Series Twelve: A Survey of Church History and Historical Theology

by Matt Johnston

First Period: The life of Christ and the apostolic church (1–100)

General Introduction to the Period (Schaff, History, 1:194–195)

• The apostolic period extends from the Day of Pentecost to the death of St. John, and covers about seventy years, from AD 30 [or 33] to 100.¹
• The field of action is Palestine, and gradually extends over Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. The most prominent centers are Jerusalem, Antioch, and Rome.
• As early as AD 58 Paul could say: “From Jerusalem and round about even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom 15:19).

Key Dates and Events

• AD 30/33: The church is founded on Pentecost, the first Lord’s Day.
• AD 64: A fire broke out and burned in Rome for six days and six nights. Rumors said that Nero started the fire himself. Ten of the fourteen sections of the city were destroyed.
  • Tacitus (AD 109): “But neither human help, nor imperial munificence, nor all the modes of placating Heaven, could stifle scandal or dispel the belief that the fire had taken place by order. Therefore, to scotch the rumor, Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of men, loathed for their vices, whom the crowd styled Christians … ” (Tacitus, Annals, 15.44).
• AD 70: “Emperor Vespasian’s forces, led by Titus, broke through the walls of Jerusalem, looted and burned the temple, and carried off the spoils to Rome [to build things like the Colosseum] … ” (Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, 23).
• AD 44–96: The New Testament is written (James in AD 44 and Revelation between AD 94 and 96).

What Happened to the Apostles?

• Most of what we know is from non-authoritative tradition: “What became of Paul, Peter, and the other apostles? From an early date, traditions began to appear claiming that one or another of them had preached in a particular region, or had suffered martyrdom in one way or another. Most of these traditions are no more than the result of the desire of a church in a particular city to claim apostolic origin” (Gonzáles, Story, 1:27).
• James the brother of John: Killed by King Herod Agrippa I in ca. AD 44 (Acts 12:1–2).
• Paul: Many ancient writers agree that he also died in Rome at the time of Nero (ca. AD 64–68). As a Roman citizen, he would have been beheaded.
• Thomas: “[F]rom a relatively early date there was a church in India, and … this church has repeatedly claimed Thomas as its founder” (ibid., 1:30).
• Peter: A trustworthy tradition tells us that he died in Rome under Nero’s persecution. We are told he was crucified upside down (cf. John 21:18–19) (cf. Tertullian, Prescriptions Against Heresies, 33: “Rome … where Peter suffered like his Lord … ”).

Peter the First Bishop of Rome?

• “The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, ‘is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful. For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 882).
• The validity of the Roman Catholic explanation of the papacy requires three premises (Schaff, History, 1:261–63):²
  • (1) The presence of Peter in Rome
    • History tells us Peter likely spent some time in Rome and was killed there³
    • Paul makes no mention of Peter in Romans
  • (2) The transferability of Peter’s preeminence on a successor
    • Matthew 16:18 says nothing of succession (cf. Eph 2:20).
    • Peter’s pioneering work can have no successor any more than Paul’s in the conversion of the Gentiles.
  • (3) The actual transfer of this prerogative of Peter upon the bishop of Rome
    • Not upon the bishops of Jerusalem, or Antioch, where he undoubtedly resided, but upon the bishop of Rome, where he cannot be proven to have been from the New Testament.
    • “The first councils were held in Eastern cities and were composed almost altogether of Eastern bishops … . If any church had a special right to be called the Mistress of all the churches, it surely was the church in Jerusalem” (Boettner, Roman Catholicism, 119).
    • The Apostolic Fathers speak of Peter, but make no mention of the above.
• Other factors that make Peter an unlikely candidate as Rome’s first pope (ibid.):
  • Peter was married (Matt 8:14; 1 Cor 9:5).
  • James, not Peter presided over the Council at Jerusalem (Acts 15:1–11).
  • Peter was openly rebuked for inconsistency (Gal 2:11–14).
  • Peter writes to fellow elders (cf. 1 Pet 5:1–5).
  • Earliest claim for the supremacy of the bishop of Rome was AD 441–442 (Sermons of Leo the Great on the 2nd and 3rd anniversary of his ordination to the papacy in Schaff, NPNF, Second Series, 12:279–84).

Second Period: Christianity Under Persecution in the Roman Empire (100–311)

Overview of the Period (adapted from Schaff, History, 2:7–12).

