Sunday, November 14, 2010 Grace Life School of Theology Church History: A Tale of Two Churches Lesson 9 Overview of the Patristic Period

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1 1 Sunday, Nvember 14, 2010 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Church Histry: A Tale f Tw Churches Lessn 9 Overview f the Patristic Perid Divergent Views f Church Histry Emerge We have discussed at length the lack f histrical evidence that exists between the end f the Acts perid and the middle f the 2 nd century. Mark A. Nll, authr f Turning Pints: Decisive Mments in the Histry f Christianity, suggests that when histrians reflect back n this era f histrical darkness that Rman Cathlic, Orthdx, and Prtestant views f church histry develp. Respnsible histrians, Christian r nt, try t base their accunts f the early church as securely as pssible n the best available evidence. Yet precisely because that evidence is s sparse, the standpint f the histrians that is, the systems f belief and assumptin that histrians bring t their tasks becmes a mst imprtant factr fr interpretatins f early Christian histry. (Nll, 32) The Cathlic, Orthdx, and Prtestant interpretatins f early Christian histry hinges n the basic assumptins f each thelgical system cncerning the way in which Gd guides the church. (Nll, 33) Rman Cathlic belief in the apstlic rigin f church traditin and the apstlic character f the bishp s ffice means that Cathlic interpretatins f the early church are likely t see a mre central, mre psitive rle fr the actins f the early bishps in cnstruing the institutins, rganizing the sacred writings, and guiding the wrship f believers. (Nll, 33) Orthdx see Gd s guidance f the church thrugh rganic prcesses f wrship, liturgy, and crprate actins means that Orthdx interpretatins f the early church are likely t see cmmn patters f prayer, gradually evlving habits in New Testament churches, and cnsensus grwing up arund creedal statements as the crucial shapers f early Christian histry. (Nll, 33) Prtestant belief in Sla Scriptura alng with Prtestant suspicin f human institutins means that Prtestant interpretatins f the early church are likely t stress the fundatinal rle f the New Testament writings and t be mre willing than either Cathlics r the Orthdx t find flaws in early church practices r decisins. (Nll, 33) While I agree with the Prtestant perspective articulated by Nll it is still incmplete, because it fails t take int accunt II Timthy as a handbk n the apstasy f the New Testament church. Naming the Time Perid Church histrians have ffered varius titles t describe the time perid between 100 and 315 AD Pastr Bryan Rss

2 2 The term patristic cme frm the Latin wrd pater, father, and designates bth the perid f the church fathers, and the distinctive ideas which came t develp within this perid. (McGrath, 7) Accrding t Alister McGrath The Patristic Perid is vaguely identified as the perid frm the 100 AD and the Cuncil f Chalcedn in 451 AD. (McGrath, 7) Generally speaking there are three classificatin used fr the church fathers. Ante-Nicene Fathers thse living befre the Cuncil f Nicaea Nicene thse living cntemprary with the Cuncil f Nicaea Pst-Nicene Fathers thse living after the Cuncil f Nicaea Bruce L. Shelly, authr f Church Histry in Plain Language, ffers a alternative titled fr the perid between 100 and 312 AD. Shelly calls it The Age f Cathlic Christianity. Shelley states the fllwing as justificatin fr this title, In this perid Christianity spread thrughut the Rman Empire and prbably east t India. Christians realized that they were a part f a rapidly expanding mvement. They called it cathlic. This suggested that it was universal, in spite f pagan ridicule and Rman persecutin, and it was the true faith, in ppsitin t all previsin f Jesus teachings. T face the challenges f their times Christians turned increasingly t their bishps fr spiritual leadership. Cathlic Christianity, therefre, was marked by a universal visin, by rthdx beliefs, and by Episcpal Church gvernment. (Shelley, 25) While I dn t like calling this time perid The Age f Cathlic Christianity there is little dubt that the ecclesiastical mnster knw t histry as the Rman Cathlic Church has its rts in this time perid. Centers f Thelgical Influence Antich as we have already seen it was frm Antich f Syria that Paul and Barnabas were sent westward n their missinary jurneys. As the third largest city in the Rman Empire, Antich the church in Antich exerted widespread influence thrughut Syria. By the end f the furth century Antich was a city f half a millin peple and half f these were Christians. (Shelley, 29) Rme as the heart f the Rman Empire that church at Rme was bviusly influential. Mdern histrians have estimated that despite persecutins sme 30,000 Christians lived in Rme by 250 AD. With clear spiritual ties t Paul, and legendary ties t Peter the church at Rme gained the respect and admiratin f Christians thrughut the empire. Eventually, the bishp f Rme is ging t emerge as the leaders f Cathlic Christianity. (Shelley, 31) Alexandria named after Alexander and Great and lcated in mdern Egypt, the church at Alexandria emerged as a center f Christian thelgical educatin. A distinctive style f thelgy came t be assciated with this city reflecting its lng-standing assciating Pastr Bryan Rss

