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As we have seen, Jewish Christianity suffered and diminished to a great degree early in this period due to the intensifying persecution of the Jews first by Domitian, and then by his successors, Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian. Gentile Christians may have escaped direct involvement for the most part, particularly beginning with Nerva. As the alienation increased between gentile Christians and Christians loyal to Jewish culture the latter were particularly vulnerable. The Greek-speaking, i.e. Hellenistic, Jewish Christian groups in the Hellenistic cities became outcasts from both Judaism and the main stream of Christianity. As such they were among the most vulnerable to persecution from all sides. No wonder they sought refuge in the catacombs. The turbulent relations between Rome and the Jewish population undoubtedly both decimated the Christian Jews and disturbed the Christian gentiles. For example, Jewish communities in Crete, Cyrene and Egypt were heavily impacted as a result of the widespread Jewish uprisings during Trajan's campaign into Parthia. While the Jews in Alexandria and Cyrene were ruthlessly decimated the Jewish population of Cyprus was totally eliminated; Gentile Christians doubtless remained in these areas but not undisturbed.
While surviving documentation of Jewish conversions to Christianity in this period after 140 AD seem to be rare and remarkable, Rodney Stark (The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History, 1996) has argued that the rapid growth of Christianity in the second through the sixth centuries is best explained by continued conversions of relatively large numbers of Hellenistic Jews to Christianity. If this is the case it must be understood that these Jews were rejecting their Jewish ethnic heritage and customs (including, for example, circumcision and keeping the Jewish Sabbath) and adopting the culture of the gentile Christians. While we may speculate that the pressures in the period between c. AD 90 and 138 may have caused this type of radical action by individual Jews, the strong revival of Jewish synagogues, seen in the refurbishing of their buildings, from the middle of the second century evidences not only some relief from oppression but a revival of ethnic pride. Rather than declining in numbers by the early years of the third century the Jewish populations were apparently growing. Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211) saw fit to outlaw both Jewish proselytizing and Christian evangelism, likely because in either case it raised dissention in families and communities.
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Aramaic/Syriac-speaking Jewish Christians in rural areas and cities of Roman Syria, Arabia, and Palestine fared rather differently from their Greek speaking counterparts in the cities. Even though all Jews were apparently eliminated from Judea/Palestine by the activities between AD 131-140, a number of Jewish Christian groups survived by fleeing across the Jordan to the fringes of Arabia. Some perhaps crossed the frontier into Parthian territory. These groups survived only by being fiercely independent. Evidence for their persistence in eastern Roman areas is, however, very scarce and difficult to interpret. We do have reason to believe that one of the Jewish Christian groups driven from Palestine called themselves the Ebionites, i.e. "the poor." Other sources do indicate the existence of other Jewish "baptismal cults".
The Ebionites, for example, rejected Paul, practiced circumcision, and kept the Law to the degree of observing the Passover but considered themselves Christian Jews. They used only the Gospel of Matthew, but most of them stopped short of believing the virgin birth. Irenaeus of Lyons (c.185) is the first author to discuss them (Adversus haereses, I.26). The idea that a man named Ebion first founded the group appears with Tertullian, but modern scholars believe this may well have been a presumption by those who did not know the Hebrew/Aramaic derivation of the term.
In appreciating these groups we should realize that they were first and foremost proud to be Jews, particularly, Judean Jews. Compared to the Gentiles and even the dispersed Jews, their response to the message of Peter at Pentecost was made in the context of their provincial Jewishness. The Old Testament was at the core of their proud Jewish heritage and the Torah defined their way of life. They did not perceive that being baptized in the name of Jesus was in any way a rejection of who they were.
