
fixing the date of their composition c. 170.
158
g) Acts of John
(1) The same authors who speak of the "Acts of Andrew"
mention also Acts of John, of heretical origin. Innocent I
attributed them to Pseudo-Lucius. These Acts, probably
composed, as those of Andrew, in the second half of the second
century, are now almost entirely lost.
(2) A fair number of fragments have reached us through
citations and other manuscripts and have enabled us to
reconstruct approximately the order of the narrative.
(3) To accomplish this work, orthodox recensions of a later
period have been used, which have more or less retouched and
corrected the original copy. Such are, in Greek, the Acts of the
Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, written by his
disciple Prochoros (first half of the fifth century), and, in Latin,
the Virtutes Joannis, written by Pseudo-Abdias (end of the sixth
century), and the Passio Joannis, written by Pseudo-Melito (still
more recent).
159
2. Apocryphal Epistles
a) Introduction
(1) Apart from the Epistles mentioned in the Apocryphal Acts of
the Apostles, of which they form a part, there remain only a very
small number of Apocryphal Epistles.
(2) The reason for this is simple. Epistolary literature is one in
which the imagination finds little field for exercise and to which
it is much harder to give an authentic ring.
160
161
3. Apocryphal Apocalypses
a) Apocalypse of Peter
(1) The Apocalypse of Peter, about half of which has been found
in a manucsript of Akhmin, is mentioned in the Canon of
Muratori and cited and even commented upon by Clement of
Alexandria.
(2) The fragment contains two visions, one of heaven, the other
of hell. The work enjoyed great popularity in many churches. It
must have been composed at the latest in the middle of the
second century.
(3) An Apocalypse of Peter by Clement, a more lengthy work
extant in Ethiopic and Arabic, is not older than the 7th or 8th
century.
b) Apocalypse of Paul
(1) The passage of St. Paul's second Epistle to the Corinthians
(12:2 ff.) relating to his being rapt into the third heaven, and the
mysterious words he heard there, was a natural inducement for
some author to reveal these wonders.
(2) Epiphanius [Haer., xxxviii, 2] mentions an Assumption of
Paul of the second or third century, used by the Gnostics.
162
(3) We know nothing more about this book. But there does exist
in Greek, Latin, Syriac and other recensions (the Latin is the
best), an Apocalypse of Paul which enjoyed great vogue.
(4) The Apostle is represented as visiting successively the
dwelling-place of the elect, that of the damned, and the Garden
of Eden. The work is orthodox and states in the introduction that
it was discovered during the reign of Theodosius (379-395)
beneath the house in which Paul lived at Tarsus, and was sent by
that prince to Jerusalem. Traces of it first appear in Tractate
xcviii, 8, of Augustine on John (c. 416); consequently, it dates
from the end of the fourth century and was written in the
neighborhood of Jerusalem.
d) Apocalypse of Zacharias
e) The Apocalypse of Zacharias, mentioned by the catalogues of
Biblical apocrypha, may refer to the Old or to the New Testament.
f) Not having the text, we do not know whether the Zacharias
referred to is the prophet or the father of John the Baptist.
163
4. Persecution
a) "Persecution" was certainly a motivating factor in the
formation of the canon.
b) Why was this so? Well, imagine that you are being
persecuted as a Christian, and that your holy books are
a target and will be confiscated. If you don't turn them
over to the authorities, you may be harmed or killed.
Wouldn't you want to be sure you were not just suffering
for the sake of something that was not a genuinely
authoritative work?
c) Indeed, during the persecution of Diocletian (303),
this is exactly what happened: Scriptures were burned,
churches were demolished, and Christian meetings
were banned, with the bans enforced on pain of torture,
imprisonment or death.
d) Also, individual houses were searched for copies of
Christian scriptures.
F. The Process of Recognition
1. Introduction
a) Here we will find, as Metzger tells us, a striking
agreement as far as the core of the NT, in spite of
barriers of distance and doctrine.
b) It is at this time, c. 200, that Campenhausen tells us
that the NT truly reached its final form and significance
[Hans Von Campenhausen, The Formation of the
Christian Bible, 327].
c) This is not, we should point out in response to
certain skeptics, due to any kind of influence or force
being used or because of power plays by church
officials.
d) Rather, Von Campenhausen writes [ibid., 331-2]:
...official decisions by the Church are not involved.
Synodal judgments and episcopal pastoral letters
concerning the contents of the Bible become usual only
in the fourth century, and at first are of only local
importance. They encourage uniformity between the
164
b) Tatian
(1) The East saw the invention of the very first harmony of all
four Gospels: Tatian's Diatessaron. Composed around 156 AD,
this work demonstrates that the four Gospels we have today were
considered authoritative; no other Gospels were included, other
than an occasional phrase or clause.
(2) In Tatian, incidentally, we see a perfect example of someone
who "crossed out" things he did not like. He rejected the
authenticity of 1 Timothy, and was the founder of the
Encratites, a group that rejected marriage, meat, and wine
- the latter of which is recommended for stomach disorder
in 1 Timothy! [Metzger. The Canon of the New Testament,
116]
165
c) Clement
(1) Somewhat later, Clement of Alexandria (180-211) is found
quoting all of our current NT books as authoritative except
Philemon, James, 2 Peter, and 2 and 3 John.
(2) Except for James, these books are so short that
Clement may not have had cause to cite them. He also
refers to the Gospels as "Scripture." [Von Campenhausen,
294]
(3) At this point, aside from the Gospels, the canon is still
"open." [Metzger, 135]
166
e) Western Stages
(1) Justin Martyr, c. 150 AD, refers to "memoirs of the
Apostles" and quotes them as authoritative. Allusions in his
work are identifiable from Mark, Matthew, Luke, and possibly
John and Revelation. Metzger notes that these works were "read
interchangeably with the Old Testament prophets," indicating
their importance and authority in the eyes of Justin. (ibid., 145;
see also MacDonald, The Formation of the Christian Biblical
Canon, 163-4)
(2) Hippolytus (170-235), mirroring developments in the East,
accepts all four Gospels as Scripture; he also acknowledges as
167
168
169
170
and perhaps indeed inspired; but it was obviously written too late
(2nd century) to be attributed to the Apostles.
(3) Paul's Epistle to the Laodiceans. Metzger notes that this
work was finally, once-and-for-all excluded from the canon in
the mid-1400s. Now of course it should be easy to see why this
work hung around for as long as it did: if it truly is a work of
Paul, then it meets the criteria of apostolic authority and deserves
to be considered for the canon. But there is nothing to assuredly
connect it to Paul, and even if there were, it is in content "almost
entirely a compiliation of extracts from the Pauline Epistles."
[Black Marcion and His Influence, 61] In other words, without
Laodecians, we ain't missin' nothin' anyway!
(4) 1 Clement (also consider 2 Clement). It comes as nosurprise
that the works of Clement (or works allegedly by him - 2
Clement's authenticity is questionable) were considered by some
as worthwhile, for he was a disciple of Peter. Hence, under the
criterion of apostolic authority, his works could have entered the
canon under the same principles as Luke and Mark did, but he is
disqualified by other criteria. In particular, 1 Clement refers to a
phoenix as an actual living creature!
(5) Preaching of Peter. A late date makes this document
unlikely to have been written by Peter.
(6) Apocalypse of Peter. Same as the above. This work was
written around 125-50 AD [Metzger, 184], too late for Peter. g)
Gospel According to the Egyptians. This work was written
around 150 AD (ibid., 169) and was accepted as canonical only
in Egypt (naturally). It appears to have been written to promote
the doctrines of the Encratites.
(7) Gospel According to the Hebrews. We have no current
translation of this work (ibid., 169) so we cannot evaluate it,
other than to say that it was probably written in the middle of the
second century.
(8) For none of the above books, therefore, do we have any
evidence that would indicate that in any sense they deserved to
make the "final cut" for the canon of the NT.
171
H. Closure of Canonicity
1. We have seen that the canon was closed in the first century,
and that since then God has not revealed anything on the level with
Holy Scripture.
2. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for
His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set
down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be
deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be
added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of
men (Westminster Confession, 1:10).
3. According to this statement, which sums up the Protestant view
of Scripture, nothing is to be added or subtracted from the Bible.
The revelation from God to man has been completed.
4. However, there is no direct word in the Bible that says God has
stopped revealing Himself. Some have appealed to the following
verses in the Book of Revelation (22:18, 19).
a) For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the
prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things,
God will add to him the plagues that are written in this
book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from
the Book of Life (Revelation 22:18,19).
b) This is only speaking of the Book of Revelation. It is
not a commandment against adding any other book to
Scripture. If taken literally, then you could not have any
other book in Scripture but the Book of Revelation!
c) Yet there is a principle here that is clearly taught. No
one is to add or to take away from the revealed Word of
God.
5. Jude makes a statement that is pertinent.
a) I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to
contend earnestly for the faith which has one for all
delivered to the saints (Jude 3).
b) This verse teaches that a body of truth from God has
been delivered to man and that this faith has been
wholly delivered. This seems to indicate that no further
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VI.
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afterward appeal.
b) He who criticizes the bishops presumes thereby to
pass judgment upon the judgment of God and Christ:
This is not to believe in God; this is to be a rebel
against Christ and his gospel, as, when he says: Are
not two sparrows, etc. (Matt. 10:29) thou wouldst
think that priests of God are ordained in the church
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c)
Continued Problems
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d) Doctrinal Differences
(1) Donatist View
(a) Donatism does not question the episcopal
foundation of the church. It demands only that the
bishops be holy men, and maintains that only when they
are such are the sacraments administered by them
effectual. In this, as at other points, it could appeal to
Cyprian. It was well known that Cyprian denied the
validity of heretic baptism (p. 184). He taught that there
was no virtue in the sacrifices or prayers of fallen priests
(referring to Jn. 9:31), and warned against the
contamination of their touch (p. 181, n. 1).
