EARLY CHURCH WRITINGS

IV. THIRD CENTURY FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

March 8, 2006

Charles P. Poole, Jr.

1. Introduction

2. Theological (Catechetical) Schools

3. Clement of Alexandria d. 215

3a. Exhortation to the Greeks

3b. The Pedagogue

3c. The Stromata

 4.  Didascalia c. 220

5. Tertulllian d. 220

5a. Apology

5b. Testimony of the Soul

5c. The Prescription of Heretics

6. Hippolytus of Rome d. 235

6a. Refutation of All Heresies

6b. Apostolic Tradition

7. Origen d. 253

7a. Hexapla

7b. First Principles

7c.Against Celsus

7d.On Prayer

8. Cyprian d. 258

8a.On The Unity of the Church

9. Eusebius of Caesarea d. 339

9a.The Chronicle

9b.The History of the Church

1. Introduction

The first lecture had 16 sections, and the second over 50 because of the relatively large number of pertinent manuscripts dating from apostolic times that had been translated, and were available in print. By the second century there were too many sources to discuss thoroughly, so some selectivity was necessary in the choice of topics to treat during the third lecture. By the third century the amount of material had become far too extensive to mention everyone’s name, so we will discuss the more important documents of this century. In the Table of Contents we list the (sometimes approximate) date on which each Father of the Church died.

We saw in the previous class that some early Church writers found it necessary to defend the Church against false allegations. Accusations such as atheism, cannibalism, and immorality, that were being used to justify cruel persecutions. The third century Church Fathers no longer needed to spend much time rebutting these calumnies.

2. Theological Schools

There were two main centers of learning in the Christian world during the third and fourth centuries. They were called Theological Schools, or sometimes Catechetical Schools. The oldest of these was the School of Alexandria, which was directed by Pataenus from c. 180 AD until his death shortly before 200 AD. Pataenus was the teacher of Clement of Alexandria, who eventually succeeded to the directorship of the School. A number of third and fourth century theologians were associated with this school as students or as teachers, such as Athanasius, Clement, Cyril, Didymus, Dionysius, Origen, Peter, and Pierius. Origen became the director of the School after Clement, and served in this post from 203 to 231. During his tenure the school reached the height of its fame. Then Origen went to Caesarea where he founded another School of Theology, which he directed until his death in 253. The School of Caesarea educated Eusebius of Caesarea and Gregory Thaumaturgos, and had an influence on the three Cappadocians, namely Basil the Great, his brother Gregory of Nyssa, and his friend Gregory Nazianzen. A third Theological School founded in 312 at Antioch by Lucian of Samosata had associated with it Diodorus of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and the famous “golden-mouthed” preacher John Chrysostom. Eventually heresy infected it via Arius who was taught by its founder Lucian.

These theological schools had some differences of approach to the exegetical (scripture interpretation) and theological enterprises of the period. One of the most important problems that the early Church wrestled with was the meaning to be given to various passages in the Old Testament. For the understanding of Scripture the Alexandrian and Caesarean Schools emphasized allegorical interpretations, and the School at Antioch emphasized literal interpretations. Another important problem for the apostolic Church was to understand the nature and the personhood of Jesus Christ. In the field of Christology, Alexandria emphasized the divinity of Christ, and Antioch emphasized Christ’s humanity, an issue which was finally settled at the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD), which concurred with the decrees of the three earlier councils at Nicaea, Ephesus and Constantinople by affirming that Jesus is both true God and true man.

There was also a Theological School at Edessa, and a Nestorian oriented School at Nisibis, but these were of much lesser significance.

3. Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria, who lived from about 150 to 215 AD, should not be confused with his earlier namesake Clement of Rome who lived a century earlier. Clement was a pupil of Pantaenus, and was the second director after him of the Alexandrian Theological School. He has been called the first Christian scholar, and he was the first person to try to harmonize pagan learning with Christian revelation. To accomplish this, he gathered together the main tenets of paganism, and argued how they attained their fulfillment in Christian revelation.

Not much is known about the life of Clement, but his writings do give us some insight into his personality. He was well versed in the Scriptures, and his works contain 1,500 allusions to the Old Testament and 2,000 to the New. He could do this 200 years before the establishment of the official Canon of the New Testament at Hippo in 393 AD because the main NT books, such as the four gospels and the epistles of Paul (with the exception of Hebrews), were the same in all of the proposed canons, and only several works of lesser significance were disputed.