Because we have the whole New Testament and the fully mature Christian tradition separating us from them we are tempted to disparage their sincere response. It might have turned out differently if they had from the first been dependent on all the written texts now constituting the New Testament, but at the very beginning those writings did not exist. Think how difficult it was for many natives among the thousands baptized on the day of Pentecost when in the next days they returned to their homes elsewhere in Palestine. Nothing comparable to the New Testament existed in the thirties and early forties of the first century. They were dependent only on what they saw and heard. These were Jews living in communities of native Jews in their own homeland. Yet they had expressed their allegiance to "the way" by being baptized. They seem to have understood "the way" as a way of life, a calling to a different kind of behavior. A kind of gracious and charitable frugality must have been the motto of the Ebionites. Proper doctrine (since it had not been formulated) was not nearly as important for these early believers as a proper attitude in life. You can hear the same message in the Epistle of James. In the years ahead they continued to preach Christ as the Messiah who had revealed this new approach to living, and to baptize their converts. That conversion did not in involve calling into question the Jewish culture or the Jewish interpretation of the Laws of Moses. The zealous Judaizers Paul encountered at Jerusalem already in the fifties reflect this same Jewish acceptance of Jesus' message without rejecting the unique Jewish culture. It is no wonder such Jewish Christians rejected the radical teachings of Paul when his letters became available in later years. Paul had also encountered Judaizers far from Judea in Galatia and Asia. While they might live in Jewish communities they resided in Hellenistic territory. It was much easier for the Jews native to the dispersion to be moved by the appeal of Paul's message. Paul was, after all, one of their own number.
Another so-called baptismal cult was known as the Elkesaites. Hippolytus and Origen (third century) both mention this cult in this later period. This group claimed to have received a revelation in book form that "fell out of the heavens . . . in the third year of Trajan's reign" someplace in Parthian territory. Elkesai and his brother Ieksai were instrumental in communicating the book's contents to Sobiai (perhaps the founder of the Sabaeans). They used the Scriptures but they rejected all the writings
of Paul, practiced circumcision, and lived by the Torah. Elkesaites always faced Jerusalem when they prayed. Allegedly they rebaptized individuals whenever they committed sins such as idolatry or adultery. Hippolytus encountered the Elkesaites in Rome, but traced their origin to the East.
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The Parthian frontier, the eastern limit of the Roman Empire, had been pushed back during the campaigns of Nero's generals. Three of the Parthian government's client kingdoms became Roman client kingdoms: Armenia, Sophene and Osrhoene. There were many Jews both Christian and non-Christian in Osrhoene, which was directly across the Euphrates from Roman Syria. The legends tell us that Christianity was brought to Osrhoene by Thaddaeus, a Jewish Christian born at Caesarea Philippi and sometime companion and disciple of the "Apostle of the East", Thomas. With the mention of the legendary ministry of the Apostle Thomas we must recognize the so-called Thomas Christians of India who preserve the legends telling of Thomas' role in planting Christianity in India during the first century.
Edessa (Urfa), the capital city of Osrhoene, was home of Jewish and other Christians when Emperor Trajan sacked and burned the city in punishment for their support of the Parthians. In 162 the Parthians reconquered Osrhoene, but lost it to Rome by 168 together with the region of Adiabene east of Osrhoene beyond the Tigris. The legendary "first" Christian king was probably Abgar VIII who ruled Oshroene as a Roman client from 177 to 212.
From this period or perhaps even earlier, what has been described as the "first Christian hymnal" survives. The psalms and hymns of this work in the Syriac language, known as Odes of Solomon, are both obviously Jewish and obviously Christian. The Christian writings of the Assyrian, Tatian, also belong in this period.
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During the period from 200 to 363 AD there are many evidences of the growth of the Church of the East in Parthia and points farther east. Around Edessa, the capital of the Roman province of Oshroene, Christianity spread from the city into the countryside beginning about 260. There are evidences of churches further East, especially at Nisibis. There are also reports of a bishop at Seleucia-Ctesiphon on the Tigris, which was the capital of Parthia.
After 225 the Parthian dynasty fell to the Sassanid dynasty. Christianity continued to grow without much resistance until a brief period of persecution under Varahran II (276-293). This persecution followed directly on the heels of the violent persecution and destruction of the Manichaeans that began about 273.
