Session 3: Apostolic Fathers
Session 3 Apostolic
Fathers
Preview
We will look at the “Apostolic Fathers” who wrote
before A.D. 170 and helped define the faith of the church.
Objectives
•
become familiar with the writings of the Apostolic Fathers
Assignment to be done before class
A.
Read: Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, chapters 4, 5 and 9
Write a big idea paragraph on your
reading in Shelly.
B.
Read the following articles and give a one paragraph answer to the question
asked.
3. The Apostolic Fathers
What was the theology in relation to sanctification?
C.
Write in your journal. Reflect on and respond to the following:
AUGUSTINE’S
CONFESSIONS, READING `2
The Apostolic Fathers
The Early
Church leaders who personally had known the apostles, or who had known direct
disciples of the apostles, and who left writings, are known as the
“Apostolic
Fathers.” They include Ignatius, Clement of Rome, the Shepherd of Hermas,
Polycarp, Papias, and the writers of the Epistle of Barnabas, the Epistle to
Diognetus,
Second Clement, and the Didache.
The designation
“Apostolic Father” dates to 1672, when Jean Cotelier, a scholar, collected some
of the church’s earliest writings. Though some of these writings were in the
form of tracts or catechisms, most were letters. They possessed a literary
simplicity and evidenced earnest religious conviction. At the same time, they showed
little influence of Hellenistic philosophy.
These early
writings were intended, primarily, for those in the church, which as the
writings indicate, was under attack and needed order. They depict a more exactly
organized church than described in the New Testament. They indicated the
church’s need to preserve the apostolic witness in order to guard the church
from extremes. The writings of the Fathers indicate a rising sense of unified
consciousness about both ethics and doctrine. The creeds imbedded in these early
writings were extrapolations upon baptismal formulas.
IGNATIUS OF
ANTIOCH (c.
35-107)
Ignatius was a
disciple of the apostles and was bishop of Antioch—the second to be appointed
there “in succession to Peter” [per Eusebius]. Ignatius was arrested (about
A.D. 96-98) and sent bound to Rome to be fed to the lions. Along the journey to Rome he wrote his several letters.
Ignatius stopped at Smyrna on the way, meeting with the church there and their Bishop
Polycarp. Ignatius wrote an epistle to Ephesus—which had sent their Bishop
Onesimus to greet him—and possibly also another to the apostle John who was still
residing in Ephesus at that time, along with a third to Mary, who may have
still lived there with John.
Ignatius sent
epistles to the churches at Magnesia, Tralles, and Rome. From there he went on
to Troas and wrote letters to the Smyrneans, to Polycarp, and to the
Philadelphians—seven
“canonical” letters in all. These letters reveal much about the life of the
church in that day, particularly the significance of the role of the
bishop, and the
unity of the church and the sacraments.
The Lord’s
Supper was important to Ignatius. He believed “the bread that is the flesh of
Jesus Christ” became present in the Lord’s Supper, and he believed it must be
administered with the authority of a bishop. In this as in other matters, a
bishop helped to safeguard the unity of the church.
Ignatius
believed the goal of salvation is “union” with God, and that the goal of this
union was Christlikeness. The principle means of gaining this was through the
Lord’s Supper.
His view of Christian life was so high that he believed “no one who professes
faith sins, nor does one who has gotten love hate.” The perfection of love
maintains Christian unity. The Holy Spirit, Ignatius wrote, joined in the work
of redemption in the life of the believer.
Ignatius’s
letter to the Ephesians included a hymn. Though Ignatius may not have authored
the hymn, it reflects the early beliefs of the church regarding Christ. The
later Apostles’ Creed incorporated many of the ideas of the hymn, leaving in
the paradox of the full humanity and full deity of Christ:
Uncreated,
and yet born;
God-and-Man
in One agreed,
Very-Life-in-Death
indeed,
Fruit
of God and Mary’s seed;
At
once impassible and torn
By
pain and suffering here below:
Jesus
Christ, whom as our Lord we know.
As bishop of
Antioch, Ignatius had a wide influence on Christianity in Syria and eastward.
Jesus, Ignatius emphasized, was not an angelic being, but one who truly ate and
drank. Ignatius believed the Christian’s imitation of Christ and union with Him
must become so complete that he or she is ready to die. While they lived,
Christians must be like Christ in acts of kindness and charity. Tradition says
Ignatius was martyred at the Colosseum in Rome.
THE LETTER OF
BARNABAS (c.
70-100)
This epistle by
an unknown author of the first two centuries was attributed to Barnabas, Paul’s
companion. The epistle depicts a doctrine of Two Ways—the way of the Jews and
the way of Christ. The way of animal sacrifices, the material kingdom, and other
aspects of Judaism were mistakes. The Jews had taken too literally what God had
revealed to them. While the epistle’s tone was antagonistic to the Jews, it depicted
Jesus as a rabbi and showed how the Prophets and L aw of the Old Testament
pointed to and culminated in Christ. Jesus had been destined to
suffer. The
picture of the church in the epistle does not indicate a rapidly expanding
church, but emphasizes to prove from Scripture that Jesus fulfilled prophecy, the
letter bears characteristics like those of Alexandria.