• “Despite widespread and determined efforts to eliminate the new faith, it survived and grew. By the reign of Constantine (312–337), the first ‘Christian’ emperor, there were churches in every large town in the empire” (Shelley, Church History, 28).
• The theology of the second and third centuries was mainly apologetic against the paganism of Greece and Rome, and polemic against the various forms of the Gnostic heresy.

The Church Fathers in the Second and Third Centuries

• Basics of the Fathers
  • Generally the Fathers “lived between the end of the Apostolic Era (ca. 100) and the deaths of John Damascus (ca. 655/576–ca. 749) in the East and Isidore of Seville (ca. 560–636) in the West” (Haykin, Church Fathers, 16).
  • “It has become customary to delineate four main criteria to identify a ‘father of the church’: they must be ancient, orthodox in doctrine, holy in life, and approved by other Christians” (Litfin, Church Fathers, 19).
• The Apostolic Fathers
  • “The term ‘Apostolic Fathers’ is traditionally used to designate the collection of the earliest extant Christian writings outside the New Testament. These documents are a primary resource for the study of early Christianity, especially the postapostolic period (ca. A.D. 70–150). They provide significant and often unparalleled glimpses of insights into the life of Christians and the Christian movement during a critical transitional stage in its history” (Holmes, “Introduction,” The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations, 3).
  • Lightfoot’s translation is freely available: www.ccel.org/ccel/lightfoot/fathers.html.
  • Clement of Rome
    • 1 Clement, written by Clement of Rome to the Corinthians some time during the last two decades of the first century.
    • 2 Clement, although long associated with Clement of Rome, doesn’t seem to have been composed by him. It is “the oldest surviving complete Christian sermon outside of the New Testament” (Holmes, Apostolic Fathers, 132).
  • Ignatius of Antioch
    • Ignatius’ seven letters are addressed to various churches in Asia Minor.
    • He composes his letters on the way to his eventual martyrdom in Rome.
    • His letters had three focal points (adapted from ibid., 167):
      • (1) The struggle against false teachers within the church, with a focus on Judaizing legalism and Gnosticism.
      • (2) The unity of the churches.
        • Ignatius also argues for commitment to the bishop, but does so in a way quite different from his contemporary, Clement of Rome (ibid., 168). He explains, “I do not give orders like Peter and Paul: they were apostles…” (Ignatius, Romans, 4.3).
      • (3) His own death. He is explicit that he doesn’t want the recipients of his letters to try and stop his execution.
    • Theologically significant excerpts from Ignatius
      • Lord’s Day: Speaks of “no longer keeping the Sabbath but living in accordance with the Lord’s day” (Ignatius, Magnesians, 9.1).
      • Soteriology: “Jesus Christ, who died for us in order that by believing in his death you might escape death” (Ignatius, Trallians, 2.1); “… only let us be found in Christ Jesus, which leads to true life” (Ignatius, Ephesians 11.1).
      • Christology: “There is only one physician, who is both flesh and spirit, born and unborn, God in man, true life in death, both from Mary and from God, first subject to suffering and then beyond it, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Eph. 7.2; cf. 18.2, 20.2); “Heartiest greetings blamelessly in Jesus Christ our God” (Ignatius, Romans, Salutation).
  • The Martyrdom of Polycarp
    • The oldest written account of Christian martyrdom outside the New Testament. “Apparently written by eyewitnesses (15.1) not long after the event (18.1), it records in sometimes gruesome detail, the pursuit, arrest, trial, and execution of Polycarp, the beloved eighty-six-year-old bishop of the church of Smyrna” (Holmes, Apostolic Fathers, 298).
    • He was likely martyred between AD 155 and 160 (ibid., 301).
    • “But when the magistrate persisted and said, ‘Swear the oath, and I will release you; revile Christ,’ Polycarp replied, ‘For eighty-six years I have been his servant, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” (Martyrdom of Polycarp, 9.3).
  • The Epistle to Diognetus
    • Likely written between 150–225.
    • See Chapter 5 of the epistle for a fascinating description of Christians.
• Select Post-Apostolic Fathers
  • Justin Martyr the Apologist (100–165)
    • “He found connection points between the church’s proclamation and the thought-world into which he was taking the gospel. Yet he did so without compromising the faith like the many heretical sects” (Litfin, Church Fathers, 55).
    • Major works: First Apology, Second Apology and his Dialogue with Trypho.
    • Taught that the true duty of philosophy was to investigate deity (cf. Dialogue with Trypho, ANF 1:194).
    • Trypho was a Jew and in this work he spent a great deal of time explaining Old Testament prophecies and defending the deity of Christ.
    • Justin’s appeal to Typho toward the end of their dialogue: “I exhort you to give all diligence in this very great struggle for your own salvation, and to be earnest in setting a higher value on the Christ of the Almighty God than your own teachers” (ibid., 1:270).
  • Tertullian (160–225)
    • “Tertullian was born … the son of a Roman Centurion. As an adult he practiced law at Rome until he converted to Christianity from paganism. He became a presbyter in the church at Carthage (near modern-day Tunis in Tunisia), serving there until he broke away from the catholics [not in the Roman Catholic sense] as he became increasingly attracted to a sect of [so called] Spirit-filled prophets called the Montanists” (Litfin, Church Fathers, 103).
    • Father of Latin theology.
    • Wrote: Prescription Against Heretics and Against Marcion.
    • He famously noted “What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?” (Prescription Against Heretics 7, ANF 3:246), revealing a bit of his perspective on philosophy and “the blood of Christians is seed” (semen est sanguis Christianorum; Apology 50, ANF 3:55), celebrating martyrdom.
  • Irenaeus of Lyons (130–200)
    • Helped identify the canon of Scripture, and was the first to use the term “New Testament” in the way we use it today.
    • “He grew up in Smyrna, where Bishop of Polycarp presided over the church … . Through Polycarp, who had been a disciple of the Apostle John, the boy Irenaeus felt that he was experiencing a living connection with the apostolic age” (Litfin, Church Fathers, 79).
    • His most famous work: The Detection and Overthrow of What Is Falsely Called ‘Knowledge’ (Against Heresies; 5 volumes) (ibid., 84).
  • Origen (185–254)
    • Was born and lived much of his life in Alexandria. His father was martyred when he was 17. He later moved to Caesarea in Palestine.
    • “Origen longed for mystical union with God through Jesus Christ. He interpreted the Bible allegorically to find Christ on every page” (ibid., 143).
      • “Identified three (or sometimes four) ‘senses’ of scripture.” (ibid., 150). He used 2 Corinthians 3:6 to contrast literal and spiritual.
      • He didn’t deny a literal meaning, but viewed that as the most simple or elementary interpretation.
      • “The Millenarianism of the early church was gradually overcome … . The allegorical interpretation of Scripture, introduced by the Alexandrian school, and sponsored especially by Origen, also had a chilling effect on all millennial hopes” (Berkhof, The History of Christian Doctrines, 262).
      • Some think he was protected from excessive allegory because he embraced the Rule of Faith (cf. Litfin, Church Fathers, 152).
    • Was an ascetic who took Matthew 19:12 literally and became “a eunuch for the kingdom of God.”
    • He was brutally tortured (burned and limbs were stretched) under the Emperor Decius and died from the wounds he received.