Very little is known about the organization of the Church of the East before the fourth century. Organized monasticism of the Egyptian style appeared in the East in the first half of the fourth century. Jacob (James) of Nisibis was a hermit ascetic who became bishop of Nisibis about 306. He was one of the signers of the Nicene Creed in 325. The greatest early fourth century (c. 340) theologian was Aphrahat, the bishop of Mar Mattai (Saint Matthew) north of Mosel. Aphrahat's greatest work,
The Demonstrations, was a series of twenty three doctrinal refutations, the last thirteen of which were directed toward the Jews. Nisibis was a strong Jewish center and the residence of a Rabbinical School; many of the Christian converts in that area were being converted from Judaism. The version of the Old Testament used by these Eastern Christians, the Peshitta, is a Syriac text that has been traced back to the Aramaic targums (oral "translations") of the so-called
synagogues of Palestinian (Aramaic speaking) Jews dispersed northeastward in the second century. It contained many examples of the Jewish exegetical comments interspersed throughout the text.
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Christianity spread among the Greek-speaking, gentile population in the Hellenistic cities throughout the Mediterranean world. Also, it appeared in the rural areas of the provinces around the Mediterranean where Greek was spoken. This included the provinces around the Aegean Sea, namely: Achaea, Macedonia, Bithynia, Asia, Crete and Rhodes. It also included the rural areas of southern Italy and Sicily together with the lands of the province of Cyrenaica in North Africa.
Among the non-Greek-speaking gentile population both in cities and in the rural areas there is evidence of growing numbers of believers. The earliest Latin translations of the New Testament seem to date from the latter half of the second century AD both in southern Gaul and around Carthage in North Africa. We may also infer that work spread into the Latin-speaking regions in central and northern Italy and in central and eastern Spain. Syriac (Aramaic) speaking rural peoples around the cities of Antioch, Samosata, Edessa as well as other regions in rural Syria began to be converted after the appearance of Tatian's Diatessaron about 170. Other parts of the New Testament in Old Syriac appeared soon thereafter. In central Egypt the Sahidic-speaking Copts also had passages of the New Testament in their language before AD 200.
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One of the major confrontations of this period was that between the Christians and the Hellenistic cultural elite. The Roman ruling class and the Roman citizens of common culture had forced the Hellenistic cultural elite off the pedestal of honor and preference in the society of the Eastern Mediterranean region. The Hellenistic elite resented being down-graded and treated on the same level as the other Roman subjects, but they dare not complain too loudly. What they did was compensate by exaggerating the cultural difference between themselves and the common classes. They vented their frustrations and arrogantly unleashed their bigotry and vocal disdain in attacking the lower classes, making light of their intellectual and cultural poverty and barbarity. For the intellectual and cultural elite of the Roman world the teachings of Christianity among the common people were simply another example of the folly and ignorance of that class of people they pilloried shamelessly. These Hellenistic authors described Christianity as an empty, inane, vicious, excessive, perverse and fatal superstition in part because of their habitual loathing and ridicule for the classes of people most often identified with the Christian movement.
Quotations survive from several Hellenistic authors denigrating the Christians. For example, Cornelius Fronto, a tutor for Marcus Aurelius, wrote a treatise against Christianity that has not survived beyond a few terse quotes. To denounce the Christians he utilized a famous Ciceronian phrase coined to describe political conspirators at Rome in the first century BC. They are "a sect that fled the light and conspired in the shadows."
