Particulars
of Christianity:
401
First Eight Writers' Consensus
Early
Church Consensus: Introduction
Early
Church Confirmation Rubric
Early
Church Consensus: Introduction
1:
Nature of the Godhead
2:
Covenants & O.T. Saints Relationship to the Church
3:
Kingdom (Hell), Timing of 2nd Advent and Kingdom
4-5:
Age of the World (6000 Years); Communion Meal
6:
Baptisms
7-8:
Law of Christ; Repentance
9-12:
Excommunication; Divorce; Sabbath; Tithing
13:
Freewill (A) Against Original Sin and Total Depravity
13:
Freewill (B) Against Unconditional Election
13:
Freewill (C-D) Against Ltd. Atmt.; Ir. Grace, OSAS
14-15:
Church Authority; Roles of Men and Women
16-18:
Charismatic Gifts; Civil Gov't., War; Men & Angels
Addendum
1: Eternal Begetting - Irenaeus and Ignatius
Addendum
2: Eternal Begetting - Justin Martyr
Introduction
As
we begin this study of the non-canonical writers known as
the “Apostolic Fathers,” it is appropriate to begin with an
applicable comment from Irenaeus.
Irenaeus
–
AGAINST HERESIES, BOOK III
CHAP.
III. 1. It is within
the power of all, therefore, in every Church, who may wish
to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradition of
the apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and we
are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles
instituted bishops in the Churches, and [to demonstrate] the
succession of these men to our own times; those who neither
taught nor knew of anything like what these [heretics] rave
about. …2. Since,
however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this,
to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do
put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether
by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and
perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do
this, I say,] by indicating
that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great,
the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and
organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter
and Paul; as also
[by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down
to our time by means of the successions of the bishops…In
the time of this Clement,
no small dissension having occurred among the brethren
at Corinth, the Church in Rome despatched a most powerful letter to the Corinthians,
exhorting them to peace, renewing their faith, and declaring the tradition which it had lately
received from the apostles, proclaiming the one God, omnipotent,
the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man, who brought
on the deluge, and called Abraham, who led the people from
the land of Egypt, spake with Moses, set forth the law, sent
the prophets, and who has prepared fire for the devil and
his angels. From this
document, whosoever chooses to do so, may learn that He, the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was preached by the Churches,
and may also understand the apostolical tradition of the Church,
since this Epistle is of older date than these men who are
now propagating falsehood, and who conjure into existence
another god beyond the Creator and the Maker of all existing
things…4. But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with
many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia,
appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom
I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on earth] a
very long time, and, when a very old man, gloriously and
most nobly suffering martyrdom,(1) departed this life, having
always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles,
and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are
true. To these
things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those
men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time…There
is also a very powerful(4) Epistle of Polycarp written to
the Philippians, from which those who choose to do so, and
are anxious about their salvation, can learn the character
of his faith, and the preaching of the truth. Then, again,
the Church in Ephesus, founded by Paul,
and having John remaining among them permanently until the
times of Trajan, is a true witness of the tradition of the
apostles. …CHAP. IV. 1. Since therefore we have such proofs, it is
not necessary to seek the truth among others which it is easy
to obtain from the Church; since the apostles, like a rich
man [depositing his money] in a bank, lodged in her hands
most copiously all things pertaining to the truth: so
that every man, whosoever will, can draw from her the water
of life.(1) For she is the entrance to life; all others are
thieves and robbers. On this account are we bound to avoid
them, but to make choice of the thing pertaining to the Church
with the utmost diligence, and to lay hold of the tradition
of the truth. For how
stands the case? Suppose there arise a dispute relative to
some important question(2) among us, should we not have recourse
to the most ancient Churches with which the apostles held
constant intercourse, and learn from them what is certain
and clear in regard to the present question? For how should
it be if the apostles themselves had not left us writings?
Would it not be necessary, [in that case,] to follow the course
of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they
did commit the Churches?...CHAP. V. 1. Since,
therefore, the tradition from the apostles does thus exist
in the Church, and is permanent among us, let us revert to
the Scriptural proof furnished by those apostles who did also
write the Gospel, in which they recorded the doctrine regarding
God, pointing out that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth,(7)
and that no lie is in Him.