(b) When the Donatists appealed to the miracles
performed by their bishops, to visions and dreams (Aug.
unit. eccl. 19:49), they had in this also a precedent in
Cyprian (p. 181, n. 3). They maintained, further, that
they were the only true and real Catholic church (gesta
coll. i. 148, 202; iii. 22, 91, 165), the holy, persecuted
church of the martyrs (ib. i. 45; iii. 116).
(c) The Catholics are not a church, but adherents of
Caecilian, traditors, and blood-thirsty oppressors
(Optat. ii. 14, 18; gest. i. 148; iii. 14, 29, 258). The
Donatist church is in reality the holy bride of Christ,
without spot or wrinkle, because it requires holiness of
its bishops and its members (ib. iii. 75, 249, 258. Optat.
ii. 20; vii. 2). They apply the term, Catholic, not to
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e) Catholic View:
(1) The orthodoxy of the Donatists is acknowledged, as well as
the validity of their sacraments, and they are regarded as
Christian brethren (gest. i. 16, 55, 62; ii. 50. Opt. i. 4f.; iv. 2):
Both among you and among us there is one ecclesiastical life
(conversatio), common texts, the same faith, the same
sacraments of the faith, the same mysteries (Opt. v. 1).
(2) Even their baptism is unassailable, for baptism is baptism,
even though administered by thieves and robbers (gest. i. 62); for
it is not a man, but the holy Trinity, which here bestows a gift
(Opt. v. 7).
(3) The Trinity is necessary in baptism, and also the faith of the
recipient. These elements are unchangeable; but the administrant
is a variable element. Administrants may be changed, but the
sacraments cannot be changed. If, therefore, you consider all
who baptize, they are administrants, not lords; and the
sacraments are holy in themselves and not through men (Opt.
iv. 4, 1). Thus regarded, the Donatists are also a part of the
church.
(4) But they are not so in the full sense of the word, since they
lack catholicity and are only quasi ecclesia. They build a
ruinous wall (Ez. 13:10). There is no other house beside the
house of God. What they build is only a wall, and that not even
resting upon the cornerstone: your part is a quasi-church, but is
not Catholic (Opt. iii. 10). They array novelty against
antiquity (ib. iii. 2), and cut themselves off from the root (iii. 7).
Among the Catholics, on the contrary, is found the house of God
and the one Catholic church. It is the latter, because, according to
the promise of Christ, it spreads abroad over all nations and is
not confined to a small part of Africa, to the corner of a little
region (Opt. ii. 1, 5; iii. 2, 3). But it is also the holy church, and
this not because of the character of the men belonging to it, but
because it has the symbol of the Trinity, the chair of Peter, the
faith of believers, the salutary precepts of Christ (ib. ii. 9, 10;
vii. 2), and, above all, the sacraments: whose holiness is derived
from the sacraments, not measured by the loftiness of persons
(ib. ii. 1).
(5) When the Donatists refuse to accord holiness to the church
because some bishops at the time of the Diocletian persecution
became traditors, they magnify what is irrelevant, if true, and
what is, moreover, historically incorrect (gest. i. 16, 55. Aug.
brev. iii. 19ff.). There are, indeed, unholy persons in the church,
but we are forbidden to cast these out before the time by the
parables of the tares and of the net in which are gathered good
and worthless fishes (gest. i. 18, 55. Opt. vii. 2).
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litt. Pet. ii. 30:69; unit. eccl. 21:58). Only thus is the
result certain, and salvation dependent upon God, not
upon men. It is not the intercession of men, but that of
Christ, which helps us (c. litt. Pet. i. 3:4; c. ep. Parm. ii.
8:16). No reason is shown why he who cannot lose
baptism itself can forfeit the right of administering it. For
each is a sacrament, and each is given to man by the
same consecrationthe one when he is baptized, and
the other when he is ordained: therefore, in the Catholic
church neither dare be repeated (c. ep. Parm. ii. 12:28).
This is explained by the fact that these sacraments
impart to the recipient a permanent character: just as
baptism, so ordination remains whole in them (ib.).
Baptism and ordination impress upon man a fixed
dominical character. This military form of expression
implies that, as there is a military brand (nota militaris)
whose significance continues through the whole life, so
also baptism and ordination have a perpetual and
indelible (the term employed in the Middle Ages) force
for the recipient (c. ep. Parm. ii. 13:29). There remains in
him something sacred, a sanctum. The spirit is
preserved to him, not in a moral sense, but in the sense
of an official equipment. He may have committed
heinous crimesmay have severed himself from the
church, yet this character once impressed upon him
remains, and the sacraments administered by him retain
their force. If he be converted, there is no need for a
repetition of the sacrament (c. ep. Parm. ii. 11:24;
13:28f.; bapt. iv. 12:18; vi. 1:1; de symbol. 8:15; de bon.
conjug. 24:32: in those ordained, the sacrament of
ordination remains; bapt. vi. 5:7; in 1 Joh. tract. 5:7). It
is evident that this character indelebilis may be
employed as the most telling argument against
Donatism; but it also brought Augustine into new
difficulties. If the sacraments have bestowed such a
character, how can objection be brought against the
Donatistic church? It was necessary, therefore, to
maintain the validity of the Donatist sacraments, and yet
to condemn them as seriously defective. This was
accomplished by discriminating between the sacrament
itself and the effectus or usus sacramenti. By failing to
observe this distinction, Cyprian and others were led to
the view that the baptism of Christ cannot exist among
heretics or schismatics. By observing it, we may say:
its effect or use, in liberation from sin and in rectitude
of heart, could not be found among heretics (bapt. vi.
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this. The body of the Lord is the mystic body, or the church:
hence he wishes the food and drink to be understood as the
fellowship (societas) of his body and of his members, which is
the holy church (in Joh. tr. 26:15, 14; serm. 272; civ. dei, xxi.
25:2); or, this is, therefore, to eat that food and to drink that
drinkto remain in Christ and to have him remaining in us (in
Joh. tr. 26:18; civ. dei, xxi. 25:4). Augustine can even say that
the eating of the body of the Lord is delightfully and profitably
to store away in memory that his flesh was wounded and
crucified for us (doctr. christ. iii. 16:24). It is true, there are not
wanting passages in which Augustine expresses himself
differently and more fully, speaking of the reception of the body
of Christ, etc. (e.g., serm. 131:1; bapt. v. 8:9); but his real
thought is even here not that which the words seem to convey,
although he still has in mind the bestowal and reception of a real
gift. Thus Augustines theory of the Lords Supper has more of a
really religious character than his doctrines of baptism and grace,
since the personal nature of fellowship with God here finds due
recognition. It is to be observed, further, that in the view of
Augustine, Christ is, indeed, omnipresent according to his divine
nature, but according to his human nature he is in one place in
heaven (ubique totum praesentem esse non dubites tanquam
deum et in loco aliquo caeli propter veri corporis modum, ep.
187:12:41). In this again we see the model after which the
medieval theories were patterned. The genius of Augustine is
manifest in his interpretation of the sacrifice of the mass: the
congregatio sanctorum presents itself to God in good works
under its head, Christ. This is the sacrifice of Christians: Many
one body in Christ (civ. dei, x. 6). Of which thing [the sacrifice
of Christ] he wished the sacrifice of the church (which, since it is
the body of him, the Head, teaches that it offers itself through
him) to be a daily sacrament [symbolical imitation] (ib. x. 20).
() As to the sacrament of ordination, see p. 319f., and cf.
REUTER 1.c., 253, 264ff.
(3) But we have thus far seen but one side of Augustines
conception of the church. When we remember that the
infusion of the Spirit and of love makes the Christian (p.
347f.), we realize that we are brought to face another line
of thought. (a) The good, who have the Spirit and love,
constitute among themselves a communion (congregatio,
compages). These saints are the unspotted bride of Christ,
his dove, and the house of God, the rock upon which the
Lord builds his church, the church which possesses the
power to loose and bind (unit. eccl. 21:60; c. litt. Pet. ii.
58:246; bapt. vii. 51:99). It is not being outwardly in the
church, nor partaking of the sacraments, that decides, but
belonging to the church in this sense: Nor are they to be
thought to be in the body of Christ, which is the church,
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the spiritual and the carnal, the love of God and selflove, grace and nature, those foreordained to glory or to
torment (e.g., xx. 9:3; xiv. 1; 4:2; 28; xv. 1:2; 16:3). The
evil world is never represented, indeed, as itself
equivalent to the state. But since the civitas dei may be
and is conceived as the empirical church, the reader
very naturally thinks of the civitas mundi concretely as
equivalent to the state (e.g., xiv. 28; xv. 4; i. 35). This is
encouraged by the fact that, although Augustine
recognizes the necessity of the (Christian) state and the
civil law (xv. 4 in Joh. tr. 6:25f.), yet everything really and
permanently good is found upon the side of the church.
From this it follows, that it is the duty of the state to
execute the commandments of Christ, or of the church
(xv. 2, ep. 138:2.14; 105:3.11). From this point of view,
Augustinein conflict with his earlier convictions (ep.
93:5.17)desired the state to employ force against
Donatists and heretics: Compel them to come in (Lk.
14:23; vid. ep. 93 and 185 in Joh. tr. 11:14). Here, as so
frequently, he falls into the current of the popular
Christianity of the day. The great work upon the City of
Godcapable of many interpretations (a double line of
aims and means running through the work, just as
through Platos State)became the criterion for the
development of the church polity of the Middle Ages.
h) Such, in outline, was Augustines conception of the
church. The power of the historic Catholic tradition, the
opposition of the Donatists, the fundamental tendency
of his doctrine of grace, the predestination theory, and a
grandly broad view of the course of historywere the
threads woven into the texture. In it the best and the
worst elements appear side by side. It is Evangelical and
Catholic; superior to the world and compromising with
the world; at once, true and untrue. Theoretically
contemplated, it is a malformation without parallel:
practically considered, a redundancy of large
conceptions and impulsesnot an organism, but a
vessel full of fermenting elements.
i) Augustine prepared the way for the medieval
ecclesiasticism; but he also revived and gave practical
efficacy to a central idea of primitive Christianitythe
present kingdom of God. He embraced the many
treasures of Christianity in the one treasurethe
kingdom of God, and thus made them concrete and
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VII.