Celsus was a late second century individual known only as the author of a work called True Reason. Fortunately, we are able to access large parts of this lost work in the form of surviving direct quotes in the third century work titled Contra Celsum written by Origen. From his work it is judged that he was native to an area close to Palestine and trained in Platonic philosophy. He spoke in some cases as a first hand observer and he had done some homework. He was able to quote from the Torah and Matthew's Gospel as well as some works we recognize today as Christian heresy. Celsus seems to have risen
above the bigoted knee-jerk reaction of the Hellenistic intelligentsia toward the Christians in that he at least addressed them in a logical manner seeking to persuade some to abandon their foolishness. Yet, Celsus considered typical Christians to be barbarians, illiterate and ignorant, who present their foolish and self-contradictory doctrines as wisdom. He presents Christians as revolutionary conspirators (bound by oaths) intent on subverting society. They share with the Jews the "foolishness" that the God they worship is both on the one hand transcendent and omnipotent and, at the same time (and in logical contradiction), immanent. He describes Christian behavior as abstaining from social contacts, public obligations and cultural opportunities on the excuse that it would entail the worship of other gods. If these other gods are really false, as they confidently allege, what difference does it make if they worship them or not? This Jesus of the Christians is on the record as a condemned criminal, the son of some Roman soldier. He was a student and practitioner of Egyptian magic. If he were the son of a god why did he come to earth in the
first place? He surely didn't need to come to find out what was going on. Perhaps he had no power to effect any changes without coming in person. And is it not totally out of divine character that a true son of god would be crucified? The doctrine of Resurrection is the superlative nonsense. How could all generations be resurrected at once since matter would have belonged to more than one body over time?
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The Christian response to these unjust attacks took the form of the literary activity called Apology. It seemed that some members of the Roman ruling class were likely to believe the spiteful lies and slanders spouted by the arrogant and self-serving pagan authors. Hence, the Apologists addressed their Apologies to influential individuals usually in the Roman ruling class. The typical Christian Apologist was himself a highly educated individual who had the credentials to consider himself a member of the Hellenistic cultural elite. Having personally accepted Christianity they were determined to defend their faith. They wrote to provide a rational description and explanation of the Christian movement that the educated pagan elite and the Roman ruling class could comprehend. They sought to dispel the malicious gossip and rebut the false charges lodged against Christianity. Finally, they demonstrated the superiority of Christianity by comparing it with other religions. This is not to say that all the Apologists, or the Christians in general, agreed on how best to demonstrate that superiority. Should some aspects of classical culture be preserved or should Christians' reject it in its entirety because of it pagan origins? Indeed one group of Apologists that assumed a negative stance vis-a-vis the culture were called Polemicists. All these defenders and wielders of the pen are honored as "Fathers" of the Church.
Before proceeding with a list of the Church Fathers generally identified as the most important the reader needs to be aware that the texts in translation of virtually every significant Christian author and composite document from the Early Church period may now be perused online. Of course, none of these online translations could be the basis of serious advanced scholarship, but they are quite appropriate for curious beginners. In many cases I have provided one or more links to authors or documents, but providing the link for the readers' convenience does not constitute my endorsement of the linked site or the translation it provides. If I have not provided a link simply do a web search using the author's name or the title of the work.
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Quadratus, writing c. 123/4 or 129, was probably the first Apologist. He seems to have written an Apology addressed to Emperor Hadrian from somewhere in Asia Minor. The later Church historian Eusebius preserves a fragment of his work in Ecclesiastical History, IV.3.1-2. Some scholars think he may also have been the author of Epistle To Diognetus which came to light in modern times.
Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History, IV.3.3) reported Aristides of Athens, c. 135-140, as the earliest Apologist. Eusebius believed he addressed Hadrian about AD 125, but the Syriac text of his Apology recovered in modern times is addressed to Antoninus Pius, Hadrian's successor.
Several fragments of Quadratus of Athens as well as the Apology of Aristides are available online at the Early Christian Writings site.
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Justin (Martyr) of Flavia Neapolis, a Greek settlement at the site of ancient Shechem in Samaria, wrote three works, The First Apology, the Second Apology and Dialogue with Trypho during the decade ending in AD 160. He opened a School in Rome where he was martyred in 165 as a result of being denounced before the City Prefect by an angry rival, the Cynic philosopher and teacher, Crescens. Justin's story is worth another telling.