3a. Exhortation to the Greeks

In addition to one homily “Who is the rich man that is saved?” (Matth 10:17-31), there are three important works for which Clement is known, namely: the Exhortation to the Greeks, the Pedagogue or Tutor, and the Stromata or Tapestry. The first of this trilogy is aimed at convincing gentiles of the folly of worshiping pagan gods, and to urge them to accept the true religion which is based on predictions by the prophets of the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ who brings a message of redemption and immortality. Christ promises a life which fulfills the deepest longings of the human spirit. This work resembles some of the second century Apologies in its opposition to ancient mythology, and its stress on the antiquity of the Hebrew Scriptures. Clement quotes Greek philosophy to support his arguments against pagan worship, and maintains that the only true philosophy is the religion of Christ.

3b. The Pedagogue

Clement’s second work the Pedagogue consists of three books. It is a continuation of the Exhortation addressed to those who have been converted to the Christian Faith. The aim of the first book is not to teach, but rather to admonish the soul, and to urge the reader to lead a virtuous life. It treats general aspects of Ethics. It asserts that those who are redeemed and reborn by baptism have become children of God. The second and third books deal with the problems and temptations of daily life in a city such as Alexandria where sexual immorality, various vices, and luxury were rampant. Clement warns against participating in such a life of debauchery. He urges his readers to follow the Christian moral code, and to become detached from the allurements of the city. They must try to inculcate a Christian spirit in the local culture. In many ways our present culture of luxury and sexual immorality resembles that of Third Century Alexandria, so Clement’s Pedagogue can teach us a great deal about how we should behave as Christians eighteen centuries later.

3c. The Stromata

Clement’s third work, named the Stromata after its Greek title, is frequently called by its English translation the Carpets or the Tapestry. It consists of eight books. It employs a literary form common in the early centuries which permitted the author to range over a large number of subjects without a coherent plan; in other words, a tapestry of subjects. Apparently Clement had originally planned to follow his second work with a Didaskalos or teaching treatise to expound Christian beliefs in a systematic manner. He gave up on this idea, and incorporated much of what would have been in the Didaskalos in the Stromata. He maintains that philosophy can prepare the mind for the acceptance of faith, that knowledge of God can be acquired only by means of faith, and that faith itself is the basis for true knowledge.

4. Didascalia

The Catholic Teaching of the Twelve Apostles and Disciples of Our Savior is usually referred to by its abbreviated Greek title Didascalia (teaching or instruction). Since it dates from the early third century all of the apostles had been long dead, but it purports to reflect their teaching. It consists mainly of instructions on morality and applications of church law. It is based on the Didache, with some influence from Hermas and Irenaeus. It has similarities to the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus.

The introduction begins with a salutation to the Trinity: “In the name of the Father Almighty, and of the eternal Word and the only Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one true God. We begin to write the book Didascalia as the holy apostles of our Lord offered unto us.” It continues “Everyone shall stand and confess and believe in that which has been allotted by God, that is to say, the bishop as a shepherd, the presbyters as teachers, the deacons as servants, the subdeacons as helpers, the lectors as readers, the singers as psalmists with intelligence and stability, and that the rest of the people should be hearers of the words of the Gospel in discipline.” The introduction ends with the admonition: “And he who is resisting, and does not keep them (i.e. the commandments) . . . they shall expel him as an opposer and quarreler, and he shall be dwelling in the Gehenna for eternity.” Thus the Church of the early third century had a well established hierarchy, and a mechanism for expelling unbelievers. The Didascalia makes reference to the Catholic Church on several occasions.

Many of the chapters of the Didascalia discuss moral situations involving particular individuals, such as husbands (Ch. 2), wives (Ch. 3), widows (Ch. 14, 15), bishops (Ch. 4 to 9, 11, 12, 19), deacons and deaconesses (Ch. 11, 16). Three chapters at the end discuss how to handle disputes and heresies (Ch. 23 to 25).