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and not concealing from those who approach him that he is the
Father (Hipp. Ref. ix. 10).
b) Praxeas
(1) He was a martyr of Asia Minor, came with Victor to
Rome, and gained an influence over this foe of Dynamistic
Monarchianism by means of his Christology as well as by
his anti-montanistic tendencies.
(2) His doctrine found acceptance also in Africa (Tert. c.
Prax. 1).
(3) He taught: After that time the Father was born and the
Father suffered. Jesus Christ is proclaimed as the Father
born, the Father suffering, God himself, the omnipotent
Lord (Tert. adv. Prax. 2 init.). Father and Son are therefore
the same person (ib. 5 init.). In support of this the
Scriptures were appealed to, particularly Isa. 45:5; Jn. 10:
30; 14:9, 10 (ib. 18, 20).
(4) It reveals a leaning toward the orthodox view,
employing the term, Son of God, in the Biblical sensebut
at the same time an inclination toward Dynamistic
Monarchianismwhen distinction is, after all, made
between the Father and the Son: And in like manner in the
one person they distinguish the two, Father and Son, saying
that the Son is the flesh, i.e., the man; i.e., Jesus; but that
the Father is the Spirit, i.e., God, i.e., Christ (ib. 27). In
this way they avoided the assertion that the Father suffered
(Thus the Son indeed suffers (patitur), but the Father
suffers with him (compatitur); ib. 29; cf. Hipp. Ref. ix.
12).
c) Noetus of Smyrna
(1) He and the adherents of his theory, Epigonus and
Cleomenes, found again at Rome in the beginning of the
third century an influential centre for the dissemination of
their views (Hipp. Ref. i. 7), which were the same as those
of Praxeas: That when the Father had not yet been born,
he was rightly called the Father; but when it had pleased
him to submit to birth, having been born, he became the
Son, he of himself and not of another (Hipp. Ref. ix. 10).
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(2) He said that Christ is himself the Father, and that the
Father himself was born and suffered and died (Hipp. c.
Not. 1). Thus the Father also called himself to life again
(ib. 3). The Scriptures require us to believe this. Thus the
Son is glorified (ib. 1) and thus salvation made possible:
For Christ was God and suffered for us, being the Father
himself, in order that he might be able also to save us (ib.
2).
(3) It was a theolgoically-inspired interest in the full
divinity of Christ which led these men to insist upon their
theory, and this accounts for their wide influence. They
wished to maintain that Christ was God, and yet not waver
in the assertion of the unity of God as confessed in the
churchs creed: For some simple persons (not to say
inconsiderate and ignorant, as is always the majority of
believers) since the rule of faith itself leads us from the
many gods of the world to the one and true God (cf. p. 85,
n.), not understanding that he is to be believed as being one
but with his own economy (), are terrified at this
economy. They think that the number and order of the
Trinity implies a division of the unity (Tert. adv. Prax. 3
init.).
d) Sabellius of Pentapolis
(1) The final form of this doctrine appears in Sabellius of
Pentapolis (?) at Rome (under Zephyrinus and Callistus).
(2) Father, Son, and Spirit are only different designations
of the same person, corresponding to the degree and form
of his revelation. God is, in his nature, the Father of the Son
(, Athan. Expos, fid. 2): He himself is the
Father; he himself is the Son; he himself is the Holy
Spiritas I say that there are three names in one object
(hypostasis), either as in man, body and soul and spirit
or as, if it be in the sun, being in one object (I say) that
there are three, having the energies of light-giving and heat
and the form of roundness (Epiph. h. 62:1; also Athanas.
Orig. c. Arian. iii. 36; iv. 2, 3, 9, 13, 25, 17).
e) Western Patripassians
(1) The Patripassian Christology had its adherents in the
West as well as in the East.
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C. Arianism and the Homousia of the Son (the First Council of Nice)
1. Introduction
a) We have had occasion to observe the diversity of
views concerning the divinity of Christ which prevailed
before the outbreak of the great controversy; but we
have also noted a certain unity of religious conviction at
this point: the church unanimously adoring the divinity
of Christ.
b) Although there was little attempt to fathom the
procession of the Son from the Father, yet he, like the
Father, was regarded as God, as the brightness of his
glory and the image () of his person
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f) By the use of logic (Athan. c. Ar. or. ii. 68) and by the
citation of passages of Scripture treating of the humility
of Christ (Alex, in Theod. i. 3, p. 740), the Arians sought
to establish their own view and disprove that which was
becoming the accepted doctrine of the church. Arianism
did not attribute a human soul to Christ (see Greg. Naz.
ep. ad Cledon. i. 7. Epiphan. ancdr. 33).
5. Evaluation of Theory
a) If we contemplate this theory as a whole, we at once
observe its relationship with Paul of Samosata and
Dynamistic Monarchianism. But the earlier views
referred to, in the process of accommodation, became
much worse. What Paul taught concerning the man
Jesus, Ariusand apparently Lucian before him
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7. Opposition of Alexander
a) The first to oppose Arius was the Alexandrine
bishop, Alexander. He really understood the new
doctrine (see his account of it in Theod. h. e. i. 3 and
Socr. h. e. i. 6).
b) He points out that the Word cannot itself have come
into existence in time, since all things were made by it
(Jn. i. 3). His person () is beyond the
comprehension of men (or angels, cf. Isa. liii. 8; xxiv.
16).
c) If Christ is the effulgence of God (Heb. i. 3), then to
deny his eternity is to deny the eternity of the Fathers
light. The sonship () is, therefore, different in kind
from that of human beings.
d) The theory of Arius is related to the heresies of
Ebion, Paul, and Artemas. Against it, Alexander regards
the claims of the apostolic doctrines of the church,
i.e., of the Apostles Creed, as vindicated by his defense
of the eternal divinity of the Son, together with that of
the Holy Ghost (Theod. 1:3, p. 745f., 742).
e) Less certain is his positive teaching. He appears
himself to have at an earlier period recognized an
existence of the Father before that of Christ (and he
exists therefore before Christ, as we taught in harmony
with your preaching in the church, says Arius of him,
Ar. ad Al. in Epiph. h. 69:8). But he now taught
concerning the Son: Always God, always Son . The
Son exists unbegottenly () in God, always
begotten (), unbegottenly begotten
() (Ar. ep. ad Eus. in Epiph. 69:3).
f) He does not deny the birth of the Saviour (that his
unbegottenness is a property having relation to the
Father alone); but it is a birth without beginning so far
as the Father is concerned, an always being from the
Father ( ). He is thus
immutable and unvariable, and is rightly worshiped as is
the Father. When John locates the Son in the bosom of
the Father, he means to indicate that the Father and the
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him in the course of time, and he did not always have within him
the Word, Light, and Wisdom (ib. i. 20, 24, 25).
(3) Further, Arianism leads logically to the polytheism of the
heathen world. Only if the Son partakes of the same nature and
substance as the Father, can we speak of One God. The Arians,
on the contrary, have two different Gods: It is necessary for
them to speak of two Gods, one the creator and the other the
created, and to worship two Lords, which leads to Greek
polytheism (ib. iii. 15, 16). This is illustrated particularly in the
worship rendered to Jesus in the church. It is heathenish to
worship the creature instead of the Creator (ep. encycl. 4), and,
according to Rev. xxii. 9, worship is not to be rendered even to
the angels (c. Ar. or. ii. 23): Who said to them that, having
abandoned the worship of the created universe ( ), they
should proceed again to worship something created and made?
(ib. 1:8, 38, 42; de deer. 11 fin.).
(4) But, above all, the Arian view destroys the certainty of
salvation.
(a) If the Logos is mutable, as the Arians consistently
maintain, how can he reveal to us the Father, and how
can we behold in him the Father? How can he who
beholds the mutable think that he is beholding the
immutable? (ib. i. 35; cf. Jn. 14:9).
(b) In this way man can never reach the assurance of
salvation, of fellowship with God, the forgiveness of his
sins, and immortality: For if, being a creature, he
became man, he as man remained none the less such as
he was, not partaking of God; for how could a creature
by a creature partake of God? . . And how, if the Logos
was a creature, would he be able to dissolve a decree of
God and forgive sin? (ii. 67; iv. 20). Again, the man
partaking of a creature would not be deified, unless the
Son was truly God; and the man would not be equal with
the Father, unless he who assumed the body was by
nature also the true Logos of the Father (ii. 70).
(5) Finally, this median being () between God and the
world is an utterly useless and senseless invention.
(a) Neither is God too proud to come himself as Creator
into direct touch with a creature, nor in that case would
the matter be made any better by the supposed Logos,
since at his creation also some median creature would
have been necessary, and so on ad infinitum (ii. 25, 26;
de decr. 8).
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c) Methodology
(1) Athanasius starts with the conception of the One divine
Being, but this one God leads a double life. As Begotten and
Begetting. Son and Father stand opposed to one another as two
persons, but not as two Gods. They are one nature ( )
of the same nature ().
(2) In these declarations is really expressed all that the church
had believed and taught concerning Christ since the days of the
apostles: the one Godhead and the divine I of the Son. The
elements of truth in Monarchianism and in the popular
Christology, with their conceptions of the second God, the
divine part, and the Logos of the Father, are all here combined
and the errors of thought and expression carefully avoided: The
ancient formulas can never recur in the church in the same shape.
