Early Church to the Reformation

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Early Church to the Reformation

• BI 3321

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Texts on the Persecution of the Early Christians.
Compiled by Michael Marlowe

• Original Sources
• Pliny's Letter to the Emperor Trajan
• Persecution after the Fire of Rome
• Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs
• False Reports and Accusations
• Scapegoats for Every Misfortune
• The Diocletian Persecution
• Libelli - Certificates of Paganism
• http//www.bible-researcher.com/persecution

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Detail from The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer by
Jean-Leon Gerome (1883) Christianus Sum
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A. Persecuted Servants

• The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the
  church.
• TertullianWe multiply whenever we are mown down
  by you the blood of Christians is seed.
• JeromeThe church of Christ has been founded by
  shedding its own blood, not that of others by
  enduring outrage, not by inflicting it.
  Persecutions have made it grow martyrdoms have
  crowned it.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 1. Causes For Persecution
• Rome generally tolerated foreign religions that
  were no danger to morality and discipline.
• Xtianity at first received shelter under Jewish
  privileges.
• But after the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, it
  became clear that Xtianity was a distinct
  religion from Judaism and was judged by Rome on
  its own merits or demerits.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 1. Causes For Persecution
• a. Christians refused emperor worship.
• b. Renounced and opposed all heathen worship.
• c. They were atheists (they had no images did
  not believe in the Roman gods).
• d. They preached foolish and unreasonable
  doctrines (incarnation, resurrection, worship of
  a crucified Jew).
• e. They injured trades that depended on idolatry.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 1. Causes For Persecution
• f. They earned dislike mistrust by their
  aloofness from society.
• g. They were accused of promiscuous immorality
  (a non-Xtian misunderstanding about Agape)
• h. They were accused of cannibalism (from a
  similar misunderstanding about the Lords
  Supper).

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 1. Causes For Persecution
• i. They were often blamed for natural
  disastersearthquakes, floods, famines, and
  pestilence.
• j. They were criticized for professing to know
  more of life reality than the learned
  philosophers.
• k. The Christian claim of uniqueness was a grave
  problem.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 1. Causes For Persecution
• l. Xtianity was never licensed, causing suspicion
  and mistrust (every new religion was required to
  be licensed).
• m. Xtianity frequently caused unrest and uproars
  as it grew.
• n. Xtianity held secret meetings thought to be
  politically dangerous.
• o. Most Xtians avoided civil and military service.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 1. Causes For Persecution
• Added to all of this must have been the
  inescapable animosity and antipathy of sinful
  hearts to a cleansing gospel.
• Non-Xtian society expressed its opposition
  through
• a. social ostracism
• b. oral discussions
• c. injury to position and business
• d. literary attacks
• e. personal persecutions

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 1. Causes For Persecution
• The persecutions involved
• a. confiscation of property
• b. banishment
• c. imprisonment
• d. labor in the mines
• e. torture
• f. execution by fire and wild beasts
• g. Roman citizens were executed by the sword.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 1. Causes For Persecution
• Christian reactions
• a. Those who suffered death were called martyrs.
• b. Those who survived great punishments and
  remained true to the faith were called
  confessors.
• c. Those who renounced Christ (permanently or
  temporarily) to escape torture, were called the
  lapsed.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 1. Causes For Persecution
• Christian reactions
• d. Those who bribed officers or purchased
  certificates that they had sacrificed to the gods
  were called libellatici.
• e. Those who delivered up copies of Scriptures
  were called traditores.

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Libelli

• The libelli were documents notarized by Roman
  authorities to certify that someone had offered
  sacrifice to their idols. In times of
  persecution these documents were accepted as
  proof that someone was not a Christian. Many of
  these libelli have been discovered in excavations
  in Egypt.

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A Libellus of the Decian Persecution (A. D.
250) To those in charge of the sacrifices of the
village Theadelphia, from Aurelia Bellias,
daughter of Peteres, and her daughter, Kapinis.
We have always been constant in sacrificing to
the gods, and now too, in your presence, in
accordance with the regulations, I have poured
libations and sacrificed and tasted the
offerings, and I ask you to certify this for us
below. May you continue to prosper. (2nd hand)
We, Aurelius Serenus and Aurelius Hermas, saw you
sacrificing. (3rd hand) I, Hermas,
certify. (1st hand) The 1st year of the Emperor
Caesar Gaius Messius Qunitus Traianus Decius Pius
Felix Augustus, Pauni 27.
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To the Commissioners of Sacrifice of the Village
of Alexanders Island From Aurelius Diogenes,
the son of Satabus, of the Village of Alexanders
Island, aged 72 years ---scar on his right
eyebrow. I have always sacrificed regularly to
the gods, and now, in your presence, in
accordance with the edict, I have done sacrifice,
and poured the drink offering, and tasted of the
sacrifices, and I request you to certify the
same. Farewell. -----Handed in by me, Aurelius
Diogenes. -----I certify that I saw him
sacrificing signature obliterated. Done in
the first year of the Emperor, Caesar Gaius
Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius Pius Felix
Augustus, second of the month Epith. June 26,
250 A.D.
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 1. Causes For Persecution
• Persecutions began almost accidentally, at least
  spontaneously, but soon became a planned and
  legal policy of the state.
• From local situations, the persecutions spread
  out to include the vast territory of the empire,
  affecting Xtians wherever they were found.

