Transcript Apostolic Church Fathers The Church from 100

Apostolic Church Fathers
The Church from 100-300AD
Mike Buehrer
Blacksburg Christian Fellowship
Sept. 8, 2002
Overview
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Christian History
Overview of Period (100A.D. – 300 A.D.)
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Apostolic Fathers
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Polycarp
Ignatius
Persecution of the Church
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From Apostolic age to Constantine
Age of the Martyrs
Also called the Ante-Nicene period
The blood of the martyrs  seed of the church
Lessons for today
Church History
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Christian faith is rooted in history
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Resurrection of Christ was preached as an historical event
Story of Jesus, his disciples, the apostolic fathers, and the
rest of the early church is recorded in many documents
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New Testament literature
Literature of the apostolic fathers
Writings of Roman historians
Writings of Church fathers (after Constantine)
History tells us how doctrine was formed, how
heresies were combated, and demonstrates the
incredible faith of the early church
Nothing is new – many things which we face have
been faced before
Timeline 100 – 300 A.D.
100 A.D.
150 A.D.
Trajan Hadrian
200 A.D.
Marcus Aurelius
Polycarp
Ignatius
Justin
Origen
Tertullian
Christian Persecution
Tolerance
Local Persecutions
Intense Persecution
250 A.D.
300 A.D.
Decius Gallus
Valerian
Diocletian
Cyprian St. Anthony
Spread of the Gospel
Spread of the Gospel
Churches in 100 A.D.
Spread of the Gospel
Churches in 200 A.D.
Spread of the Gospel
Churches in 300 A.D.
Early Church Leaders
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Ignatius (~55 A.D. – 115 A.D.) - Bishop of Antioch
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Polycarp (~70-156A.D.) - Bishop of Smyrna
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Wrote Apology to the Emperor Antonius Pius
Irenaeus (~177 A.D.) - Bishop of Lyons
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Disciple of John
Justin Martyr (~150 A.D.) – Philosopher; First of the apologists
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Possibly a disciple of one John
Disciple of Polycarp
Wrote Against Heresies to combat Gnosticism
Tertullian (~196 A.D.) – powerful thinker, philosopher in Carthage;
helped formalize the Trinity
Origen (185A.D. – 254 A.D.) - perhaps the greatest scholar of early church
Cyprian (~250A.D.) - wrote The Unity of the Church
St. Anthony (~270) – started monastic living
Early Church Leaders
Ignatius
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Bishop of Antioch (Syria)
Possibly was a disciple of John
Martyred in Rome in ~115A.D. under the Emperor Trajan
Wrote 7 letters during his trip from Antioch to Rome to
churches at Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia,
and Smyrna and to Polycarp
Strongly argued that each congregation needed a bishop to
maintain correct doctrine and prevent splits
Fought Docetism (The belief that Christ was a spirit being and
only appeared to be a man.)
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Emphasized the Eucharist since it stressed the reality of Christ’s
humanity
Welcomed his sacrifice for Christ
Ignatius
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Emperor Trajan visited Antioch in 115 A.D. and
heard about the Christians there and their Bishop
Ignatius.
Trajan decided that he wanted to meet him.
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Trajan: “There you are, wicked devil, deceiver of men!’
Ignatius: “Not an ‘evil spirit’, but I have Jesus Christ in my heart.”
Trajan: “Jesus Christ within you? Do you mean him who was crucified
by Pontius Pilate?”
Ignatius: “Yes, he was crucified for my sins”
The Emperor immediately sentenced him to be
transferred to Rome and to be thrown to the wild
beasts.
Ignatius – Trip to Rome
He was martyred in Rome
Known route
Conjectured route
Ignatius was arrested in
Antioch where he was bishop
Typical Leadership Structure
Bishop
Presbyter
Presbyter
Deacons Deacons Deacons
Polycarp
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~70A.D. - ~156 A.D.
Disciple of the Apostle John
Bishop of Smyrna
Martyred in Smyrna
His letter to Philippians has
been preserved
Story of his martyrdom
preserved in “The
Martyrdom of Polycarp”
written by Smyrnaean church
Burned at the stake for
refusing to worship Caesar
and deny Christ
Polycarp
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Letter to the Philippians
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Quoted freely from the gospels, Paul’s epistles, and I Peter.
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While officially the New Testament was not canonized, certain
writings were recognized as authentic and authoritative.
Not particularly scholarly or original, but held fast to the
teachings of the apostles.
Also fought with Marcion over Docetism and
Gnosticism.