Heresies in the Second and Third Centuries

• Gnosticism
  • Pre/early Gnosticism in the New Testament: Colossians and 1 John.
  • The term Gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnōsis. Gnostics were those who thought they had been initiated into a higher level of knowledge.
  • “The gnostics understood themselves to be the elite ‘chosen people’ who, in distinction from the ‘worldly-minded,’ were able to perceive the delicate connection between world (cosmology), humanity (anthropology), and salvation (soteriology). The goal of gnostic teaching was that with the help of insight (gnosis), the elect could be freed from the fetters of this world (spirit from matter, light from darkness) and so return to their true home in the Kingdom of Light—for that alone is the meaning of ‘salvation’” (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 2:1033–1034).
• Marcion
  • “Polycarp once ran into Marcion at Rome but completely ignored him. Apparently Marcion was feeling a little insecure about his reputation that day, for he demanded of the bishop, ‘Acknowledge me!’ ‘I do acknowledge you,’ replied Polycarp. ‘You are the firstborn of Satan!’ This was probably not the reply Marcion was looking for” (Litfin, Church Fathers, 106; found in Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.4.4, ANF, I:416).
  • Taught that the Old Testament god was different from the New Testament god, and that Docetism, the heresy that Christ merely appeared or seemed to be a man, though He truly was not.
  • Rejected the Old Testament in its entirety, and any other portion of Scripture that seemed to him to be Jewish. He was left with most of Paul and Luke’s gospel.
• Montanus
  • Came on the scene around 156 and 172.
  • Self-proclaimed prophet who spoke much about Christ’s second coming.
  • “Montanists insisted that opposition to the new prophecy was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” (Shelley, Church History, 65).
  • Movement was too fanatical and too heavily ascetic to gain any traction.