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(No Transcript)
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• Orosius (5th c. ch. hist.) listed 10 periods of
  persecution this was too many for the general
  persecutions and too few for the provincial and
  local.
• Some persecuting emperors (e.g., Nero, Domitian,
  Galerius) were monstrous tyrants.
• Others (e.g., Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Decius,
  Diocletian) were motivated not by hatred but by a
  determination to maintain law and the power of
  the government.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• Some were relatively favorable to Xtians.
• One thing that all the emperors had in common was
  a basic ignorance of the true nature and
  character of the new religion.
• The 10 traditional periods of persecution are the
  following

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• a. Nero
• 54-58 began a reign of great prosperity
  enterprise became decadent and ruthless.
• Unchecked extravagances brought grave financial
  difficulties to the empire.
• Executed nobles who opposed him suspected of
  causing the fire which destroyed a large part of
  Rome in 64.
• Sought to blame the Xtians at Rome for the fire.

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Nero
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• a. Nero
• Severely punished them for the fire for their
  hatred of the human race.
• The Caesar to whom Paul appealed (Acts
  2510)unknown whether he took part in Pauls
  trial.
• Tradition says both Peter and Paul were martyred
  at Rome during his reign.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• a. Nero
• Increasing unpopularity, revolts throughout the
  empire and desertion by the Praetorians caused N.
  to commit suicide in June 68.
• After his death was a widespread belief that the
  tyrant would return (Nero redivivus) this myth
  sometimes considered the basis for the Beast of
  Rev. 1311-18.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• a. Nero
• Number of the beast, 666, corresponds to Neron
  Caesar in Gk notation.
• Neros persecution set a precedent for treating
  them as criminals and condemning them for the
  Name (of Christ) by summary magisterial
  jurisdiction.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• b. Domitian
• 81-96 gradually assumed despotic powers and
  demanded that public worship be given to him as
  Dominus et Deus.
• Toward end of his reign, he declared a widespread
  persecution of Christians and Jews.
• Executed Flavius Clemens Glabrio and banished
  Domitilla for Atheismall personally related to
  him but suspected of being Xtians.

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Domitian
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• b. Domitian
• Tradition holds it was during the Domitian
  persecutions that the apostle John was banished
  to Patmos, where he received the revelations
  recorded in the Apocalypse (the NT book of
  Revelation).

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• c. Trajan
• 98-177 one of the best emperors.
• But when he revived the rigid laws against secret
  societies, his provincial officers applied them
  to Xtians because of their frequent meetings for
  worship.
• In 112 issued regulations which made Xtianity
  formally an illegal religion, and which formed
  the basis of all subsequent state persecutions.

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Trajan
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• c. Trajan
• Regulations
• 1) Xtians as such were not to be sought out by
  officials.
• 2) But when accused and convicted, they were to
  be executed.
• 3) Those who denied being Xtians and those who
  renounced Xtianity were to be freed.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• c. Trajan
• 4) anonymous accusations against Xtians were not
  to be considered.
• Overall, Trajan left the matter of carrying out
  these regulations in the hands of provincial
  governors, resulting in a wide variety of
  intensity in persecutions.
• Following Trajan, emperor Hadrian tended toward
  toleration rather than repression.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• c. Trajan
• Churches were allowed to hold property, but by
  grace, not by law.
• He is said to have decreed that Xtians should be
  executed only if they had committed specific
  crimes.
• Was during Hadrians reign that the Apologists
  did most of their writing, several directing
  their pleas directly to the emperor, perhaps
  influenced by his leniency.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• d. Marcus Aurelius
• 161-180 deeply concerned for the moral strength
  material prosperity of the empire
• Felt that the Xtians were in conflict with his
  avowed purposes because their ethic was
  irreconcilable with his extreme Stoicism.
• They also resisted the official state religion
  and recognized Romans and barbarians as equals
  since neither were Xtians.

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Marcus Aurelius
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• d. Marcus Aurelius
• He sanctioned severe persecutions at Lyons.
• The leading apologist, Justin Martyr, was
  beheaded at Rome during these widespread
  persecutions.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• e. Septimius Severus
• Not an active persecutor, but was responsible for
  some notable martyrdoms.
• 202, he forbade conversion to Xtianity Perpetua
  was imprisoned condemned to execution in the
  arena at Carthage.
• Tertullian (who recorded Perpetuas martyrdom)
  made a strong appeal to Severus for toleration.

