LIGHTS IN THE FAMILY TREE Looking In The Rearview As The Church Drives Forward Lesson 2: Who s Your (Church) Daddy? Who are the Church Fathers and What is there to Learn from a Bunch of Dead Guys? Introduction: 1. What is Orthodoxy? Gregg Allison: The term orthodoxy refers to that which the New Testament calls sound doctrine (1 Tim 1:10; 2 Tim 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1), that which rightly reflects in summary form all the teaching of Scripture and which the church is bound to believe and obey. Heresy, then, is anything that contradicts sound doctrine. It is false belief that misinterprets Scripture or that ignores some of the teachings of Scripture, or that incorrectly puts together all the teaching of Scripture. (Historical Theology, Zondervan, 2011, p. 24) I. Who s Your Daddy (What Is A Church Father)? John D. Hannah: Though the term church father is often used to refer to any writer of the Ancient Period, it is used here in a narrower sense to designate those writers or writings that immediately followed the original apostles, perhaps overlapping with them. (The Kregel Pictorial Guide To Church History, Vol. 2 The Early Church, A.D. 33-500, Kregel Publications, 2004, p. 7) Bryan M. Litfin: In the realm of everyday experience, a father is by definition someone who came before us. He is a man who, having walked the path of life already, guides his children in wisdom. This is the idea behind the term church fathers. The fathers are a previous generation of believers who continue to guide their spiritual descendants in the Christian church today. (Getting To Know The Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction, Brazos Press, 2007, p. 17) Howard Vos: As the apostles passed from the scene, others arose in the church to take their places. These leaders, generally elders or bishops, are called Fathers ( Fathers in God ) because of the esteem in which they were held by church members or because of their historical relationship to later church developments. In fact, Father has come to apply to church leaders during an extended period beginning about A.D. 95. (Exploring Church History. Nelson's Christian Cornerstone Series, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996) Earle Cairns: The title father of the church has its origin in the use of the title father, which was given to bishops, especially in the West, to express affectionate loyalty. It was increasingly used from the third century on to describe the orthodox champions of the church and exponents of its faith. Patrology or patristics is the name of the study of the life and works of these men, most of whom lived in the period between the end of the apostolic age and the Council of Chalcedon. (Christianity Through The Centuries: A History of the Christian Church, Revised & Enlarged Edition, Zondervan Publishing, 1981, p. 71)
II. Aren t The Church Fathers Funny Looking Catholic Saints? Bryan Litfin shares and dispels some misconceptions about the Church Fathers in Getting To Know The Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction, pp. 20ff) A. Misconception 1: The church fathers were not biblical. Many evangelicals associate the sayings of the church fathers with the nebulous concept of tradition. the doctrines of men, as opposed to the divine revelation given in scripture. Though the writings of the fathers are prone to error (as opposed to the Scriptures), that doesn t mean everything they wrote is wrong The church fathers had a very strong commitment to Scripture and share wise insights The Roman Catholic Church did elevate the Traditional writings of some church fathers to the same authority level of Scripture, but that doesn t mean all they wrote was wrong or that they saw their writings as equal to Scripture o The Roman Catholics elevated Tradition to the authority level of Scripture at the Council of Trent in 1546 stating that each are to be venerated with like feeling of piety of reverence. o Litfin: Obviously, to read such perspectives back onto the church fathers is to do them an injustice. The fathers could not have conceived of tradition (that which is handed down) as being contradictory to the Bible, since all the church s truth ultimately came from God himself. The entire apostolic deposit of faith is exactly what the early fathers intended to embrace in their churches. So tradition was not a term opposed to scripture. In fact, it was the very possession of scripture and tradition that distinguished the orthodox from the heretics, who could not trace themselves back to the faith handed down since the apostolic times. (p. 21) o The truth of the matter is the church fathers loved the scriptures immensely. (ibid) B. Misconception 2: The church fathers were Roman Catholics Catholic literally means universal o Gr. katholicos = universal, pertaining to the whole Litfin: When it was used to describe the Christian church in the patristic period, it referred to the unified community of all true believers in the world: those whose loyalty was given to the risen Christ, whose doctrine was orthodox, and whose faith was identical to the eyewitness testimony proclaimed by the apostles. (pp. 22-23) to be a catholic is to join with all who contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Such was the Catholicism of the early church fathers. (ibid, p. 24) The Roman Catholic Church is a distinction from the universal catholic church Thus, when the early church fathers described themselves as the catholic church, they were indicating that they were part of the universal church o The universal church was described with a lowercase c whereas the Roman Catholics capitalized their C C. Misconception 3: The church fathers represent the fall of Christianity The church was pure and orthodox for most of the period between the New Testament era and the first few centuries. Truth would be departed from over time 2