The Beginnings of a Shift in Church Government

• In the New Testament there were two church offices: Elder and deacon.
  • The terms for elder (presbúteros), overseer (epískopos), and pastor (poimēn; cf. the verb poimaínō) are all connected (Titus 1:5, 7; 1 Pet 5:1–2; Acts 20:17, 28).
  • The words for “overseer” and “elder” continued to be used interchangeably into the third century (Allison, Historical Theology, 590).
• Allusions to the two-tiered system in the Didache and Polycarp:
  • Didache, 15: “Therefore appoint for yourselves bishops (i.e., “overseers”; epískopous) and deacons (diákonous) worthy of the Lord.”
  • Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians, 5, 6: “Deacons must be blameless … . The presbyters, for their part, must be compassionate … .”
• “Faced with a dangerous heresy and confronted with potential divisions in the churches, Ignatius responded with a new form of church government” (Allison, Historical Theology, 590).
  • This shift resulted in a new structure: Bishop/Overseer (one) / Elders (plurality) / Deacons (plurality).
  • “While Ignatius’s ideal church may have threefold ministry that includes deacons and presbyters, it is the bishop who is constitutive of the church: where he is, the church is … . [He argues] for the authority and place of the bishop and does not base it … upon the concept of apostolic succession [contra 1 Clement]” (Holmes, 168).
  • “You must all follow the bishop as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and follow the council of presbyters as you would the apostles; respect the deacons as the commandment of God … .” (Ignatius, Smyrnaeans, 8.1; cf. Philadelphians, 4).
• “As the church developed in the third and fourth centuries, the threefold structure introduced by Ignatius became the standard government” (Allison, Historical Theology, 592; cf. Cunningham, Historical Theology, 250).
• Cyprian (d. 258), bishop of Carthage, continued the development of the three-tiered system as he dealt with Novatian and his followers who separated from the church: “There is one church, divided by Christ throughout the whole world into many members, and also one episcopate diffused through a harmonious multitude of many bishops” (Cyprian, Letter 51.24, in ANF, 5:33).

Third Period: Christianity in union with the Greco-Roman period, and amid the storms of the great migration of nations (AD 311–590)

Overview of the Period (adapted from Schaff, History 3:4–10)

• The reign of Constantine the Great marks the transition of the Christian religion under persecution by the secular government to the beginning of the state-church system.
• The Christian life of the Nicene and post-Nicene age reveals a mass of worldliness within the church; an entire abatement of chiliasm with its longing after the return of Christ and His glorious reign, and in its stead an easy repose in the present order of things.
• Monasticism, sought to save the purity of the church and the glory of martyrdom by retreat from the world into the wilderness. The movement often pushed the limits of fanaticism.
• The Greek church (esp. Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzus) produced the creeds that defined the orthodox view of the holy Trinity and the person of Christ, while the Latin church made considerable advances with the anthropological and soteriological doctrines of sin and grace (mainly Augustine).

Constantine the Great (d. 337)

• Before Constantine there was massive persecution under Diocletian.
• After his conquest of Rome, Constantine met with Lucinius (another ruler), at Milan and made an alliance and agreed upon the Edict of Milan in 313. “Part of what was agreed there was that the persecution of Christians would stop, and that their churches, cemeteries, and other properties would be returned to them” (Gonzáles, Story, 1:107).
• “Christianity appeared to him, as it proved in fact, the only efficient power for a political reformation of the empire, from which the ancient spirit of Rome was fast departing, while internal, civil, and religious dissensions and the outward pressure of the barbarians threatened a gradual dissolution of society” (Schaff, History, 3:14; cf. Gonzáles, Story, 1:118).
• Constantine’s Christianity (Schaff, History, 3:37):
  • As late as 321 he was regularly consulting heathen soothsayers.
  • Until the end of his life he kept the title Pontifex Maximus, which declared him high-priest of the heathen hierarchy.
  • He was baptized a few days before his death at 65 years of age.
• The Impact of Constantine (adapted from Gonzáles, Story, 1:124).
  • With the end of persecution, there was worldliness in the church, and in response monastics attempted to show true devotion by separating from society.
  • Mingling of church history and the history of the Roman Empire
  • “Incense … a sign of respect for the emperor, began appearing in Christian churches”
  • Elaborate churches and basilicas in contrast to the previous simple worship.
  • There was a shift in the common view on eschatology:
    • “The most striking point in the eschatology of the ante-Nicene age (100–325) is the prominent chiliasm, or millenarianism [from the Latin: mille anni] … . It was indeed not the doctrine of the church embodied in any creed or form of devotion, but a widely current opinion of distinguished teachers, such as Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Methodius, and Lactantius; while Caius, Origen, Dionysius the Great, Eusebius (as afterwards Jerome and Augustine) opposed it” (Schaff, History, 2:614.).
    • Although some were against chiliasm before Constantine (e.g., Origen), “the crushing blow came from the great change in the social condition and prospects of the church in the Nicene age. After Christianity, contrary to all expectation, triumphed in the Roman Empire, and was embraced by the Caesars themselves, the millennial reign, instead of being anxiously waited and prayed for, began to be dated either from the first appearance of Christ, or from the conversion of Constantine and the downfall of paganism, and to be regarded to be realized in the glory of the dominant imperial state-church” (ibid, 2:619).