(3) Athanasius really furnished something new. He reduced the
manifold representations of Christ to a simple formula, and he
established the necessity of this formula firmly by displaying its
relation to the doctrine of redemption. Imperfections, of course,
still remain. The theologian of to-day will find fault, in addition
to the defectiveness of the scriptural proof, chiefly with the
indefiniteness of the term ; he will not fail to observe that
the one personal God of Athanasius is, after all, to a certain
degree, only the Father (and thus there will be proclaimed in
the church one God, the Father of the Logos, ad Epict. 9 fin.;
the Father as the source () and fountain () ad Serap.
ep. i. 28); and he will demand a more distinct recognition of the
divine personality, as well as a proper application of the
principle of historical revelation in connection with the life of
Christ.
(4) The problem which Athanasius endeavored to solve thus
becomes more complicated. But it will not be denied that
Athanasius made the best possible use of the materials then at
hand. And we can in our day, with the New Testament in hand,
scarcely do otherwise than acknowledge the problem of
Athanasius as one well worthy of our study, andperhaps from
other points of view, in other terms, and with other methods of
proofhold fast to the .
d) Objective
(1) It was not the demands of logical consistency, forced upon
him alike by the assaults of his opponents and by the
requirements of his own position, which inspired Athanasius.
The arguments, both positive and negative, by which he justifies
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4. Conclusion
a) That these are really Christian ideas cannot be
doubted.
b) They follow the Johannine type of doctrine, and, at
the same time, one of the lines of Pauline teaching (cf.
Ignatius, Irenus, Methodius).
c) That the apostolic conception of the gospel is here
reproduced, however, in a one-sided way, can as little
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VIII.
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B. Athanasius
1. Introduction
a) It seems proper at this point to present connectedly
the teaching of Athanasius [born before A. D. 300; died
A. D. 373], which he maintained unswervingly and
unyieldingly in a long life, subject to constant assault
and persecution.
b) Such a study will reveal to us the profoundest
motives underlying the great controversy.
2. Sources: Apologia c. Arianos; expositio fidei; de decretis synodi
Nicaenae; Ep. ad episc. Aeg. et Lib.; apol. ad Constant, imperat.;
apol. de fuga sua; hist. Arianorum ad monach.; ep. ad Serapionem
de morte Arii; ad Serapionem, ep. ii.; de synodis Arim. et Seleuc.;
and especially his chief work, Orationes iv. c. Arianos.
3. Doctrine
a) Negatively Considered: Denunciation of Arius
(1) We notice first the denunciation of Arianism. Athanasius
clearly recognized the unchristian and irreligious conclusions to
which this doctrine leads. If Arius is right, then the triune God is
not eternal; to the unity was added in time the Son and the Spirit.
The three-foldness has come into existence from the nonexistent. Who can assure us that there may not be a further
increase? (c. Ar. or. i. 17, 18).
(2) According to Arius, baptism would be administered in the
name of a creature, which can after all render us no aid (ib. ii.
41; iv. 25). But not only is the Trinity thus dissolved by the
Arians; even the divinity of the Father is imperiled. The Father
has not always been Fathersome change has taken place in
him in the course of time, and he did not always have within him
the Word, Light, and Wisdom (ib. i. 20, 24, 25).
(3) Further, Arianism leads logically to the polytheism of the
heathen world. Only if the Son partakes of the same nature and
substance as the Father, can we speak of One God. The Arians,
on the contrary, have two different Gods: It is necessary for
them to speak of two Gods, one the creator and the other the
created, and to worship two Lords, which leads to Greek
polytheism (ib. iii. 15, 16). This is illustrated particularly in the
worship rendered to Jesus in the church. It is heathenish to
worship the creature instead of the Creator (ep. encycl. 4), and,
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c) Methodology
(1) Athanasius starts with the conception of the One divine
Being, but this one God leads a double life. As Begotten and
Begetting. Son and Father stand opposed to one another as two
persons, but not as two Gods. They are one nature ( )
of the same nature ().
(2) In these declarations is really expressed all that the church
had believed and taught concerning Christ since the days of the
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apostles: the one Godhead and the divine I of the Son. The
elements of truth in Monarchianism and in the popular
Christology, with their conceptions of the second God, the
divine part, and the Logos of the Father, are all here combined
and the errors of thought and expression carefully avoided: The
ancient formulas can never recur in the church in the same shape.
(3) Athanasius really furnished something new. He reduced the
manifold representations of Christ to a simple formula, and he
established the necessity of this formula firmly by displaying its
relation to the doctrine of redemption. Imperfections, of course,
still remain. The theologian of to-day will find fault, in addition
to the defectiveness of the scriptural proof, chiefly with the
indefiniteness of the term ; he will not fail to observe that
the one personal God of Athanasius is, after all, to a certain
degree, only the Father (and thus there will be proclaimed in
the church one God, the Father of the Logos, ad Epict. 9 fin.;
the Father as the source () and fountain () ad Serap.
ep. i. 28); and he will demand a more distinct recognition of the
divine personality, as well as a proper application of the
principle of historical revelation in connection with the life of
Christ.
(4) The problem which Athanasius endeavored to solve thus
becomes more complicated. But it will not be denied that
Athanasius made the best possible use of the materials then at
hand. And we can in our day, with the New Testament in hand,
scarcely do otherwise than acknowledge the problem of
Athanasius as one well worthy of our study, andperhaps from
other points of view, in other terms, and with other methods of
proofhold fast to the .
d) Objective
(1) It was not the demands of logical consistency, forced upon
him alike by the assaults of his opponents and by the
requirements of his own position, which inspired Athanasius.
The arguments, both positive and negative, by which he justifies
his discussions are primarily of a religious nature (see p. 207),
and it is precisely this fact which constitutes the novelty and
importance of his view. Only if Christ is God, in the full sense of
the word and without qualification, has God entered humanity,
and only then have fellowship with God, the forgiveness of sins,
the truth of God, and immortality been certainly brought to men.
(2) This will become clear, if we consider the soteriological
ideas of Athanasius.
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4. Conclusion
a) That these are really Christian ideas cannot be
doubted.
b) They follow the Johannine type of doctrine, and, at
the same time, one of the lines of Pauline teaching (cf.
Ignatius, Irenus, Methodius).
c) That the apostolic conception of the gospel is here
reproduced, however, in a one-sided way, can as little
be questioned. Yet it remains true, that it is a religious
and Christian foundation from which the views of
Athanasius are logically developed. Christ is God, or we
cannot have God dwelling and operating in us and be
sure of our salvation, i.e., of the new eternal life and the
forgiveness of our sins.
d) We mention here by anticipation that Athanasius at a
later period employed the same means to prove the
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Homousia of the Holy Spirit (vid. ep. iv. ad Serap. and cf.
tomi ad Antiochenos).
e) As against the opinion that the Holy Spirit is a
creature () or an angelic being (ad Serap. i.
10:12), it must be remembered that something of
different nature (a ) would thus be
introduced into the Trinity, and the latter thereby be
destroyed, or transformed into a Diad (, i. 29).
f) Whatever is true of the Son must therefore be true
also of the Holy Spirit (i. 9, 20, 21). He is of like nature
(, i. 27), immutuble (, i. 26), and
, ib.). And, as in the case of the Son, this is
manifest also from the nature of his work as attested by
our experience. He sanctifies us, and enables us to
participate in the divine nature (, i, 23). When
now we are called partakers of Christ and partakers of
God, the anointing within us bears witness and the seal,
which is not of the nature of things made, but of the
nature of the Son through the Spirit who in him unites
us to the Father (cf. 1 Jn. 4:13) But if in the fellowship
of the Spirit we become partakers of the divine nature,
he would be mad who should say that the Spirit is of
created nature and not of the nature of God. Therefore,
indeed, they into whom he enters are deified; and if he
deifies, it is not doubtful that his nature is that of God
(i. 24).
g) Such is the doctrine of Athanasius. It, in his
judgment, faithfully reproduces the teachings of the
Scriptures, as well as of the Fathers (e.g., Ignat. Ephes.
7, cited in de syn. 47), the great councils, the
baptismal command, and the baptismal confession (ad
Serap. ep. i. 28, 30, 33; ii. 8; iii. 6; c. Apol. i. 2; ad Epict. i.
3). Its profound religious basis, as well as its simplicity
and consistency, must be evident to all.
C. Further Development Until the Council of Constantinople, A. D.
381.
1. Introduction
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IX.
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man, but the divine Logos itself took the place of the spirit () or
intellectual soul ( ). Christ, having, besides soul and
body, a divine spirit, i.e., mind, is with reason called the man from
heaven (de inc. pp. 382, 401). Hence it may be said: Thus the one
living being consists of a moved and a mover, and is not two, nor
composed of two, complete and self-moving beings (de inc. p.
384); and thus Christ is one person with one personal life in mind
and will and energy, i.e., the purely divine (pp. 349, 399, 400, 401).
For, saying that the Logos became flesh, he does not add, and
soul; for it is impossible that two souls, a thinking and a willing,
should dwell together in the same person, and the one not contend
against the other by reason of its own will and energy. Therefore
the Logos assumed not a human soul, but only the seed of
Abraham (de unione, frg. p. 401; cf. 396). The difficulties are thus
overcome: For God, having become incarnate, has in the human
flesh simply his own energy, his mind being unsubject to sensual
and carnal passions, and divinely and sinlessly guiding the flesh
and controlling the fleshly emotions, and not alone unconquerable
by death, but also destroying death. And he is true God, the
unfleshly appearing in the flesh, the perfect one in genuine and
divine perfection, not two persons (), nor two natures
(). There is one Son; both before the incarnation and after
the incarnation the same, man and God, each as one. And the
divine Logos is not one person and the man Jesus another (
. . pp. 377, 378).
