Lecture #12: Apostolic Fathers

COURSE: New Testament

Lecture #12: Apostolic Fathers

• The Apostolic fathers were writing from around 90 CE till 150 or so CE.
• They overlap the last writings of the New Testament considerably.
• The early church took a while to decide which letters and books would be included in the canon, as I mentioned.
• The first decision was made in 170 CE in response to Marcion's canon.
• This will be touched on individually as appropriate.

I Clement

• Clement was the Bishop of Rome around 95.
• Apparently, the problems in the Corinthian church had not ended with Paul's efforts to stop the fighting and some sort of fight was underway again in 95.
• Evidently, presbyters appointed by the apostles, or their immediate successors, had been unlawfully deposed and a spirit of insubordination was rife.
• This letter was written by Clement to the church in Corinth essentially telling them to cool down.
• It is possible that Clement was also the author of I Peter about the same time as it is very similar in style, vocabulary: etc.--enough to look suspicious.
• The significance of this is that it is the first known attempt of the Bishop of Rome to reach out to the larger church with authority.

II Clement

• Was significantly later (between 120 and 140 CE) and is a sermon in his name by a pseudonymous author to the church at Corinth, with no particular theological significance.

Letters of Ignatius

• Ignatius was a bishop of Antioch in Syria about 105 CE. in a church where both Peter and Paul ministered.
• During a local persecution in Antioch, he was arrested and transported overland through what is now Asia Minor on his way to Rome and expected death.
  
  
• He wrote 7 letters, falling into 2 groups and written at two stops along the way.
• The letters written from Smyrna were to churches he had never seen, while the three from Troas were to churches or individuals: (Polycarp) he had seen.
• These letters are excellent, accurate church history.
• Ignatius had a good knowledge of the churches in Asia Minor and their leaders.
• There is no question of the authenticity of these letters.
  
  
• Ignatius of Antioch (c.50-110 ad) was the first to actively promote a new system of leadership in the church. He insisted that every real "church" must have a bishop as well as priests and deacons: "without these, nothing can be called a church."
• The church up till the 80s had been led by prophets, like John of Patmos, who never mentions bishops, only the original 12 apostles. all others he considered false "evildoers".
• Ignatius fiercely campaigned against these arguing that many churches disagreed with him. The church at Philadelphia, the only one John approved of, was visited by Ignatius where he "faked" a prophetic pronouncement "pay attention to the bishop, the priests, and the deacons". Most in the church did not buy it and continued being led by the prophets, like John.
• Instead of the Hebrew bible prophecies, Ignatius declares the primary sources are not the Hebrew scriptures but what he finds in Paul's letters: "for me, he says, the primary sources are Christ's cross, his resurrection, and the faith that comes through him"
• His opponents don't accept Paul's letters as scripture like he does but Ignatius demands a radical break with the Jewish past: "If anyone interprets Judaism to you, do not listen to him." What matters now, he declares is Christianity not Judaism.
• Whose revelations are genuine--Paul's or John of Patmos? the future of the movement would turn on this question. Which would gain acceptance as "canonical". It took till the 4th century, but Christian leaders chose both and wrestled them into the same NT canon.

Letters of Polycarp

• He was the bishop of Smyrna and contemporary with Ignatius (c 105 CE)
• He is writing to the Philippian church concerning the fate of Ignatius since they are closer to Rome and may know his fate.
• He is also answering a request by the Philippians to forward the collection of Ignatius letters to them.

The Martyrdom of Polycarp

• Written shortly after the martyrdom itself which occurred in 155 or 156 CE.
• It is basically a long and historically accurate account of Polycarp's martyrdom in Rome in the arena as an old man.
• The importance of Polycarp

As a young man, essentially raised in the church of Smyrna, Polycarp had known two leaders in the church in Ephesus named John, one of whom was probably the author of the book of Revelation.

He lived to teach Irenaeus, who later was the bishop of Lyon, France and who was the first accurate church historian.

• Didache or teaching of the twelve. have both presbyters & apostles

This was the first worship manual of the church.

It is either very early or reflects a very conservative position of the church

• It consists of two parts
• A moral treatise founded on an ancient work called “The Two Ways “setting forth the paths of righteousness and unrighteousness.

This is not necessarily all Christian but has Jewish, or Greek background.

• Gives directions affecting church rites and orders

Treats of baptism, prayer and fasting, the eucharist and the agape meal.

It also speaks of the treatment of apostles and prophets, of bishops and deacons. The whole thing closes with a solemn warning to watchfulness in view of the second coming of Christ.

• It was written very early, before the agape meal was abandoned and communion was alone celebrated.
• The church organization was still not set very well.
  
  
• It thus appears to come from very early in the 2nd century, contemporary with the pastorals, II Pet, Jude, etc., and by the language, from Palestine or Syria.
  
  
• The Didache has the first significant ecclesiastical rules for baptism including the first mention of anything but immersion.

Pouring is allowed if there is not enough water for immersion, the living water is preferable.