In
this quote, Irenaeus begins by giving an answer to the question,
“how should it be if the apostles themselves had not left
us writings?” In other words, if there was no New Testament,
how would the Church measure truth? Irenaeus’ answer is that,
if there was no New Testament, the Church would have to resort
to looking to the writings of later writers, themselves appointed
by the apostles, in order to trace and compare which beliefs
could be traced to the apostles and which beliefs were new
and had no connection to the apostles. Irenaeus even mentions
two epistles, one written by Clement and one by Polycarp,
as post-apostolic writings that could be used to measure the
accuracy of Christian teaching if the apostles had not left
writing of their own.
Nevertheless,
after briefly discussing the evidence available in later writings,
he concludes by turning his attention for the bulk of his
own work to the New Testament itself. He says, “Since, therefore,
the tradition from the apostles does thus exist in the Church,
and is permanent among us, let us revert to the Scriptural
proof furnished by those apostles who did also write the Gospel,
in which they recorded the doctrine regarding God, pointing
out that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth.”
Two
things are clear from these comments by Irenaeus. First, he
believed that scripture was the primary and most authoritative
means of measuring the accuracy of Christian doctrine. And
second, that he also believed later, non-canonical writings
of the earliest Christians who themselves had close connections
to the apostles, could be used as a secondary source for evaluating
the soundness of more modern Church views.
Consequently,
what this study represents is nothing new. This cataloguing
of the views of the “Apostolic Fathers” on each topical area
of doctrine is intended as a secondary, lesser means of checking
the accuracy of modern Church views by comparison to the views
of the earliest Christians who still had close ties to the
apostles themselves, in some cases even being the next generation
appointed by the apostles. But, like Irenaeus, this catalog
is held to be of secondary value only. Since the apostles
did leave us with writings of their own in the New Testament,
it is unquestioningly the writing of the apostles that is
the first and most authoritative measure of Christian teaching.
And the apostles’ record is complete, lacking in nothing and
not needing to be supplemented or filled in with these later,
non-canonical writings.
The
role of the non-canonical writings is included only as an
interesting testimony to the way that the earliest Christians
interpreted the teaching of the apostles. And what is striking
is that although they may have erred in minor and incidental
points or arguments,
in their works there is not a single major doctrinal
conclusion that is problematic or out of conformity to
scripture. They did not deviate rapidly or widely as some
suggest today in the modern Church. Nor did they disagree
among themselves, but held demonstrable and impressive consensus
that puts the many, many divisions and differing opinions
of the modern Church to shame. The modern Church doesn’t hold
a candle to the consensus and specificity of these early writers.
And before we imagine that the Bible is so flexible in meaning
as to justify all the diverse views of the modern Church,
we ought to be heavily cautioned by the fact that the first
Christians all saw the same one and only one interpretation
in the exact same New Testament that we have today. They did
not look into the New Testament and see confusion or flexibility,
but clarity and singularity of meaning.
Introductory
Notes:
NOTE
1: All quotations from the epistles of Ignatius are from
the “shorter versions” of those texts.
NOTE
2: The following topics are included in the survey below.
1)
View of God
2) View of the
Covenants & the Relationship of Old Testament Saints to
the Church
3) View of the
Kingdom (and Hell), the Timeframe of Jesus’ Return and the
Kingdom
4) View of Young
Age of the World and a 6,000 Year Limit of Human History
5) View of the
Communion Meal
6) View of Baptisms
7) View of the
Law of Christ (Rules in Christianity)
8) View of Repentance
9) View of Excommunication
10) View of Divorce
and Remarriage Forbidden
11) View of Sabbath
Keeping and Holy Days
12) View of Tithing
and Communal Living and Christian Giving
13) View of Freewill
and Election
14) View of Church
Authority
15) View of the
Roles of Men and Women
16) View of Charismatic
Gifts
17) View of the
Christians Relationship to Governments and Participation in
War
18) View of the
Nature of Men, Angels, Demons and Nephilim
NOTE
3: Below are the summaries of the Apostolic Fathers on
all eighteen of the topic areas above.
1)
View of God
(Trinitarian) There is only one God, not multiple Gods.
However, from the beginning of creation, this one God has
revealed Himself to be comprised of three, perpetually distinct,
simultaneously existing, and intercommunicating persons, operating
in communion and in perpetually unbroken agreement with one
another. The titles for these three are the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Spirit. The Word existed before time or anything
else was created, and is therefore Himself eternally existent.