5. But since Apollinaris in this way found in Christ one person, one
harmonious being, he could also speak of his one nature ()
and one substance () (e.g., 341, 348, 349, 352, 363), the
Logos being unseparated and undivided ( )
from his flesh (pp. 395, 396) and yet also distinguish two natures
(de trin. pp. 358, 360): For as man is one, but has in himself two
different natures so the Son, being one, has also two natures
(p. 358). Since this illustration from the nature of man is a proper
one, it follows also that the relation of the two natures (,
pp. 344, 346, 351, 367) is not to be conceived as a change
() nor as a mixing () and confounding
() (c. Diodor. p. 366 sq.), for the Deity remains immutable
(pp. 347, 393).
6. Apollinaris drew yet another notable inference from his
premises, teaching, in a certain sense, a pre-existence of the
of Christ, appealing to Jn. 3:13 and 1 Cor. 15:47not as though
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the Logos had the flesh already while in heaven and brought it with
him to the earth (e.g., Ath. c. Ap. i. 7; ii. 10; Greg. Naz. ep. ad Nect.
3, ad Cled. i. 6; Greg. Nyss. antirrh. 13f.), for this Apollinaris
expressly denied (ep. ad Dionys. pp. 348, 349). [Epiphanius,
indeed, heard this view expressed by pupils of Apollinaris (h. 77:2,
14)]. But he wrote: The man Christ pre-exists, not as though the
spirit, i.e., the divine Spirit, were that of another than himself, but in
such a way that the divine Spirit in the nature of the divine man was
the Lord (de inc. p. 382f.). Although this is obscure in some points,
the meaning can scarcely be other than that the Logos was from all
eternity predestined to become man, and was, in this sense, the
pre-existent heavenly man.
7. Such was the teaching of this great bishop, which he, as an
earnest exegete, endeavored to establish upon biblical authority.
This man is certainly also God. If Christ had been only man, he
could not have saved the world; and if only God, he could not have
saved it through suffering . If Christ had been only man, or if only
God, he could not have been a middle one between men and God.
The flesh is, therefore, an organ of life adapted to sufferings
according to the divine counsels, and neither are the words of the
flesh its own nor its deeds, and, having been made subject to
sufferings as is suitable for flesh, it prevailed over the sufferings
through its being the flesh of God. He believed that he was not in
reality in conflict with the dogmas of the church in his day, but in
this he was self-deceived.
C. Opposition
1. From the decade A. D. 370380, the Cappadocians assailed his
views (see already Ath. c. Apol. and, perhaps, the Alexandrine
Council of A. D. 362; tom, ad Antioch. 7). They were moved to
opposition chiefly by their general sense of the integrity of the
human nature of Jesus, as he is depicted in the Gospel narratives,
and of its significance in the work of redemption. Only if Christ had
a human mind (), could he redeem also the human mindan
idea which, from the standpoint of the deification theory of the
Greek Soteriology, was not a mere phrase.
2. On the contrary, the Athanasian Christology was against
Apollinarianism: If anyone imagines a man without a mind, such a
one is really inconceivable and altogether not worthy to be saved.
For that which cannot be added to cannot be cured; but that which
is united to God is already saved. If the half of Adam fell, it was the
half also which was added to and saved; but if the whole [Adam]
fell, the addition was made to the whole that was born, and he was
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two Sons (Greg. Naz. or. 37:2); and being that which
deified and that which was deified. O, the new mixture
(); O, the strange compound ()! (or. 38:13).
It is, says Gregory of Nyssa, a relation like that between
a drop of vinegar mingled with the sea and the sea itself.
This simile indicates how utterly unlimited was the
range of thought which these men allowed themselves.
Since the Logos becomes flesh, the human is
transformed into the divine (changed, a mixing up,
, with the divine, a transformation,
, of the man into the Christ).
d) Thus the infirmity, mutability, and mortality of the
human nature are consumed by the deity: He mixed his
life-giving power with the mortal and perishable
nature . The Immutable appears in the mutable, in
order that, having changed and transformed from the
worse into the better the evil commingled with the
mutable subject, he might, having expended the evil in
himself, cause it to disappear from the nature. For our
God is a consuming fire, in which all wood of evil is
thoroughly burnt up (Greg. Nyss. c. Eunom. v., Mi. 45,
pp. 700, 693, 697, 705, 708, also Antirrh. 42).
e) It is also held, indeed, that the beholding of the
attributes of the flesh and of the deity remains
unconfused, so long as each of these is regarded by
itself (ib. p. 706). Thus the humanity weeps at the grave
of Lazarus, but the deity calls him to life. But viewed
concretely, the deity, by virtue of the union, affects the
human just as well as the humanity the divine: thus
through the connection and union the (properties) of
both become common to each, the Lord taking upon
himself the stripes of the servant, and the servant being
glorified with the honor belonging to the Lord (ib. 705,
697). T
f) he relation of the two natures is thus a different one
from that existing between the persons of the Trinity:
God and man are, it is true, two natures but there are
not two Sons nor two Gods . And if it is necessary to
speak concisely: other and other ( ) are the
entities of which ( ) the Saviour not another
and another, . God forbid. For both are
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mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), as being one from
both natures (quod b. virgo 12; cf. c. Nest. ii. 12; ep. 17, Mi. 77,
116; inc. unig., Mi. 75. 1220, 1221, 1233, 1253, 1208: We are
accustomed to guard absolutely the unbroken unity, believing
him to be the Only-begotten and the First-born; the Onlybegotten, as the Logos of God the Father the First-born
moreover in that he became man). He is, therefore, one and the
same before and after the incarnation: for the Son according to
nature from the Father, having taken to himself a physical and
rational body, was carnally born and, not turning into flesh,
but rather taking it to himself, and ever mindful of his being
God (ad reg. ii. 2). Being man, viewed outwardly; but
inwardly true God (quod b. virgo 4). Cyril denies the charge
that in his conception Christ is two-personed () (inc.
unig., Mi. 75. 1221; inc. dom. 31; ep. 46, Mi. 77:241); but
without fully recognizing its force.
(2) But all these speculations assume a practical shape when
Cyril comes to speak of the concrete form of the God-man. Here
he becomes really great. His conception of the historical Christ
dominates his thought and lifts his ideas above their normal
plane. It is evident, therefore, that the mind beholds a certain
difference of the natures (inc. unig., Mi. 75:1221), but: the fact
is, that the Logos, not dividing but combining both into one, and,
as it were, commingling with one another the attributes
() of the natures, escapes us through whatever the
multitude of our words (ib. 1244, 1249), i.e., bestowing upon
the proper flesh the glory of the divine energy; but, on the other
hand, appropriating the things of the flesh and, as though in
someway according to the economic union, also conferring these
upon its own proper nature (ib. 1241). Accordingly, the
expressions of the Evangelists, applicable now to the divinity
and again to the humanity, are not to be referred to two
hypostases or prosopa: for the one and only Christ is not
double, as though he were to be regarded as derived from two
and different things (ep. 17, Mi. 77:116). Since there is here but
one person, all the attributes may be ascribed to the one Christ.
The Logos is visible and tangible. His sufferings are the
sufferings of God. Hunger and thirst, learning and praying, were
parts of his experience; while, on the other hand, the body of
Christ was a divine body, and the Son of man comes from
heaven, returns to it, is worshiped, etc. (e.g., inc. unig., Mi. 75.
1224, 1244, 1249, 1228, 1233f.; ad regin. ii. 16, 36f.; c. Nest. i.
6; ii. 3; iv. 6; quod unus 75. 1309; inc. dom. 75. 1469; ep. 45,
Mi. 77:234; 46, p. 245). Hence, also, the designation of Mary as
the mother of God is dogmatically correct. But this
communicatio idiomatum at once finds its limitation in the
inflexible immutability and impassibility of the Logos:
suffering excepted, in so far as he is thought of as divine (quod
unus, Mi. 75. 1337, 1357; c. Nestor, v. 4). Suffering could as
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F. Western Theologians
1. Introduction
a) We must notice, finally, the Christology of the
contemporaneous Western theologians. It is to be said
in general that the leaders in the Western church did not
look upon the great question of the age as a problem.
b) Since they firmly maintained the formulas of
Tertullian, they no more questioned the unity of the
person than the duplicity of the natures, only giving to
the latter more prominence than did Cyril. As their
formula gave some recognition to the ideas of both
parties in the East, it was the formula of the future.
2. Hilary of Poitiers ( A. D. 366)
a) His chief work was De trinitate.
b) Christ is God and man (trin. ix. 19). As One, he is God
just as he is man: the whole in him is God the Word;
the whole in him is the man Christretaining this one
thing in the sacrament of his confession, neither to
believe that Christ is other than Jesus, nor to preach
that Jesus is other than Christ (x. 5271). Compare: in
him is the nature of man, just as the nature of God (in
ps. 68:25, or person of both natures, trin. ix. 14). His
strongly emphasized evacuation of the Son of God in
the interest of the incarnation arrests our attention:
For, remaining in the form of God, he assumed the
form of a servant, not being changed, but emptying
(exinaniens) himself and hiding within himself, and he
himself being emptied within his power, while he adapts
himself even to the form of human condition (xi. 48).
But this asserts no more than that the Logos undertook
a change of his condition. The emptying (evacuatio) of
form is not an abolition of nature (ix. 14). The power of
omnipotence remains to him (xi. 48 fin.; xii. 6; x. 15; ix.
51f.). The divine nature did not and could not feel the
sufferings (x. 23, 48, 24: that which is customary to a
body was endured in order to prove the reality of the
body). Hence, the form of a servant implies a latency of
the form of God.