• There is a lengthy section on testing the prophets
• If anyone comes to you, receive him but if he stays more than two or three days and does not work for his own living as a craftsman, then he is trafficking upon Christ. "Beware of such men",
  
  
• This book is very important in the history of worship and is having a theological impact today on such consensus documents as the agreed BEM document of the World Council of Churches,

Epistle of Barnabas

• In some handwritten early copies, this is listed as scripture.
• It appears to come from Alexandria, Egypt because of style and interpretation and it presents the feud between Jews and Christians which went on in that city.
• The dates could be anywhere from 70-132 CE.
• The writer is an uncompromising antagonist of Judaism.
• However, unlike Marcion, he sees no opposition between the Old Testament and the New...
• In fact he sees Christianity everywhere in the Lawgiver (Moses) and the prophets
• He quotes them profusely as authoritative only he accuses the Jews of misunderstanding them from the beginning to end, and intimates that the ordinances of circumcision, the sabbath, of the distinctions of meats clean and unclean, were never intended to be literally observed, but had throughout a spiritual and mystical significance,

Shepherd of Hermas

• Earliest New Testament complete found at St. Catherines at Mt Sinai has the Shepherd, not Revelation
• The shepherd is the divine teacher, who communicates to Hermas, either by precept or allegory, the lessons which are to be disseminated for the instruction of the Church.
• Hermas own personal and family history are interwoven from time to time in the narrative, and made subservient to the moral purposes of the work.
• In this case it resembles the Divina Commedia, though history plays a much less important part then in Dante's poem.
  
  
• Geographically, the setting is Rome, where it appears the work was written
• Dating is difficult and could be relatively early i.e.. the 60s by man met by Paul, or as late as 140-155, by the brother of Pope Pius I, as is stated in the Muratorian Canon (188)
• Though it was never accepted as part of the canon, many writers believed it to be inspired and not apocryphal.
• It is basically devotional literature of a high standard and is worthy of recognition as such today.

Epistle of Diognetus

• Probably written around 150 CE from Alexandria, Egypt, this is Christian apologetic literature.
• It is possible that this was written to Diognetus, the teacher of the Roman Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, here addressed as an enquirer after truth.
• It is certainly one of the noblest and most impressive of early Christian apologies in style and treatment.
• The fragments of Papias
• Was a real person, born between 60 and 70 CE
• He published his exposition of Oracles of the Lord late in life (130-140)
• These were quoted by later writers and are all part of his work, i.e., what was quoted.
• He was a church historian but would probably be considered more of a folklorist today.
• He endeavored to write a rather lengthy church history which was quoted by many 2nd and 3rd cent church writers.
• He fills in some gaps in the church history from about 108-128 or earlier,

To Summarize Then

• The term apostolic fathers is used to designate a group of writings contemporary with the last books of the New Testament by authors reputed to have been associated either with the apostles or with their immediate disciples.
• Several of these works have quasi-canonical authority in certain churches until the 4th or 5th century and are preserved in ancient codices of the New Testament.
• Through these documents of quite uneven merit and authority--and in many cases their precise authorship, date, and locale of writing are uncertain they are, by virtue of their dating prior to the formation of the New Testament canon, indispensable Sources for the history, theology, and institutional development of Christianity in the post-apostolic age.
  
  
• The citations and allusions to the gospels show such divergences from the received canonical texts that it is difficult to determine in most cases whether the authors were dependent upon oral tradition or were harmonizing or loosely quoting from written sources,
• There are also the unmistakable instances of the use of apocryphal writings.
• They do not form a homogeneous group, as we have seen, as Some are of much more importance than others
• It is some of these apocryphal writings that I want to deal with last.

The Acts of Paul and Thecla

• It had great influence in the early church in encouraging women to remain virgins.
• this, along with the stories of Perpetua who was ready to die rather than renounce Christ and go home to her family, including a newborn son.
• Tertullian says that this piece was forged by a Presbyter of Asia who confessed that he did it out of respect for Paul.
• However, a large part of the history was credited and looked upon as genuine among the primitive Christians.
• Many great church leaders of the 4th century mention Thecla referring to her history.
• even in the 6th century there was still poetry being written about her and speak of a temple built in her honor that exists "still to this day" (590)
• It was considered by many church authorities, even after pope Gelasius decreed against all apocryphal books, including it, to be authentic history.
  
  
• Basically, the story is that Thecla, a virgin but betrothed to a young man, hears Paul preach and is entranced.
• It is revealing that in Paul’s first sermon in the book he emphasizes chastity and temperance.

For ex: blessed are they who keep their flesh undefiled for they shall be the temple of God.

• Blessed are the bodies and souls of virgins; for they are acceptable to God and shall not lose the reward of their virginity; for the word of their Father shall prove effectual to their salvation in the day of his son, and they shall enjoy rest. for evermore
• In short, she believes Paul, goes to him and, after a miraculous escape from fire, goes with him.
• She defends her virginity several times, is miraculously saved from death several times and becomes a hermit living till she was 90 in a cave, doing miracles, and always remains a virgin.