But that doesn t mean that all the church fathers were heretics and apostates Many of them defended the truth Each must be judged by their own merit and writing In fact, most Reformers (Luther, Calvin, etc.) considered the church fathers to be their allies (Litfin, p. 27) III. Why Should I Read Or Know About Guys So Old That They Seem Irrelevant? A. We will see how the Church grew in their understanding of the Word and doctrine. Litfin: The ancients give us insight into what historic, orthodox Christianity is all about. Their understanding of the overall message of scripture provides us with exegetical guideposts outside of which we dare not venture. They also have bequeathed to us some of the terminology we must use to do theology (such as the word trinity, for example. (p. 28) Earle Cairns: The writings of the Fathers do much fill the gap in historical knowledge between the New Testament period and the latter part of the fourth century. The leading men of the church, by pen as well as by voice, formulated apologetic and polemical literature as they faced external persecution and internal heresy. Creeds were formed to give accurate statements of faith. Hence, the Fathers are of tremendous value in the study of the development of Christian life and thought in this period. (Christianity Through The Centuries, p. 71) B. We will appreciate how lives of faithful believers stood firm on what they believed. Many of the church fathers gave their lives for what they believed. IV. How Did The Church s Family Tree Sprout? Howard Vos: The Fathers frequently are divided into four groups: o the Apostolic or Post-Apostolic Fathers (c. 95 150); Purpose: to exhort & edify the church Clement Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius Polycarp Papias Barnabas Didache o the Apologists (c. 140 200); o the Polemicists (c. 180 225); o and the Scientific Theologians (c. 225 460) (Exploring Church History) 3
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V. Who Are The Significant Early Church Fathers? Bruce Shelley: We call the years between a.d. 70 and a.d. 312 the Age of Catholic Christianity because this thought dominates Christian history between the death of the apostles and the rise of the Christian emperors. (Church History In Plain Language, p. 28) A. Clement Of Rome (c. 30 100) Leading elder (bishop) of the church in Rome Not the 4 th Roman Catholic Pope as asserted by the RCC Possibly mentioned in Phil 4:3 Contemporary of the Apostle John, who was serving in Ephesus and then exiled in Patmos Clement responded to the appeal from the Corinthian Church asking how to mend a divided church (fulfilling a role the Apostle Paul served 50 years previous, 1 Cor 7) Clement responded with a letter (1 Clement) dated around AD 95 challenging the Corinthian church to submit to leadership and to be gracious to each other, citing Old and New Testament passages This letter is the earliest extrabiblical Christian writing Some churches almost considered this letter a part of Scripture (canonical) o Ch. 1-3: Clement remembers the church s good times o Ch. 4-38: He exhorts virtues: love, repentance, humility and obedience o Ch. 39-59: Addressed particular problems at Corinth o Ch. 59-61: Long prayer for unity of the church o Ch. 62-65: Final exhortation for unity Clement of Rome tried to prove the Resurrection by comparing it to the story of the phoenix a mythological bird alleged to be reborn from its ashes every 500 years. Clement wrote as if all reasonable people believed in the phoenix story. ( Evangelism In The Early Church: Did You Know?, Christian History Magazine, Issue 57, 1998, p. 5) Clement was martyred during the reign of Domitian 5
B. Ignatius (d. 117) Bishop of the church in Antioch, Syria o Antioch was founded in 300 BC after Alexander the Great s conquests o It would be the Roman capital in the Syria region with a population of around half a million o Matthew probably composed his Gospel in Antioch o At Antioch is where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26) o The church in Antioch would be the first missionary sending church (Paul & Barnabas, Acts 13:2) This is not St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits (1491-1556) Litfin: As we get to know Ignatius, the picture will emerge of a dedicated pastor who hoped to protect his flock by dying for the true faith. His church was infiltrated by heretics and plagued with legalism. Many enemies questioned his pastoral authority. (Getting To Know The Church Fathers, p. 33) He contended against the Gnostic heresies He was the first to draw a distinction between bishops and elders He was arrested in AD 110 by the Romans for his profession of faith. He was joyful over the prospect of being martyred for the faith and feared an intervention that would prevent his martyrdom. While on his way to be martyred in Rome (to participate in the imperial games by being killed by the beasts), he wrote the 7 letters (to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Romans, Philadelphians, Smyrnaeans and to Polycarp) where he promoted: o unity within the church o fighting against heresy (Gnosticism, particularly) o submitting to the ruling bishop Roman Catholics want to credit Ignatius as shaping the role