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Septimius Severus
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• e. Septimius Severus
• T. seems to have had some effect on the emperor.
• Following Ss death in 211, a long period of
  peace ensued under his successor Alexander
  Severus, who appeared well disposed toward the
  Xtians.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• f. Maximus Thrax
• 235-238 resorted again to persecution, some
  think out of mere opposition to his predecessor.
• He gave free course to the popular fury against
  Xtians, called the enemies of the gods,
  accused them of causing a devastating earthquake.
• Is credited with especially ordering bishops to
  be executed.

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Maximus Thrax
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• f. Maximus Thrax
• Some records indicate his order included the
  entire clergy.
• Legend in 10th c. accused him of the martyrdom of
  Ursula, a British princess, her company of
  11,000 virgins (probably highly exaggerated).
• But facts of history fix him as a rude barbarian
  who slaughtered Xtians and plundered heathen
  temples.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• g. Decius
• 249-251 short, but lasting, effect upon the
  status, even the theology, of Xtianity.
• First systematic persecution of Xtians, beg. with
  the execution of Fabian, Bishop of Rome, in Jan.
  250.
• Decreed that all citizens were required to
  furnish proof of having offered sacrifice to the
  emperor and state gods under pain of death.

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Decius
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• g. Decius
• The obvious move against Xtianity reveals how
  seriously the new religion was considered a
  threat to the state.
• Many were put to death, but many other denied the
  faith (the lapsed) or escaped through bribery
  (the libellatici), which led to controversy
  over penance, rebaptism and reconciliation.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• g. Decius
• The conflict resulting theological disputes
  between Cyprian, Novatian, and Cornelius set
  precedents for the developing episcopate.
• The persecutions by Decius were ended when he was
  killed in battle with the Goths in 253.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• h. Valerian
• 253-260 at first mild toward Xtianity, but
  changed in 257, making an effort to stop the
  progress of Xtianity without bloodshed.
• Banished ministers and prominent laymen,
  confiscated their property, prohibited
  religious assembly.
• When these measures failed, he brought the death
  penalty back.

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Valerian
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• h. Valerian
• Ordered the execution of all clergy laymen of
  high rank who would not recant.
• Most distinguished martyrs of this persecution
  were the bishops Sixtus II of Rome and Cyprian of
  Carthage.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• i. Aurelian
• 270-275 is listed by Orosius as one of the
  persecutors, but in fact he did not seriously
  trouble the church.
• His predecessor, Gallienus (260-268) had given
  peace to the church, even recognizing Xtianity as
  a legitimate religion.
• Aurelian, warlike energetic, sought to
  overthrow Gallienus policies issued an edict
  of persecution.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• i. Aurelian
• The edict was made void by his assassination.
• 6 emperors who followed rapidly from 275 to 284
  did not bother the Xtians.
• So, for some 40 yrs Xtianity enjoyed a calm and a
  great period of growth and prosperity.
• Large splendid houses of worship were built in
  the chief cities.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• i. Aurelian
• Churches amassed wealth, collections of sacred
  books, vessels of silver gold for
  administering the sacraments.
• Period was also filled with quarrels, intrigues,
  factions worldliness in the ch.
• While they had grown spiritually during
  persecutions, Xtians now appeared to grow
  physically diminish spiritually during
  prosperity.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• Greatest last persecution loomed on the
  horizon.
• j. Diocletian
• 284-305 made his main purpose to stabilize
  reform the empire.
• Created an absolute monarchy, centering all power
  in himself as the semidivine ruler making his
  palace the domus divina and his own person
  sacred.

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Diocletian
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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• j. Diocletian
• Divided the empire into East West for
  administration, strengthening power of Rome in
  areas where had been weak.
• At first, Xtians continued in the policy of
  toleration the atmosphere of calm.
• But in 303 the Great Persecution broke out when
  D. issued an edict ordering the demolition of all
  Xtian churches the burning of Xtian books.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• j. Diocletian
• Incidents which followed (fires unrest) led to
  further edicts, solely against the clergy,
  inflicting imprisonment, torture, death for the
  crime of resistance.
• A 4th edict in 304 extended these penalties to
  the laity also.
• The persecution resulted in a number of
  martyrdoms, continued for several years even
  after Diocletian abdicated.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• j. Diocletian
• His nephew, Maximin Daza, who had been given
  supreme command of Egypt and Syria, issued a
  fifth edict in 308.
• He commanded all Xtians to sacrifice eat the
  accursed offerings, ordering that all food in the
  markets be sprinkled with sacrificial wine.
• Xtians were left with no alternative but apostasy
  or starvation.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• j. Diocletian
• During the 10 yrs of Ds persecutions, Xtians
  throughout the empire were barbarously mutilated,
  condemned to lingering deaths in prisons mines,
  slaughtered by beasts in the arenas.
• Eusebius lived during this period, witnessed the
  persecutions in Caesarea, Tyre and Egypt and was
  himself imprisoned but released.

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A. Persecuted Servants

• 2. Periods of Persecution
• j. Diocletian
• He vividly describes the atrocities and the
  heroics of the persecuted.
• At last, he said, bloody swords became full and
  shattered, the executioners became weary, but the
  Xtians sang hymns of praise thanksgiving in
  honor to their God, even to their last breath.