Other Apocryphal Writings

• There are many categories of apocryphal literature, but I want to continue with acts of various apostles which date from the 2nd and 3rd cent.
• These books' primary aim was to supplement the Lukan acts of the apostles.
• The authors used well defined literary forms to do this.
• They were not meant to displace the canonical acts. but were meant to supplement the original Acts.
• These acts known are the Acts of John of Peter, of Paul, of Andrew, and Thomas.
  
  
• It must be said that the various apocryphal Acts derive from different periods and environments, and are sharply contrasted in their theological and devotional ideals.
• These are the narratives that appealed to the average person.
• They were directed by practical intentions and unlike the canonical acts, do not intend to execute an explicit theological program.
• This can be explained by the church’s situation: the frustrated expectation of the end has obviously ceased to be an urgent problem
• Entertainment and propagandist activity are their real objects.
  
  
• Luke wrote with the intention of answering definite concrete theological questions, but it is useless to search the apocryphal acts for such an interpretation of past history. The apocryphal acts, in marked contrast to the canonical book, are determined by the description of the characters involved.
• They are into the fortunes and deeds of the apostle named, not the history of the church as a whole as Luke was.
• Miraculous stories are not only much exaggerated, producing fantastic and bizarre effects, but they often follow one from another as isolated units and are retailed for their own sake.
• The stories are used to glorify the apostle whose name is attached to the book as miracle workers.
  
  
• They cannot be put on a level with Luke's writing, but they are the most important witnesses to the religious ideals of a great part of the Christian race, ideals which did not always follow the paths which were later considered acceptable to the Christian Church.
• An acquaintance with these religious ideals, however, is beyond question of the utmost importance for the historical understanding of conditions in the church in the 2nd and 3rd centuries

• Gospels Other Than Gnostic

• There is only one other major category to be talked about under apocryphal works and that is non-n-gnostic gospels.
• There are some papyrus fragments of some gospels, one of synoptic type and one with Johannine elements as well as some other fragments of collections of sayings of Jesus.
  
  
• There are several Jewish Christian gospels.
• The Gospel according to the Hebrews is quoted by Irenaeus and Origin among other early church leaders and apparently this gospel and others like it was well known in Egypt. The Gospel of the Ebionites and the Gospel of the Nazaraeans, were used by Jewish Christians who did not acknowledge the preexistence of Christ.
• None of these gospels is extant and are only known through quotes or references made to them in other works.
  
  
• There are several other gospels but only fragments are known of most of them.
• At Nag Hammadi, many were found but they seem to have no relation to the original but had been rewritten in a Gnosticism direction. though many were gnostic to begin with.
  
  
• Infancy gospels is another category, in which Jesus Childhood is told from a miraculous point of view.
• for example. In the infancy gospel of Thomas the Israelite, he tells how Jesus when 5 years old made soft clay sparrows on the sabbath. when Joseph chastised him, he clapped his hands and said, "off with you"" and they all flew away. Everyone was amazed.
  
  
• There are even gospels dealing with Mary and her life which are the source of many of the non-biblical ideas about her. For example, Anne is never mentioned in the canon as her mother, but this comes from apocryphal writing.

Summary of Apocryphal Writings

• There were an abundance of gospels, acts of apostles and apocalypses that were meant to go side by side with, and in part, even take the place of, the New testament books.
• For the earliest works of this kind more can be said as they appear in part to be almost contemporary with the canonical writings and to have been written on the basis of the same traditions, and accordingly were valued in particular districts precisely as the canonical gospels were in other churches.
  
  
• For the apocrypha which were written at the time when the canon was coming into being it holds good that in effecting connections, in taking material over and in making developments they use as a means of expression the forms that are present in the N. T. writings,
  
  
• They are "no more than the often-fantastic outgrowths of earlier forms in the direction of a romantic and legendary make-up" and let "a strong intrusion of apocalyptic and gnostic motives" appear in the words of Jesus. (Bornkamm)
  
  
• what has been transmitted to us in the N. T. as canonical scriptures is the precipitate of the proclamation of the gospel which for the time to come was to determine the aspect of the Church,
• Besides this there also existed widely forms of proclamation of another kind.
• In its early period Christianity was no uniform phenomena and the churches which called themselves Christian in this early period were quite diverse institutions especially in the matter of their doctrine.
  
  
• The relationships of the churches to Christ as Savior and Redeemer, their attitudes to the world and their dispositions towards history' were too different for different gospels and acts of apostles not to come into being
• Only when what had precipitated itself in the New Testament as kerygma had gained ground as orthodoxy, being interpreted uniformly in the early catholic sense, did this literature gradually disappear or become literature of a heretical nature.
  
  
• Knowledge of a portion of the Apocrypha persisted through the Middle Ages.
• In particular the apocalypses appear to have been read.
• certain connections between the Apocalypse of Peter and the Apocalypse of Paul, as well as Ethiopian Enoch, can be seen in Dante's Divine Comedy.
  
  
• The Acts of Pilate also enjoyed popularity in the Middle Ages.
  
  
• apocryphal literature was crowded out principally because new popular devotional literature took the place which the apocrypha had occupied in the early church.