CLEMENT OF ROME
(d.
c. 100)
Clement is
considered the third or fourth “bishop” of Rome. Roman Catholics consider Peter
the first bishop, and record that he was followed by Linus, who was
mentioned in 2
Timothy 4:21, and who served from A.D. 66 to 78. Linus was followed by
Anacletus, who served from 79 to 91, and Anacletus by Clement, who
tradition
reports, was taught by the apostles Peter and Paul, and is identified as the
one referred to by Paul at Philippi (Phil 4:3). Yet the epistles of Clement do
not
mention either
Paul or Peter in connection to the founding of the church in Rome, or link them
to the unique position of the Roman church.
Clement wrote
letters to various churches outside of Rome. The tone of the letters was
fraternal, yet authoritative. Churches apparently appealed to Clement for
advice, and Clement’s advice constituted a kind of intervention in the life of
the churches beyond Rome.
Clement’s
epistle to the Corinthians, called “First Clement” was written about A.D. 95.
Like Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, Clement’s letter deals with a
situation of
strife in the church. Clement severely reprimands the Corinthians for
unlawfully deposing their elders, thereby cutting themselves off from the apostolic
faith and the unity of the church. Clement issues a call for repentance and the
reinstatement of the elders. Those who possessed authority in the church should
be obeyed. Clement emphasized maintaining Christian tradition as a way of preserving
right order. Clement’s arguments for order and organization reflected the
concerns of the western church.
At the same
time, Clement sought to balance law with love. He wrote:
Let
him who has love in Christ keep the commandments of Christ. Who can describe
the bond of the love of God? What man is able to tell the excellence of its
beauty, as it ought to be told? The height to which love exalts is unspeakable.
Love unites us to God. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love beareth all
things, is long-suffering in all things. There is nothing base, nothing
arrogant in love. Love admits of no schisms: love gives rise to no seditions:
love does all things in harmony. By
love have all
the elect of God been made perfect; without love nothing is well-pleasing to
God. In love has the Lord taken us to himself. On account of the
love he bore
us, Jesus Christ our Lord gave his blood for us by the will of God; his flesh
for our flesh, and his soul for our souls.
Clement
continued along this line in describing perfection in terms of perfect love:
Ye
see, beloved, how great and wonderful a thing is love, and that there is no
declaring its perfection. Who is fit to be found in it, except such as God has
vouchsafed to
render so? Let us pray, therefore, and implore of his mercy, that we may live blameless
in love, free from all human partialities for one above another. All the
generations from Adam even unto this day have passed away; but those who,
through the grace of God, have been made perfect in love, now possess a place
among the godly, and shall be manifest at the revelation of the kingdom of
Christ.
Clement further
defined the purpose of this love:
Blessed
are we, beloved, if we keep the commandments of God in the harmony of love;
that so through love our sins may be forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not impute to him, and in whose mouth
there is no guile. This blessedness cometh upon those who have been chosen by
God through Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Clement closed
with this benediction for the Corinthians:
May
God, who seeth all things, and who is the ruler of all spirits and the Lord of
all flesh—who chose our Lord Jesus Christ and us through him to be a
peculiar
people—grant to every soul that calleth upon his glorious and holy name, faith,
fear, peace, patience, long-suffering, self-control, purity, and sobriety, to
the well-pleasing of his name, through our High Priest and Protector, Jesus
Christ, by
whom be to him
glory, and majesty, and power, and honor, both now and for evermore. Amen.
Clement’s
writings indicate little regard for the outside world. He assumed the church to
be loyal to the Roman Empire, that it would remain at peace with it.
At the same
time, there is no stated concern in his writings for the return of Christ.
It is debated
whether he also wrote “Second Clement,”which was composed in Rome about A.D.
100. This epistle or sermon stressed almsgiving. It also made
creedal-sounding
statements directed against heresies. Clement’s writings were considered
canonical by several early writers, including Irenaeus, Clement of
Alexandria, and
Origen. The early Syriac church, as well, treated the letters as biblical.
PAPIAS (c. 130)
Papias was
bishop of Hierapolis about A.D. 130. Irenaeus writes that Papias was a disciple
of the apostle John and a companion of Polycarp. Papias composed at least five
treatises, none of which still exist, except for quotes by Irenaeus and
Eusebius.
From Papias,
apparently, the church remembered that Mark’s Gospel was dependent on Peter,
and that Matthew composed materials in Hebrew.
At the Second
Coming, Papias believed, there would be joys for Christians and material
benefits. Furthermore, there would be a millennium in which the messianic kingdom
would be established, with the saints enjoying fruits on earth.
SHEPHERD OF
HERMAS (c.
140-155)
The letter was
probably written 140-155, perhaps by a brother of Pope Pius. It drew its name
from an angel who visited Hermas in the form of a shepherd. The
book was widely
used in the Greek-speaking church and served as a textbook for those seeking
baptism. The writer was a one-time
Christian slave sold in Rome
to a woman,
Rhoda, who set him free. He married and became a wealthy merchant, but lost all
in a persecution of Christians.