3. Ambrose ( A. D. 397)
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to be called really the mother of God (), Godbearing, but God-receiving (), and man-bearing
(), or Christ-bearing () (or. 2:8;
5:2; ep. 1 ad Coelest. 3). It is only to the man Christ,
therefore, that birth, suffering, and death can be
ascribed (or. 2:2; 3:1). The man Jesus was the organ of
the divinity. Hence the Logos as God is strictly
discriminated from the man, but without making two
Sons or Christs: We call our Lord Christ in view of his
nature two-fold, in view of his sonship one (or. 3:2); for
to both natures belong, in consequence of their union,
the same dignity and a common reverence: for there are
two, if you regard the nature; one, if you consider the
dignity. I divide the natures, but I combine the
reverence (or. 1:2; 2:6, 8). And, above all, the Logos,
after the incarnation, does not act except in union with
the man Jesus (Cyril c. Nest. ii. 7).
c) Of the worship of the human nature, he says: I
adore it as the animated mantle of the King (2:6). When
vigorous opposition was at once manifested, Nestorius
conceded the possibility of the : the genetrix
of God on account of the Word united with its
temple, but he still thought that the term was calculated
to give aid to the Arians and Apollinarians (or. 4:3; 5:2,
cf. ep. 1 ad Coelest. 3; ep. 2:2). In his Christology there
is evidently nothing heterodox. It was only the usual
doctrine of the Antioch school. Nothing was further from
his thought than a denial of the divinity of Christ, or of
the doctrine of the two natures.
d) He taught the true divinity and humanity of Jesus, as
well as the union of the two in one person, but did not
draw the inference of the communicatio idiomatum. But
it was chiefly love of conflict and of debate which
produced the controversy.
2. Cyril
a) The controversy assumed larger proportions only
when Cyril of Alexanderia entered the lists. Without
Cyril there would have been no Nestorian controversy,
Loofs. A passionate correspondence arose between the
two patriarchs. Cyril then thought it proper to inform
Theodosius himself, as well as his wife and sister, of the
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confess one nature, and until to-day I said that the body of our
Lord and God was of the same nature with us (M. vi. 744, 742).
2. Eutyches can scarcely be said to have possessed a theory of
his own upon the subject. He was deposed and excommunicated
as a reviler of Christ, with the proper accompaniment of tears (M.
vi. 748).
3. But Eutyches did not rest quietly under condemnation. By the
use of placards, he aroused the interest of the populace, and also
of the emperor, in his cause and appealed to Pope Leo of Rome
(Leo ep. 21). But bishop Flavian of Constantinople also laid his
burden of grief and multitude of tears at the feet of Leo (Leo ep.
22), declaring that Eutyches had revived the teachings of Valentine
and Apollinaris, and demanding that the pope inform his bishops of
the heresies of Eutyches.
4. The pope had meanwhile, of his own accord, requested an
accurate account of the affair, in order that he might pass judgment
upon it (ep. 23, 14). Flavian complied with the request, and
implored the popes approval of the faith of the God-fearing and
Christ-loving emperor (ep. 26).
5. The pope now sent to Flavian his doctrinal letter (ep. 28). He
had thus definitely fixed the attitude of Rome, which is historically a
fact of the greatest importance, for it established a positive and
powerful opposition to the Alexandrine doctrine. But, meanwhile,
Dioscurus of Alexandria had entered the lists and secured the
summoning of a general council at Ephesus. Theodoret was
excluded from participation in the proceedings, and Dioscurus
presided. Everything seemed to assure a Monophysite victory.
6. This resulted in the Robber Synod of Ephesus.
7. The pope was here represented by three legates (ep. 31:4),
who were informed that the Catholic doctrine was contained in the
doctrinal letter (ep. 29). But Dioscurus dominated the council by
brutal terrorism and nearly all yielded to intimidation. Discussion
was not desired, but the faith of the Fathers (i.e., of the councils of
Nice and Ephesus) was to be acknowledged (M. vi. 625).
8. Eutyches defended himself, and 114 of the 135 participants
were of opinion that he was orthodox. Anathema to everyone who
speaks of two natures still after the incarnation (M. vi. 737, 832ff.).
Leos letter was not even read.
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nature bewails the death of Lazarus; the other wakes him from the
dead (4). In consequence of the unity of person (on account of this
unity of person in each nature), it may be said that the Son of man
came down from heaven (Jn. 3:13), and that the Son of God was
crucified and buried (1 Cor. 2:8), etc. (5). The confession of
Eutyches, before the incarnation two natures, after it one nature,
is in both its parts equally profane. He who regards the death of
Christ as a real death cannot deny that the man whom he sees to
have been passible was of our body (6). This much-lauded
document is nothing more than a reproduction of the Western
Christology (Tertullian, Ambrose; cf. Augustine). It does not enter at
all upon the consideration of the problem which perplexed the
Greeks, and the dogmatic simplicity of the pope is most strikingly
revealed in his opinion, that the twelve propositions of the Apostles
in the Creed sufficed for the refutation of this and other heresies
(vid. ep. 31:4; 45:2; 28:1). As to the Christology of Leo, see also ep.
35:2; 59:35; 88:1; 114:1; 119:1.
13. The Council of Chalcedon
a) The council itself (21 sessions in 14 days, attended
by about 600 bishopsall Greeksmakes an
exceedingly unfavorable impression. Not only was it as
boisterous as the Robber Synod; but worse than this
was the cowardly and senseless abandonment of
Dioscurus and of the position taken two years before
(we have all been wrong; we all beg for pardon, vid. M.
vi. 637ff., 674ff., 690, 827ff., cf. 973f., 1005).
b) At the very first session, as Theodoret appeared:
"Cast out the Jew, the adversary of God, and do not call
him bishop;" to which the opposing party responded:
"Cast out the murderer Dioscurus. Who does not know
the crimes of Dioscurus? "M. vi. 589, cf. also the cry:
"We shout for piety and orthodoxy."
c) Dioscurus was self-consistent. With Athanasius,
Gregory, and Cyril he professed to agree in the one
incarnated nature of the Logos. He did not question the
of two ( ), but the two ( ), I do not receive
(M. vi. 684, 689). He was deserted by all, as his
deposition had been a settled matter already at the first
session. At the later sessions he did not appearnot
even when summoned at the third session. A number of
accusers of this heretic and Origenist now cried out
that Dioscurus was a reviler of the Trinity, a desecrator
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c) External History
(1) The external history of the controversy is a history of
outrages and intrigues, depositions and banishments,
commotions, divisions, and attempted reunions. Immediately
after the council of Chalcedon bloody fights of the monks and
the rabble broke out, and Monophysite factions went off in
schismatic churches.
(2) After thirty years confusion the Monophysites gained a
temporary victory under the protection of the rude pretender to
the empire, Basiliscus (475-477), who in an encyclical letter,
enjoined on all bishops to condemn the council of Chalcedon
(476).
(3) After his fall, Zeno (474-475 and 477-491), by advice of the
patriarch Acacius of Constantinople, issued the famous formula
of concord, the Henoticon, which proposed, by avoiding
disputed expressions, and condemning both Eutychianism and
Nestorianism alike, to reconcile the Monophysite and dyophysite
views, and tacitly set aside the Chalcedonian formula (482).
(4) But this was soon followed by two more schisms, one
among the Monophysites themselves, and one between the East
and the West. Felix II., bishop of Rome, immediately rejected
the Henoticon, and renounced communion with the East (484519). The strict Monophysites were as ill content with the
Henoticon, as the adherents of the council of Chalcedon; and
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d) Henoticon
(1) The definitions of the councils of Nicaea, Constantinople,
and Ephesus, as well as the twelve anathemas of Cyril, were here
recognized, and Nestorius and Eutyches condemned.
(2) Christ the true God and the true man is confessed to be of the
same nature with the Father according to his divinity, and of the
same nature with us according to his humanity, but to be one
and not two. For we say that the miracles and whatever
sufferings he endured in the flesh are (those) of one. Whoever
adopts another teaching () than this, whether taught now
or heretofore, at Chalcedon or elsewhere, is anathematized.
(3) Nothing is plain except the authority of Cyril and the
rejection of Nestorianism and Eutychianism. Beyond this, the
disputed formulas are carefully avoided; the rejection of the
Chalcedon confession is implied but not distinctly expressed.
The agitation was not allayed by this formula.
(4) Neither the strict Monophysites nor the orthodox were
satisfied. The former missed in the Henoticon the express
condemnation of the Chalcedon Creed and of the letter of Pope
Leo. The latter, as in the days of Chalcedon, took refuge in
Rome. Pope Felix III turned to the emperor in defense of the
endangered Chalcedon creed and excommunicated Acacius, the
bishop of Constantinople, A. D. 484 (ep. 14, 6). The latter, in
turn, struck the name of Felix from the Diptychs.
(5) The breach with Rome had become complete. It was a
necessity, as an agreement was not possible between the ancient
Latin Christology and the Greek doctrine, which inclined more
and more toward Monophysitism. But even in the East there
were still elements which withstood the advance of the
Monophysite views.
(6) The emperor, Anastasius (from A. D. 491), permitted the
Henoticon to stand, but favored the Monophysite interpretation
of it. Nevertheless, there were bitter controversies during the
entire reign of Anastasius. In Antioch, Severus, one of the
Monophysite leaders, became bishop, but the emperor yet
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(5) But the emperor had not yet accomplished what he desired.
The situation was made more hopeless by the dissensions which
arose among the Monophysites themselves. Monophysitism was
primarily but an opposition to the Chalcedonian and Cyrillian
theology. Its adherents spoke of the heresy of the Dyophysites
in opposition to the doctrine of believers, who hold to the one
nature ( ).
(6) It was acknowledged in theory that Christ is with
the Father as well as with man.
(7) Apollinaris and Eutyches were rejected (Timoth. Ael. in
Zachar. h.e. iv. 12; v. 7).
(8) Dioscurus was the apostolic man who would not worship
the idol image with two faces that was set up by Leo and the
assembly at Chalcedon (ib. iii. 1).
(9) But their temper became more pronounced, and the views of
the Monophysites themselves became more and more divergent.
