Present Day Primers EARLY CHURCH HISTORY j, VERNON BARTLET, M.A. ifb Bart let. J. Vernon 1863- 1940. Early church history IPreeent IDa^ primeiu Under this general title the Committee of the Religious Tract Society propose to issue a series of Educational books, suited, as far as possible, for ministers, teachers of Bible classes, and for all general readers who take an intelligent interest in subjects connected with Biblical study and with religious life and work. Each volume will be complete in itself, and will be the work of a writer specially competent to deal with the subject of which it treats. Upon those subjects which are still matters of keen controversy, and sometimes extreme theoriz- ing, the aim will be to present the latest and best grounded results as distinct from ingenious guesses. The first two volumes, now ready, are — I. EARLY CHURCH HISTORY. A Sketch of the First Four Centuries. By J. Vernon Bartlet, M.A., late Scholar of Exeter College, and Lecturer on Church History in Mansfield College, Oxford, Front. i 2. THE PRINTED ENGLISH BIBLE. 1525-1SS5. By the Rev. Richard Lovett, M.A., * Editor of Demaus's 'William Tyndale,' 2ncl edition; Author of 'James Gilmour of Mongolia,' etc. 3. HOW TO STUDY THE ENGLISH BIBLE. By Canon GiRDLESTONE. 4. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO NEW TESTAMENT GREEK. By Rev. Samuel G. Greex, D.D., Author of 'Handbook to the Grammar of the Greek Testament,' etc. 5. A PRIMER OF ASSYRIOLOGY. By the Rev. A. H. Sayce, LL.D. 6. THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND. By the Rev. W. H. Beckett. 7. PLANTS OF THE BIBLE. By Rev. George Henslow, M.A., F.L.S., etc. Illustrated from Photographs of the Plants themselves. 8. A PRIMER OF HEBREW ANTIQUI- TIES. By Rev. O. C. Whitehouse, M.A., Principal of Cheshunt College. Illustrated. Other Volumes, dealing with such subjects as Egyp- tology, the Greek Testarpent, the Contents of the Old and New Testaments, Old Testament History, New Testament History, etc., are in course of preparation. The volumes extend from 128 to 160 pages, are foolscap octavo in size, are bound in cloth hoards, and published at One Shilling. present Bay primers EARLY CHURCH HISTORY A SKETCH OF THE FIRST FOUR CENTURIES J. VERNON BARTLET, M.A. Late Scholar of Exeter College, Oxford, and Lecturer on Church History in Mansfield College ILontioin THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 56, Paternoster Row ; and 65, St. Paul's Churchyard First Edition^ April, i { PREFACE In face of the number of books dealing with Early Christianity it would seem needful to justify the addition of yet another, es- pecially as one of the ' Present Day Primers.' But few can doubt the need of restating the old topics in terms of recent research. The main difficulty here has been to hit the happy mean between commonplace and technicality. All classes of serious readers, short of the specialist, have been considered ; and it is hoped that each will find enough on his own level to make him indulgent towards what may be above or below his present standard. To stimulate further study, while indicating the lines on which it should proceed, has been a primary aim, causing the inclusion of so full a Bibliography and Chronological Table, as well as numerous footnotes. These may serve to commend the work to theological students, possibly also to ministers, in search of a vade meaim ; but they need in nowise hamper the general reader. Where possible, the Christians have been allowed to speak their own thoughts in their own words. The value of such quotation is enhanced by the fact that brief sketches are most liable to reflect the historian's own views, rather than those of the age he describes. The present writer feels this, but has been on his guard to the vei"y degree in which he has aimed at laying bare the religious soul of the history, instead of lingering upon the bare framework of facts and dates. The latter can easily be found elsewhere ; not so the fortunes of the Gospel as such. Finally, attention is drawh to the method of treating each generation apart. This gives fair play to the individuality of an age, and brings out the connexion between the various aspects of its life : while it also enables us to see the develop- ment from age to age, going on, as it were, under our very eyes. VERNON BARTLET. LITERATURE At the end of each chapter of this book is a special bibliography relating to the period included in the chapter. The books re- ferred to below will be found useful for the study of the whole period dealt with. Heavy type marks works fit for beginners ; an asterisk, those for special students ; the other books in the list are useful to both classes. 1. Ancient Authorities. Gwatkin's Selections from Early Christian Writers (Macmillan, 1893) : Eusebius (to 313) ; Greek, edited by Bright ; English, Bohn, or with full noitsmNicene and Post-Nicene Lib)-ary ; Socrates (306-439) ; similar edition and translations. 2. Modern Works. {a) Sketches : Beside Outlines in the Bible Class Prime}- (T. & T. Clark) and Theological Eihuatoi- (Hodder) Series ; Islay Burns, First Three Centuries (Nelson) ; Fisher, History of the Church, Period I.-HI. (Hodder); Smith's Student'' s Eccl. History, Pt. I. (to looo A. D.) ; Plummer, in Epochs of Ch. Hist. Series (to 313) ; Foakes-Jackson, The Christian Church to A.D. 337 (Simpkin) ; Backhouse and Tylor, Early Church History to 337 ; * Gieseler, Co7npenditim, esp. Vol. I. (the original texts quoted in full notes). {h) More detailed works : Robertson, History of Christian Church, Vol. I. (1875, small ed.). Milman, History of Christianity (Ancient), 3 vols. Neander, Chto-ch History, Vol. I. -II. (Bohn). * Moeller, History of Christian Church, Yo\. I. (1-600; Sonnenschein, 1892). (c) For reference : * Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chs. xv., xvL, xx., xxi. Pressens^, Early Years of Christianity, 4 vols. (Hodder). Kurtz, Church History, Vol. I. (Hodder). Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vols. I. -VI. (new ed.). TABLE OF CHIEF EVENTS Nero 61-63 .(S4-68) -V64 • 66 ?67-8 Vespasian "1° (69) Titus (79) DOMITIAN 95 (81) ■ — g6 C. 97 Trajan (98) c. 98-9 107 112 Hadrian 117 ("7) 124 c. 125 132-5 Antoninus - 138-40 Pius (138) M. AURE- LIUS (161) COMMODUS (180) Septimius Severus ('93) Caracali.a (211) Elagabai, (2.8) Alex. Seve- rus (222) c. 140-60 * 161-5 165-75 c. 190 - 197-8 C. 200 202 203 213-16 216 • 22g-3j Paul prisoner in Rome : third group of Epistles. Fire of Rome : persecution of Christians (e.g. Peter?). Revolt of Jews ; Christians retire to Pella. Paul's Pastoral Epistles : Martyrdom of Paul. Ruin of Jerusalem and its Temple. John in Asia Minor (Ephesus) with Andrew and others. Epistle of ' Barnabas ' to Ale.xandrines (? before 79). Martyrdom of Flavins Clemens and others. (late) Letter of Roman to Corinthian Church (' by Clement '). Euarestus succeeds Clement as Roman " Bishop.'' John 6\e.i:o\\vTeackln!;:o/ Twelve A pasties a.5a.\vho\Q{X)- Martyrdom of Bp. Symeon, son of Clopas, at Jerusalem. Trajan's Rescript to Pliny regulating Persecution. Martyrdom at Rome of Ignatius, Bp. of Antioch (?ii5). Gnostics begin to flourish : contra Papias_/?. Rescript to Fundanus further limits Persecution. Apology of Quadratus : Basilides the Gnostic,/?. Revolt of Jews: /Elia Capitolina replaces Jerusalem ; its Church henceforth Gentile. Hyginus succeeds Telesphorus. (? Gospel of Peter.) Valentinus, Cerdon and Marcion, leading Gnostics Homily 0/ Clement. Pius succeeds Hyginus : Shepherd of Hennas (?) Aristides of Athens presents Apology. Ep. to Diognetus {T): Justin Martyr, y?. (Apologies): Gospel of Peter (?) and other apocryphal works. Celsus' True IVord (? after 150). Anicetus (c.154) welcomes Polycarp at Rome; Polycarp martyred at Smyrna (c. 155). Montanus moving in Phrygia, so leading to first informal church Synods. Hegesippns on his travels. Martyrdom of Justin (c. 164) : Octavius o( Mm. Felix (?) Soter succeeds Anicetus (c. 165) : Dionysius of Cor- inth 7?. Tatian, now heretical, returns to Syria. Paschal Controversy in Asia. Avircius travelling. Eleutherus Bp. of Rome (c. 173): Hegesippus pub- lishes his History : Pseudo-ClementinesiJ) Persecution in S. Gaul and elsewhere : Apology of Athenagoras, etc. : Montanism perplexing the West. Address to Autolycus by Theophilus Bp. of Antioch. Pantacnus Head of Catechetical School : Origen born (185). Irenaeus Bp. of Lyons finishes work Against Heresies. Clement succeeds Pantaenus. Victor Bp. of Rome peremptory on Paschal question. Monarohians at Rome. Zephyrinns succeeds Victor. Tertullian's Apology. The Muratorian Canon : TertuUian turns Montanist : Bardesanes, Syrian divine, y?. Persecutions in N. Africa, e.g., Perpetua and Felicitas. Origen succeeds Clement as Head of School. Origen at Rome : in hiding at Caesarea. Callistus elected Bp. ; Hippolytus in opposition. Origen ordained presbyter and excommunicated ; founds fresh .School at Caisarea. The Emperor interested in Christianity as in all religions. \Vc Adopt Bp. Lightfoot's revised reckoning throughout. Maximinus 235 Thrax (235) 236 GORDIAN 238 (238) 244 Philippus Arabs (244) - 247-8 Decius(249) Gallus(25i) - 250-1 Valerian ^(253) 254 Gallienus (260) - 257-8 Claudius 259 (268) AURELIAN 268 (270) Tacitus (275) C. 290 Diocletian Maximian (284[61) Galkrius - 303 (305-3") ~ 306 Constan- -3" TINE (306) -312-313 LiCINIUS 3'8 (312-324) 323 -325 335 Constan- 337-60 TIUS CONSTANS (d. 350) Julian " 361 V A LENS 363-80 Valentin- lAN (d- 375) 380 •-381 -385 Theodosius (379-95) " 386-95 Arcadr's 395 (D. 408) -398 HoNORnis 402 405 407 ... 410 Honorius 428 (n. 423) 430 Theodosius ■ 431 II. (d. 450) 440 TABLE OF CHIEF EVENTS First systematic persecution planned: Bp. Pontianus and Hippolytus (?) die as exiles in Sardinia ; An- teros now Bishop. Fabian succeeds : Neo-Platonism taking shape (Plo- tinus). Mani appears as reformer of Parseeism (d. 272-6) Beryllus of Bostra converted by Origen from Mon- archianism, which is now very strong (e.g. Noetus, Sabellius). Origen's reply to Celsus : Dionysius, Bp. of Alexandria ; Cyprian, Bp. of Carthage. First systematic persecution carried out : causes dis- ciplinary problems, e.g. at Carthage and Rome : Cornelius and Novatian. Origen dies at Tyre : Stephen of Rome at variance with Cyprian as to Baptism. Persecution returns : Cyprian martyred : Firmilianyf. Edicts of persecution revoked : long peace ensues : Dionysius Bp. of Rome. Paul of Samosata deposed by Synod at Antioch. Origen's pupils to the front : traditional usages and legends taking fixed shape. The Antiochene School (Dorotheus, Lucian) emerges. The Christian Rhetors, Arnobius and Lactantius, ffl. in Africa : Pamphilus and Methodius take sides as to Origen. Neo-Platonism aggressive. Final persecution begins : rise of Monasticism in Egypt. Synod of Elvira in Spain : the Meletian Schism. Donatist schism begins. Toleration declared by Edicts of Milan. Arian controversy breaks out at Alexandria. Constantine sole Emperor : Eusebius' History all but complete. Council of Nicaea : New Rome (Constantinople) founded (326). Athanasius exiled : Arius dies (336). Athanasius returns, but his struggle, especially with the Court party, lasts till his death (373): various synods in East and West, especially touching Semi- Arianism. Pagan reaction under Julian. After many phases of the struggle and various attempts at compromise, the New Nicene party arises, led by theGreatCappadocians.who also fosterMonasticism. Edicts against Heresies and Paganism. Nicene Victory at Council of Constantinople. Campaign against Paganism goes on at Rome. Jerome leaves Rome for Bethlehem. Ambrose potent at Milan. Augustine converted, and becomes Bp. of Hippo. Alaric the Goth invades Greece. Chrysostom Patriarch of Constantinople. The Western Court removed from Rome to Ravenna. The Vandals enter Spain ; Innocent I. extends papal claims. Exile and death of Chrysostom. Sack of Rome by Alaric : the Pelagian controversy. Heresy of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople. Siege of Hippo by Vandals : Augustine's death. Council of Ephesus condemns Nestorius (and Pelagius). Leo I., ' The First Pope.' CONTENTS CHAP. lAGE I. Introductory : Before 70 a.d. ... 