of the Pope, but he was not speaking about a bishop s authority over several congregations, but within one congregation Vos: He did not elevate the position of the bishop of Rome over that of other bishops, but he seems to have been the first to speak of a Catholic (universal) church. It is not clear whether his emphasis on the ruling bishop was a view held commonly in the church in his day or whether it was largely his own position. He held that the church could not baptize, celebrate the Eucharist, or perform a marriage without the bishop. (Exploring Church History) Died in AD 117 as a martyr under Trajan s reign C. Hermas (late 1 st century early 2 nd century) Hermas served in Rome He was a former slave and most likely had a Jewish background He was freed from slavery by Rhoda in Rome He would marry and become well-off He would lose his wealth through persecution even at the hands of his own children 6
He was a contemporary with Clement of Rome His writings contained several visions and parables The Shepherd of Hermas is his legacy work written between 90 150 o Written in either the late 1 st century or early 2 nd century o Some early church fathers (e.g. Irenaeus) considered it canonical as Scripture o It was written in Rome with the Greek language. The full Shepherd is only preserved in its Latin translation. Only the first 4/5ths of the Greek content is still accessible. o It contains 5 visions, 12 mandates and 10 parables (similitudes) which he considered revelation o Howard Vos: The revelator in Visions 1 4 was a woman representing the church, and in Vision 5 through Similitude 10 was the angel of repentance in the guise of a shepherd hence the name of the work. The Visions focus especially on the last days and mention the imminence of the great tribulation several times. The Mandates and Similitudes provide teaching on Christian behavior and principles respectively and served as a textbook for catechetical instruction in the second and third centuries. Partly because of its claim to be divinely inspired, many regarded the Shepherd as Scripture during the early Christian centuries. (Exploring Church History) o It is an allegorical charge for the Church to be faithful and repent of sin. o Read the text at: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/shepherd.html Shepherd of Hermas 5[25]:7 If then, when ye hear them, ye keep them and walk in them, and do them with a pure heart, ye shall receive from the Lord all things that He promised you; but if, when ye hear them, ye do not repent, but still add to your sins, ye shall receive from the Lord the opposite. All these the shepherd, the angel of repentance. commanded me to write. D. Polycarp (c. 70 156) Polycarp was a direct disciple of the Apostle John and the remaining survivor of John s disciples He was the bishop of Smyrna (modern day Izmir, Turkey) possibly appointed AD 110 o The only other significant church father from Asia Minor was Papias o Location From the West coast of Asia on the Aegean Sea extending 35 miles inland. o Population 250,000 275,000 in John s day o Reputation Having been called The Crown of Asia, The Ornament of Asia and The Flower of Asia, it was considered the most beautiful of all cities (by Strabo, ancient geographer). o History Smyrna was a Greek colony dating back to 1000 BC, but was destroyed by the Lydeans in 600 BC. The site was lifeless for 400 years until Alexander the Great, according to legend, was hunting on Mt. Pagus and was told by a goddess in a vision to rebuild Smyrna. Begun by Alexander and succeeded by Lysimachus, the city was rebuilt with great beauty and splendor in 200 BC. It was a city that was dead and came back to life. 7
o Commerce The city was a popular harbor, commerce and manufacturing city and benefited from being at the end of the road coming westward from Lydia (western Asia Minor) and Phrygia (central Asia Minor) o Politics As a free city, it was self-governed, exempt from taxation and free of Roman soldiers, yet was considered one of the most loyal and faithful cities to Rome. Cicero wrote that Smyrna was One of our most faithful and our most ancient allies. o Religion Smyrna was a visible shrine to pagan religions. Mt. Pagus was crowned with a pagan acropolis (known as the Crown of Smyrna) rising 500 feet over the harbor. Pagan shrines to Cybele (Sibylene Mother, a goddess of nature) and Zeus (chief Greek god) lined their curved Street of Gold. The first city to erect a temple to the goddess Roma (which was a deification of the Roman capital). Also having temples to Apollo, Asklepios and Aphrodite, they accredited their city s selfsufficiency and success to their pagan gods. o Church no one knows when the church started perhaps when Paul was at Ephesus and all they which dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord (Acts 19:10) their testimony continued strongly until the Middle Ages Smyrna was one of the last cities in Asia Minor to fall to the invading Turks and Muslim religion Smyrna & Philadelphia are the only 2 of 7 churches in Rev 2-3 to not be condemned or criticized o Persecution of the church in Smyrna because Smyrna was a city that worshipped Caesar & Rome, they persecuted anyone not bowing to Caesar & Rome in AD 23, Smyrna erected the first temple to honor Tiberius after that, mandatory emperor worship was imposed annually, every person was required to burn incense on the altar of Caesar Revelation 2:9-11 9 I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. Of his many writings, only his letter to the Philippian church has survived o This letter encourages believers to walk in faith o He quoted 13 New Testament books and was familiar with the epistles of Paul Polycarp s martyrdom at age 86 is quite legendary under the reign of Antoninus Pius o Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, was imprisoned for not 8