Monasticism

• Monasticism is connected with the Greek word mónos, which can mean “one” or “alone.”
• “When Constantine came to power, the life which these hermits had led became increasingly popular. Some travelers who visited the region declared, with obvious exaggeration, that the desert was more populated than some cities … . No matter how exaggerated these figures may be, the fact to which they point is certain: those who fled society for the withdrawn life of the hermit were legion” (ibid., 142).
• Simeon Stylites is an example of the excesses of monasticism. Simeon was an ascetic monk, who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. His name comes from the Greek word stulos, which means “pillar.” He spent much of his life, some say as many as thirty-seven years, atop a pillar.

The First “Real” Roman Catholic Pope

• The word “pope” simply means “father.”
  • In the early times it was used to refer to any important or respected bishop (Gonzáles, Story, 1:242, “There are documents referring to ‘Pope Cyprian’ of Carthage, or to ‘Pope Athanasius’ of Alexandria”).
• Eusebius (270–340) in his Ecclesiastical History [note the mention of Paul]:
  • “After the martyrdom of Paul and Peter, Linus was the first appointed bishopric of the church of Rome” (III.ii).
  • “Linus … has already been declared to have been the first after Peter to be appointed to the bishopric of the Church in Rome” (III.iv).
  • “At this time Clement was still governing the Romans and he, also, occupied the third place in the list of bishops in Rome after Paul and Peter; Linus was the first and after him Anencletus” (III.xx).
• Innocent I (402–417): “Took a step beyond, and in the Pelagian controversy ventured the bold assertion, that in the whole Christian world nothing should be decided without the cognizance of the Roman see, and that, especially in matters of faith, all bishops must turn to St. Peter” (Schaff, History, 3:315).
• Leo the Great (440–461)
  • The first pope in the truest sense is Leo I. “In him the idea of the papacy, as it were, became flesh and blood” (ibid.).
  • Leo certainly wielded political power in Rome. In 452 when Attila and his Huns invaded Italy, it was Leo who went to meet him. Likewise in 455 when the Vandals sacked the city, it was Leo who led the negotiations with the Vandal leader to save the city from burning (Shelley, Church History, 133).
  • However, in theological controversy Leo’s opinion was not accepted simply because he was the bishop of Rome. Although the bishops at the Council of Chalcedon in many ways honored Leo as the bishop of Rome, they gave the bishop of Constantinople (which was the New Rome in Constantine’s empire) equal authority with that of Leo (ibid., 138).
• The period between Gregory and Leo: “The first Leo and the first Gregory are the two greatest bishops of Rome in the first six centuries. Between them no important personage appears on the chair of Peter … . Leo thought and acted as an absolute monarch; Gregory as first among the patriarchs; but both under the full conviction that they were successors of Peter” (Schaff, History, 323).
• Gregory the Great (590)
  • Gregory’s own words on the Papacy: “Now I confidently say that whosoever calls himself, or desires to be called, Universal Priest, is in his elation the precursor of Antichrist, because he proudly puts himself above all others” (A letter to Maricius Augustus,” Book 7, Epistle 33, in Schaff, Post-Nicene Fathers, 12: 224–225).
  • “While Gregory protested high sounding titles, he claimed and exercised, as far as he had the opportunity and power, the oversight over the whole church of Christ” (Shelley, Church History, 167).