5. Tertulllian

Tertullian was born in Carthage, North Africa, about, 115 AD, and died there c. 220. He was one of the three great North African Fathers of the Western Church, together with Cyprian (c. 200 - 258) and Augustine (354 - 430). Except for Augustine, Tertullian was the most important early Church theologian to write in Latin. When he was an old man, 92 years of age, he joined the Montanist heresy, which espoused a way of life involving extreme asceticism. He founded his own Montanist sect called the Tertullianists, which eventually died out. He never returned to the true faith before his death at the approximate age of 105.

Tertullian was very prolific, and thirty one of writings are extant. They may be classified as apologetic (5), polemical (4), dogmatic (6), moral and disciplinary (16). There are also four writings which have been lost. Most of them were firm upholders of orthodoxy, but several written toward the end of his life attacked Catholic positions on various topics. We will discuss three of the orthodox ones from his Catholic period.

5a. Apology

The Apology or Apologeticum is similar to his earlier work “To the Heathen” (Ad Nationes). This, perhaps his most important work, is addressed to the administrators of Roman Provinces, whom he attacks, and at the same time tries to convince by reason. He protests the unfair way that Christians have been accused of the crimes of atheism and cannibalism which they never committed. Concerning the charge of contempt for the religion of the state, Tertullian states that Pagan gods are deceased human beings with inanimate images, while the Christians worship the creator of the world, the one true God who was revealed in the Scriptures. He refutes the widespread belief that Romans rule the world because of their veneration of idols. He ends by insisting that Christianity is not a mere philosophy, but rather is based on divine revelation, hence it cannot be destroyed by its persecutors.

5b. Testimony of the Soul

The Latin title Testamonium animae naturaliter christianae of this short work is more correctly translated: “ Testimony of a Soul Naturally Christian.” The author claims that a soul not ruined by education has present in it attributes of God, and truths such as life after death and rewards and punishments for a life lived well or sinfully. The famous phrase “A soul naturally Christian”(anima naturaliter christiana) does not mean infused knowledge as such, but rather the awareness by the soul of the creator. This is reminiscent of the Catholic belief in the presence in our souls of the Natural Law which distinguishes Good from Evil.

5c. The Prescription of Heretics

This work, De praescriptione haereticorum, is perhaps Tertullian’s most significant. It makes the claim that only Catholics have the truth because it came down to them through the apostles who handed it on to the Churches that they founded. Here we have an early statement of the proposition of Apostolic Succession as one of the marks of the True Church. The early Church Fathers often emphasized that Apostolic Succession distinguished the True Church from those of heretics. Tertullian maintained that only the Church has the competency to interpret the Scriptures. Heretics cannot make use of the Bible because it is not theirs; it belongs to the Church. An appended catalogue of 32 heresies which appears at the end may have been derived from another source. It seems like a summary of the Syntagma of Hippolytus.

6. Hippolytus of Rome

Hippolytus (170 - 235), pupil of Irenaeus, was a presbyter with a wide variety of interests, and a prolific writer. He was involved in an 18 year long schism, and was elected the first antipope. Before his death in exile on the island of Sardinia, he became reconciled to the Church, and he urged his followers to do likewise. The Church honors him as a saint and a martyr. He wrote about 35 books, most of which have been lost. He was the last Father of the Church in the West who wrote in Greek, since Latin then took over as the language of the Church. One of his books was a refutation of 32 heresies, and another discussed 33 Gnostic systems. A famous third century marble statue of Hippolytus, rediscovered in Rome in 1551, and now in the Vatican Library, has inscribed on it a list of his writings.

6a. Refutation of All Heresies

Some claim that the Refutation of All Heresies, also called Philosophumena, is the most valuable work of Hippolytus. It is based on an earlier work of his, Against All Heresies, which has been lost. It depends on the book Against Heresies written by his mentor Irenaeus, which was discussed in the previous class. The present work Refutation seeks to prove that heretics are atheists who take nothing from scripture, but depend only on ancient Greek philosophical ideas. In other words, Hippolytus attempts to show the unchristian nature of the various heresies. He associates each of the 33 Gnostic sects with a particular philosophical or pagan system.

6b. Apostolic Tradition

The Apostolic Tradition, also known as the Egyptian Church Order, has been of interest to scholars in recent years. It follows in the tradition of the Didache which was discussed in the previous class, and after the Didache it is the most important of the early Church Orders in our Tradition. It contains an elementary Sacramentary with directions for the celebration of the Eucharist, and the administration of the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. It also provides rules for ordaining various ranks of the hierarchy, and explains their roles.