worshipping the Roman idols o He was arrested at a pagan festival in AD 156 o Smyrna, a city with strong loyalty to Rome, ordered his arrest: Kill the church leader and his church will die. o He was hunted down and arrested in a farmhouse by Roman authorities after fleeing Smyrna o When arrested, Polycarp invited the soldiers to eat and drink with him. o He asked for an hour to pray. After hearing him pray, they gave him another hour and remarked that he was a good man. o Brought to arena for execution in front of cheering crowd, to be burned at the stake for faith (acc. to Eusebius, an ancient historian) o Proconsul: Swear the oath, and I will release you; revile the Christ. o Polycarp replied Eighty and six years have I served him, and he never did me wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King and Savior? o Polycarp again answered the persistent magistrate: Swear by the genius of Caesar If you suppose vainly that I will swear by the genius of Caesar, as you say, and feign that you are ignorant of who I am, her plainly, I am a Christian. But if you would learn the doctrine of Christianity, assign a day and give me a hearing. o Proconsul: Prevail upon the people o Polycarp: As for yourself, I should have held you worthy of discourse; for we have been taught to render, as is meet, to princes and authorities appointed by God such honor as does us no harm; but as for these, I do not hold them worthy, that I should defend myself before them. o Proconsul: I have wild beasts here and I will throw you to them, unless you repent. o Polycarp: Call for them: for the repentance from better to worse is a change not permitted to us; but it is a noble thing to change from untowardness to righteousness. o Proconsul: I will cause you to be consumed by fire, if you despise the wild beasts, unless you repent. o Polycarp: You threaten that fire which burns for a season and after a little while is quenched: for you are ignorant of the fire of the future judgment and eternal punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly. But what delays you? Come, do what you will. (loose translation from JB Phillips translation of The Martyrdom of Polycarp) o Though it was a Sabbath, the Jews were so eager to have Polycarp killed that they violated their own Sabbath laws, brought wood to the stadium and burned him at the stake. o He was going to have his hands nailed to the stake, but Polycarp assured his executioner that nails were not needed. He was tied instead. 9
o The flames were said to have seemed to not touch him. o An executioner uses a sword to ultimately take him out. o Polycarp s church wrote The Martyrdom of Polycarp soon after his death and can be read at: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/martyrdompolycarp.html E. Papias (c. 60 130) Papias was a friend of the Apostle John He served as bishop in Hierapolis in Phrygia His writings (c. 125) survived through the writings of Irenaeus and Eusebius His work is called Exposition of the Oracles (Sayings) Of The Lord He sought to record the life and teachings of Jesus Christ historically He stated that Mark s Gospel was based on what Mark learned from Peter and that Matthew s Gospel was originally written in Aramaic Papias was premillennial in his eschatology (teaching on prophecy) and wrote about a literal 1,000 year rule of Christ on earth Papias wrote: that there will be a millennium after the resurrection of the dead, when the kingdom of Christ will be set up in material form on this earth. (quoted in Eusebius Ecclesiastical History, II vols, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926, Vol. I, p. 297) F. Barnabas Of Alexandria (late 1 st century early 2 nd century) Barnabas served in Alexandria, No. Africa sometime between 70-130 The Epistle of Barnabas was very allegorical, similar to the writings of Philo, with lots of typology and numerology This letter most likely was not written by Barnabas, though it is attributed to him or the other Barnabas (who served with Paul) This letter contended that the Christian does not need to strive to keep the law because Christ s work on the cross was sufficient Vos: It becomes so anti-judaic as almost to deny a historical connection between Judaism and Christianity. (Exploring Church History) G. The Didache (early 2 nd century) Didache = Teachings of the Twelve Author: Unknown Place written: Alexandria or Syria 4 Main Sections o Ch. 1-6: Christian Ethics o Ch. 7-10: Worship Issues (baptism, fasting, communion) o Ch. 11-15: Church Ministry & Government o Ch. 16: Second Coming and End of the World Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. (Didache as recorded in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, VII: 382) Read at: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/didache.html 10
Discussion: Why is orthodoxy important to the Church today? What are the modern attacks to orthodoxy and how does that affect the presentation of the Gospel (2 Timothy 4:2-5)? Who are some of the modern day defenders of orthodoxy? How? Next Week 6 reports Gnosticism, Judaizers, Arianism, Docetism, Apollinarianism, Montanism 5 minutes max what it is, how it s wrong, what the Scriptures teach about the error You will receive my notes http://theresurgence.com/series/know-your-heretics 11