Select Fathers in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries

• Athanasius (296–373)
  • At the age of twenty-three wrote against the views of Arius, declaring them to be heresy
  • Became Bishop of Alexandria on June 8, AD 328 (He was thirty).
  • Was exiled five times (seventeen of his forty-five years as bishop were spent in exile).
  • On the Incarnation was his most famous work.
• John Chrysostom (347–407)
  • His name means “golden mouth.”
  • Studied under the Libanius, who was the most outstanding orator of his day. “When [Libanus was] asked which of his students should succeed him in his professorship of rhetoric, Libanius replied, ‘It ought to have been John, had not the Christians stole him from us” (Litfin, Church Fathers, 191).
  • “When John interpreted the Bible, he used a very different method than what we have already seen in Origen. Origen’s “Alexandrian” method of allegorization had a long history among the ancient Greeks, who used it to reinterpret their embarrassing mythology to find a more profound meaning. In the early church, Origen applied some of the same principles to the text of scripture … . A school of thought arose in opposition to the allegorical exegesis, and this school was centered in the Syrian city of Antioch. Therefore, modern scholars of early Christianity make a distinction between the ‘Alexandrian’ and Antiochene’ approaches to biblical interpretation” (ibid., 198).
• Augustine (354–430)
  • Father of orthodox theology and most important pre-Reformation theologian.
  • Council of Carthage (419) decided for Augustine’s views on grace and sin and condemned Pelagianism (see below).
  • He adopted amillennialism with the help of Ambrose’s allegorical method.
  • Highlights from Augustine’s Confessions (as translated by Chadwick):
    • “You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (I.i).
    • His reflection on stealing pears as a child: “I had no motive for my wickedness except wickedness itself. I was foul, and I loved it.” (II.iv).
    • Unhelpful, confusing sections: Seem to allude to praying for his mother’s sins after her death (IX.35). Baptismal regeneration? (IX.iii, iv, vi).
    • His conversion (see VIII.xii).
    • “Grant what you command, and command what you will” (X, xxix, xxx).
      • “Pelagius was a British monk…He came to Rome in 400 and was distressed at the state of conduct there. Feeling that there was need of more moral conduct he was shocked at the prayer of Augustine (above)” (Henry Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, 73).
      • “Pelagius, and his immediate followers, Coelestius and Julian, taught openly and explicitly that man’s moral character had received no injury from the fall, and that men were born now with much ability to do the will of God, and to discharge all the obligations incumbent upon them, as Adam” (Cunningham, Historical Theology, 1:329).
• Patrick (d. 493?)
  • Patrick was born in Great Britain to godly parents, but was captured and made a slave in Ireland for six years. It was as a captive in Ireland that the Lord saved Him.
  • He escaped back to Britain, but a vision from God led him to return to Ireland.
  • Assessments of Patrick’s Christianity:
    • “The Christianity of Patrick was substantially that of Gaul and old Britain, i.e. Catholic, orthodox, monastic, ascetic, but independent of the Pope, and differing from Rome in the age of Gregory I in minor matters of polity and ritual. In his Confession he never mentions Rome or the Pope; he never appeals to tradition, and seems to recognize the Scriptures (including the Apocrypha) as the only authority in matters of faith.” (Schaff, History, 4:47).⁴
    • “Evangelical faith even then existed in the British islands in the person of this slave, and of some few Christians born again, like him from on high” (D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, 5:679.)
  • The Confession of St. Patrick:⁵
    • “I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman … . I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our salvation” (1; cf. 15: “I was not worthy”).
    • “And there [Ireland] the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance” (2; Before his conversion he says he “remained in death and unbelief” 27).
    • “Before I was humbled I was like a stone lying in deep mire, and he that is mighty came and in his mercy raised me up and, indeed, lifted me high up and placed me on top of the wall. And from there I ought to shout out in gratitude to the Lord for his great favours in this world and forever, that the mind of man cannot measure” (12).
    • He once explained to his captors: “Be converted by faith with all your heart to my Lord, because nothing is impossible for him” (19).
    • He speaks of Christ as, “He who gave his life for you” (24; cf. also section 55 for statements on Christ’s substitution).