9 II. The Church and the Empire : Extension AND Persecution 19 III. The Second Generation or Sub-Apostolic Age (70-100 A.D.) 29 IV. The Third Generation : the Later Apos- tolic Fathers (100-135 a.d.) . . .46 V. The Fourth Generation : the Agk of Cul- tured Christians (135-175 a.d.) . . 67 VI. The Fifth Generation : the Early Catho- lic Fathers (175-215 a.d.) .... 88 vii. The Sixth Generation : Hippolytus and Origen (215-250 a.d.) 106 VIII. The Seventh Period : Cyprian and the Bishops' Church (250-300 a.d. ) . . . 118 IX. Age of Authoritative Councils and Monas- TicisM (IV. V. Cent.) 134 X. Augusti^je and Latin Christianity . . 147 XI. RetpvOspect and Conclusion .... 156 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY : BEFORE 70 A.D. The Idea of Church History : Leading Principles. Seed and Soil : Jew, Greek, Roman ; Popular Religion of the Day. Method of Study. Close of the Apostolic Age : Hebreivs, Colossians ; Peter and Paul. History is the biography of mankind. But true biography traces not only a series of situations, but also the gradual unfolding of manhood. So with history, in which we see man ' writ large.' Looking then at Church History in this light, we perceive at once that the Christian society enjoys a unique position. For while the ideal of civilized society is at best vague, that of the Church is definite. From the outset its type or ideal has been given in the Person of its Founder, ' the Son of Man ' while Son of God. Church History, accordingly, repre- sents the varying efforts of men influenced by Christ to embody that ideal in thought, feeling, and practice. And our present aim must be to trace the manner and degree in which the Ancient Church, living under the conditions of the Roman Empire, attained to that which must ever be the Church's aim and standard, ' the mind of Christ.' It stood nearer in time to the Christ than do we. We shall have to see whether, or in what respects, it stood nearer to Him in spirit. From the Parables of the Kingdom, in which its 10 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY Founder illustrated certain features of His society both in its own nature and in its relations to human society, we are able to derive two or three guiding principles. For in the first simple beginnings the final issues of the complex process are already in- volved. Here, then, the central idea, the 'King- dom of God,' appears under the figure of the harvest- field. And we get, first and foremost, the Evangelic Seed, the mind of Christ, or His religion in its native purity and simplicity ; next, in close connexion therewith, the soil of human nature, found in various states of receptiveness and promise. So in the Parable of the Sower the truth emerges, that the actual harvest is the result not only of the seed planted, but also of the special state of the soil. In other words, the Church, at any given stage, must be interpreted in the light not so much of the original Gospel itself as of that part of the Gospel which the men of that day were able to apprehend. For historical Christianity is like a plant whose essential nature indeed depends upon forces inherent in the seed, but whose actual fashion at any given time depends also upon the environment in which it grows. Other parables serve to fill in the picture. Thus the prophecy of a development of the Kingdom out of all proportion to its primal form, is contained in the Parable of the Mustard Seed. The grievous fact that the growth of the Kingdom will be hampered by the co-existence in Christendom of real and counter- feit ' sons of the Kingdom,' is set forth in the Wheat and Tares. While, finally, the deepest reason for large and calm hopefulness seems to underlie the Parable of the Seed growing by resources latent in the soil itself, so that the Sower can rely upon a God-given increase (Mark iv. 26 ff.). For if God is, in some real sense, present in the very earth that produces spontaneously ; how much more in the human heart, as the Source of all its higher aspira- INTRO D UCrOR V 1 1 tions, when and wherever found (Acts xvii. 23 ff., esp. vv. 27, 28). • We must now look more closely at both Seed and Soil, the Gospel and the Roman world. The secret of the Gospel lies in the Person of Christ, as unfolded in His life and death. He, then, in a deep sense is the Seed of the Church. As was He in character and spirit, such must be His society, the members of 'the Kingdom.' If any man, or body of men, 'have not the Spirit of Christ,' he and they are 'none of His.' In this connexion, then, it is the test of Evangelic faith, that ■ it so unite the soul experimentally with Christ, the Son in whom the Father is at the same time known, as to secure a life common to member and Head. Turning now to the Soil, we find it to be at bottom threefold. While the unity of the Roman Empire secured a certain surface resemblance throughout, there were three distinct types of subsoil —Jewish, Greek, Roman. And these may be said to have told on the growth of the seed very much in the order named. The spirit of Judaism largely modified the way in which the Gospel possessed men up to the destruction of the Temple in 70 a.d., and even up to the- ruin of Jerusalem itself in a.d. 135. But before that date the subtle Greek mind was already leaving its mark on the current forms of Christian belief. And though from the end of the second century we can trace a certain practical Roman stamp on the Church in the West, side by side with the Greek featdres in its theology ; it is only with Augustine, at the end of the fourth century, that the Latin temper fully asserts itself. Henceforth we can distinguish that marked Latin type of Christian- ity, which is the parent of Mediaeval and in part of Modern Christendom. The existence of Judaizing tendencies in the early Church is too well known from the New Testament 12 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY itself to need any proof. But it is easier to overlook the fact that the Judaism of ' the Dispersion,' which was of a more liberal type than that found in Pales- tine, formed the bridge whereby the Gospel gained readier access to the Graeco-Roman mind at large. In- deed, dispersed Jews had already done not a little to accustom the minds not only of those Gentiles who attended their synagogues, but also of society at large, to the ideas of one august and spiritual God, and of His Law on its moral rather than ceremonial side. Thus the great elements of the Hebrew faith were already stimulating the consciences of many ; while hearts here and there were learning to cherish some sort of Messianic expectation. As for the Greek, the bent of his mind was 'to seek after wisdom.' And in that quest two things had come to pass. Among not a few a regard for justice and purity, or a longing to rise superior to the thraldom ot the senses, had been awakened ; causing dissatisfac- tion with the mere laws of society in each State and with its religion, which more and more appeared in the light of a drag upon true goodness. Of this ten- dency Stoicism,^ in spite of its defects, was the chief but by no means sole instance. On the other hand, Greek thought as a whole was feeling its own limits as regards the highest themes of thought ; and a sort of hopeless scepticism, born of fruitless efforts to attain to firm principle, giving unity to things and worth to life, had crept over the spirits of thoughtful men. It is this which finds expression in Pilate's cynical, rather than 'jesting' query, 'What is truth?' If then we add that the nobler outlets for purpose and energy had been closed to the Greek by the loss of his old civic freedom at the hands of Rome ; and that for the Roman himself the Imperial system, as ' For Stoicism in relation to Christianity, see Lightfoot's essay ' Paul and Seneca,' in his Philippians, or in his Disserta- tions on the Apostolic Age. INTRODUCTORY 13 contrasted with the older RepubUc, meant a certain spiritual servitude ; we can realize that as regards its Ijigher life the world was then a world of baffled ideals. The popular religions, too, were losing real hold upon belief. On them also the Empire, with its superficial cosmopolitanism, pressed heavily. Each region had had its own local deities. And their worship was bound up, in local sentiment, with the fortunes of the state or the city. When the latter was swallowed up by Rome, the former suffered a fatal shock. Again, the intermingling of religious beliefs within the unity of the Empire, though it promoted a certain religiosity, whose charm lay in novelty, served to sap the roots of real religious conviction and sincerity — quite apart from the sensuality inherent in many of the cults, especially those of Eastern origin. The result was that the most living religious idea of the age was that latent in the sentiment felt for the Empire itself, as the embodiment of the pro- vidential order of things. And the cult of Rome, with its visible head in the Emperor, more and more tended to be the real religion. This worship of the World-Power will meet us again as the rival of Chris- tianity, as, for instance, in the Book of Revelation. Meantime it is enough to note that it afforded little satisfaction to individiial needs. Yet there was abroad a vague longing for forgiveness of sin and for a Healer, a God who could pity and save ; while among the humbler folk especially, the yearning for sympathy led the obscure, the lonely, the stranger, and even the slave, to draw together into associations, ' to keep one another warm ' during life, and at least to secure decent burial for fellow - members after death. Such clubs, as well as those of a higher grade, had generally a religious side, and met in the name of a patron deity. Such then, amid abounding corruption and sensu- 14 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY ality, 1 fostered rather than otherwise by current religious usages, were the main elements of hope to be discerned in the sub-soil of an age which itself felt both helpless and hopeless. The unity of mankind was being realized