Having an aspiration to learn about God through philosophical studies he came to Ephesus as a young man in search of suitable teachers. He early grew disillusioned after studying with a Stoic, a Peripatetic, and a Pythagorean. Then he turned to a Platonist and came soon to the conviction that his aspiration was nearing fruition. At this point Justin encountered and conversed with an elderly man at the seashore. He was evidently a Christian, and he was knowledgeable of the weak points of Platonism. Carefully undermining Justin's confidence in the Platonic doctrine of soul memory, he suggested that knowledge of God would be better sought in the Hebrew prophets. Justin was not immediately converted; he first had to be moved by observing the serene bravery of some confessing Christians as they faced and endured execution. The display of such superior moral strength by such ordinary, untalented people left Justin without any doubts as to the superiority of "Christian philosophy". Without ceasing to be a philosopher and without loosing his respect for the contributions of Stoicism and Platonism (see Appendix I) in particular he became a convert to Christianity.
Justin's understanding of Christianity was what will later be called "orthodox" although there are numerous points where his statements lack the precision and clarity required of later orthodoxy. He was not the first scholar to develop what may be called a systematic theology reconciling Christian truth with the contemporary philosophical world view, but he is the first "orthodox" Christian to do so. The other attempts will be alluded to in the section below on heresy.
Justin was already familiar with the Platonic understanding of the logos which he understood was being elaborated on by the Apostle John in his Gospel (John 1:1-10). Understanding that the divine logos had become incarnate in Christ he also understood from the words of the Christ himself ("I am ... the truth"--John 14:6) that all truth everywhere came from the logos. He combined this understanding with Paul's insight in I Corinthians 10:4 and elsewhere showing that the ancient Hebrews' faith was also based on Christ, i.e. the logos, even before the incarnation. On this basis he concluded that all truth discovered before the incarnation whether in the Hebrew Prophets or the Greek philosophers derived ultimately from the logos. Hence he built the intellectual bridge between Greek philosophy and Christian thought. Both the Old Testament and the best of the Greek philosophers agreed on the existence of a supreme being from which all other beings derive their existence. Both the philosophers like Socrates and Plato concluded there was life after death just as the Christians also believe, albeit for different reasons--the philosopher's logic was in error. On this basis the Christians could claim whatever part of the classical pagan culture that was found to be "true" in spite of the fact that it was pagan.
Several of Justin Martyr's texts are available online at the Early Christian Writings site.
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An Assyrian born about 110 whose family had cast its lot with the Romans following Trajan's Parthian campaigns, Tatian seems to have been trained in rhetoric at Antioch in Syria. He moved to Rome probably about 150 where he eventually was converted to Christianity by Justin Martyr. He certainly did not share that teacher's point of view toward the pagan thought and culture. He established a school in Rome after Justin was martyred in 165. Then since the place of his birth had been conquered by Emperors Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius he returned home to establish a school about 172. His homeland was now situated in the new Roman province of Mesopotamia. He became associated with the severely ascetic sect of hermit monks known as the (Syriac speaking) Encratites. His Diatessaron, a harmony of the Gospels may have been prepared for use in his school, but it became the most widely utilized text among the Syriac speaking churches until well into the fifth century. His Oration to the Greeks was a frontal attack on pagan Hellenistic culture and a defense of the alleged barbarisms of Christianity. He criticized the imperfections of the kioné Greek, reminded the Hellenistic readers that astronomy came from "barbarian" Babylon, geometry came from "barbarian" Egypt and Phoenicia, and philosophy actually came from the "barbarian" Moses whose wisdom was much older than that of Homer or Plato. The Greeks not only didn't invent philosophy they have misunderstood much of it. Hellenic gods are inferior and immoral, their statues are modeled after the bodies of prostitutes and slaves of the lower classes.
Tatian's Address to the Greeks is online at the Early Christian Writings site.
Melito, Bishop of Sardis, c. 176, wrote an Apology addressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, IV.26.1-14.). Eusebius points out that his is the first recorded pilgrimage to deliberately visit the places in Palestine mentioned in the Gospels. Fragments of his work are available online at the Early Christian Writings site.