The document states at the beginning: “We turn to the Tradition which is proper for the Churches in order that those who have been rightly instructed may hold fast to the role of tradition which has continued until now.” There follows a short discussion of the bishop, and it is mentioned concerning him that “By the high priestly spirit he may have authority to forgive sins according to Thy command.” Then there is a section on the liturgy which begins with an offertory prayer similar to the one in our present-day Mass. The consecration is also similar “Taking bread and giving thanks, he said: take ye and eat, this is my body which is broken for you for the remission of sins . . . likewise also the cup, saying: this is my blood which is shed for you.” Then there is an invocation of the Holy Spirit and a remembrance prayer, as in our present Mass.

The next section concerns the ordination of presbyters and deacons by the imposition of hands by the bishop. Concerning a deacon it says “He is not ordained for the priesthood, but for service to the bishop.” Other categories of persons who are not ordained (i.e. do not have the imposition of hands) are discussed, including Confessors, Widows, Lectors, Virgins, and Subdeacons, those with the gift of healing, and Laity.

7. Origen

Origen has the reputation of having been the greatest scholar of Christian antiquity. He was born in c. 184, and had two outstanding scholarly careers. He succeeded Clement of Alexandria and served as director of the Alexandrian Theological School from 202 to 232. The Alexandrian School reached the peak of its international esteem during Origen’s directorship. Then he moved to Caesarea in Palestine where he founded and directed a rival Theological School from 232 to 253. Origin provided theology with the technical terms homoousios (same substance), hypostasis (nature), ousia (substance), and theotokos (God bearer) which were needed to clarify the christological controversies of the following century.

During his late teens he led an ascetical life, and by a wrong interpretation of Matt 19:12 he castrated himself. Much later in his life his superior Demetrius in Alexandria blamed the hierarchy in Palestine for allowing Origen, a layman, to preach in the presence of a bishop, during his trip to the Holy Land. This prompted Bishop Alexander of Jerusalem to ordain Oirgen as a priest so his preaching would be acceptable, an ordination that was invalid because of his castration. When he returned to Alexandria Demetrius reacted by having him excommunicated at a synod in 230, and deprived of his priesthood at another synod in 231. Thus it is not surprising that he went to Caesarea to pursue his scholarly endeavors. The bishop of Caesarea ignored the synodal censures of Origen, and encouraged the formation of the new Theological School. Even today, from time to time, Church politics can be a little weird.

7a. Hexapla

Most of Origen’s writings involve biblical matters. Contemporary scholars were interested in establishing the exact original wording of the scriptures so Origin decided to put together a critical edition of the Old Testament Bible. He did this in six parallel columns. The first column contained the official Massoretic Hebrew text of the Jewish people, the second column contained this Hebrew Bible written in Greek Letters to establish the pronunciation since Hebrew writing only includes consonants, not vowels. The other four columns displayed four Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, one of which was the Septuagint, which eventually became the official Christian Old Testament. Jerome found the Hexapla useful when he made the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. The Hexapla contained cross references for comparing similar or identical sayings in different books. Origen also wrote scholia (brief explanations of difficult passages), homilies, and commentaries on all of the of the Old and New Testament books. In his commentaries he favored literal or historical interpretations, rather than allegorical or spiritual ones.

7b. First Principles

First Principles is a systematic presentation of the truths of the faith, and the first manual of dogmatic theology. It starts by showing that the source of all religious truth is the teaching of Christ and his apostles. Origen makes it clear that both scripture and tradition are the sources of Christian doctrine, and that theology involves both tradition and progress. First Principles consists of four books which treat of the topics: God, World, Freedom, and Revelation. The first book discusses spiritual matters: God, the Trinity, the angels, and the second speaks of material things: creation and the fall of man, redemption by Christ, the resurrection, the last judgment and the afterlife. The third book is devoted to: the union of body and soul, the exercise of free will aided by angels and hindered by devils, the contrast of sinful and responsible living, and principles of morality. The fourth book repeats and expands on fundamental points of the earlier ones, then presents scripture as the source of faith from which we should receive inspiration, recognizing its threefold meanings: literal-historical, moral, and allegorical-mystical, which Origen calls, respectively, somatic (body), psychic (soul), and pneumatic (spirit) meanings.