The Word is considered to have the same essence as the Father.
Although mentioned in less detail, the Holy Spirit is regarded
as a comparable counterpart to the Word (in such regards).
(For instance, the Word and the Holy Spirit are both regarded
as God’s “hands” in creation and the Holy Spirit is even referred
to by Irenaeus as being the “similitude” of the Word, reflecting
the Greek term for “another” in Jesus’ phrase “another Paraclete”
in John 14:16.) It Was the Pre-Incarnate Word Who Visited
Men in the Old Testament.
2)
View of the Covenants & the Relationship
of Old Testament Saints to the Church
There are not multiple covenants (or programs) of God
operating at the same time. God progressively prepared men
for redemption and accomplished that redemption through a
series of covenants that culminate in the New Covenant which
was inaugurated by Jesus Christ at the last supper, his death,
and resurrection with believing Jews and under which Jewish
and Gentile saints of all ages (including the Old Testament
saints who lived before the Law of Moses and during the Law
of Moses and the saints living since the new covenant) are
all redeemed through the atoning work of Jesus Christ and
all receive the same promises and eternal reward together,
side-by-side in the kingdom of God on earth. This new covenant
brought by Jesus Christ put an end to and replaced the old
covenant given under Moses. (See also the section on “Sabbaths
and Holy Days” below.)
3)
View of the Kingdom (and Hell), the Timeframe
of Jesus’ Return and the Kingdom
There will be a literal, physical kingdom with Jesus Christ
physically present on earth and ruling over Israel as the head of nations. Jesus
will be assisted in his rule by Jewish and Gentile saints
of all ages and covenants who have been made immortal. At
this time the earth will be restored to the abundant, non-violent
state that was in the paradise of Genesis. Hell is a literal
place where the wicked will reside alive in punishment. The
kingdom of God is not itself present on earth at this time
(apart from the presence of some of its citizenry) but instead
only arrives following the fulfillment of certain prophecies
involving the final tribulation and persecution of the saints
of God (i.e. Jews and Gentiles under the New Covenant) orchestrated
by a literal, singular antichrist and brought to an end at
Jesus Christ’s second coming, all of which still lay ahead
in the future.
4)
View of Young Age of the World and a 6,000
Year Limit of Human History
The earth was only a several thousand years old as indicated
by the record of the Old Testament. The total length of human
history prior to the return of Jesus Christ to rule his kingdom
was no more than approximately 6,000 years. Jesus’ kingdom
was seen as a seventh thousand years and that total 7,000
year period was seen as corresponding to the seven days of
Genesis 1, with Jesus’ kingdom corresponding to the Sabbath.
5)
View of the Communion Meal
The communion meal was an actual meal shared by all believers
during church gatherings. It commemorated the atonement brought
by Jesus Christ and celebrated the saints future resurrection
to participate in the kingdom
of God on earth when
Jesus Christ returns. Since it was associated with participation
in the kingdom of
God eternally, taking communion symbolized having eternal
life. (“Transubstantiation,” the doctrine that the bread and
wine change to become the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ
was not held. At most, it could be argued that the “Apostolic
Fathers” believed in “consubstantiation,” the doctrine that
the bread and wine remain actual bread and wine without being
changed, but in a spiritual sense, they are joined with or
by the body and blood of Jesus Christ. However, upon closer
examination in detail, the surrounding context of the quotes
indicates otherwise.)
6)
View of Baptisms
There were two forms of baptism, not one. They were water
baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit. Water baptism was
viewed as associated with the various Old Testament washing
rituals, the baptism of John the Baptist, and the forerunner
or outward symbol of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Baptism in
the Holy Spirit was another term for the rebirth and was seen
as the ultimate form of baptism, the baptism brought by Jesus
Christ, and the baptism that brought salvation. Baptism in
the Holy Spirit literally referred to the internal cleansing
that occurred over the lifetime of a believer as they learned
to follow the Holy Spirit in obedience to Jesus’ commands.
The rebirth was the time when the Holy Spirit first came into
a person’s life and began this work, which normally occurred
at the time of water baptism. As such, water baptism was seen
as the believers’ voluntary commitment to live as a disciple
and to cleanse themselves of sin, (at which point he received
the Holy Spirit and became born again). Consequently, water
baptism was practiced and was seen as normal but not absolutely
necessary since it was the inner baptism by the Holy Spirit
that performed what was truly needed for salvation.