Athenagoras of Athens, c. 178, would be almost totally unknown except for the survival of two of his works in a tenth century publication. Only a single third century Christian author, Methodius, briefly mentions him. His apologetic work, Plea on Behalf of the Christians, was addressed to Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus. The major thrust of the apology was to refute the charges of atheism, cannibalism, and Oedipean incest. Consult Athenagoras on the Early Christian Writings site.
Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, d. 181, was like other Syrian Christians, very negative toward Hellenistic thought and culture, claiming that what little truth Socrates and Plato were able to convey they actually stole from the Hebrew prophets. Theophilus' apologetic work was addressed to an educated Hellenistic friend named Autolycus. Theophilus' Letter to Autolycus is available online at the Early Christian Writings site.
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Irenaeus was born in Smyrna, in the province of Asia, probably about AD 115. His early Christian education was in the Church at Smyrna where he was under the influence of Polycarp. He left Smyrna as a young man to further his education and his career in Rome. Before about AD 175, and for unknown reasons, he had settled in Lyons in Gaul where he was a presbyter. After the Bishop Pothinus of Lyons was martyred in AD 177 Irenaeus was chosen as his successor. His tenure was extended by a long life, possibly until AD 202. His Five Books Against the Heresies was written in Greek between about AD 180 and 185. This whole work survives in a Latin translation (Adversus haereses) with fragments of the original Greek preserved by several later Christian authors as well as portions of it in both Syriac and Armenian translations. In addition to other letters and sermons that have survived we also have the recently identified Epideixis, Proof of the Apostolic Preaching, written about AD 195, in Armenian translation. Irenaeus' contribution to the question of classical culture was the observation that classical wisdom was based on human reason that, by itself, can never achieve a saving knowledge of God. The view that man's unaided reason was sufficient to comprehend the secrets of God's dispensation for salvation was the fundamental error of many in that group of heretics Irenaeus called Gnostics (to be discussed elsewhere). Saving knowledge is possible for humankind only because of God's self-revelation in Christ. Once that revelation is trustingly accepted, then human reason can be used to know and understand it.
Several of the texts of Irenaeus are accessible at the Early Christian Writings site.
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Tertullian of Carthage, c. 195-223, was a rather enigmatic but influential figure that we must refer to in several contexts. A brilliant Christian apologist, theologian, polemicist and priest in the Church at Carthage, Tertullian had taken up his very sharp pen in defense of mainstream Christianity in c. 195, shortly after his conversion from a disillusioned polytheism. The first Christian author to write in Latin, Tertullian was responsible for establishing countless precedents in the choice of Latin words to express Christian truths. In addition to his powerful Latin eloquence, he was also competent in Greek--the two necessary languages of his former trade. He had enjoyed an enviable success as a practicing jurist in Rome's Greco-Roman atmosphere. There his wide reading had also included Stoic philosophy. Both his legal training and the impact of Stoicism are evident in his writings. Largely through Tertullian both ways of thinking entered the mainstream of Latin Christian thought.
Yet, about 206 he took up the cause of Montanism and defended it ardently against the condemnations of its catholic opponents. Finally, however, in about 222 he separated from the Montanists and seems to have formed an even more rigorous sect of his own. Despite his vindictive, schismatic behavior, you will not find any subsequent Latin Christian author that will reject his theological position. It may be argued with some justification that the severity of the Latin Church in Spain and North Africa in the following centuries derives some of its sting from Tertullian.
Here it remains for us to note in passing that this first and preeminent Latin polemicist's attitude toward the prevailing Hellenistic culture was aggressively negative. For the Christian no compromise with it was ever possible! He could phrase it with a flare, "What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem? ... What does the Academy have to do with the Church?" He believed that heresy was primarily the result of mixing pagan philosophy with Christian truths (On the Prescription Against Heretics, Book 1, Chapter 7).
See Tertullian's works online the Early Christian Writings site.