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B. Persevering Believers

• The Xtian faith did not survive accidentally or
  easily.
• Strong hearts strident voices appeared when
  needed the most, their perseverance more than
  matched their foes persecution.
• By the end of the 1st c. thriving Xtian
  communities could be found throughout the
  eastern, southern western parts of the empire.

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B. Persevering Believers

• Xtianity had begun its worldwide conquest, but
  its expansion had been dependent upon the vision
  and leadership of the apostles, who were now all
  gone.
• New leaders thinkers were needed for the new
  kind of encounters the church faced.
• Persecutions had already begun, heresies were
  springing up intellectual challenges were
  arising.

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B. Persevering Believers

• Most of the available information on the post
  apostolic era comes from the Ecclesiastical
  History of Eusebius, written sometime before 325
  AD.
• Eusebiusbishop of Caesarea, personal friend of
  the emperor Constantine leader of the Council
  of Nicaea.
• He had access to the Xtian libraries of Caesarea
  and Jerusalem.

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B. Persevering Believers

• His work is our principal source for Xtian
  history of the period and has earned E. the title
  of Father of Church History.
• Other valuable writings of the period were
  produced by the leaders thinkers who were
  combating the adversaries of the church, and were
  the actors as well as the preservers of church
  history.

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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• Since late 17th c. the title Apostolic Fathers
  has been given to a group of church fathers who
  immediately succeeded the NT period.
• Writings were so named because it was long
  believed they were personal disciples of the
  apostles this erroneous idea has died but the
  title did not.
• Are 8 or 9 works of these writers, some of which
  hovered for a time on the edge of being included
  in the NT canon.

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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• a. Clement of Rome (fl. c. 96)
• Earliest of A.F. possibly the 3rd bishop of Rome
  possibly the Clement in Phil. 43.
• The epistle (commonly called I Clement) was
  written from Rome to Corinth to deal with the
  division in the Corinthian ch. over certain
  presbyters who had been deposed.
• Clement provides information on the state of the
  ministry of the time, on the history of the Roman
  church, and the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul.

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Clement of Rome
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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• a. Clement of Rome (fl. c. 96)
• II Clement is a homily (sermon), the earliest
  surviving Xtian sermon, setting out in general
  terms the character of the Xtian life and the
  duty of repentance.
• Because of the different style, it is generally
  considered to be by a separate author.

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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• a. Clement of Rome (fl. c. 96)
• II Clement is a homily (sermon), the earliest
  surviving Xtian sermon, setting out in general
  terms the character of the Xtian life and the
  duty of repentance.
• Because of the different style, it is generally
  considered to be by a separate author.

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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• b. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35-107)
• Early in 2nd c., I., bishop of Antioch, was
  seized in a persecution and taken to Rome to be
  thrown to wild beasts in the arena.
• On the way to martyrdom he wrote at least 7
  epistles.
• From Smyrna he wrote to chs. in Ephesus,
  Magnesia, Tralles, and Rome from Troas he wrote
  to Smyrna Philadelphia to Polycarp, the
  bishop of Smyrna.

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(No Transcript)
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Ignatius of Antioch
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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• b. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35-107)
• These epistles are the most imp. documents of the
  period reveal that the writer was passionately
  devoted to X had a consuming desire for
  martyrdom.
• With unusual insight into controversies yet to
  come in the ch, he insisted on the reality of
  both the divinity and humanity of X, upheld the
  office of bishop as the best hope for unity in
  Xtianity.

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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• b. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35-107)
• He may have been the first to use the 3-fold
  order of bishop, elder, and deacon.

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Ignatius
In like manner let all men respect the deacons as
Jesus Christ, and the presbyters as the council
of God and as the college of Apostles. Apart
from these there is not even the name of a
church.
To the Trallians, 3 Let no man do
aught of things pertaining to the Church apart
from the bishop. Let that be held a valid
eucharist which is under the bishop or one to
whom he shall have committed it. Wheresoever the
bishop shall appear, there lit the people be
even as where Jesus may be, there is the
universal Church. It is not lawful apart from
the bishop either to baptize or to hold a
love-feast but whatsoever he shall approve,
this is well-pleasing also to God that
everything which ye do may be sure and valid.

To the Smyrneans, 8
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Ignatius
I write to all the churches, and I bid all men
know, that of my own free will I die for God,
unless ye should hinder me. I exhort you, be not
an unseasonable kindness to me. Let me be given
to the wild beasts, for through them I can
attain unto God. I am Gods wheat, and I am
ground by the teeth of wild beast that I may
be found pure bread of Christ. Rather entice
the wild beasts, that they may become my
sepulchre and may leave no part of my
body behind, so that I may not, when I am fallen
asleep, be burdensome to any one. Then shall I
be truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the
world shall not so much as see my body.
Supplicate the Lord for me, that through these
instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God.

