Theo – Early Apologists and their Fight Against Heresies
Montanism: prophet of the Holy Spirit
The Early Apologists
- A group of well – educated Christians who defended the faith
from heresies through their writings
Heresies
- Aside from persecution, the proliferation of heresies (false
teachings) against the early church threatened the unity and
stability of the Christians.
2 Peter 2:1 NKJV – there will be false teachers among you
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 – “For such men are false apostles,
deceitful workers, disgusting themselves as apostles of Christ.
No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of
light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise
themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be
according to their deeds”
Counterfeit Faiths (1 Peter 2.9-10)
- false Christ – Matt. 24:24
- false prophets & apostles – 2 Cor. 11:13-15; 1 Jno. 4:1
- false brethren – Gal. 2:4
- false teachers – 2 Pet. 2:1
- false churches – Rev. 2:5
- false gospels – Gal. 1:6-7
Note:
- beware of the half-truth, you may have gotten hold of the
wrong half
Heresies Against Early Church
1. Gnosticism: special salvific knowledge
- derived from the Greek term gnosis which means knowledge
- the Gnostics, adherents of Gnosticism, claimed to have a
special, salvific type of knowledge
- Philip Hughes elaborates: Gnosticism proclaimed its
teaching, its rites and practices to be divinely revealed and have
been transmitted and preserved through some mysterious
tradition
- Gnostics: They viewed the world of matter as evil and the
spirit alone is good
- human body, since it is a matter, is defiled and evil
- even marriage for them is evil due to the mortal bodily
desires that accompany with it, like person’s sexual desires
and pleasures
- resurrection of Jesus: As a result the bodily resurrection of
Jesus was denied by the Gnostics
- they claimed that their dualism explained the origin of evil far
better than the Christian view
- conflict with Christianity: In terms of practice & doctrine, the
Gnostics truly differed & came to a point of conflict with
Christianity
- their numbers increased due to determinism which claimed
that small elect minority (Gnostics) are assured of salvation.
2. Marcionism: old testament God and new testament God
- named after its founder Marcion
- its belief was first a reaction of the contradicting God of the
“Old Testament” and the “New Testament”
- Adalbert Hamman: described Marcionism as “the error of
Marcion” who rejected the vengeful God of the Old Testament in
favor of the Good God revealed in Jesus Christ
- Philip Hughes mentions: For Marcion there were two Gods,
the lesser of whom was the creator of the visible world
- it is this god, Demiurge, who jealous of his own created
man, expelled him from Paradise & so began the history of
human sin and misery
- Salvation is from the good God, who sent Jesus Christ to
save men from the bond of the Demiurge, & was himself God
but man in appearance only, for matter was essentially evil, &
so He cannot take on a real body
- Marcion: an advocate of a loving God but he cannot simply
reconcile the “vindictive God” of the Old Testament, based on
his own interpretation
- he found himself deviating from the true teaching of the
Church
- He equated the God of the Old Testament as undeserving to
be God because of the wars & conflicts that were recorded in
his name
- he also formulated his own canon of scriptures that excluded
the whole Old Testament
3.
- Made an important mark in the history of the Church when its
leader, Montanus (135 A.D.), claimed a special inspiration from
the Holy Spirit
- Hubert Jedin: describes the development of such claim
- It began in 170 A.D., when the recently baptized Montanus,
in Phrygia, proclaimed to his fellow Christians, with ecstatic
behavior and strange, obscure language, that he was the
mouthpiece and prophet of the Holy Spirit
- Montanus claimed that through him, to lead the Church to all
truth
- at first it was received with some doubts but later two women
Priscilla and Maximillia joined him in uttering prophecies
- After these series of prophesies, Montanus promised his
adherents a higher place in the approaching heavenly
Jerusalem, then a wave of enthusiasm swept all hesitations
- 200: Montanism was condemned by Pope Zephyrinus, putting
a gradual end of the movement
4. Manichaenism: battle between good and evil
- Was founded by Mani (216-276)
- a Persian priest who had the deliberate plan to unite in a new
religion the best elements of the old
- he retained the ascetical practice of Gnosticism & its attitude
on matters of evil
- He preached that there is a fundamental battle between good
and evil, with opposing forces struggling for the souls of humans
- He claimed that all great religious teachers, Jesus included,
had come to teach people about the world of light, and how they
might struggle toward it, by ascetical practices such as celibacy
and vegetarianism
- Manicheanism rose to greater prominence when it won Saint
Augustin of Hippo as one of their members
- But Augustine’s conversion to Christian faith turned him into
an ultimate adversary of Manicheanism and the great defender
of Christian practice and doctrine
Christian Response: The Apologists
Apologists: After the Apostles, a new breed of dedicated
Christian men devoted their lives for the propagation and
defense of the faith through their writings
- now, we might ask the question: How did the Christian
apologists respond to these distortions of doctrines and the
division created by heresies?