as never before ; the sentiment of religion was stronger, deeper, more personal than when the separate States had enjoyed political prosperity, together with formal religious rites ; and finally philosophy itself, while sometimes sceptical, was at bottom sick of negations, desirous of discover- ing a path of life, and in temper markedly religious. Our Scope and Method may now be set forth more fully. Starting where the Acts of the Apostles end, we have to trace the progress of the Gospel through four centuries of mingling light and shade, during which, in becoming naturalized as it were, it both causes and undergoes momentous changes. If the subject of the Acts be 'the history of the King- dom of God, with more special reference to the re- laxation of the terms of admission, the ingathering of the Gentiles, and the transference of the centre of gravity in Christendom from Jerusalem elsewhere,' our theme is at bottom the same. The ' Kingdom of God,' which is ' righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,' must be made visible amid all the com- plexities and accretions attending its growth in each epoch and locality. These latter will be found to modify the 'terms of admission;' while 'the in- gathering of the Gentiles ' may seem to threaten, time and again, to overlay with old prejudices the very essence of the Gospel. Finally, ' the transference of the centre of gravity' will prove of prime import throughout. In order to secure something like a continuous ' Cf., after evei^ due allowance, the contemporary witness of Seneca, in his treatise On Anger, where he says : — 'The world is filled with crimes and vices. Things are too far gone to be healed by any treatment. ' INTRODUCTORY 15 picture, the successive generations will be presented, each in its entirety. Movements will emerge in re- lation to leading men ; while, from time to time, change will be noted under one or other of the following heads: (i.) Christian Life and Piety; (ii.) Organization; (iii.) Forms of ^Vorship; (iv.) Theology. Lest, however, this method should fail to show clearly by what stages certain cardinal ideas or usages take final shape, a concluding chapter will gather up the main results as concisely as possible. In all this the internal life of the Church will be our main theme, the external history proper being treated in a pre- liminary chapter dealing with the Church and the Roman State. First, then, let us link our narrative on to the Acts, by reviewing the last decade of the Apostolic Age. Abruptly as the Book of Acts seems to end, it is yet clear that its plan is fulfilled. For by 60 a.d. the Gospel, starting from Jerusalem, has already found a footing not only among outcast Lsraelites like the Samaritans, and among proselytes who, like Cornelius, were partially one with privileged Israel, but even in Rome itself, the very heart of the non-Jewish world. Thus, in earnest at least, its universal destiny was already apparent when the the Apostle of the Gentiles began his Roman captivity. But this fact was not so manifest to the Apostolic age as it is to ourselves. The swaddling-clothes of Jewish prepossession still clung to Christians in various ways, threatening to hamper the Church's proper development. These dangers are brought home to us by the Epistle to the Heh-ews (c. 66 a.d.). The problem with which the writer has to grapple, is the return of Judaic ideals of religion among Jews who had trusted in Jesus as Messiah, but were now beginning to fall back on the ' shadows ' of the Mosaic ritual. For the pressure from their unbelieving brethren was telling l6 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY on hearts already sick of delay that sapped their ardent hope of a speedy Second Advent. But whilst our author vindicates right nobly the sole efficacy of the salvation in Jesus, the true High Priest of faith, and points out the grave dangers of apostasy in the face of light ; even he himself is yet involved in the Jewish notion of the imminent return of Christ in judgment. In this he was a true child of his age. Even the apostles had a lingering bias in favour of a ' Kingdom of Heaven ' practically Jewish in scope and in the mode of its establishment on earth. Acts i. 6 is only one of several proofs, how slight was the impression made on the Church for many a day, by Christ's parables im- plying a gradual development of the Gospel seed in the familiar soil of the world's life. No doubt there was some true basis for their feeling (as far as the anti-Christian Jewish polity and Temple-worship were concerned), in the events of 70 a.d., which was an occasion for the coming of the Kingdom in enhanced power. But this does not satisfy the whole case; specially the fact of eager expectation long after 70 A.D. And, as we shall see when we come to Mon- tanism, this special form of the Christian Hope so persisted, as strongly to colour much of early Chris- tianity ; and even served to foster certain reactionary tendencies that, along with much right feeling, con- tained a serious menace to the progressive work of Christianity. But though we here learn, even in the case of an inspired author, that the Christian must follow in the footsteps of his Master's reserve as to ' times and sea- sons which the Father has set within His own authority' (Acts i. 6 ; Mark xiii. 32); when we turn to the ideal of the Christian fraternity and its nobly simple worship, we are awed at the spiritual insight vouchsafed to one himself so recently emancipated from the sensuous ritual which could not ' cleanse the conscience ' and ' made nothing perfect.' For what IN TR OD UC TOR Y 1 7 says he to his readers ? That Christian ' sacrifices ' are quite other than those of Judaism, being in fact beartfelt ' praise to God ' through Jesus Christ, and ' beneficence and comradeship ' in the use of one's goods among the brethren (Heb. xiii. 15, 16). In- deed, nothing marked the first generations of 'the disciples ' more than their sense of brotherhood in Christ, taken seriously and not merely as a pleasing idea. ' For if we are fellow-partakers in that which is imperishable, how much more in the things which are perishable ' — -such was their spirit. Nor were the Gentiles behind the Hebrews in this respect ; witness the Epistles to the Philippians and Colossians, though these show also the strength of the natural self-hood and ambition which had to be trans- figured by the love of Christ.^ Colossians moreover gives us a vivid glimpse into the action of certain weeds of thought and practice in the Gr?ecized soil of Asia Minor, springing up again and affecting the very vitality of the Gospel. What has been called 'the Colossian heresy' — though Paul never so applies the term ' heresy,' reserving it rather for the spirit of self-will and party — was complex in nature. It com- bined several Judaic features of a practical or ritual character, with certain Gnostic or speculative features, arising from the blending of Greek and Oriental thought in a prejudice against the material, regarded as seat and source of evil. In the joint outcome we find a marked ascetic temper in practice, associated with a tendency to interpose a long series of mediat- ing spiritual or angelic existences between the soul, imprisoned in a body of corruption, and the ethereal spirituality of God. The age was one of Syncretism ; it tended to fuse elements of thought, hitherto dis- tinct, into a sort of amalgam of belief. So it had been * Phil. ii. I ff., iv. 2 ; Col. iii. 12 ff. ; compare the meta- phor of the body and members in i Cor. xii. 12 ff., and the supreme place of love in the Christian character, id. xiii. B I« EARLY CHURCH HISTORY among the Essenes, living in retired communities on the Dead Sea, possibly also in Asia. Be this as it may, Paul found the remedy for each and all of the Colossian errors in a fuller appreciation of Christ — His Gospel, His Person, and His work. This is the very essence of the Evangelic spirit, to face with calm confidence the ideals of aberrant modes of thought, and to show the real religious sufficiency of Christ on His own merits ; by proving that what these vaguely feel after is secured to the full in His Gospel, without one-sidedness or an exclusive spirit.^ But what of Peter and Paul, the central figures of the Acts ? That they both suffered martyrdom in Rome itself — Peter by crucifixion, Paul, as a Roman citizen, by the sword—there is strong reason to believe. But further we can hardly go. Tradition assigns both their deaths to the reign of Nero (d. June, 68 A.D.), mentioning Peter's end before that of Paul. And, on the whole, probability is in favour of this view. Both the mode of Peter's death (especially if he was crucified head downwards) and his place of burial (the quarter where were Nero's Vatican Gar- dens) suggest the Neronian outburst of 64 a.d. ; while Paul most likely suffered about 67-68 a.d. To the subject of the Persecutions we now turn. * For full details, see Lightfoot's Colossians, pp. 73-113. CHAPTER 11. THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE : EXTENSION AND PERSECUTION. The Gospel as Leaven : its centres of influence. Christianity seen from outside : Persecution as a duty to Society : two ideals in conflict. The various stages in the Persecutions : Christian Apologies : the final struggle : victory, and its issues. Martyrdoms : their spirit and value for us. Christianity spread as a sort of holy contagion. Its path can be traced along the main lines of com- merce : though the degree in which it developed in a centre of population depended upon certain existing local conditions, such as acquaintance with the prin- ciples of Judaism. Once planted in a town, it tended to spread insensibly to the adjacent district and strike fresh roots. But its rate of progression must not be thought of as everywhere uniform. Already by the close of the Acts we find the Gospel touching the Roman Empire at Antioch, Cyi^rus, Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, Rome, and, to judge from the case of Apollos, at Alexandria like- wise. We cannot trace the history of its development at and from all these centres alike. For some of them the evidence is clear ; for others it is only inferential. It was perhaps in certain parts of Asia Minor, particu- larly the province of Asia, ' the spiritual centre of Christianity ' during the century after 70 a.d., that the new religion most leavened the population. Thus Pliny, speaking of the northern sea-board province of Bithynia-Pontus, refers in 112 a.d. to the 'large numbers ' of "the Christians ' of every age and rank and from both sexes.' 