The book has
three parts: the first deals with visions, the second with mandates, and the
third with similitudes. It teaches the necessity of penance and the possibility
of forgiveness of sins after baptism. It indicates that perfect love is an
expected norm, and out of this perfect love there flowed acceptance for repentant
ones fallen into sin. Hermas expected those baptized to be able to live without
sin, but the church inevitably had to deal with those who did not avail themselves
of the grace. More than other writers of the time, Hermas emphasized the work
of the Holy Spirit in believers. The Holy Spirit empowers believers to live pure
lives. This was not just an ideal, but a norm.
POLYCARP (c. 69-155)
Polycarp,
bishop of Smyrna, was a leading churchman of his time, probably a disciple of
John, and a staunch defender of orthodox faith against the heretics. On his way
to martyrdom, he wrote several letters; only one remains, written to the church
in Philippi. Polycarp recognized his own leadership over the Philippians and
urged Christians to obey the word of righteousness and accept discipline. He
argued against those who denied that Jesus had come in the flesh,
and those who supposed that Christians, being under grace
rather than under the law, were excused from right behavior. The letter
emphasized salvation through adherence to tradition and orthodox faith. It also
emphasized conduct as a crucial means of salvation and demonstrated continuities
between the Old and New Testaments.
EPISTLE TO
DIOGNETUS
This letter was
probably written by an unknown Christian—possibly Quadratus of Asia Minor—in
Asia Minor in the second century, to an inquirer by the name of
Diognetus—possibly Emperor Hadrian. The letter uses Johannine categories in
speaking of Christ and the revelation of God. The author explains why Judaism
and paganism cannot be tolerated and calls Christians the “soul of the world.”
Salvation comes through God’s love. The letter also included the Logos doctrine
that later would be become prominent among Christian apologists.
Conclusion
These early
writings helped to define and shape the beliefs of early Christians. They
depict a church in the process of
1)
developing liturgies and rituals, and
2) defining
a Christian’s place in the world.
They show a church
that very consciously understood itself as standing apart from the cultures in
which it existed. The church was developing Christian doctrine—its
beliefs, teachings,
and confessions—based on the word of God.
Preparation Before Session 4
Read Bruce L Shelley, Church History in Plain Language
Chapter 6, 10 and 11
Write a Big
Idea paragraph from you reading.
Read the following articles and give a one paragraph answer
to the question asked.
1
Development of the Canon
How
can we help people to distinguish between the inspired nature of the
Word
of God and other “inspirational” writings?
2.Reason
and Revelation: Early Church Apologetics
What are the ways in which the Christian church in your
culture today has
used contemporary thought
3.
The First Five Councils and Early Creed
What
role does an understanding of tradition have within the Wesleyan-holiness and
broader evangelical heritage?
Write in your journal. Reflect on and respond to the
following:
AUGUSTINE’S CONFESSIONS, READING 3 BOOK TWO
He concentrates here on his sixteenth year, a
year of idleness, lust, and adolescent mischief. The memory of stealing some
pears prompts a deep probing of the motives and aims of sinful acts. “I became
to myself a wasteland.”
CHAPTER I
1. I wish now to review in memory my past
wickedness and the carnal corruptions of my soul—not because I still love them,
but that I may love you, O my God. For love of your love I do this, recalling
in the bitterness of self-examination my wicked ways, that you may grow sweet
to me, your sweetness without deception! Your sweetness happy and assured! Thus
you may gather me up out of those fragments in which I was torn to pieces,
while I turned away from you, O Unity, and lost myself among “the many.” For as
I became a youth, I longed to be satisfied with worldly things, and I dared to
grow wild in a succession of various and shadowy loves. My form wasted away,
and I became corrupt in your eyes, yet I was still pleasing to my own eyes—and
eager to please the eyes of men and women.
CHAPTER IV
9. Theft is punished by your law, O Lord, and by
the law written in men and women’s hearts, which not even ingrained wickedness
can erase. . . . Yet I had a desire to commit robbery, and did so, compelled to
it by neither hunger nor poverty, but through a contempt for well doing and a
strong impulse to iniquity. For I pilfered something that I already had in
sufficient measure, and of much better quality. I did not desire to enjoy what
I stole, but only the theft and the sin itself. There was a pear tree close to
our own vineyard, heavily laden with fruit, which was not tempting either for
its color or for its flavor. Late one night—having prolonged our games in the
streets until then, as our bad habit was—a group of young scoundrels, and I
among them, went to shake and rob this tree. We carried off a huge load of
pears, not to eat ourselves, but to dump out to the hogs, after barely tasting
some of them ourselves. Doing this pleased us all the more because it was
forbidden. Such was my heart, O God, such was my heart—which you did pity even
in that bottomless pit. Behold, now let my heart confess to you what it was
seeking there, when I was being gratuitously wanton, having no inducement to
evil but the evil itself. It was foul, and I loved it. I loved my own undoing.
I loved my error—not that for which I erred but the error itself. A depraved
soul, falling away from security in you to destruction in itself, seeking
nothing from the shameful deed but shame itself, seeking nothing from the
shameful deed but shame itself.
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