To the Romans, 4
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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• c. Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69-155)
• Bishop of Smyrna leading Xtian figure in
  province of Asia in middle of 2nd c.
• His long life was an important link between the
  apostolic age and the prominent Xtian writers at
  the end of the 2nd c., one of whom (Irenaeus)
  said that Polycarp had talked with John the
  rest of those who had seen the Lord.

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Polycarp of Smyrna (unknown artist)
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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• c. Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69-155)
• P. was a staunch defender of orthodoxy, combating
  such heretics as the Marcionites and
  Valentinians.
• A letter addressed to him by Ignatius survives,
  as does his own Epistle to the Philippians.
• He was arrested during a pagan festival in Smyrna
  ordered to renounce Christ.

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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• c. Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69-155)
• Proclaiming that he had served X for 86 yrs., he
  refused to recant his faith and was burned to
  death.

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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• d. Hermas of Rome (c. 100-140)
• Initially a Xtian slave, Hermas was sold to a
  woman called Rhoda, who set him free.
• He married became a wealthy merchant.
• In persecution, he lost all his property, was
  denounced by his own children went through a
  period of penance.
• His book, The Shepherd, upholds the necessity of
  penance, and suggested

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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• d. Hermas of Rome (c. 100-140)
• The possibility of the forgiveness of sins at
  least once after baptism (a doctrine which causes
  Tertullian to call it the Shepherd of the
  Adulterers).
• It was, however, greatly esteemed for its
  teachings on Xtian behavior virtues and served
  as an early textbook for catechumens.

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B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• e. Papias (c. 60-130)
• This little-known bishop of Hierapolis in Asia
  Minor is said by Irenaeus to have been a disciple
  of John and a companion of Polycarp.
• His work in five books survives only in
  quotations in Irenaeus Eusebius.
• It contained many oral traditions, legendary
  accounts, and gospel material.

83
B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• e. Papias (c. 60-130)
• He did leave some valuable and original insights
  into the origin of the gospels of Matthew and
  Mark.
• He states on the authority of the Elder (John?),
  that Mark, having become the interpreter of
  Peter, set down accurately, though not in order,
  everything that he remembered of the words and
  actions of Jesus.

84
B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• e. Papias (c. 60-130)
• He said that Matthew composed his work in Hebrew
  and everyone translated it as best he could.
• He was one of the first Millenarians, believing
  that there would be a period of a 1000 yrs after
  the general resurrection during which the kingdom
  of X would be set up on earth in a material form.

85
B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• f. The Epistle of Barnabas
• An epistle of early Xtian times ascribed by
  Clement of Alexandria to the Barnabas who
  accompanied Paul.
• This is very unlikely the author was probably a
  Xtian of Alexandria who wrote between AD 70
  100.
• The work contains a strong attack against Judaism.

86
B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• f. The Epistle of Barnabas
• The epistle explains animal sacrifices and the
  temple as mistakes due to Jewish blindness which
  were never Gods will.
• It also interprets the OT in a typical
  (allegorical) sense in order to build the case
  for Christianity against Judaism.

87
Barnabas

• And Moses understood, and threw the two tables
  from his hands and their covenant was broken in
  pieces, that the covenant of the beloved Jesus
  might be sealed unto our hearts in the hope which
  springeth from faith in Him. Barnabas, 4

88
Barnabas
For the scripture saith And Abraham circumcised
of his household eighteen males and three
hundred. What then was the knowledge given unto
him? Understand ye that He saith the eighteen
first, and then after an interval three hundred.
In the eighteen ? stands for ten, H for eight.
Here thou hast Jesus (??S??S). And because
the cross in the ? was to have grace, He saith
also three hundred. So He revealeth Jesus in the
two letters, and in the remaining one the cross.
He who placed within us the innate gift of His
covenant knoweth no man hath ever learnt from me
a more genuine word but I know that ye are
worthy.
Barnabas, 9
89
Barnabas
But forasmuch as Moses said Ye shall not eat
swine . . . So then it is not a commandment of
God that they should not bite with their teeth,
but Moses spake it in spirit. Accordingly he
mentioned the swine with this intent. Thou shalt
not cleave, saith he, to such men who are like
unto swine that is, when they are in luxury they
forget the LordYe shall eat everything that
divideth the hoof and cheweth the cud. What
meaneth he? Cleave unto those that fear the
Lord, With those who meditate in their heart on
the distinction of the word which they have
received, with those who tell of the ordinances
of the Lord and keep them, with those who know
that meditation is a work of gladness and who
chew the cud of the word of the
Lord. Barnabas, 10
90
Barnabas
Moreover concerning the sabbath likewise it is
written in the Ten WordsOf the sabbath he
speaketh in the beginning of the creation And
God made the works of His hands in six days, and
He ended on the seventh day, and rested on it,
and He hallowed it. Give heed, children, what
this meaneth He ended in six days. He
meaneth this, that in six thousand years the Lord
shall bring all things to an end for the day
with Him signifieth a thousand years
Therefore, children, in six days, that is in six
thousand years, everything shall come to an
end. Barnabas, 15
91
B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• g. The Epistle to Diognetus
• A letter written by an unknown Xtian to an
  unknown inquirer.
• The author explains why paganism and Judaism
  cannot be tolerated, describes Xtians as the soul
  of the world, and insists that Xtianity is the
  unique revelation of God, whose love works mans
  salvation.