The Recognition of the New Testament Canon in the Early Church

• “A book is not the Word of God because it is accepted by the people of God. Rather, it was accepted by the people of God because it is the Word of God. That is, God gives the book its divine authority, not the people” (Geisler and Nix, General Introduction to the Bible, 210).
• “The writings that composed the Jewish Scriptures—now called the Old Testament—were fixed and had been so for several centuries prior to the coming of Jesus Christ” (Allison, Historical Theology, 37).⁶
  • “It is true, our history has been written since Artaxerxes [464–423 BC] very particularly, but has not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there has not been an exact succession of prophets since that time” (Josephus, Against Apion, 1.41 in Allison, Historical Theology, 37).
• “Let us then serve Him in fear, and with all reverence, even as He Himself has commanded us, and as the apostles who preached the Gospel unto us, and the prophets who proclaimed beforehand the coming of the Lord” (Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians, 6.3).
• “We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us … [he then lists several of the New Testament books]. If anyone does not agree to these truths, he despises the companions of the Lord; nay more, he despises Christ Himself the Lord; yea, he despises the Father also, and stands self-condemned, resisting and opposing his own salvation, as is the case with all heretics” (Irenaeus, Against the Heresies, 3.1.1, 2).
  • Irenaeus also speaks of “tradition which originates from the apostles” (3.2.2; 3.3.2).
  • “Throughout this treatise Irenaeus is content to use and cite a wide variety of New Testament books as Scripture and presumes his audience is familiar with them. He appeals to these books quite naturally and unapologetically, cites them by name, and provides no indication that this audience might be unaware of their existence or surprised by their authoritative role in the life of the church” (Michael Kruger, The Question of Canon, 159).
• “Two key criteria emerged to determine which writings to include in the canon:
  • (1) apostolicity: Does this writing have an apostle for its author (e.g., Paul’s letters, the gospels of Matthew and John)? If not, is an apostle associated with this writing (e.g., Mark’s gospel records the account of the apostle Peter)? (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.1.1, ANF, I:414, “Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter”).
  • (2) antiquity: Has the church historically recognized the voice of God speaking to His people in this writing?” (Allison, Historical Theology, 42).
• The Muratorian Fragment (AD 170), named for the man who found the document.
  • Added to the twenty-seven books of our canon: Wisdom of Solomon, Revelation of Peter
  • Missing: Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 3 John
  • “We should not use lack of agreement over the edges of canon as evidence for the lack of existence of a canon” (Kruger, Canon, 163).
• Theophilus of Antioch
  • Wrote his only surviving work to Autolycus around AD 177 (ibid., 164).
  • “Theophilus places the ‘Gospels’ on the same level of inspiration and authority as the Old Testament Prophets” and was clearly aware of Paul’s writings (ibid.).
  • “In the final analysis, the core of Theophilus’ collection of scriptural books is basically the same as that of Irenaeus; it included the four Gospels, the Pauline letters, and likely a few other books” (ibid.).
• Origen (mid-third century)
  • Identical to our present canon, but several books were disputed (e.g., Hebrews, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John).
• Eusebius of Caesarea (Ecclesiastical History, III.iii).
  • Accepted books: four gospels, Acts, thirteen letters of Paul, 1 John, 1 Peter, Revelation (may be spurious)
  • Disputed, yet known to most: James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude
  • He also had two other categories, ‘Spurious works,’ and ‘Absurd works,’ each with several works on the list.
• Athanasius’ Easter letter (AD 367):
  • Lists all twenty-seven books of the New Testament
  • “These are fountains of salvation … . Let no man add to these, neither let him take ought from these … (Athanasius, “Selected Works, Letters,” The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, 551–52). Athanasius’ list was officially endorsed at the Council of Hippo in AD 393).

Justification by Faith Alone in the Early Church⁷

• Origen (185–254): “A man is justified by faith. The works of the law can make no contribution to this. Where there is no faith which might justify the believer, even if there are works of the law these are not based on the foundation of faith. Even if they are good in themselves they cannot justify the one who does them, because faith is lacking, and faith is the mark of those who are justified by God” (Origen, Commentary on Romans, 2.136).
• Basil of Caesarea (329–379): “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord, that Christ has been made by God for us righteousness, wisdom, justification, redemption. This is perfect and pure boasting in God, when one is not proud on account of his own righteousness but knows that he is indeed unworthy of the true righteousness and is justified solely by faith in Christ” (Basil, “Homily on Humility,” 20.3).
• Jerome (347–420): “We are saved by grace rather than works, for we can give God nothing in return for what he has bestowed on us” (Jerome, Epistle to the Ephesians, 1.2.1).
• John Chrysostom (349–407): “God allowed his Son to suffer as if a condemned sinner, so that we might be delivered from the penalty of our sins. This is God’s righteousness, that we are not justified by works (for then they would have to be perfect, which is impossible), but by grace, in which case all our sin is removed” (John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians, 11.5).