7)
View of the Law of Christ (Rules in Christianity)
The Law of Moses had been discontinued. But Christianity
had rules and Christians had to follow those rules. The rules
were given by Jesus Christ when he inaugurated a new covenant.
(Therefore, these rules were not based upon or a continuation
from the Law of Moses.) (The rules were far fewer and simpler
than the Law of Moses and more lenient in the sense that they
replaced execution with excommunication and, thereby, allowed
an opportunity for future repentance and reconciliation. Forgiveness
was, of course, provided on the basis of Jesus’ atoning work.)
Legalism was defined as the false teaching that the Law of
Moses was still in effect and believers were obligated to
keep the whole of the specifics of the Law of Moses instead
of the Law of Christ. (Strict adherence to the Law of Christ
was seen as necessary, not as legalism.)
8)
View of Repentance
Required the acknowledgement of what was sinful in your
life, the commitment to turn from those sins, and the real
effort to stop sinning as well as asking forgiveness through
the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
9)
View of Excommunication
Excommunication was social and spiritual separation from
those who were called Christians but who either spoke or lived
in rejection of Jesus’ teaching, whether conceptual or moral
teaching. If such persons did not respond to correction with
repentance, they were excommunicated, which symbolized their
rejection of Christ’s teaching and their removal from the
fellowship (i.e. sharing) of eternal life. If a person later
repented after being excommunicated, they could be restored
to fellowship.
10)
View of Divorce and Remarriage Forbidden
Divorce was not permitted in the church and everyone who
was in a second marriage while their original spouse was still
alive was seen to be an unrepentant sinner on the same level
as any standard, unrepentant adulterer or adulteress.
11)
View of Sabbath Keeping and Holy Days
The Law of Christ did not require keeping a weekly holy
day, particularly the Jewish Sabbath (which is the modern
Saturday). However, early Christians met frequently throughout
the week, including most prominently on Sundays.
12)
View of Tithing and Communal Living and Christian
Giving
The New Covenant abolished the tithe of the Mosaic Law
and replaced it with a command for believers to live communally,
sharing all they had with one another as needed. The tithe
was neither required nor instructed for Christians under the
New Covenant.
13) View of Freewill and Election
a)
Even after the sin of Adam and Eve, the power to choose both
good or evil, belief or disobedience has always remained in
every man. Children are born innocent. God’s sovereignty was
thought of as jurisdictional, as a right to rule and act autonomously,
particularly with regard to judgment. And although God exercised
determinism over specified areas such as how to structure
creation, which men to elevate to authority, and the occurrence
of key historical events leading up to the incarnation and
atoning death of Christ, God’s sovereignty was never viewed
as causative for all things, for salvation, or for any of
the choices of men, whether good or evil. It was understood
that prior to judgment, God’s will was often thwarted, resisted,
and left undone by men and angels, including by born-again
Christians. Consequently, Calvinist doctrines of Original
Sin, Total Depravity, Calvinistic Sovereignty, and even Compatibilistic
Will were rejected.
b)
Which men were elected for redemption and reward and which
men were selected for final condemnation and punishment was
unequivocally viewed as being conditional upon which men would
choose to believe and obey and which would not. This conditional
election took place before creation by means of God’s ability
to foreknow all things, including men’s entirely free choices.
Consequently, the Calvinist doctrine of Unconditional Election
was rejected.
c)
The atonement of Christ truly offered salvation to the whole
world by extending the invitation and opportunity for repentance
to the whole world, not just a unilaterally pre-determined
number leaving the rest unable by nature to repent. The only
manner in which God limited the number of men who would receive
atonement is by limiting the amount of time he would allow
men the opportunity to freely accept and believe in Jesus
Christ, not by God unilaterally determining to cause some
men to believe and not others. Consequently, the Calvinist
doctrine of Limited Atonement was rejected.
d)
Real born-again Christians who had already believed and received
salvation and the Holy Spirit were capable of resisting God’s
efforts on their behalf concerning salvation, to mature them
in Jesus Christ and purify them toward the day of Jesus’ return,
and consequently, could literally turn from real belief to
real doubt and literally lose their salvation. (Not only could
a believer fall away after coming to God, but they could also
come back to God and be accepted by God after falling away
if they repented.) Consequently, the Calvinist doctrines of
Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints (or Eternal
Security) were rejected.