Contemporary and friend of Ignatius
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Visited with him on his trip to Rome for execution.
Smyrna
• Church established in
Smyrna from early time.
• Bishops succeeded
Polycarp until 20th century.
•Maintained strong Christian
presence despite Moslem
invasions until 1922.
• Turks destroyed Christian
quarter in 1922 and
massacred all Christians.
Last bishop crucified.
• Now part of Turkey
Ruins of Marketplace in Smyrna
Persecution
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Romans were typically tolerant of foreign religions
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State religion was way of assuring allegiance to State
Judaism was legal religion which provided some protection for
Christians during early years
Fall of Jerusalem put permanent rift between Jews and
Christians
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However, there was no ‘right’ to religion
Government reserved the right to persecute religious practice
Romans began to see Christian was its own religion
For first 300 years Christians could be legally persecuted for
their beliefs
General, severe persecutions were sporadic but local
persecution was common and always a possibility
Reasons for Roman Persecution
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Popular opinion was against Christians
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Separated themselves from immorality and idolatry
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Refused to worship Roman Gods
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Had no idols or temples  brought charge of atheism
Claimed to have absolute religion in pluralistic society
Somewhat secretive – breeds suspicion
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This particularly angered those who prospered from idolatry
Accused of many ludicrous fabrications
Blamed for earthquakes, floods, etc.
Tertullian – “We have a reputation for living aloof from crowds”
Government saw them as somewhat dangerous
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Refused to worship Caesar – questionable loyalty
Threat to state religion and thus unity of empire
Unified group that proclaimed their own king (Christ)
Proselytized
• Laws permitted
persecution of
Christians but didn’t
demand it.
• Christians weren’t
sought, but could be
charged.
• They would be
released by simply
denying Christ or
sacrificing to the
Emperor.
• Persecution was
typically restricted to
local inflammations.
• There were
occasional intense
outbreaks due to
certain emperors.
• Nero being the first
Persecution
When put to death, Christians were often subjected to incredible
cruelty including:
• Thrown to lions • Beheaded
• Burned at stake • Tortured
• Used as torches • Crucified
Persecutions
• Nero (64 A.D.) blamed Christians for fire
which destroyed large part of Rome. First
severe persecution.
• Domitian (81-96) second emperor to
intensify persecution.
• Trajan (99-117) intensified persecution in
an attempt to stamp out secret associations.
• Hadrian (117 – 138) briefly intensified
persecution of Christians when Jews revolted
and were subsequently slaughtered
• Decius (249-251) made the thorough
repression of Christianity a key part of his
reign. Had Origen tortured and imprisoned
leading to his death.
• Valerian (243-260) initially spared
Christians but eventually led an attempt to
execute or banish all bishops (incl Cyprian).
• Diocletian (303-311) resumed general
persecution
Roman Coliseum
Lessons for Today
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Early Christians could have avoided persecution by
simply incorporating pagan worship (e.g., worshiping
Caesar) into Christian practice
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However, they didn’t. Unlike the society around them,
they believed in truth and were prepared to defend it with
their lives.
Greek philosophy had eroded confidence in Gods which
led to religious pluralism.
Today Christians are in an analogous situation
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We are pressured by society to accept religious pluralism
We are seen as foolish and narrow-minded to think we
have the truth
Society has tacitly excepted religious pluralism
We must be willing to stand up for truth in the face of
more benign adversity.
Lessons for Today
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While there were rumors that Christians did
immoral things, educated people in the AnteNicean period understood that Christians stood
out for their morality
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Pliny the Younger – Chirstians “bound themselves
by a solemn oath not to commit any wicked deed,
but to abstain from all fraud, theft and adultery,
never to break their word, or deny a trust when
called upon to honor it.”
Do we stand out in our society today ?
References
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K.S. Latourette, A History of Christianity, Prince Press 1975
B.L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, Nelson 1995.
H.C. Sheldon, History of the Christian Church, Hendrickson Publishers
1994.
C.P.S. Clarke, St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp, Church History Publishing
2001.
H. Von Campenhausen, The Fathers of the Church, Hendrickson Publishers
1998.
T. Dowley Ed., Erdman’s Handbook to The History of Christianity, W.B.
Erdmans Publishing Co. 1977.
E.E. Carirns, Christianity Through the Ages, 3rd Ed., Zondervan Publishing
1996.
A.K. Curtis, J.S. Lang, and R. Peterson, The 100 Most Important Events in
Christian History, Fleming H. Revell 1991.
S.M. Houghton, Sketches from Church History, Banner of Truth 1980.