Apologists
1. Clement of Rome: the 4th Pope; 30-100 AD
- There is no doubt that Clement of Rome stood as an important
figure after the time of the apostles
- his writings seek to defend and propagate the Christian faith
- his endeavors won him the reverence and praise of being great
pastoral leader in the first century
- In Philippians 4:3, we read:
- And I ask you also, true yokefellow, help these women for
they have labored side by side with me in the gospel together
with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names
are in the book of life
- Scholars & expert believes that the Clement referred to in
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is the Clement who became the
4th pope of the Church (after the papacy of St. Peter, Linus &
Anacletus)
- Scholars & expert Clement also wrote & Epistle to the Church
at Corinth
- as cited in by the author A. Cleveland Coxe (1994), Eusebius
wrote:
- There is one acknowledge Epistle of this Clement, great and
admirable, which he wrote in the name of the Church of Rome
to the Church of Corinth…
- There is no doubt that Clement of Rome stood as an important
figure after the time of the apostles
2. Polycarp of Smyrna: bishop of Smyrna; 65-155 AD
- Polycarp was in direct contact with the Apostles, therefore our
direct link to the Lord’s disciples
- we can discern the rich influence of John & Paul in his Epistle
- wrote to the Church at Philippi on the exhortation of virtue, the
practice of love, hope & patience, the reminders for deacons,
youths and virgins, & the duties of presbyters, & all Christians
- Let us then preserve unceasingly in our hope, and in the
pledge of our righteousness, that is in Christ Jesus
- He was betrayed by a servant, asked to denounce his faith in - Quintos Septimus Florens Tertullianus: most remembered
Jesus by his persecutors, refused to revile Christ, stood by his strong character, & pure brilliance for the Church’s
unthreatened by torture and death, and embraced martyrdom by defense against heresies
being burned alive inside a stadium before multitude of people - Historians find it difficult to categorically determine his roots
- The martyrdom of Polycarp was well recorded by ancient - but it is certain that he was well educated in the law, rhetoric
writers, and was considered as one of the most inspiring stories and Greek
of the early Christians that defied human persecution and - Joseph Kelly describes him: historian; Tertullian was the first
withstood the trial of faith, even the fearful test of death great Latin writer who wrote extensively
3. Ignatius of Antioch: bishop of Antioch; 30-107 AD - he created much Latin terminology, which in turn found its
- Adalbert Hamman briefly describes his life: Coming from way into English
humble origins, Ignatius succeeded Evodius as bishop of - tri: three
Antioch, the largest city of Syria, at the beginning of the 2nd - unitas: unity
century, when the Church was 50 years old - trinitas: trinity
- Originally a pagan and influenced by philosophy - he also used the words substantia and persona
- he was arrested around 110 & taken under military escort to - he was truly a fighter against faulty reasoning and divisive false
Rome teaching
- he was not beheaded, but thrown to the wild beasts for food - he produced a number of apologetical writings against
- he fought the Judaizers and the Docetists Marcion, against paganism and heresy..
- Judaizers were Christians who felt that all Christians, Gentile Conclusion
converts included, must follow the Jewish law - The Catholic Church was not immune from attacks of heretical
Judaizers: make Jewish convert to Judaism teachings, and false claims by certain groups
- follow Jewish customs or religious rites - through its apologists grounded and defended herself against
- Docetism: this divine Christ would never touch flesh, which is heresies by making use of its sources of teaching
evil - The Church made use of its sources of teaching, namely, the
- Jesus only seem human Apostolic Tradition, the Sacred Scripture and the guidance of the
- Jesus only appeared to die Magisterium (the official teaching office of the Church)
- “Christ” left “Jesus” before the Crucifixion - Today, the Church is confronted with new challenge in the
- Docetists: was the name given to the belief that Jesus did not midst of a very pluralistic world and growing culture of relativism,
really have a body but only seemed to have one (in Greek and subjectivism
dokeo) - truth becomes a matter of personal judgment due to the
- they deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus and his human contagious influence of mass media and the internet
appearance - The Catholic Church today has continued to play its mission as
- It’s adherents probably wanted to protect the divine Son of the instrument and vanguard of the truth even if it appears to be
God from the corruptibility of the flesh, but a Christ with a unpopular
phantom body could not suffer, die or rise - its position for truth is always non-negotiable
4. Irenaeus of Lyons: defender against Gnostics; 120-202 AD - being member of the Catholic Church we are called to examine
- St. Irenaeus was best remembered as the apologist who the basis of our belief
notably defended the Christian practice and doctrine in his great - let us guard ourselves from deception of relativism and
work, Adversus Haeresus (Against Heresies) which condemned temptation of pure subjectivism in our choices
and refuted the theological and moral errors of Gnosticism - let us continue to commit and stand for the truth!
- He was able to point out that what the Gnostics preached as
salvific revelation of God was not rooted in the teachings of the
apostles but a fruit of their intellectual distortions tailored to cater
their own agenda as exclusive recipients of God’s salvation
- the word of God our Lord Jesus Christ, through His
transcendent love, became man, so that men could become
divine
5. Justin Martyr: pagan convert
- After his conversion from paganism, Justin Martyr found his
peace in the hope offered by the Christian faith
- he was impressed with the extra-ordinary fearlessness which
the Christians displayed in the presence of death
- He acted as evangelists, taking every opportunity to proclaim
the Gospel as the only safe and certain philosophy, the only way
to salvation
- his works – the two Apologies, and the Dialogue with Typhro,
earned him merit as its genuine writer
- Dialogue with Typhro is a fascinating and engaging
conversation between Justin and Typhro about matters
pertaining to the Jews and the Christians
- Dialogue starts with intellectual inquiry on their philosophies
- 2nd in the emphasis on the primacy of Christ as the fulfilled
prophecy
- 3rd, highlights the role of the Christians in God’s plan of
salvation
- ends with the exhortation for the conversion of the Jews to
Christ in order to be saved
- The Apology of Justin Martyr opens with a Christian address to
the Roman Emperor Titus and the Roman persons of nobility,
power and influence for the demand of justice from the
persecutions that Christians suffered
- The later part is dedicated in proving the fulfillment of the
prophesies of the Old Testament in the life & person of Jesus
Christ
- it closes by describing the life of the Christians centered on the
practice of Baptism, Eucharist, and its weekly worship
6. Tertullian: father of African Church