Minucius Felix was another highly cultured Latin lawyer and Christian apologist at the beginning of the third century. His work, Octavius, is a dialogue between the Christian Octavius and another Latin lawyer, Caecilius, from Cirta (northwest Africa) who was converted by the force of Octavius' arguments. This work is directed at pagan readers and quotes Stoic authors, Cicero and Seneca the Younger, and does not deal with biblical teachings. Subjects involved include monotheism, divine providence, belief in immortality, and ethical standards. Pagan mythology is vigorously attacked. There are obvious similarities between the Octavius and the Apology, of Tertullian.
The Early Christian Writings cite has the text of Octavius online.
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Clement of Alexandria, Titus Flavius Clemens Alexandrinus, c. 160-215, was a philosopher and author who sought connections between Christianity and Greek thought and culture. Eusebius says that Clement was Origen's teacher at the Catechetical school in Alexandria, but this cannot be confirmed from any other source. Clement was probably not a presbyter, but a layman who taught, perhaps in his own private school, that Christianity was the true philosophy, in this case a kind of Christian Platonism blended with mysticism. His Exhortation was an invitation to his hearers and readers to study the true philosophy. Much of Clement's beliefs were speculative explanations and elaborations of the principle Christian doctrines. While other speculative thinkers contemporary with Clement, and no more synthetic and creative than he, came to be recognized by later generations as heretics, Clement's synthesis won wide acceptance. The Instructor discusses ethics both in general principle and in concrete examples. Miscellanies continued his wandering treatment of higher ethical principles leading the student to the third stage of philosophy, a kind of Christian Gnosticism. He was perhaps forced to abandon his educational activities by the decrees of Emperor Septimius Severus prohibiting Christians and Jews from making converts. He seems to have wandered through the east during his last 14 years keeping a rather low profile. His Logos theology will be mentioned elsewhere, below.
The online texts at Early Christian Writings includes the writings of Clement.
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Hippolytus was a presbyter in the Church in Rome between c. 170 and c. 236. Born and educated in the east he was the leading theologian in the Roman Church. He fell out with the Bishop Zephyrinus (119-217) and his successors, Callistus (217-222), Urban I (222-230), and Pontianus (230-235). Eastern sources including the historian Eusebius designate him as a bishop, which may mean he was bishop of a schismatic congregation. Emperor Maximus Thrax exiled both Pontianus and Hippolytus to Sardinia where they were martyred. His writings, done in Greek, have been very poorly preserved in Latin translations. Most important was his Refutation of All Heresies in which he traces them all to the Greek schools of philosophy. Very important also was his Apostolic Tradition that gives valuable information on many church practices. His Commentary on Daniel survives whole in a Slavonic translation. In Soteriology he is like Irenaeus of Lyons, in attitude like Tertullian, in scholarship like Origen. Hippolytus expressed the rigorist position of denying forgiveness to those who sinned after baptism. Bishop Callistus accused him of believing in two gods (Christ and the Father).
Some of Hippolytus' writings are included in the Early Christian Writings site. The reconstruction of Apostolic Tradition, is available online in a non-critical translation.
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Origen, born of Christian parents in Alexandria about 185 AD, became a teacher of new Christians at Alexandria about AD 210 while studying philosophy under Ammonius Saccas and other Platonic philosophers in Alexandria. Eusebius alone says he studied with Clement. He traveled widely across the Empire, visiting Rome, Athens, parts of Asia Minor and Arabia. Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria terminated his teaching in Alexandria because he disagreed with Origen's manner of interpreting the Scripture. Origen settled in Palestinian Caesarea about AD 234 and devoted his last 18-20 years to writing. He was imprisoned and tortured during the Decian persecution after which his health deteriorated until his death c. AD 254.
His interpretation of Scripture was based on his belief that there were three levels of meaning to be discerned in the Scripture. First is the literal or historical sense. Second is the moral application to the soul. Third and most important of all is the spiritual sense. Interpreting the passage metaphorically, typologically or allegorically reveals the spiritual meaning.
Origen authored over 2000 works. These included commentaries on almost every Biblical book, including more than one on the book of Psalms. His commentary on John is the flagship of this part of his scholarship. He wrote also hundreds of sermons, many short studies of brief Biblical passages, and several treatises on related topics.