'For,' says he, 'the contagion of 20 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY this superstition has permeated not only towns, but also villages and country ' ; so that temples are de- serted, rites unobserved, victims unbought. Apart from the places already named, progress during the second century was most marked in the following areas. In the East, Edessa, the capital of a small Graecized native kingdom beyond the Euphrates, N.E. from Antioch, had about 200 a.d. a Christian king ; and there are vaguer traces of extension elsewhere to the east and south-east of Syria. From Alexandria in particular the Gospel spread both through Egypt and further west to Cyrene. In the West itself, the two great areas added were Proconsular Africa, with Carthage as capital, and South Gaul, with Lyons as centre. The latter district had an old connexion with Asia Minor, and probably owed the Gospel in part at least to this intercourse. Of Spanish Christians we hear first about the end of the century ; while as to the most distant provinces, like Britain, we have no positive evidence, though from the presence of the legions we may infer some Roman, but hardly native, Christians. It would be along the lines already laid down that growth went on during the third century, right up to the time when Constantine's edicts of toleration gave the Church a new status in the Roman Empire. During the greater part of this period the Christians in most places must have been, in the eyes of their neighbours, a mere despicable minority of fanatics ; while the project of Christianizing the Empire dawned but gradually upon the minds of this minority itself The Church had to outgrow a certain narrowness of vision, the heritage of Judaea and Jewish associations, before she could realize the large- ness of God's thoughts towards mankind in His Gospel. Now this has a very important bearing on the subject of Persecution, in that much of the inten- THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 21 sity of feeling called forth against the early Christians was due to a certain aloofness and pessimism in their jittitude towards existing society. Imagine the possi- bilities of misunderstanding, to say no more, likely to arise among Roman citizens as they caught stray utterances about ' the Last Day ' being ' at hand ; ' or about a universal conflagration from which ' the Christians' alone were to come forth unscathed. Can we be surprised that they attributed to those who used such speech, a 'hatred of human kind' — an impression which found confirmation in Christian indifference to the political and social interests of their fellows. All this had an inner explanation, innocent in motive, and often noble in the self-denial which ' plucked out the right eye ' that might allure the soul to tainted pleasures. For the framework of society was to the Christian thoroughly idolatrous. Usages involving the recognition of some false deity or of the Emperor in the character of divine, met him on every hand ; while that which was impure, in sugges- tion at least, was constantly confronting him in social intercourse. Hence to minimize public contact with society, was the only way to keep a good conscience and at the same time avoid dangerous comment. But all this must have seemed very suspicious to those who had not the key to such action. At best it was 'atheism' and 'contemptible indolence'; at the worst it meant treason against society or deeds of darkness. To enlarge on these points would be easy. But it is enough to suggest how persecution might thus seem a duty to outsiders, even where their trade was not, as with Demetrius and many another, touched by such nonconformity. For conformity in religion was the law of the Empire. Not indeed conformity in thought, but in observance. For religion was not a matter of con- viction, but of expediency. The State's interests 22 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY demanded it, both lest the gods should smite the State with ill/ and still more lest men should cease to cherish deferential sentiments towards the Empire and its head the Emperor. Men who so cut them- selves adrift from care for the ' public weal ' were, it was argued, capable of any crime or treason. Such was the spirit bred from the old Roman religion, which in form had changed so much. Once it had led to the law that no new religion should be tolerated unless licensed by the State. This rule had become largely a dead letter. Yet its principle remained in force. Any religion alien to the genius of the Empire or a menace to good government — any in fact that would not fit into its niche in the existing order — was condemned beforehand as sacrilege or treason. And such Christianity seemed to be. The tendencies of human nature no doubt co-operated and often set persecution in motion. But the cause behind all, making the State not the protector, but the nominal pursuer, in even such cases, was the feeling just de- scribed. Putting aside all traditions which obscure the matter, we may recognize several fairly marked stages in the life-and-death conflict, in which the Church was the real aggressor. For its ideal was a challenge to the existing Empire, which had not as yet recog- nized in Christianity the proper religious complement to its own political ideal of unity. And how little the persecutions were the outcome of mere caprice or ferocity appears from the fact that, apart from Nero, the severest persecutors were the best Emperors ; whereas the morally bad Emperors were those who, as least concerned for the Empire, might be swayed to leniency. The first stage is that under Nero. Already Chris- * Tertullian in his Apology refers to this feeling, when he re- marks, ' If the Tiber rises too high, if the Nile does not rise, if prodigies occur, . . . the cry is, "The Christians to the lions."' THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 23 tians had suffered petty persecution at the hands of neighbours ; but hitherto the State seems to have taken no action. Henceforth all is changed, though the occasion was personal to Nero. Tacitus tells us that a fire had laid a large part of Rome in ashes, and rumour was busy with the name of Nero. He, to divert suspicion, caused the arrest of ' those called by the people Christians, and hated on the ground of their outrageous crimes.' The first adherents of this ' pernicious superstition ' who were arrested made no secret of their connexion ; and, as a result, ' an im- mense multitude ' were involved, not so much on the charge of firing the city, as on the basis of their reputed ' hatred of human kind.' Many were exe- cuted with every refinement of torture and mockery in the Emperor's Vatican Gardens, until the people became sick of it. But matters did not end here. Attention was now seriously directed to the Chris- tians ; and the defence of society against dangerous people, whose power over human minds seemed nothing short of ' magical,' could not abruptly cease with the crisis of 64 a.d. Rather there are positive grounds for believing that it gave place to a per- manent police measure, analogous to those against other dangerous classes. Nero's biographer states that ' Christians were visited with punishment— a class of persons addicted to a novel and pernicious superstition.' The habit established in Rome under Caesar's eye, would rule the action of provincial governors, whenever the Christians were brought under their notice. Np special edict was here neces- sary, but only an application of the common law as already in practice. Certain crimes were supposed to cohere with the very name ' Christian,' and these involved outlawry. This policy could only be enhanced by the experi- ences of the Jewish war in 70 a.d., in so far as Chris- tianity was still regarded as a form of Judaism. So 24 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY that the Flavian dynasty {70-96 a.d.) would simply carry out the Neronian usage. At what exact point, if any, the presumption of radical treason to the existing order was suffered to condemn the Christian, apart from any effort to prove specific crime, is doubtful. Enough to note that the question tended more and more to become one of the Name itself, where the test was sacrifice to the gods of Rome or the genius of the Emperor. Where this was refused, death was the necessary result. Under a Domitian (81-96), who had a mania for being recog- nized as ' our God and Lord,' and was very jealous of rivals among the nobility during his later years, there may have been special occasions for putting the standing measures into action. But in any case the Name, when brought home, meant death, wherever the hatred or interest of any led them to inform against a man as a Christian. This is the usage implied by Pliny's action in 112 a.d. in Bithynia ; where he first acts on the basis of use and wont, and only refers to Trajan for advice as to whether any qualifications are allowable, seeing that the accused are so many and of such various classes. It is implied too in Caesar's reply, where he simply lays down the limita- tion that a formal accuser is necessary in every case ; that popular outcry is not enough. But henceforth it is to be no part of Pliny's duty to search for Christians. Here then we have the basis of the imperial poHcy during the second century, whatever may have been the exact degree in which its actual working was affected at a given time by the temper, whether of C?esar himself, or of the local governors in seasons of popular excitement. Thus Hadrian (i 17-138 a.d.), in his rescript or reply to the Proconsul of Asia, about 124 A.D., hedges round prosecution for the Name with yet further restrictions, tending to enhance the re- sponsibility of the accuser. Indeed, he went so far in his studied vagueness as to what was necessary to THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 25 secure conviction, that 'the rescript was a sarcasm,' inteUigible only in the Hght of his quaint character. This prepares us somewhat to hear from Eusebius that about the same time a certain Quadratus ventured to address an Apology to Hadrian at Athens, because * certain wicked men were trying to molest our people.' In such a step he was soon followed by Aristides, whose work has recently been brought to light. This latter fell probably under the early years of Antoni- nus Pius ( 138-16 1) : and strives to demonstrate the excellence of the faith and life of the Christians, while criticizing the religion both of the Jews and of the worshippers of false gods. Such Apologies teach us that occasionally the law was being put into force, at least locally. Sometimes this occurred at the sugges- tion either of the Jews or of the mob, whenever specially excited, as appears vividly in the martyrdom of the aged Polycarp at Smyrna (c. 155). But if Hadrian tended to blunt the edge of Trajan's policy, Marcus Aurelius leant to the other extreme. For under him, in the martyrdoms at Lyons (c. 177), so touchingly described in the extant letter to a sister Church in Asia, we find active measures taken by the governor to incriminate Christians ; while the apolo- gists imply that informers were encouraged by a share in the property confiscated. The governors, we must remember, took their cue from the spirit of an Emperor, as well as from his personal instructions to each. Philosophy, too, was allying itself closely with popular religion ; and the revival of each would stimulate jealousy of Christianity and foster accusa- tions, such as Justin Martyr forebodes will be his lot. In reply, the Apologies of this epoch become more elaborate, as in Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Minucius Felix ; and great care is taken to refute scandals current about Christian life and worship, especially as regards the Lord's Supper. The influ- ence of the dissolute Commodus, behind whom stood 26 EARL^ CHURCH HISTORY his mistress Marcia, a woman with leanings towards the Christians, was so far favourable to the Christians that some were recalled from the mines in Sardinia. But with Septimius Severus (193-21 1) the old rigour returned, and about 202 a.d., in consequence of his stricter orders to the local governors against pros- elytism. Christians both at Alexandria and in N. Africa suffered for the Name. Very significant was the peace enjoyed by the Church for a generation and more after his death. The new Emperors shared as little in the Roman traditions as they did in Roman blood, being both Oriental and ' syncretist ' in temper. With Decius (249-251), however, we again get a Roman who is bent on defending the imperial system against the solvent influence of what was now some- thing like a rival ' empire within the Empire.' He put in force, therefore, the first edicts proper, organizing repressive measures against the Christians. It was the heads of the Church that were primarily aimed at; and his method was a graduated system of terrorism. Many of all sorts were arrested, and not a few fell away under the unwonted trial; so raising in an acute form the problem of the treatment of the lapsed. After him, Valerian (253-260) returns to the charge, striking first at the Church's property and places of worship, including cemeteries, and then at the clergy and Christians of rank — in a word, the natural leaders. His death ushered in a forty years' peace, during which numbers grew but virtue declined. Hence, when the last epoch of persecution, organized on a huge scale, began under Diocletian and Maximian in Feb., 303, large numbers lapsed. This was the last effort of the Pagan Empire to rise and with one supreme convulsion hurl from its throat the hand of the new power that now threatened to choke out its old life. The ofiices of trust and power, even about the court, were rapidly falling into Chris- tian hands : while philosophic thought, especially Neo- THE CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE 2'] Platonism, already bitterly resented the supplanter, and strove to galvanize Pagan religion into new life jind resistance. But each and all in vain. After sad vicissitudes, during the decade in which rivals were contending for the purple, the light of toleration dawned with the joint edict of Constantine and Liciiiii/s (313), and brightened into the settled day with the sole rule of the former in 324. How soon the lesson of suffering for conscience's sake was forgotten, and toleration withdrawn, first from vanquished Paganism, and then from sections of the Christian Church itself, is a sad story. Nor does it by any means exhaust the ills that flowed, together with large opportunities, from the fateful alliance between the Roman Empire and the Church. Before closing this chapter, however, a few words must be said as to individual martyrdoms, as illus- trative of Christian life and spirit. No martyr left a deeper impress on the Church than did Ignatius of Antioch (c. 115). This is due in part to the fact that he was the author of letters which breathe, in striking language, his fervid zeal for the martyr death. Thus, in begging the Roman Church not to stand between him and his chosen end, he says; 'Give me to the wild beasts, that so I may be given to God. I am the wheat of God and am ground by their teeth, that I may be made pure bread for a sacrificial offering.' We cannot wonder that this particular epistle became ' a sort of martyr's manual,' and coloured the diction of many a later martyrology. Perhaps the calm dignity of Polycarp, who neither sought nor shunned his martyrdom (c. 155), may strike us as more truly Christlike than this passionate enthusiasm for an heroic end. But the difference of temper and matur- ity between the men was natural. Spiritual knight- errancy ran in the blood of Ignatius. But with others it later became strained and artificial ; and in certain circles, especially in Phrygia and North Africa, there 28 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY was a tendency towards heroics and defiance, not to say the hysterical. Enthusiasm for the martyr's crown and future joys carried with it a certain self-absorption and oblivion of human duties, to family, the brethren, and the unbelieving world. This was the shadow created by the very vividness of the light of the martyr- ideal. Often, however, it was the love of the brethren that involved Christians in death ; both by protest against what seemed unjust condemnations, and by anxiety to minister to confessors in prison, a feature which caught the eye of even the pagan satirist Lucian (c. 165-170). To attempt anything like praise of their constancy would be sheer impertinence on the part of any who have not shared their experiences of unutterable agony, but ineffable and triumphant joy. Much less does it become us to dwell upon crudities and defects in the spirit of some at least, which yet must be patent to all who study the details of their martyrdoms with serious intent. The broad fact stands out impres- sively, apart from all abatements, that these men and women endured to die — often by deaths the bare thought of which appals ; rather than purchase an easy freedom at the price of disloyalty to the Name of Him who had redeemed them unto the Father by His own agony of the cross. Call it what we may, this is heroism ; it is the essence of victory over the world of sense ; it is a supreme phase of faith. Compared with this, we may justly feel the temper of current religion to be often unreal and pusillanimous. But let us at least never forget the equal if calmer glory of the latter days, visible on the mission fields, where, both in conditions and spirit. Christian heroism is still one with that of early days. [Ramsay, The Chunk in the Roman Empire, Pt. ii. (a. D. 64-170.)] CHAPTER III. THE SECOND GENERATION, OR SUB-APOSTOLIC AGE (70-100 A.D.) The chasm opened by 70 A.D. The Church at large still tinged with Judaism : Christian Legalism. The Sub- Apostolic Literature, esp. Barnabas. Brotherly Love: the atmosphere of Church Institutions. Development of the Ministry. Church rites : the Lord's Supper and Baptism. The type of Christian life : its weakness and strength. St. John : his spirit. A silent Social Revolution going on. We have already noticed the familiar fact that Judaic Christianity in the apostolic age often threatened to hinder the development of the Gospel in all its native breadth and depth. But the sub-apostolic age was cut off from its predecessor by a great chasm, which Judaism, as a national or ' particularizing ' influence within the Church, was unable to overleap. This was none other than the Destruction of the Temple and its worship, the most fatal feature in the crushing blow inflicted by the capture of Jerusalem in 70 a.d. Its real effect both on Jewish sentiment and on the full observance of the Jewish religion cannot be measured by us to-day, except by means of the most strenuous reflection. But this much is evident at the first blush : Jehovah's chosen dwelling-place was laid waste by the Gentiles. ^ This could only mean that its custodians had incurred His grave displeasure and had in some sense been rejected. And the iron of this consciousness entered, together with a deep resentment against the Gentiles, into the soul of Judaism. In. those 'Schools of the Law' which sprang up, first at Jamnia, then at Tiberias and else- where in Galilee, the religion, instead of expanding, 3<^ EARLY CHURCH HISTORY went on narrowing and hardening; becoming in forrri more and more a thing of the letter, and in spirit less and less able to beat with the pulse of the world's larger life and aspirations.^ On the other hand, Jewish Christians, of the type addressed in the Epistle to the Hebrews, now saw their way clear to throw in their lot frankly with the Church at large. In so doing, however, they exposed themselves to the special hatred of their countrymen ; who, viewing them as apostates, cursed them in their public worship, and visited them with social persecution up to the point pos- sible under Roman rule. As for those who at heart had ever been more Jews than Christians, they tended to drift further apart from their Gentile brethren and harden into schismatic communities ; some, though not all, refusing to recognize as brethren any who failed to observe the Mosaic Law. The two types of Ebionites {lit. ' the Poor,' such as the original Palestinian Christians were, cf. i Cor. xvi. i) or Judaizing Christians here referred to, can be traced for several centuries. At first the main bone of con- tention between them and others was, as in Paul's day, the Mosaic Law. But from the latter half of the second century, their views as to Christ's Person in- creasingly absorbed the attention of Churchmen. Here, too, there were two types among them ; the one rejecting, the other accepting, the virgin-birth. But the distinctive titles of ' Ebionites ' and ' Nazarenes,' for the stricter and milder sort respectively, are only labels used by Epiphanius late in the fourth century. Ebionism is a striking instance that sheer conservatism, no less than Gnostic rashness, has its own dangers. Meantime the Church at large, while losing its ^ For Judaism after 70 A.D. and up to 135 A. D. , consult Morrison, The yews under Roman Rule (' Story of the Nations ' series), or Schiirer, The Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Div. I. vol. ii. § 21 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC AGE 3 1 original centre, was at once freed from the danger of being dwarfed in its growth by the swaddhng-clothes of Judaism, now so rudely stripped away. It was free, that is, to recognize the Gospel in its distinctive newness, in contrast with much that marked the old religion. Yet we may not assume that Christians therefore ceased altogether to be affected by its inner spirit. Nay, we have evidence to the contrary in the very tone and points of emphasis characteristic of the sub-apostolic age. Nor must we forget the fact that oral instruction or ' catechism ' was the normal mode in which converts gained their conception of the Gospel. The Gospels, which cast so warm and per- sonal a glow upon faith to-day, though composed within this period (Matthew and Mark before a.d. 70, Luke about 75-80, John some twenty years later), were not as yet universally current. Already, however, there were in local use other and less complete Gospel writings, collections of Christ's pre- cepts, as well as small groups of Gospel parables and incidents, such as those referred to in Luke's Preface (i. 1-4). These, and the traditional ' catechism ' in each locality, go far to explain the type of this age. There is a distinct tendency to assimilate the ' law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus' to the Law of Moses, by setting it forth as a body of definite