14)
View of Church Authority
The role of an elder, bishop, overseer, and pastor were
seen as the same role. That role was simply a local successor
appointed to fill the apostles’ function after the apostles
had moved on from one city or region to the next. There was
more than one bishop for each local city but often the most
mature, capable bishop in a region was identified as having
the highest oversight for that region. Having demonstrated
their experience and maturity in the teaching of Jesus Christ,
their role was to pass on that teaching to all less mature
Christians and to safeguard the church against deviation from
Jesus’ teaching. Like the rest of the church, they could excommunicate
and their expertise naturally conveyed on them the highest
appeal when such controversies arose. But no single bishop
(such as the bishop of Rome) was seen as having rule over
all the others but instead they shared collective authority
over the church as a whole, even providing guidance to localities
outside their own jurisdiction or having other localities
appeal to them when questions or controversies arose. Consequently,
bishops and congregations were required to submit to the correct
understanding no matter who articulated it. Likewise, the
men of any local congregation were allowed to speak and ask
probing questions to determine the correctness or expose the
incorrectness of any teaching at church gatherings. And, if
accusations (of improper belief or moral behavior) were proved
true, the other elders or men of any local congregation could
remove a bishop from authority and even excommunicate him.
Consequently, authority was entirely conditional and accountable
to other elders and to the local church community.
15)
View of the Roles of Men and Women
By God’s design and under the new covenant, men were understood
to have authority over the women of their household but were
required to live gently with those women and in accordance
with correct Christian teaching. The men were required to
lay down their lives to meet the spiritual needs of their
wives and families, but not their desires or preferences.
Men were allowed to speak and ask probing questions during
church gatherings. By God’s design and under the new covenant,
women were understood to be under the authority of the man
of their household and were required to live in submission
to him as a helpmate to him in his efforts to build the church.
Women could hold authority over each other and over children
but women were required to be silent at church and, if they
had any questions, were to ask their husbands when at their
own home.
16)
View of Charismatic Gifts
The charismatic (i.e. miraculous) gifts did not cease
with the death of the last apostle or the close of the canon
of scripture or when the last person died upon whom the apostle’s
laid hands, etc. Instead, these gifts continued to exist in
wide practice in the church well into the second century.
It was understood that the charismatic gifts were supposed
to always be present in the Church for the benefit of the
Church and for mankind as a whole, just as in the ministry
of Jesus and his apostles. However, it was also understood
that not all miracles or claims of miracles should be accepted
because counterfeit miracles were occurring among heretics
and it was understood such lying miracles would occur before
the return of Jesus in order to draw Christians into false
and damnable teachings. These counterfeit miracles were understood
to often be legitimately supernatural but they were described
specifically as lacking the character of the miracles performed
by Jesus and his apostles. For example, the truly lame or
blind or dead were never restored. Counterfeit miracles also
included the “initiated” coaxing and coaching “uninitiated”
believers to practice what amounted to pretend prophesying.
Christians were instructed to turn away from such counterfeits
and from all teachings and so-called Christian groups associated
with such miracles.
17)
View of the Christians Relationship to Governments
and Participation in War
The nations are ruled over by angels, particularly evil
angels. Satan acquired (or rather abused this authority) when
he took men captive by means of sin. Nevertheless, God still
retained oversight (or at least passive approval for the time)
of which men came to rule at which time, appointing such men
to administer justice. Christians were to live obediently
to the laws of the nations in which they lived, were not to
rebel against the government, but were to submit to the laws
even to death if condemned for their Christian faith. However,
although they were the subjects of such governments, and obedient
subjects, Christians were citizens of Jesus’ coming kingdom
rather than of the countries in which they lived. Christians
were not to participate in war or the civil institutions which
administer justice in this age.
18)
View of the Nature of Men, Angels, Demons and
Nephilim
The human body, soul, and spirit are three distinct components
of a human being. Although spiritual, angels and heaven itself
are comprised of substance, a higher form of matter, but corporeal
in that sense rather than incorporeal. Angels could interact
with men and things on the earth and human bodies could eat
angelic bread and even be taken into heaven. Some angels did
come down to earth and take women as wives even having children
by them. Genesis 6 described these historical events and pagan
myths captured these events in distorted form.