92
B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• h. The Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles)
• A short early Xtian manual on morals and church
  practice.
• First section describes the Two Ways of life
  and death.
• The second section contains instructions on
  baptism, fasting, prayer, the Eucharist, and how
  to treat prophets, bishops, and deacons.

93
B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• h. The Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles)
• The third section contains prophecies of the
  Anti-christ and the second advent of X.
• The book is of special interest to the student of
  early Xtian worship.
• The author, date and place of origin are unknown.
• Was long thought to have been written during
  reign of emperor Trajan (d. 117).

94
Concerning baptism, baptize in this way. After
you have spoken all these things, baptize in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit, in running water. If you do not
have running water, baptize in other water. If
you are not able in cold, then in warm. If you
do not have either, pour out water three times on
the head in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Before the baptism
the one baptizing and the one being baptized are
to fast, and any others who are able.
Command the one being baptized to fast beforehand
a day or two. Didache, 7
95
Concerning the eucharist, give thanks in this
way First concerning the cup, We give thanks
to you, Our Father, for the holy vine of David,
your Servant, which you made known to us through
Jesus your Servant. To you be the glory
forever. Concerning the broken bread, We give
thanks to you, Our Father, for the life and
knowledge which you made known to us through
Jesus your Servant. To you be the glory
forever. As this broken bread was scattered upon
the mountains and being Gathered together
became one loaf, so may your church be gathered
together from the ends of the Earth into your
kingdom. Because the glory and the power are
yours through Jesus Christ forever. No one is
to eat or drink of your eucharist except those
who have been baptized in the name of the
Lord. For also concerning this the Lord has said,
Do not give that which is holy to the
dogs. Didache, 9
96
Having earlier confessed your sins so that your
sacrifice May be pure, come together each Lords
day of the Lord, break bread, and give thanks.
No one who has a quarrel with his fellow is to
meet with you until they are reconciled, in
order that your sacrifice may not be defiled.
For this is what was spoken by the Lord, In
every place and time offer to me a pure
sacrifice, because I am a great king, says
the Lord, and my name is marvelous among the
nations. Didache, 14
97
B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• h. The Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles)
• Recent scholarship has put it later.
• Its significance lies in the fact that it is the
  earliest of church orders and formed the basis
  of the Seventh Book of the Apostolical
  Constitutions.

98
B. Persevering Believers

• 1. The Apostolic Fathers
• The writing of Xtian literature continued,
  furnishing the ch with instruction and
  inspiration.
• This literature, however, tended to be moralistic
  and considerably below the spiritual level of the
  NT.
• The vast world of non-Xtians did not understand
  this literature or the message of the church.

99
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• To address the questions opposition of
  unbelievers, another important group of Xtian
  thinkers developed.
• Those Xtian writers who first gave themselves (c.
  120-220) to task of making a reasoned defense
  recommendation of their faith to outsiders.
• They met pagan philosophy and Jewish objections
  head on.

100
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• Applied OT prophecy to Xtianity defended
  divinity of X in relation to monotheism.
• Were not primarily theologians.
• Were devoted thinkers who desired to present
  Xtianity to emperors and to the public as
  politically harmless.
• Also defended Xtian morality which was under
  attack.

101
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• a. Aristides
• Philosopher of Athens who sought to defend the
  existence and eternity of God.
• Endeavored to show that Xtians had a fuller
  understandings of God than either the barbarians,
  the Greeks, or the Jews.
• Emphasized the nature of Xtian love as evidence
  of the Xtians superiority.

102
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• a. Aristides
• According to Eusebius, A. delivered his Apology
  to the emperor Hadrian in 124, but later
  arguments insist that it was addressed to
  Antoninus Pius (d. 161) early in his reign.

103
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• b. Justin Martyr (c. 100-165)
• After a long search for truth in pagan
  philosophy, J. embraced Xtianity c. 130.
• For a time he taught at Ephesus where he engaged
  in the famous disputation with Trypho the Jew (c.
  135).
• Later he moved to Rome opened a Xtian school,
  where he wrote his First Apology (c. 155)
  addressed to Emperor Antonius Pius.

104
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• b. Justin Martyr (c. 100-165)
• Soon afterward he issued his Dialogue with
  Trypho.
• His Second Apology, addressed to the Roman
  senate, was written shortly after the accession
  of Marcus Aurelius (161).
• Justin and some of his disciples were denounced
  as Xtians, on refusing to sacrifice they were
  scourged beheaded.