7c. Against Celsus

About the year 178 the pagan philosopher Celsus wrote True Discourse, an attack on the beliefs of Jews and Christians, and Origen wrote a rebuttal called Against Celsus. Origen refutes the arguments of Celsus systematically, one by one, so that the text of Celsus’ book, which has been lost to history, could be almost reconstructed from Origen’s quotations from it.

7d. On Prayer

The first part of On Prayer speaks of prayer in general, and the second part is devoted to the Our Father. It is the oldest systematic discussion of prayer in the literature of the Church.

8. Cyprian

Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage, was involved in two religious controversies. During the persecution of Decian (c. 259 AD) many Christians called Lapsi had given in to apostasy and left the Church. After the end of the persecution, the Lapsi wanted to return to the Church, and Cyprian insisted on them doing severe penances. His enemies attacked him for this, and a schism broke out. There were very strong emotional feelings on both sides of the issue, but eventually everything worked out and the schism was healed. There was another controversy about the validity of baptisms performed by heretics which the African Church denied, but Pope Stephen accepted. Cyprian’s autobiographical work Ad Donatum, addressed to his friend Donatus, reminds one of the Confessions of St. Augustine. He also wrote a book on the Lord’s Prayer, and a number of other books. We will discuss next what was probably his most important work.

8a. On The Unity of the Church

Cyprian’s book, On The Unity of the Church (De ecclesiae unitate), was prompted by his experience with schism. In it he claims that schisms and heresies are caused by the devil, and he makes clear his belief that outside the Church there is no salvation, asserting that one “Cannot have God for his father who has not the Church for his mother.” This harsh viewpoint has been clarified in recent centuries by the teachings on baptism of desire. The fourth chapter has an addition which stresses the primacy of Peter.

9. Eusebius of Caesarea

Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea, led a life associated with two eras of Church history. He was a historian who wrote his History of the Church which recounted the events of the first three centuries of Christianity, as well as the early fourth century. Since he lived until 339 AD, he was alive for the Edict of Milan (315 AD) which ended the persecutions and granted religious freedom to Christians. He was also around for the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) which settled outstanding theological disputes about the divinity and the humanity of Christ. After these events, the Church could prosper and grow in a much more favorable environment than had existed earlier, but this would be the subject for a whole new series of lectures, so we must stop now at this point. Before doing so, however, we should mention that a great deal of what we know about the events and the personalities of the first three centuries of Christianity has been provided to us by the historical writings of Eusebius, who has the reputation of being the Father of Ecclesiastical History.

9a. The Chronicle

One of Eusebius’ earliest writings is the Chronicle. The first part or introduction provides short summary histories of the Chaldeans or Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Hebrews, the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. The second part contains tables with parallel columns which recount the events of secular and sacred history side by side. He begins the chronology with Abraham because he considered the genealogical data in Genesis as not trustworthy before the time of Abraham. He divides the periods of time into five eras: a) from Abraham to the capture of Troy, b) from the capture of Troy to the first Olympiad, c) from the first Olympiad to the second year of Darius’ reign, d) from Darius’ reign to the death of Christ, and e) from the death of Christ to 303 AD when he wrote the book. Jerome later expanded the work, and brought it up to date until the death of the emperor Valens in 378 AD. This edited form of the work became the foundation on which was based all historical research on ancient history carried out during the succeeding millennium.

9b.The History of the Church

Much of what we know about the first centuries of Christianity was told to us by Eusebius in his History of the Church, also called his Ecclesiastical History. It recounts events from the foundation of the Church to when Constantine became sole ruler of the empire (324 AD). The introduction states the coverage of the book, which is a) to provide the identities of bishops, Christian teachers and authors, as well as heretics, b) to recount the persecutions and persecutors, and c) to describe the martyrdoms and the final victory of the Church. The overall aim was to prove that the Church had been founded and guided by God until its recent victory over the pagan state

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I wish to thank Mr. L. A. Marsha for a grant which helped to purchase the books needed to prepare these lecture notes.

I would like to thank Doris Christley for her critical reading of, and her thoughtful comments and recommendations concerning, the first draft of this work.