3 3 what Platnic philsphy. (McGrath, 5) In the end, we will see that Alexandria became a leading center fr thelgical and textual crruptin. Scriptural View f the Church Fathers It is a cmmnly held view amngst Prtestant Evangelical Christians that the writings f the church fathers are the mst rganic and accurate interpretatins f Christian Scripture and thelgy in existence. When ne cmpares t the writings f the church fathers with the Pauline revelatin clearly recrded in Scripture the realities becme vividly clear: The pace f apstasy that was already underway during Paul s life time quickens with the ministry f the church fathers. In shrt, Christendm s apstasy was fr the greater part, amplified and intensified by the early church fathers and the writings they left behind. (Barlw, 118) The church fathers disregard Clssians 2:8 and intrduced pagan Greek philsphy int the thelgical discussin rather than relying slely upn Scripture as their authrity. (Barlw, ) In The Bible r the Church, Sir Rbert Andersn writes, What the Old Testament scriptures were t the writers f the New Testament is what the writings f the Greek philsphers and the cults f classic paganism were t the church fathers. (quted in Barlw, 116) Sir Rbert Andersn pints ut that the patristic fathers were the primary grup f men wh laid the fundatin f errrs upn which apstate Christendm has been built. Cnsider the fllwing telling qutes frm Sir Rbert Andersn: But n this subject, ur present day thelgy, s fr frm reflecting the wisdm and knwledge f Gd, partakes f the ignrance and the errrs f the patristic thelgians. Plain wrds, I repeat, are needed here. Fr the writings f the church fathers affrds a vantage grund frm Rminish attacks upn the citadel f divine truth and the insidius effrts f German skepticism t undermine its very fundatin. (The Bible r The Church, quted in Barlw, 120) A frgtten truth I call it, fr in cmmn with the Mystery truths f the distinctively Christian revelatin, it was lst in the interval f time between the Apstlic Age and the era f the Patristic Thelgians. And ur standard thelgy is s dminated by the writing f the fathers that it is still untuched by the light f the evangelical revival. (Frgtten Truths, quted in Barlw, 120) The far reaching influence f the Patristic Fathers is felt in mdern times. The unique message, ministry, and apstleship f Paul is nt mentined in mdern catechism classes, r mainline denminatinal literature because it is nt fund in the traditinal writings f the church fathers. The reasn Pauline truth is nt tlerated in mdern denminatinal circles is because it is breaks with traditin. In the end, event the Prtestants which scream s ludly fr the Pastr Bryan Rss

4 4 final authrity f Scripture based much f their dctrine and practice n traditins that date back t the church fathers. Mdern replacement thelgy is a prime example f hw traditin cntinues t clud the thelgical viewpint f mdern evangelicals. Cnsider the fllwing example. It is ntewrthy that while the writers f the New Testament, ne and all, were men wh, like Timthy, had knwn the Hebrew Scriptures frm infancy, the patristic thelgians were cnverts frm paganism and having regard t their cmparative want f acquaintance with the Old Testament, it is nt strange perhaps that in the then cnditin f the Jewish peple, crushed apparently beynd hpe f recvery by the judgments that had verwhelmed them, the belief prevailed that Gd has cast away his peple, frever whm he freknw... and Old Testament prphecy relating t the future glry f Israel was spiritualized t mean the present glry f the church. (Sir Rbert Andersn, The Bible r the Church, quted in Barlw, 124) Once this mistaken ntin was assimilated int Christian thught it became lgical t assume that since Gd was frever finished with Israel that the Church must be Spiritual Israel. As a result, all f Israel s prmises were spiritualized and applied t the church the bdy f Christ. (Barlw, ) Essentially there are tw ways in which false teaching crept int the teachings and traditins f Christendm. Extra-Biblical these are beliefs and practices that are undeniably rted in surces ther than Scripture. Extra-Dispensatinal dctrines that are in the Bible but were never intended t be part f the thelgy and practices f this present dispensatin. The mst tragic impact f the church fathers was that the Bdy f Christ lst the glry f its present missin and purpse by becming a hybrid, a bastard ffspring f Christianity and Judaism. This mixture f pagan philsphy, Judaism, and Scripture results in frmatin f Christendm. Tpics Requiring Further Study It is nt pssible r prudent t study ever pssible event, persn, dctrine, r heresy frm the Patritic Perid. Therefre, we will fcus ur study f this time perid n the fllwing imprtant tpics. The Cann f Scripture Episcpacy and the Emergence f the Cathlic Church Alexandria Ht bed f Thelgical and Textual Crruptin Pastr Bryan Rss

5 5 Wrks Cited Barlw, R. Dawsn. The Apstasy f the Christian Church. Erie, PA: Seedswer Publicatins, McGrath, Alister. Christian Thelgy An Intrductin. Oxfrd, UK: Blackwell Publishers, Nll, Mark A. Turning Pints: Decisive Mments in the Histry f Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Bks, Shelly, Bruce. Church Histry in Plan Language. Dallas, TX: Wrd Publishing, Pastr Bryan Rss