precepts, which likewise were often negative in form. The precepts, as such, were right enough, and show in their high ideal of purity and brotherliness the influ- ence of Christ's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. But their defect lies in the comparative absence of that very element which makes that sermon Evangelic or Christian, rather than legal or Judaic. It is the religious motive that makes the difference ; and this turns upon the thought of Crod animating either ideal. In Judaism it was the Divine code that filled the soul's eye \ and the call was for self-discipline which should merit favour and reward at the hands of the 32 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY Divine Lawgiver of Israel. In Christ's sermon, as elsewhere, the foreground is filled with the thought of the Father ; who, in virtue of personal relations to each man, can become the model for man's spirit and attitude toward his fellow-men. Thus ' love, which is fulfilling of the law,' comes to shape all thoughts, words, and deeds. ' Ye therefore shall be perfect ' — tried by the test of love or mercy (Luke vi. 36) — 'as your Father, the Heavenly Father, is perfect ' : such is at once the standard and motive of the law of Christ. Here the motive is adequate to the needs of our nature ; and the practical issue, where piety is real, must ever be a higher type of conduct than that bred of the legal attitude. Add to this a joyous sense of freedom, in place of irksome restraint, making the Evangelic yoke ' easy ' to the man whose heart is won by God's grace in Christ. This ' perfect law, the law of liberty,' as James calls it, is of the nature of a prin- ciple, not of a mere code which throws man back upon himself and the ' wages ' to be earned by his moral toil. But the Gentile was even less conscious than the Jew of the ' weakness ' of the Law, as law : for he had even less sounded the depths which Paul knew so well and so bitterly. Hence the fact that the second generation of Christ's disciples should have failed to appreciate this ideal in all its purity need cause no surprise : the question here is not one of their zeal, but of their insight ; while in neither respect can even our own age claim to have already attained. We are now, perhaps, in a position to estimate aright some specimens of sub-apostolic litera- ture. And first of all the Two IVays, a popular manual of instruction for those aspiring to member- ship in a Christian community.^ The ' Way of Life ' is * The Two Ways, as known to us, is probably only the Chris- tian form of an original Jewish manual of the same picturesque name. This edition may be placed anywhere between 50-75 A.D., and is known to us through the enlarged form recently brought to light in the T'eaching of the Apostles (chs, i-v. [vi.?]). THE SUB-APOSTOLIC AGE 33 summed up in the two commandments : ' First, thou shalt love God who made thee ; secondly, thy neigh- bour as thyself : whatsoever things thou wouldest not have done to thyself, do not thou to another ' — half of the Golden Rule, which in this form occurs elsewhere on Jewish soil. These maxims are then expanded into a number of special applications, e.g. the duty of sharing one's goods with poorer brethren. Then follows the ' Way of Death,' set forth as the opposite of the Way of Life. The substance of the Tivo Ways is found em- bedded in the so-called Epistle of Barnabas, which has recently been assigned with good reason to c. 75-80 A.D.^ In any case the following extract fits in well enough with this period. ' Let us flee from all vanity, let us utterly hate the works of the Evil Way. Do not, slinking in, stand apart by yourselves, as if ye were already justified ; but assemble yourselves together and consult as to the common welfare. . . . Let us become spiritual, let us become a temple perfect unto God. As far as in us lies, let us exercise ourselves in the fear of God ; let us strive to keep His precepts, that we may rejoice in His ordi- nances. The Lord judgeth the world without respect of persons : each man shall receive according to his deeds. . . . Let us give heed, lest haply we be found, as the Scripture saith, "many called but few chosen." For to this end the Lord endured to deliver His flesh unto corruption, that by remission of sins we might be cleansed ; which cleansing is through His blood of sprinkling* (iv. 10 — v. i). The tone of the passage may be taken as typical of the average Christian piety of the second generation, as is also the closing appeal. ' It is good, therefore, to learn the ordinances of the Lord, as many as have been written above {i.e. the bulk of the Two Ways), and to walk in them. For he that doeth these things shall be glorified in the kingdom of God : whereas he that chooseth their opposites shall perish together with his works. For this cause is resurrection, for this recompense. I entreat ' For details as to Barnabas, as for most of the great names in the sequel, see Neander (ii. 405 ff.). C 34 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY those of you who are in higher station, keep amongst you those to whom ye may do good. Fail not ; the Day is at hand, in which evei^thing shall be destroyed together with the evil one. "The Lord is at hand and His reward." Again and again I entreat you : be good lawgivers one to another ; continue faith- ful counsellors to yourselves ; take away from you all hypo- crisy. ' A large part of the 'wisdom' which ' Barnabas ' had set before his readers was of the nature of allegorical spiritualizing'^ of the Old Testament, with a view to show that it belonged throughout not to the old carnal Israel, but to the new spiritual People. But the underlying piety is, as has been said, that common to the age as a whole. Salvation appears something lying beyond the ' Day of the Lord ; ' a reward for a walk of patient obedience and good works, on the path of which they had been set by the remission of sins or cleansing by the blood of Christ. The idea of Regeneration emerges indeed from time to time, in association with baptism or 'sealing.' So also, hope, righteousness, love, which are called 'three ordinances {dogfuas) of -the Lord,' viz. ' Hope of life, the begin- ning and end of our faith ; Righteousness, the begin- ning and end of judgment ; joyful and exultant Love, the witness of righteous works ' (i. 6) — a rather strange use of familiar terms. But neither Faith nor Regene- ration is brought into organic relation with the Chris- tian walk, as its secret or vital germ. The undue pre- occupation with the future aspects of Salvation, over- shadows its reality as a present fact in the believer's experience, and so keeps certain important elements in the Gospel from coming into the light of reflection. Thus the references to redemption by the death of Christ lack living insight, and are little more than echoes of a tradition whose secret has been lost. In a word, the Gospel is thrown out of perspective ' Like that of Philo as to method, and derived ultimately, like Philo's, from Greek philosophic sources rather than from Jewish thought. THE SUB-APOSTOLIC AGE 35 and proportion, with distinct loss to its Evangelic or properly Christian quality. Yet there is a certain fine spirituality of tone about our author, when he speaks of ' the New Law of our Lord Jesus Christ ' (in contrast with the external ritual of Judaism) as no * yoke of constraint ' but heart-service. Listen to what he says of the New Temple, the Christian people in whom God dwells. ' Give heed that the temple of the Lord may be built glori- ously. How ? By receiving the remission of our sins and hoping on the Name we became new, created afresh from the l>eginning. Wherefore God dwelleth truly in our habitation, within us. How ? The word of His faith, the calling of His promise, the wisdom of the ordinances, the commandments of the teaching ; He Himself prophesying in us, Himself dwelling in us, opening for us who were in bondage unto death the door of the temple, which is the mouth (i.e. the confession prior to baptism ; cf. Rom. x. lo), and giving us repentance, leadeth us to the incorruptible temple. . . . This is the spiritual temple that is being built to the Lord ' (xvi. 8-10). Here the mind recalls the way in which Peter speaks of those who ' are built up a spiritual house ' (ii. 5). Yet the hidden depths of the heart are not laid bare as in the Pauline Epistles. But the practi- cally dutiful attitude towards God, the deep sense of indebtedness to Christ — and Christ crucified — for a knowledge of forgiveness and of the walk that pleases the Father— this marks the latter age hardly less than the former, and issues in a similar type of life. If one legend is writ large on the face of apostolic and sub-apostolic life, it is the word Philadelphia, or brotherly love. Its sway is at once the proof and measure of the hold whif h the twin truths of Father- liness in God and of the value of the human person as related to Him, had really gained upon Christians, be their theoretic insight never so meagre. It involved nothing short of a spiritual revolution in ideals. Sympathy now took the first place ; service to one another and to all in need became the essence of worship. A system ot kindly Duties, to be rendered 36 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY as unto Christ, replaced the Code of Rights, whether that of the State or that of the Law of Nature. The opposite spirit ceased to be regarded as a venial matter, or even the just mark of conscious superiority. Hence, if we are to mterpret early Christian in- stitutions aright, we must see them steadily in the light of this all-pervading atmosphere. Thus co- operation in the divine life is a prime duty ; while self-isolation, and still more the ' heresy ' of party spirit, are condemned as a breach of Philadelphia. All the feeling of the true Jew for his ' neighbour,' his brother Jew, lived afresh in ennobled form, when the ' brethren dearly beloved ' in Christ might be of any race or social status, if only they were of ' the household of faith.' The sum total of all such, scattered in little colonies throughout the Empire, constituted the Church or general Assembly of God, answering to the old commonwealth of Israel in its dispersion ; while to the synagogues in which this ideal unity took shape and being, corresponded the separate local congregations, many of which were actually offshoots from the synagogue. The bond binding all into a unity in either case, was essentially a spiritual one ; consisting, among the Christians, oi common trust in the Heavenly Father and in His Christ, a common love, and a common hope. Where a group of congregations owed their foun- dation to the labours of one ' apostle ' or divinely endowed missionary,^ they came naturally under his parental oversight and occasional visitation, much as happens to-day in the foreign mission-field. But as this exceptional class of persons passed away, the communities were thrown back entirely upon their own resources, under the leadership of -local officers, * Not necessarily one of the Twelve, as we see from the Teaching of the