The Hexapla was the greatest piece of biblical scholarship in the early Church (estimated 6000 pages), unequaled anywhere until the sixteenth century. This scholarly text of the Old Testament included six parallel columns. It included the traditional third century AD Hebrew in the first column followed by the following: a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew, the more recent Greek translations of Aquila (a proselyte from Pontus, c. 130), and Symmachus (an Ebionite, late second century). Origen's own comparatively edited LXX text resided in the fifth column, and the translation of Theodotion (a Jewish proselyte from Ephesus, late second century) appeared in the sixth column. Only the LXX text of the fifth column was copied and widely disseminated.
His most important theological book was On First Principles in which he presented Christian doctrines systematically, but with considerable philosophical speculation. His topics were basically as follows: God, Christ, The Holy Spirit, creation, the soul, free will, salvation, and the Scriptures. Contra Celsum, Against Celsus was his one major treatise defending Christianity from pagan criticisms.
Some of Origin's writings are made available online at the Early Christian Writings site.
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Cyprian (c. 200-258) became bishop of Carthage in 248 about 2 or 3 years after his conversion to Christianity. He was a well-trained and distinguished rhetorician before his conversion and became an able spokesman for the Church. While not a prolific writer, much of what has survived from his pen is considered very influential. His controversy with the bishop of Rome is discussed elsewhere.
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Gregory Thaumaturgus ("the wonder worker"), was Bishop of NeoCaesarea (c. 244-270) in Pontus (northeast Turkey). His early studies in rhetoric and law which were intended to prepare him for advanced Roman law study at Beirut (Lebanon), were set aside in favor of studying in Caesarea Maritima with Origen from c. 233-238. His most famous work is a richly descriptive eulogy of his teacher, but other quotations and brief works are attributed to him. Gregory of Nyssa wrote his life story including the numerous tales of his miracles. Separate but similar accounts written by other others
appeared in Latin, Syriac and Armenian.
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Dionysius was a student of Origen and one of his successors as head of the
Catechetical school (c. 233-248) before becoming bishop of Alexandria (248-265). His writings are preserved only in the quotations of other authors, but he was active in opposing the various forms of monarchianism, but favored moderation in matters of church discipline.
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Lucian, a scholarly priest and martyr (d. 311 at Nicomedia), is believed by some to be the editor of a revised text of the Septuagint. More importantly he is recognized as the editor of a text of the Gospels which, together with the LXX text, stood behind the version known as the Textus Receptus. The latter is evident in the bulk of the surviving
Greek manuscripts. Theologically, Lucian allegedly taught that Christ was in some way subordinate to, rather than equally divine with, the Father. Hence he is usually numbered with the Arians.
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This Bishop of Palestinian Caesarea (c. 260-c. 339) was the first major historian of early Christianity. His role in the Arian controversy will be discussed in another place. He was the author of a Chronicle of world history from Abraham to the early fourth century AD based on the pioneering world chronicle research done two generations earlier by Julius Africanus. Africanus was an eclectic scholar at the court of Septimius Severus who combined Jewish and pagan sources to conclude that approximately 5500 years had elapsed between the Creation and the Birth of Christ.
Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History is the oldest existing account of the history of Christianity between the first century and the fourth century. It quotes and hence preserves many priceless sources that are otherwise lost.
As an advisor and sometimes confidant of Emperor Constantine the Great, Eusebius also formulated what might be called the first fully developed Christian apology for imperial autocracy--a kind of Christian political ideology. He also prepared a biographical study of Constantine that emphasizes his conversion and gives somewhat overzealous testimony to the breadth, depth and sincerity of the Emperor's Christian piety. Its obvious purpose was to convince the Christians that Constantine had indeed become a Christian.
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Athanasius (c. 303-373) was the most prominent fourth century leader of the church in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was bishop from 328 until his death. His well-known role in the Arian controversy and the subsequent struggles will be introduced elsewhere below. He was a very influential Christian author frequently quoted by subsequent scholars.
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Most recently edited 15 November 2005