105
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• b. Justin Martyr (c. 100-165)
• J. was the most outstanding of the Apologists,
  being the 1st Xtian thinker to seek to reconcile
  the claims of faith and reason.
• He held that though traces of truth could be
  found in pagan thinkers, Xtianity alone was the
  truly rational creed.

106
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• b. Justin Martyr (c. 100-165)
• In his First Apology he stressed the
  transcendence of God, the incarnation of the
  Word, and millennialism.
• In his Second Apology he rebutted certain
  specific charges against Xtians.
• In Dialogue with Trypho he developed the ideas
  of the transitoriness of the Old Covenant, the
  identity of the Logos with the God of the OT, and

107
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• b. Justin Martyr (c. 100-165)
• And the vocation of the Gentiles to take the
  place of Israel.

108
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• c. Tatian (c. 160)
• A native of Assyria, educated in Gk rhetoric and
  philosophy.
• Became a Xtian in Rome bet. 150 165 was a
  pupil of Justin Martyr.
• He soon showed leanings toward heresy, in 172
  he founded the Gnostic sect of Encratites.
• Is author of an apology called Oratio ad
  Graecos.

109
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• c. Tatian (c. 160)
• Oratioa passionate defense of the venerable
  age divine purity of Xtianity combined with a
  violent attack on Greek civilization.
• His chief claim to fame is the Diatessaron, a
  history of the life of X compiled from the 4
  gospels.
• His literary opponents included Irenaeus,
  Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus,
  and Origen.

110
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• d. Athenagoras
• The Christian Philosopher of Athens
• Delivered his Apology or Supplication to
  Marcus Aurelius in 177, seeking to rebut current
  charges against the Xtians, such as atheism
  because they refused to participate in pagan
  ceremonies, immorality because both sexes met
  together at night.

111
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• d. Athenagoras
• Later he wrote on the Resurrection of the Dead
  to refute erroneous objections and defend the
  Xtian belief in the resurrection.
• A. was one of the ablest most gifted of the
  Apologists, and was the first to give a
  philosophical defense of the Xtian doctrine of
  God as three in one.

112
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• e. Theophilus
• Bishop of Antioch wrote his Apology to
  Autolycus for the purpose of setting before the
  pagan world the Christian idea of God and the
  superiority of the doctrine of creation over the
  immoral myths of the Olympian religion.
• He developed the doctrine of the Logos further
  than any of his predecessors, being the 1st to
  use word Triad of the Godhead.

113
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• f. Minucius Felix
• An African wrote in Latin an elegant defense of
  Xtianity in the form of a conversation between
  Octavius, a Xtian, and Caecilius, a pagan, who
  was converted by the argument.
• The book, named Octavius, refutes the current
  charges against Xtians, argues for monotheism and
  providence, and attacks mythology.

114
B. Persevering Believers

• 2. The Apologists
• f. Minucius Felix
• It is not clear whether the work was before or
  after Tertullians day, but it definitely
  reflects the latters interests.

115
(No Transcript)
116
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• All the literary work during the 2nd 3rd c. was
  not constructive in the progress of the church.
• All the doctrine was not orthodox already the ch
  was experiencing extreme tensions from heretical
  teachings which reflected perversions of
  Xtianity, leading to schisms within the faith.
• Heresy was a problem even during the NT period.

117
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• I John, 2 Peter, Jude and the pastoral epistles
  denounce teachings which were obviously related
  to later Gnosticism.
• But the earliest heretic appeared in the book of
  Acts Simon Magus, the patriarch of heretics,
  was a sorcerer who professed Xtianity, but
  attempted to obtain spiritual powers from the
  apostles for money (Ax 89-24).

118
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• Centuries later, the term Simony was applied to
  the purchase or sale of spiritual offices.
• A Gnostic sect in the 2nd 3rd c. traced its
  origins to this Simon, who was said to have come
  from Gitta in Samaria to Rome in the time of
  emperor Claudius (41-54).
• This sect held to Phoenician mythology oriental
  syncretism exhibited the earliest signs of
  speculation clearly defined in later Gnosticism.

119
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• While it is generally doubted that Simon of Gitta
  Simon Magus were the same person, it is certain
  that the latter was the first to attempt to
  pervert the gospel and selfishly control the HS.
• The heresies and schisms in the early ancient ch
  can generally be divided into 5 classifications.

120
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• 1) Judaizing Christianity
• 2) Gnosticism
• 3) Marcionism
• 4) Montanism
• 5) Monarchianism

121
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• a. Judaistic Heresies
• The earliest confrontation with the Judaizers
  resulted in the Jerusalem Conference (Ax 15) and
  the chs stand against those who stubbornly
  insisted upon adherence to Mosaic law, even for
  Gentile converts.
• This mind-set continued to be a thorn in the side
  of the early ch, producing some rather
  influential sects.

122
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• a. Judaistic Heresies
• 1) The Ebionites. A sect flourishing east of the
  Jordan who called themselves Ebionites (poor
  men) adopted a severe ascetic mode of life.
• They continued to emphasize the binding character
  of the Mosaic law and said that Jesus was the
  human son of Mary Joseph.
• They used only the Gos. of Matthew, rejecting the
  Pauline epistles.
• To them, Paul was an apostate enemy of the
  Mosaic law.