Apostles, ch. xi. See also the general terms of I Cor. xii. 28 ; Eph. iv. 11; cf. Rom. xvi. 7, as well as Acts xiv. 14 ; I Thess. ii. 6. THE SUB-APOSTOLIC AGE 37 such as the ' bishops and deacons ' mentioned in the Teaching of the Apostles (xv. i). These in turn seem to have been chosen representatives of the congre- gation ; being in fact the duly recognized organs for the exercise of functions originally performed, in some instances at least, by the voluntary devotion of the maturer members of a community (i Cor. xvi. 15 f . : cf I Thess. V. 12 ff.). The ministry formed no special caste. Certain functions of ministry arose in the Church life ; functions are best performed when specialized in the hands of those who show aptitude (see I Cor. xii. 28) ; hence special ministers of the functions ideally inherent in all. So Bishop Lightfoot: ' The Levitical priesthood, like the Mosaic Law, had served its temporary purpose. The period of childhood had passed, and the Church of God was now arrived at mature age. The Covenant people resumed their sacerdotal functions.' Hence while ' fi.xed rules and definite officers ' become necessary as means— the end being the orderly development of the given com- munity — yet these were of the nature of 'aids and expedients.' . . The ' functions and privileges of the Christian people are never regarded as transferred or even delegated to those officers, . . . the sacerdotal title is never once conferred upon them. The only priests under the Gospel, designated as such in the New Testament, are the saints, the members of the Christian brotherhood.' ' If we may trust the suggestion conveyed by the parallelism of ' younger ' folk with ' elders ' in i Pet. v. i> 5) we gather that the seniors of the community, as such, had the general ' shepherding ' or ' oversight ' of the whole flock. ^ This fits in with the regard attach- ing to age not only among the Jews, but in antiquity at large. The duty, however, of all the ' seniors ' was the special care of a representative committee of official 'elders' or 'presbyters,' similar to that found in each ' See Lightfoot's essay in The Christian Ministyy. This essay and Dr. Sanday's papers in the Expositor (Jan. and Feb., 1887) are presupposed in what follows. '■* See in this light i Tim. v. i, 2 ; cf. Tit. ii. 2, 6 ; i Clem, i. 3 ; Polycarp iv. i, 2 ; v. i, 3 ; 2 Clem. xix. i. 38 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY Jewish community. Such would be the ' elders ' ot Ephesus summoned to meet Paul at Miletus, whose functions are described as those of ' oversight ' or 'shepherding' (Acts xx. 17-28: cf. Titus i. 5-9; i Tim. V. 1 7), by which the care of morals or discipline is essentially meant. At first 'preaching' proper { = ' prophesying ' or ' teaching '), as distinct from ' putting in mind ' of moral duties, had no special connexion with the ' elders ' or officers. It was a matter of ' spiritual gift ' to be freely exercised by any for the good of all 'in meeting' (i Cor. xiv. i, 5, 24), provided confusion was avoided (33) — a point to which the presiding ' elders ' probably attended. As time went on, men of special gift would gain fixed recognition as 'prophets ' and 'teachers ' (Acts xiii. i, I Cor. xii. 28 ; The Teachings xi. xiii.), whether they were also officers or not. But the tendency would be for the two classes of function, the ' spiritual ' and the practical, to coincide in individuals (cf. i Tim. v. 17 ; Teaching, xv.). General oversight, too, would doubtless include management of the abounding charity of the brethren, to which every early record bears witness. And as the apostles, in the Jerusalem community, had found it necessary to delegate the work of distri- bution to ' the seven ' ; so division of labour meant elsewhere that of the officers some acted as 'over- seers,' others as 'deacons' (Phil. i. i; i Tim. iii. i-io; Teaching, xv. i). Deacons seem often to have been younger men, though perhaps ranking with their superior colleagues as 'elders' or 'presbyters.'^ These details serve to bring out the evangelic spirit of primitive organization. We are reminded of the spirit of Christ's own maxim, that while the essence of worldly government is 'lordship' and 'authority,' it is otherwise with 'the Kingdom.' In it the 'servant' ^ So apparently in I Clem. xiii. 4, 5 : Teaching, xv. i, where the difference seems one only of seniority within a single official college (for further detail see Conteinpot a7y Review, March, 1894). THE SUB-APOSTOLIC AGE 39 is the type of office (Mark x. 42-44 ; Matt, xxiii. 8-1 2), and the assembled brethren form the true court of appeal (Matt, xviii. 17; cf. 2 Cor. ii. 6). But such principles were hard to preserve ; and their prevalence was due in large part to that most fraternal of institutions, the primitive Lord's Supper. Of this the Agape, or Loving Feast, was for long an in- tegral part — a point that has recently been made much clearer by the discovery of the Teaching (x. i). Here we read : ' After ye have been filled, give thanks ('make Eucharist') as follows.' This fits in with 1 Cor. xi. 20 fF., as well as with all we know of ' break- ing of bread ' in the Acts. The ' Eucharist ' was probably the solemn climax of the Lord's Supper, when, after Christ's example, bread was broken with special thanksgiving in view of the redemption achieved by Him. The first evidence we have of the separation of the prior Agape or social stage, dates from 112 A.D., and relates only to Bithynia. In the Ignatian Epistles the union is still presupposed.^ Its deep religious meaning lay in the fact that all classes, including the otherwise despised slave, sat down together at the table of the one Lord, and deepened, by practically recognizing, their oneness as brethren in Christ. The feast itself was provided by the gifts, generally in kind, of the richer brethren. Like all alms, they were in their very nature a sacrifice unto the Lord (Heb. xiii. 15 f.), at first offered in pure gratitude, but ere long with a certain regard also to ' wages ' in the future life. In the ' Eucharistic ' prayers, the bread and cup were regarded both as samples of the Creator's bounty, and as symbolizing the 'spiritual food and drink ' of eternal life brought nigh in Jesus Christ {Teaching, ix. x.). Such gatherings were originally of frequent, if not daily, occurrence ; and were not always held in a single place, but often in ' Pliny, Ef. to Trajan, 96: Ignat., ad Smyrn., 8, on both of which consult Lightfoot, Ignatius, i. 400 f. 40 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY various houses, as was convenient (Acts ii. 46). Here come in the meetings ' in the house ' mentioned in Pauhne Epistles. But as this might play into the hands of coteries, we find the ideal strongly empha- sized by Ignatius (c. 115?) that there should be but one such meeting, i.e. that at which the chief pastor was present. Unity required this, and it won its way to general use ; though semi-private ' love-feasts ' were also allowed in the Church's life for centuries later.^ Only Christians whose confession of faith was ' sealed ' in Baptism were allowed to partake of the Lord's Supper; and these, only provided they were free from known sin, especially that of enmity one with another. Otherwise the ' sacrifice ' of thanks- giving would be defiled {Tenchvtg, xiv. 1,2; see Matt. V. 23 f.) — a beautiful idea, after Christ's own mind. As to the mode of baptism, we get most light from The Teachifig, ch. vii. Originally, indeed, baptism followed immediately on faith in Christ, unto whose Name as Lord, in all its simplicity, confession seems to have been. 2 But towards the end of the second generation we get certain changes. The very rudimentary ' good news' of facts touching Jesus Christ (cf. i Cor. xv. 3, 4, 11) through whom 'forgiveness of sins' was preached, expanded gradually to meet the needs of untutored Gentiles, whose notions of a holy life would be very vague. Hence we get instruction in the ' Two Ways' prior to baptism, which takes place in the Triune Name, usually in running water. In case of necessity, however, other water (as e.g. warm) may be used ; and even threefold sprinkling of the head may replace immersion. For the legal has not yet re- placed the evangelic spirit. Fasting on the eve of so solemn an act is enjoined on both baptizer and baptized, in keeping with Jewish habits. 1 Bigg's Christiati Platonists of Alexandria, 103 ff., contains interesting details. 2 See Acts viii. 16, x.48, xix. 5, xxii. 16 ; cf. i Cor. i. 10-13; Rom. vi. 3 ; see Hatch, Hibbo-t Lecture, pp. 294, 314. THE SUB-APOSTOLIC AGE 4I We must not, however, jump to the conclusion that the ideal of the sub-apostolic age was perfect, much less that it was always attained. Its ideal was no doubt simpler and more thoroughgoing than that of later ages, largely because its sense of brotherhood in Christ was more vivid and real. But it had temp- tations to a grossness of vice, where vice there was, which would shock Christian sentiment to-day, were it made the subject of reiterated warnings, as it was then, and with only too good reason. Further, its conscience, though vigorous and in deadly earnest, was in most cases not of a very refined or sensitive order. If it had great momentum, it had yet to be applied in ways which to the modern Christian have from youth been matters of instinct. In a word, Christians then showed a strength and weakness of the same type as that met with on the modern mission-field.' We must not idealize them. Taken as they really were, they may well rebuke and stir us up. For of us ' more shall be required.' Some idea of the moral dangers besetting these Christians, men of like nature with ourselves, may be gained from the messages to the Churches in Revela- tioti (ii.-iii.). The Jews were showing themselves bitterly hostile, and probably were the main authors of the petty persecution which tried the ' patience ' of the Christians. But such open hostility is less dangerous to character or 'works' than the insidious contagion of Greek society. Some were seeming to countenance ' idolatry ' by partaking in feasts connected with pagan worship ; others were losing their moral purity, partly at least under the influence of a false 'gnostic ' theory, the opposite of that implied in Colossians. There contempt of the body, as matter to be ignored by the spirit, had led to asceticism ; here it gave excuse for licence. Did such theorists boast that they 'knew * See an interesting chapter (xvii.) in Sibree's Madagascar (TrUbner, i88o). 