The Trinity and the Person of Christ in the Ancient Church⁸

• “After the completion of the NT, Christian writers saw it as their task to defend and explain how Jesus is one with God, while maintaining there is only one God” (Letham, The Holy Trinity, 89).
• Irenaeus (130–200) “stresses the oneness of God. The Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, are fully God, but yet in no way detract from the divine unity” (ibid., 96).
• Subordinationism: Christ and the Spirit are lesser beings and subordinate to God.
• Modalism: The Son and the Spirit are temporary manifestations of the one God
  • “Modalism was suppressed by the council of Antioch in 268, but the subordinationist question was still unresolved” (ibid., 109).
• Tertullian (160–225) was “[t]he first to use Trinitas and persona … [and] by demonstrating the real personal distinctions in the Trinity, he sets up a barrier to modalism” (ibid., 100–101).
• Origen (185–254) is at times accused of being a subordinationist, however, he taught, contra Arius that, “There was not when he was not” of the Son (ibid., 105).
• Sabellianism (3rd century): “The only God, the Father in the OT, had become the Son in the NT, and sanctified the church as the Holy Spirit after Pentecost” (ibid., 108).
• Arius (ca. 250–ca. 336): “There was [a time] when the Son was not[ḗn pote hóte ouk ēn].”
  • Arius was a propagandist and used songs to promote his heresy.
  • “The text John 10:30, where Jesus says ‘I and the Father are one,’ was taken to mean a unity in harmonious agreement of will, not identity of essence. Thus, for Arius, will is primary rather than essence” (ibid., 112).
• First Council of Nicaea (325)
  • Arius was condemned, his books were burned and he was exiled.
  • “Nicaea’s main achievement was to place on record once and for all that the being of the Son is identical to the being of the Father, dealing a mortal blow to subordinationism” (ibid., 117).
  • The Nicene Creed as it is known today is actually from Constantinople (381): One Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only begotten, that is, from the essence of the Father [ek tēs ousías tou patrós].⁹
  • of the same essence (consubstantial with) of the Father [homoousion tō patri]
• Arianism and semi-Arianism gained ascendency for a time in the church (AD 325–361)
• Athanasius (296–373): Taught that God is one being (ousia) and three persons (hypostasis) and the mutual indwelling of the three Persons.
• The Cappadocians: Basil the Great (330–379); Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 335/340–394/400); Gregory of Nazianzus (ca. 330–391):
  • “[Clarified] the real, eternal, personal distinctions of the three and setting these in the context of their relations to each other. God is one undivided being, yet three persons in communion and union” (ibid., 165–164).
  • Nazianzus taught: Ingenerateness [Father]; Generateness [Son]; Procession [Spirit]
• The First Council of Constantinople (381)¹⁰
  • Added important statements emphasizing the deity of the Holy Spirit
  • “Thus Arianism and the kindred errors were forever destroyed in the Roman Empire, though kindred opinions continually reappear in other cases” (Schaff, History, 3:640).
• The Council of Ephesus (431): Condemned Nestorianism (Christ had two Persons)
• The Council of Chalcedon (451): Carefully defined orthodox Christology¹¹
  • “Reasonable soul”—“Against Apollinaris, who denied that Christ had a ψυχὴ λογική [psuchḕ logikḗ, reasonable soul] , and who reduced the Incarnation to the assumption of a human body (σῶμα) [sōma] with an animal soul (ψυχὴ ἄλογος) [psuchḕ álogos], inhabited by the Divine Logos. But the rational spirit of man requires salvation as much as the body” (Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, 2:62; Cf. Reymond, Systematic Theology, 602).
  • “One Substance”—“Christ’s homoousia with the Father implies numerical unity, or identity of essence (God being one in being, or monoousios); Christ’s homoousia with men means only generic unity, or equality of nature” (Schaff, Creeds, 2:62).
  • “Two natures”—Against Monophysitism and Eutychianism, which taught that Christ only had one nature
• The Second Council of Constantinople (533): Monophysites made a partial victory … even though their doctrine was still expected to be understood in light of Chalcedon.
• The Third Council of Constantinople (680): Condemned Monothelitism (one will in Christ) as well as Pope Honorius I, who was a monothelite heretic (cf. Schaff, History, 4:491).