(10)
There was also, from the beginning, a group of more
strict partisans, who held about the position of Eutyches (vid.
e.g., Zachar. h. e. iii. 9:10). The two chief parties were known as
Sererians and Julianists, so named from their later leaders,
Severus and Julian of Halicarnassus.
(11)
Justinian tolerated the Monophysites (Joh. v. Eph. h. e. i.
4f.). Even in the capital they had honored representatives
(Theodosius, John of Ephesus); and the restlessly wandering
Jacob el Baradai was able to accomplish much for the unification
and strengthening of the party. The emperor has held the church
under his control, but he has not achieved his purpose. We can
easily understand from this situation how he, at the close of his
career, should conceive the idea of unifying at least the church of
the Orient by the adoption of Aphthartodocetism. Death
prevented the execution of the edict, which he fully purposed to
enforce (Evagr. h. e. iv. 39). That which he failed to accomplish,
his successors (Justin II., Tiberius, Mauricius) were equally
unable to attain, although they spared neither the arts of
persuasion nor force. Monophysitism steadily advanced to a
permanent position in church life among the Syrian Jacobites
and in the Coptic, Abyssinian, and Armenian churches.
2. Monothelete Controversies
a) The patriarch Sergius of Constantinople advised
Heraclius (A. D. 610641) to employ for this purpose the
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g) Council of Constantinople
(1) Constans was murdered A. D. 668 and succeeded by
Constantine Pogonatus (A. D. 668685). The constantly
obtruding antagonism between Rome and Constantinople
induced the emperor to call a council and to yield, as far as
possible, to the demands of Romethe greater part of the
Monophysites being in any event lost to the Byzantine empire.
(2) This resulted in the Sixth Ecumenical Council, held at
Constantinople, A. D. 680. There were about 170 participants
(proceedings in M. xi).
(3) The letter of Pope Agatho here played an important part. It is
presented as the doctrine of the Romish church, which has never
departed from the way of truth, or the apostolic tradition, that
as an inference from the doctrine of two naturesthe will of
Christ is two-fold, having in it two natural wills and energies
just as two natures (M. xi. 239). Accordingly, the council
decided, after the reading of volumes of patristic excerptsnot,
indeed, without opposition (Polychronius, a Monophysite,
seeking by his formula to call a dead issue to life)in
accordance with the wishes of the emperor (Thou hast
established the completeness of the two natures of our God, M.
xi. 656) and the pope.
(4) Honorius of Rome was anathematized as well as the
Monothelete patriarch of Constantinople.
(5) The doctrinal decree recognizes the letter of Agatho and the
five ecumenical councils. After citing the formulas of
Chalcedon, it proceeds: Two natural willings () or
wills () in Christ and two natural energies,
inseparably, immutably, indivisibly, without mixture, according
to the teaching of the holy Fathers . It follows that his human
will is not in opposition or conflict with, but, on the contrary, is
subject to his divine and almighty will . For just as his flesh is
called and is the flesh of the divine Logos, so also his proper
human will is called and is the will of the divine Logos . His
flesh deified is not divided so also his human will deified is
not divided for each form performs what is peculiar to it with
the fellowship of the other form (M. xi. 637).
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X.
Pelagianism
A. Introduction to Pelagianism
1. The starting-point of Pelagians exhortations was the natural
moral ability of man.
2. When confronted, as he speedily was, with the Augustinian:
Grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt
(Aug. don. pers. 20), it but confirmed him in his theory and led him
to express himself the more positively.
3. Two fundamentally different conceptions of Christianity were
here brought into contact. The hitherto unharmonized doctrines of
mans free will and the influence of divine grace presented a
serious problem
B. Figures of Pelagianism
1. Pelagius
a) Of his early life, we know almost nothing at all.
b) Even his native land is uncertain
(1) Generally he is regarded as a Briton
(2) According to Augustine he had the surname of Brito (Epistle
to Paulinus, 186, Opp. II, 663)
(a) This would mean that he was from Britany
(b) Little Briton
(3) Called the same in Prosper's Chronicon (Jerome's Works,
VIII, 835).
(a) (However, he states that the heresy came from
Britian (Contra Collatorem, c.21).
(b) (Hence, a Briton may have included more than just
Britany.
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2. Caelestius
a) A monk
b) Some have called him an Irishman, Scotsman, and a
Campanian
c) He was a lawyer and of rich family
d) Younger than Pelagius
e) While Pelagius sought to avoid trouble, the younger
Caelestius zealously defended Pelagius's teaching
f) Jerome says, "Although a scholar of Pelagius, he is
yet the master and the leader of the whole host" (Letter
to Clesiphon, 415).
g) First to attack the notion of a propagated sin in his
book "Contra Traducem Peccati."
h) Augustine states, "What is the difference between
Pelagius and Caelestius, but that the latter was the more
open, the former more concealed, this the more wilfull,
that the more deceitful, or at least this the more frank,
that the more cunning" (Original Sin, c. 12).
3. Julian
a) One of the most famous of Pelagius' disciples and
keen opponent of Augustine
b) Married early, was a reader within the church, and
then a minister soon rose to be a deacon and then an
episcopal (Cf. Jul. III.21).
c) Was at Rome and was orthodox until Innocent died
d) By 418, he was a decided Pelagian
C. Sources of Pelagianism
1. Writings of Pelagius
a) Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul
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c) A Confession of Faith
(1) Sent to Innocent, pastor at Rome, in 417.
(2) Often cited by Augustine
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(2) "How can the sin be imputed by God to the man, which he
has not know as his own" (De Nat. et Gr. 30).
(3) "Children, so long as they are children, that is, before they
do anything by their own will, cannot be punishable" (Julian, Op.
Imp. II.42).
(4) "According to the Apostle, by one man, sin entered into the
world, and death by sin: because the world has regarded him as a
criminal and as one condemned to perpetual death. But death has
come up on all men, because the same sentence reaches all
transgressors of the succeeding period; yet, neither holy men nor
the innocent have had to endure this death, but only such as have
imitated him by transgression" (Julian, Ibid., II. 66).
(5) "The words--till thou return to earth from which thou wast
taken, for earth thou art and to earth shalt thou returnbelong
not to the curse, but are rather words of consolation to the man.
The sufferings, toils, and griefs shall not endure forever, but
shall one day end. If the dissolution of the body was part of the
punishment of sin, it would not have been said-- thou shalt return
to the earth, for earth thou art; but, thou shalt return to the earth,
because thou hast sinned and broken by commandment" (Julian,
Ibid., VI. 27).
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(10)
This brings us to the Pelagian explanation of the
universality of sin, which all experience testifies. It is attributed
to imitation, the long practice (longus usus) of sinning and the
long habit (longa consuetudo) of vices (Pelag. ad Demetr. 8).
For no other cause occasions for us the difficulty of doing good
than the long custom of vices, which has infected us from
childhood, and gradually, through many years, corrupted us, and
thus holds us afterward bound and addicted to itself, so that it
seems in some way to have the force of nature (ib. cf. 17 fin.).
To this must be added the natural sensuous and worldly character
of man (Pel. in Aug. de gr. Chr. 10:11).
(11)
This line of thought reveals the final conclusion reached
by the naive Pelagianism of the Greeks: There are really no
sinners, but only separate wicked acts. A religious conception of
sin is hereby excluded, and nothing more is needed than the
effort to perform separate good deeds. But just as truly is a
religious conception of the history of the race impossible, since
there are no sinful men, but only wicked acts of individual men.
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the religious or the moral point of view. It follows from it, that
there is no such thing as a moral development of the individual.
Good and evil are located in the separate acts of men. The
separate works finally decide whether a man is good or evil. But
it is possible for one, by a free use of the possibility of welldoing, to lead a holy life. This natural goodness (bonum
naturae), historically regarded, made very many heathen
philosophers capable of the most lofty virtues; how much more,
then, may Christians expect from it? (Pel. ad Dem. 3:7).
(5) There is no shrinking back from the inference, that an
entirely sinless life is possible: I say that man is able to be
without sin, but I do not say that man is without sin (Pel. in
Aug. nat. et grat. 78; de gr. Chr. 4:5). Despite the cautious
statement of the passage cited, this declaration was very
sincerely interpreted by the Pelagians; see Aug. de gest. Pel.
6:16; ep. 156 (letter of Hilary from Syracuse to Augustine).
Caelest. definitiones in Aug. de perfect, justit., and the Pelagian
in Caspari, pp. 5:114ff. (ep. de possibilitate non peccandi).
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his fashion, that the will is not free if it needs the aid of
God, and that our victory is not from the assistance of
God, but from (our) free will (Aug. de gest. Pel. 18:42).
(1) This is but a blunt statement of the logical inference
from the position of Pelagius. The latter wrote: grace is
given in order that what is commanded by God may be
more easily fulfilled (Aug. de gr. Chr. 26:27), from which
Augustine rightly infers: that even without this, that which
is divinely commanded can be done, although less easily.
(2) What do the Pelagians then understand by grace?
Really nothing more than the good of nature, or the
endowment with free will, i.e., the possibility of doing
good or evil. So Pelagius distinctly expressed himself at the
council at Diospolis: this he calls the grace of God, that
our nature, when it was created, received the possibility of
not sinning, since it was created with a free will (in Aug.
de gest. Pel. 10:22).
(3) The endowment with reason (Pel. ad Dem. 2) and free
will is primarily grace. This was sufficient in the primitive
age of the race (ib. 4ff. 8). But when ignorance and the
habit of sinning gained the upper hand among men, God
gave the law (Pel. ad Dem. 8), and again, when the law
proved too weak to break the power of evil habit, he gave
the teachings and example of Christ (Aug. pecc. orig.
26:30).