123
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• a. Judaistic Heresies
• 2) Cerinthus.
• Taught the the world was not created by God, but
  by an angelic being (demiurge), and that Jesus
  was a mere man.
• He had connections with both the Ebionites and
  Alexandrine Gnosticism.
• Irenaeus says that John wrote his Gospel to
  refute Cerinthus.

124
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• a. Judaistic Heresies
• 3) The Elchasaites. This strange group traced
  their origins to one named Elchasai (sacred
  power) who lived east of the Jordan during the
  reign of Trajan (AD 98-117).
• They observed the Mosaic law (circumcision,
  Sabbath, the ceremonies), but without the blood
  sacrifices.
• They believed in baptism for the remission of
  sins, in Chaldean astrology magic, abstaining
  from meat and wine, ritualistic ablutions.

125
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• a. Judaistic Heresies
• 3) The Elchasaites.
• They preached that the Redeemer X was the first
  ambassador of the most high God, that he was a
  spirit of fantastic proportions who appeared in
  various forms, but first of all in Adam.

126
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• a. Judaistic Heresies
• 4) The Pseudoclementines. The works from this
  group include 20 books called the Preaching of
  the Apostle Peter and probably originated around
  220-230 in Syria.
• They taught that Xtianity is nothing more than
  Judaism purged of all ambiguity and error.
• Jesus was a prophet greater than Moses, but not
  the Redeemer, and neither true God nor true man.

127
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• a. Judaistic Heresies
• 4) The Pseudoclementines.
• They also taught that believers should abstain
  from meat, marry early, and practice poverty.
• Thus, Jewish Xtianity in various forms continued
  as a disturbing factor until almost the 5th
  century.

128
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• b. Gnosticism
• One of the most insidious dangers to early
  Xtianity was the movement known as Gnosticism.
• Strictly speaking, Gnosticism was not a Xtian
  heresy but a religion in its own right.
• The main tenets of Gnosticism came from the
  syncretism of oriental religion and Hellenic
  mysticism, and were already well established
  before the Xtian era.

129
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• b. Gnosticism
• Term (Gnosticism) derived from the Gk word gnosis
  (knowledge), and claimed a superior revealed
  knowledge of God of the origin and destiny of
  mankind.
• Upon confronting Xtianity, Gnostic teachings
  attempted to satisfy the longing of the pagan
  world for salvation by reconciling the religion
  of X with the culture philosophy of Babylonia,
  Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, India, and the Judaism
  of Philo.

130
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• b. Gnosticism
• Because they believed, as did Xtians, in
  salvation, a supreme deity, heavenly beings,
  the Gnostics often became associated with the
  Xtian chs.
• But, while maintaining the centrality of X in
  human history a divine plan of salvation, the
  Gnostics claimed higher kinowledge than was
  offered in the simple truths of the Gospels.

131
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• b. Gnosticism
• The source of this special gnosis was held to be
  that of the apostles themselves (handed down by
  the secret tradition) or a direct revelation
  given to the founder of a particular sect.
• Although embracing a great variety of forms
  philosophies, basic Gnosticism supported the
  following tenets

132
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• b. Gnosticism
• (1) Dualism
• With the background of Persian dualism, which
  viewed light darkness as two antagonistic
  principles, G. developed a metaphysical dualism
  of spirit matter.
• World of matter is under the governance of the
  evil principle, is from all eternity in violent
  opposition to the world of spirit, which is ruled
  by the good god.

133
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• b. Gnosticism
• (1) Dualism
• In this eternal conflict, some of the spiritual
  elements became imprisoned in the world of
  matter, producing the world, man, sin, and
  misery.
• The ethical problem which dualism presented was
  twofold.
• If the physical body is of the principle of evil,
  then it must be subjugated, denied, disciplined,
  and punished.

134
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• b. Gnosticism
• (1) Dualism
• On the other hand, if the body was entirely
  separated from the spirit world, then what the
  body did would not affect the status of the soul.
• The second point led to all sorts of promiscuous
  moral anarchy.

135
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• b. Gnosticism
• (2) Emanation
• This theory served to explain how the world man
  came into existence.
• From the hidden God there emanated (over flowed)
  a long series of divine essences (aeons) whose
  inherent power diminished as the distance form
  the original source increased.
• The process continued until the spiritual element
  came into contact with matter was imprisoned in
  a material body.

136
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• b. Gnosticism
• (2) Emanation
• Thus man the world were created by the demiurge
  (the middle god), and angelic being who was
  inferior to ignorant of the good god, and had
  unwittingly brought the world man into
  existence.

137
B. Persevering Believers

• 3. Heresies and Schisms
• b. Gnosticism
• (3) Docetism
• Central doctrine of Xtianity the incarnation,
  which G. rejected, declaring that X could not
  possibly have a real human body.
• This doc