42 EARLY CHURCH HISTORY the deep things'? John retorts, 'Yes, the deep things of Satan.' For throughout it is practice that is the test. ' I know thy works,' is the burden — works, however, which must be full of the savour of * first love ' and heartfelt zeal. Lukewarmness is the sin of sins. And this, we are shown, is clearly connected with a worldly prosperity too comfortable to feel the call to watch. Deadness may be present while yet there is a * name to live.' Yet in every Church but one the core is sound. Evil workers are hated, and charlatan 'apostles' — a danger apparent also in The Teaching — are tried and exposed. But, for a time at least, the sacred name of 'prophet' may cover the unworthy. On the whole, then, we feel that the age is one of severe testing and conflict, and calls for moral backbone, if faith is to remain Christian, that is to say, really devoted and morally pure. To enter into the joy of their Lord, Christians must 'overcome.' We have already seen the solidarity of their con- gregational life. Did local autonomy hinder the growth of an equal sense of unity as regards the Church at large ? Most emphatically not. Listen to one of the Eucharistic prayers of The Teaching : ' As this broken bread, once scattered (as grain) upon the mountains, has been gathered together and become one, so let Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom.' Note the idea of unity, which is on the pattern of the old Israel, ' in dispersion ' yet one in heart. Scattered, it is true, but one in nature ; hence a destiny of complete union. The sentiment is absolutely universal, though there is no ' Catholic ' organization, save in the form of church secretaries, like Clement at Rome, keeping their churches in touch with sister churches. A piece of this Clement's handiwork which we possess will itself illustrate this. Strife had arisen in the church at Corinth. Officers duly appointed had been deposed for no alleged fault. The movement could in some THE SUB-APOSTOLIC AGE 43 sense be regarded as 'the young against the elder folk' (iii. 3). To remonstrate against such irregu- larities as tending to discredit the Christian name, the Roman Church addressed itself as to a sister Church, through its epistolary representative Clement (c. 96 A.D,). The tone is, 'if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it,' Church with Church ; and the appeal is to Christian reason — to the principle of order visible in Nature and human history, as opposed to jealousy and emulation — not to external authority. And what is true of inter-congregational relations applies also to the individuals composing churches. The maxim in The Teaching is, 'let every one that Cometh in the Name of the Lord be received ' (see 2 John 5-10); though experience of abuse has already led to the rider, 'Prove him.' The botia-fide wayfarer will not stay more than two or three days, while he who would settle must show readiness to work ; otherwise he is a ' Christmonger.' These dangers led gradually to the use of Christian pass- ports, as it were, the issuing of which may have been one of the first duties of men like Clement. But what of John himself, the last survivor of the Twelve ? In the main we must be content with a few general points that are fairly made out. The prospect of the siege of Jerusalem (c. 66-70) caused the Jerusalem Church to retire to Pella beyond the Jordan. Either then or somewhat later, John prob- ably took up his residence at Ephesus, whence his influence was felt throughout the Churches of 'Asia.' Tradition puts his death c. 98-99 a.d. Of the details of his life we know little or nothing, not even of his exile in Patmos. But glimpses are gained of a pre- valent impression that the beloved disciple would live to see the Lord's return ; of the attached circle, probably of Ephesian elders, who set their seal to his Gospel (John xxi. 23, 24) ; as well as of his patriarchal status among those whom he addresses as his * little 44 EARIA CHURCH HISTORY children' (i John ii. i). His motto, 'Love one another,' long remained in the hearts of his disciples. And that this love was no cheap sentiment, but an energetic purpose of self-sacrifice, is illustrated by a striking story told of him by Clement of Alexandria. John, already an old man, commends a promising youth to the care of a local bishop, who, after training him, places on him 'the seal of the Lord' in baptism, and in reliance on this safeguard relaxes his watch. The youth falls into wild company, and finally takes to the hills as captain of a brigand band. After some time the Apostle again visits the place, and asks after 'his deposit.' When he learns that 'he is dead to God,' he upbraids the guardian, calls for a horse, and heedless of years makes for the hills ; where, after a touching interview with the wanderer, he assures him in Christ's name of the hope of forgiveness, promising even to stand surety in his stead, as Christ did for us. At length, broken down, yet restored to hope, the young man is won over and duly restored to the Church, 'a great example of true repentance and a mighty proof of regeneration.' One other point may be noted as characteristic of John's attitude towards the Old Covenant, whose in- stitutions were fast melting away. He loved to brood on the new covenant as realizing the inner meaning of the old ; whereas Paul dwelt on the abrogation by the new of the ' weak and beggarly elements ' inherent in the old. The difference was at bottom one of emphasis, the outcome of distinct tempers and ex- periences. But it seems to explain the slowness with which the outer forms of Judaism fell away, like layers of husk, as the living bud of the Gospel burst in John's mind into ever fuller bloom. Well were it, had the Church taken this lesson to heart. As it is, men hardly heed the fact — painful and incredible as it seemed to the Jewish mind — that a system of Divine revelation was once declared antiquated, because inadequate to THE SUB-APOSTOLIC AGE 45 the fulness of the Divine truths that were its Hfe. And so they have not always faith to possess their souls in patience whilst changes, much less radical, pass over the way in which theology builds upon the One Foun- dation, Christ, as His mind becomes better known. It remains simply to enumerate several features in the silent but mighty social revolution then in process under the impulse of the new idea of human worth to the Father's eye, which effaced distinctions of age, sex, culture, condition. Child, wife, barbarian, slave — all such names once involved disabilities that seem to us to-day as incredible as inhumane. These, in principle, were at once cancelled in the Christian family, household, and social circle, in that all were treated as equally children of God. In practice, how- ever, especially as regards slavery, the full effect could only take place in a state of society where Christians had something like a free hand. But this was far from being the case as yet. Indeed it was not even dreamt of. Their outlook was of quite another order. Upon earth all was dark and dreary ; the only citizen- ship to be hoped for was that in the heavenly Jeru- salem. On this their eyes were riveted. ' Come grace, and pass this world away,' was still the burden of their prayer {Teaching, x. 6). For the 'world ' the only lot foreseen was destruction. The how and when were matters left vague by their Master. Their fer- vent desires, however, hastened to fill in a perspective of their own, which gave to Christian piety for many a day a peculiar ' other-worldly ' cast, and fostered an aloofness of spirit, helpful indeed to their own purity amid abounding corruptions, but not without danger to the growth of the kingdom of God among men. [Though not sufficiently distinguishing one generation from another, the following may be consulted : Neander, vol. i. (Life and Worship) ; Schmidt, Social Results of Early Christianity (Isbister). Prime source : The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (R.T.S. Christian Classics, vii.). Compare Aloeller, pp. 62-93; Slater, The Faith and Life of tlic Early Church, chs. vii. ff.]. CHAPTER IV. THIRD GENERATION : THE LATER APOSTOLIC FATHERS. (100-135.) The Chuixh's centre of gravity fast changing : Gnosis in the sub-apostolic age. The Apostolic Fathers, their type of Doctrine (Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp) : Papias and the two types of Christian. Developed Gnosis, its problems, spirit, and schools : its inner meaning : the Apologists. Piety of the age tinged with Legalism, yet pure and brotherly. Its social aspect : Development of the Episco- pate. The Sacraments. Celibacy. A Caution. We have already seen that the year 70, while it de- prived the Church of a definite centre in Jerusalem, also freed it from the worst dangers of a Judaized Gospel, like that found among the Ebionites, who stand in history a monument of the risks of a dogged adherence to the Past which refuses to see God's finger in the Present also. During the last decades of the first century the spiritual centre of gravity began to re-form about John at Ephesus. And by the end of our new epoch, which closes with the quench- ing of Jewish national ideals by the erection of the pagan ^lia Capitolina on the site of the Holy City, the direct influence of Judaism upon Christianity may be said to cease. The first half of this age, however, yet shows a certain subtle tendency to ' Sabbatize ' or conform Christian conduct to Jewish models, noticed by Ignatius as an ' evil leaven ' in the province of Asia, where Jewish traditions were deep-rooted. But the tide had really turned. Danger now came from another quarter, that of Greek intellect, which not only tended to depreciate even the relative value of Old Testament institutions, but persisted in the attempt to force the Gospel into the largely alien THE LATER APOSTOLIC FATHERS 47 moulds of its native thought. This it did in the main in good faith, but with no adequate sense of the ';iewness' of the Gospel, which needed 'new wine- skins,' which neither Jew nor Greek possessed ready- made. The new spirit had to fashion for itself from within a new body of conceptions and usages \ nor is the task ever done, for the animating life is ever expanding by growth. Thus the Gnostics' attempt was premature; and they were strongheaded in the violence used to force the simplicity of the Gospel into the grotesque garb of their imaginations. Signs of such ' Gnosis,'' or superior insight in things spiritual, met us in the Colossian Church. It also left its mark on the history of John in Asia, where he was opposed to the Judjeo-Gnostic Cerinthus ; who standing mid- way, as it were, between Ebionite and fully Gnostic views, distinguished Jesus the carpenter's son from Christ the Heavenly Being, who descended at the Baptism and withdrew before the Passion.^ This of course made the personality of Christ not a real but only a ' seeming ' {docetic) unity. Further traces of Docetism re-emerge in the Ignatian Epistles (c. 115), and explain the writer's insistence upon the 'flesh' or body of Jesus, as equally neces- sary with the ' spirit ' to the reality of His incarnate Person and work. Evidently the Cross was a special scandal in the eyes of certain who found its suffering unworthy of the Son of God. They were inclined to question whether it was more than a phantom event, falling back upon the obscurity of the Old Testament on the point, and sayi^ng, ' Unless I find it in the charters, I do not believe it as part of the Gospel.' In reply Ignatius brushes aside their Old Testament ' This seems to be the error aimed at in i John iv. 2, 3, cf, John XX. 31. It is also the view underlying the newly recovered fragment of the C