(4) Pelagius, indeed, writes: We, who have been
instructed through the grace of Christ and born again to
better manhood, who have been expiated and purified by
his blood, and incited by his example to perfect
righteousness, ought to be better than those who were
before the law, and better also than those who were under
the law (ad Dem. 8); but the whole argument of this letter,
where the topic is simply the knowledge of the law as a
means for the promotion of virtue (9, 10, 13, 16, 20, 23), as
well as the declaration, that God opens our eyes and reveals
the future when he illuminates us with the multiform and
ineffable gift of celestial grace (Aug. de gr. Chr. 7:8),
proves that for him that the assistance of God consists,
after all, only in instruction.
(5) Augustine is correct in maintaining that, in addition to
nature and the law, it is only the teaching and example of
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5. Summary
a) Instead of attempting a summary, I cite in conclusion
the six propositions into which the first antagonist of
Pelagianism, Paulinus of Milan, compressed the
Pelagian doctrine.
b) Adam was born mortal, and would have died,
whether he had sinned or not sinned. The sin of Adam
injured only himself, and not the human race. Children
who are now born are in the state in which Adam was
before the fall. Neither does the whole human race die
through the death or fall of Adam, nor does the whole
human race arise from the dead through the
resurrection of Christ. The law sends into the kingdom
of heaven in the same way as does the gospel. Men
were impeccable, i.e., without sin, even before the
coming of the Lord (in Marius Common. 1:1; cf. 1
subnot. praef. 5).
E. Condemnation of Pelagianism
1. Condemned at Carthage, 416
a) Second Carthaginian Council on Pelagianism
b) Sixty-eight bishops
c) It was resolves to put under anathema Pelagius and
Caelestius
d) Two doctrines condemned
(1) Man is in a state, by his own power, to live right and keep
the commandments of God, showing themselves the opponents
of divine grace
(2) Children are free from corruption so they need not be
baptized.
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(5) But it is necessary to face the fact, that not all who are
called (vocati) are subdued by grace. Augustine explains
this on the ground of predestination. Before the creation of
the world, God formed the resolution to redeem certain
men in Christ and to apply to them his grace. The
predestination of God, which is in the good man, is a
preparation for grace, but grace is the effect of this
predestination (praedest. 10:19; don. persev. 9:21). There is
a good-pleasure of his (Gods) will, which has nothing to
do with human merits, not even with such as were foreseen
by God. On the contrary, the determination (propositum) of
God is the ground upon which the good will is imparted to
this or that one (praed. 18:37). There is a strictly definite
number (as maintained already in de bapt. v. 27:38) whom
God has thus foreordained to grace: There is a number so
fixed, that neither can anyone be added to them nor taken
from them (corr. et grat. 13:39). Predestination is the cause
of salvation. All saving ordinances are means for realizing
it, and therefore really serve and benefit only the
predestinated. Only to the elect comes the effectual
peculiar calling of the elect (praed. 18:37), so that he may
follow him who calls: others are not so (non ita) called
(don. pers. 9:21). The elect alone has the gift of
perseverance, whereas the foreknown (praesciti) may still
fall away even in the last hour (corr. et grat. 9:22; don. pers.
8:19). All, therefore, rests in the hands of God, depends
upon his choice: Therefore whoever have in the most
provident ordering of God been foreknown, predestinated,
called, justified, and glorified, although yet, I will not say
unregenerated but even yet unborn, are now the sons of
God and can by no means perish (corr. et grat. 9:23). The
predestinated is saved, commonly becoming a called and
justified member of the church. But it must be held as
possible that such an one may not come into contact in any
way with historical Christianity, and yet be savedbecause
he is predestinated (ep. 102 quaest. 2, 12, 14, 15; cf.
with praedest. 9, 1719). The unpredestinated, or
foreknown, on the other hand, under all circumstances, fall
into ruin, as parts of the massa perditionis. Even if they
appear to be true Christians, called, justified, regenerated
through baptism, renewedthey will not be saved, because
they have not been elected (don. pers. 9:21). No blame
attaches to God; they are alone to blame, as they simply
remain given over to their just fate: He who falls, falls by
his own will; and he who stands, stands by the will of God
(don. pers. 8:19). In such God reveals his justice, as in the
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G. Evaluation of Pelagianism
1. As a result of Adam's transgression, men are born in sin and by
nature are spiritually dead; therefore, if they are to become God's
children and enter into the kingdom of God, they must be born
anew of the Spirit
a) When Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, he
was warned not to eat of the fruit of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil on the threat of immediate
spiritual death (Gen. 2:16, 17).
b) Adam disobeyed and ate of the forbidden fruit (Gen.
3:1-7); consequently, he brought spiritual death upon
himself and upon the race (Rom. 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3; Col.
2:13).
c) David confessed that he, as well as all other men,
was born in sin (Psa. 51:5; 58:3)
d) Because men are born in sin and are by natural
spiritually dead, Jesus taught that men must be born
anew if they are to enter God's kingdom (John 3:5-7;
John 1:12-13).
2. As the result of the fall, men are blind and deaf to spiritual
truth.Their minds are darkened by sin; their hearts are corrupt and
evil (Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Eccl. 9:3; Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; John 3:19;
Rom. 8:7, 8; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 4:17-19; 5:8; Tit. 1:15
3. Before sinners are born into God's kingdom through the
regenerating power of the Spirit, they are children of the devil and
under his control; they are slaves to sin (John 8:34, 44; Eph. 2:2; 2
Tim. 2:26; 1 John 3:10; 5:19; Rom. 6:20; Tit. 3:3 .
4. The reign of sin is universal; all men are under its power;
consequently, none is righteous-- not even one (2 Chr. 6:36; Job
15:14-16; Psa. 130:3; 142:2; Prov. 20:9; Eccl. 7:20, 29; Isa. 53:6;
Isa. 64:6; Rom. 3:9-12; James 3:2, 8; 1 John 1:8,10
5. Men left in their dead state are unable of themselves to repent,
to believe the gospel, or to come to Christ. They have no power
within themselves to change their nature or to prepare themselves
for salvation (Job 14:4; Jer. 13:23;Matt. 7:16-18; 12:33; John 6:44,
65; Rom. 11:35, 36; 1 Cor. 2:14; 1 Cor. 4:7; 2 Cor. 3:5 .
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XI.
Semi-Pelagianism
A. Introduction
1. Church councils condemned Pelagianism in 418 and again in
431, but this rejection did not mean the acceptance of everything in
the Augustinian system.
a) Augustine's teaching on grace may be summarized
as follows: Humanity shared in Adam's sin and therefore
has become a massa damnationis from which no one
can be extricated save by a special gift of divine grace
that cannot be merited; yet God in his inscrutable
wisdom chooses some to be saved and grants graces
that will infallibly but freely lead them to salvation. The
number of the elect is set and can be neither increased
nor decreased.
b) Nevertheless, Vitalis of Carthage and a community of
monks at Hadrumetum, Africa (c. 427), contested these
principles, asserting that they destroyed freedom of the
will and all moral responsibility.
c) They, in turn, affirmed that the unaided will
performed the initial act of faith. In response Augustine
produced Grace and Free Will and Rebuke and Grace,
which contain a resume of his arguments against the
Semi - Pelagians, and stress the necessary preparation
of the will by prevenient grace.
2. Thus, Augustine won the day in the conflict with Pelagianism,
but his views were not by any means generally accepted in all their
details.
a) Offense was taken, especially at his doctrines of
mans absolute inability to do good and of
predestination, however for the time being his illustrious
name and the charm of his writings may have
smothered opposition.
b) But, even before his death, doubts were openly
expressed upon these points. In the cloister at
Hadrumetum there were some, he reports, who
preached grace in such a way that they deny that the
will of man is free, and all discipline and works were
thus abolished (Aug. ep. 214:1; cf. corr. et gr. 5:8); while
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C. Problems
1. Augustine's views are new and represent a departure from the
teachings of the church fathers, especially Tertullian, Ambrose, and
Jerome
2. Augustine's teaching of predestination "cripples the force of
preaching, reproof, and moral energy plunges men into despair,"
and introduces "a certain fatal necessity."
3. Augustine's strong views are unnessary to refute and escape
the heresies of Pelagius
D. Principles
1. In distinguishing between the beginning of faith (initium fidei)
and the increase of faith (augmentum fidei), one may refer the
former to the power of the free will, while the faith itself and its
increase is absolutely dependent upon God;
2. The gratuity of grace is to be maintained against Pelagius in so
far as every strictly natural merit is excluded; this, however, does
not prevent nature and its works from having a certain claim to
grace;
3. As regards final perseverance in particular, it must not be
regarded as a special gift of grace, since the justified man may of
his own strength persevere to the end;
4. The granting or withholding of baptismal grace in the case of
children depends on the Divine prescience of their future
conditioned merits or misdeeds.
5. God desires to save all people, and the propitiation of Christ's
atonement is available to all.
6. Predestination is based on divine fore-knowledge
7. There is not "a definite number of persons to be elected or
rejected," since God "wishes all men to be saved, and yet not all
men are saved."
E. Opposition
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2. Council of Arles
3. Synod of Orange
a) The sin of Adam has not injured the body only, but
also the soul of man
b) The sin of Adam has brought sin and death upon all
mankind
c) Grace is not merely bestowed when prayed for it, but
grace itself causes us to pray for it.
d) Even the beginning of faith, the disposition to
believe, is effected by grace
e) All good thoughts and works are God's gift
f) Even regeneration and the saints need continually
the divine help.
g) What God loves in us, is not our merit, but his own
gift
h) The free will weakened in Adam, can only be restored
through the grace of baptism
i) All good that we possess is God's gift, and therefore
no one should boast.
j) When man sins, he does his own will; when he does
good, he executes the will of God, yet voluntarily
k) Through the fall free will ahs been so weakened, that
without prevenient grace no one can love God, believe
on Him, or do good for God's sake.
l) In every good work the beginning proceeds not from
us, but God inspires in us faith and love to Him without
merit precedent on our part, so that we desire baptism,
and after baptism can, with His help, fulfill His will
(Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 3:867, 869).
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