■E EARLY CHUl^CH ■prof. JAMES ORR.D.D. 1 1 1 KS ^i ^^^B CHRISTIAN r3H H * H tm ^B 951. S 0r7 itt tftc ©its of giCMJ '^lorfe 1901 ©ttictt auougmottslg CHRISTIAN STUDY MANUALS Edited by the Rev. R. E. WELSH, M.A. I?FA\ PROFESSOR JAMES ORR'S THE EARLY CHURCH NEW YORK A. C. ARMSTRONG AND SON 3 AND 5 WEST EIGHTEENTH STREET hPVLElA CRYSOPOUS QV'AEVIXirAMWlS^VJI ::icToceKnic CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS FROxM THE CATACOMBS (Key, p. viii.). (Photographed from casts of the originals, in the possession qfthe Bev. Archd. Paterson, B.D.] THE EARLY CHURCH ITS HISTORY AND LITERATURE JAMES ORR, M.A., DA). Fro/essor 0/ Apologetics and Systematic Theology, United Free Church College, Glasgow NEW YORK C. ARMSTRONG AND SON 3 AND 5 WEST EIGHTEENTH STREET % CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAOE The Jewish and Gentile Preparations ... 1 '-^ The Old Testament Preparation— The Post-Exilian Preparation : Synagogue Worship, Jewish Sects, etc. — The Greek Preparation — The Roman Pre- paration — Christianity and Roman Law. CHAPTER II. The Apostolic Age and Later Jewish Christianity . 14 The Church of the Apostles— Paul and the Judaisiug Party — Constitution and Worship of the Apostolic Churches — Transition to Later Jewish Christi- anity— Nazarenes and Ebionites — The " Clemen- tines ". CHAPTER III. Gentile Christianity: Nero to Domitian (a.d. G4-96) 30 First Contact with the Empire— Persecution under Nero— Martyrdom of St. Paul and St. Peter- Persecution under Domitian — Last Days of St. John — The Catacombs. 327924 vi CONTENTS CHAPTER IV. PAGE The Age of the Apostolic Fathers (a.d. 96-117) . 39 gjThe Persecution in Bithynia: Pliny and Trajan- Martyrdom of Ignatius — Literature of the Period : Clement, Barnabas, Hermas, etc, — Theology of "The Apostolic Fathers" — The Ignatian Episco- pacy. CHAPTER V. The Age of the Apologists (a.d. 117-180) ... 53 Hadrian and Antoninus Pius—Martyrdom of Poly- carp — Age of the Antonines — Persecutions under Marcus Aurelius — Martyrs of Vienne and Lyons — The Earlier Apologists : Justin Martyr— Later Apologists— The Literary Attack on Christianity : Celsus and Lucian. CHAPTER VI. The Age of the Apologists {continued) : Gnosticism AND Montanism (a.d. 117-180) The Apologists as Theologians— The Gnostic Systems — Montanism — Apocryphal Writings. 69 CHAPTER VII. The Age of the Old Catholic Fathers (a.d. 180-250) . 81 From Commodus to Severus — Persecution under Maximin — Progress of Christianity — Develop- ment of the Idea of the Old Catholic Church — New Testament Canon— Rule of Faith— Apos- tolic Succession. CONTENTS vii CHAPTER VIII. I'AciK The Age of the Old Catholic Fathers {contiiiiicd) (A.D. 180-250) 93 Irciifcus of Gaul — Tertullian of Cartliagc — The Alexandrian School : Clement, Origen — The Church of Rome — Hippolytus and Callistus — Cyprian of Carthage. CHAPTER IX. The Age of the Great Persecutions : Victory of Christianity (a.d. 250-324) Ill Decian and Valerian Persecutions — Effects of Perse- cutions — Schisms — Empire and Church till Diocletian — Neo-Platonism — Career and Char- acter of Constantine — Victory of Christianity — Donatist Schism. CHAPTER X. The Age of the Great Persecutions : Victory of Christianity {continued) (a.d. 250-324) . . . 126 Establishment of Christianity — Constantine's Later Years — The Church Outside the Roman Empire — Manichaeism — The Monarchian Heresies — Church Teachers and Literature — Church Build- ings, Ofl&ces, Services, etc. — Councils — Rank in the Episcopate — Conclusion. EXPLANATION OF FRONTISPIECE. {Fur the Illustration and the Exjdanation the author is indebted to the Rev. Archd. Paterson, B.D.) 1. The Good Shepherd (John x. 11). In Early Christian Art, the G. S. is always represented as bearing the sheep nn his shoulders (Luke xv. 5). " Apuleia Crysopolis who lived seven years, 2 months : The Parents placed this to (the memory of) their very dear daughter." Of very early date (first half of second century ?). 2. The Anchor, symbol of hope (Heb. vi. 19), set within the name DOMNA. 3. The Anchor. The Fish or IX0YC, i.e. lr)crov^ Xpto-To?, &eov Ytoy, CwTi7p: Jesus Christ, So7i of God, Saviour. "The faithful {i.e. baptised) child of faithful (i.e. baptised) parents, Zosimus, here I lie: having lived 2 years, 1 month, 25 days." 4. The Anchor : Dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit, Matt. tii. 16). URBICA, a design (like a ship) set within a circle (eternity?). Of very early date (first half of 2nd. cent.?): so, probably, the central design has no such highly developed symbolical intention. 5. Orante, i.e. a figure (female generally) in the attitude of prayer (1 Tim. ii. 8): on other side a shepherd holding a (?) mulctrum (milking paM) and leaning on a staff ; a sheep, or goat (?) beside him. " Moses in his lifetime had this monument prepared for himself and his wife." 6. Anchor, Fish, Bread (Eucharistic Bread?). " Aegrilius Bottus Phila- despotus, most sweet and dutiful (son). His parents erected this to his memory. He lived 9 years, 40 days." M.S. (?) memoriae sacrum, i.e. " sacred to his memory ". This monument is not a slab but an upright stele or pillar of square section. 7. Our Lord raising Lazarus. Our Lord is touching the head of Lazarus with the virga potestatis, or rod of power, 8. Sheep : Peacock (symbol of immortality ?). " Aelia Victorina placed (this slab) to (the memory of) Aurelia Proba." 9. A Chirurgeon's outfit : forceps, etc. Part of a very long slab. 10. Dove perched on Olive Branch : Lamb : Anchor. In the ' stock ' or transverse beam of the anchor it may be that we are to find a furtive representation of the Cross. " Faustinianus." Of very early date (first half of 2nd. century ?). 11. A ' modius ' or corn measure filled with wheat: (also a sheaf of wheat on either side): a figure standing by, holding, not the 'rod of power' as in nos. 7 and 13, but a roller for pressing along the rim of the modius, and so giving just measure. " Maximinus, who lived 23 years : the friend of all." This, like no. 9 and in part no. 12, is a trade symbol, not a religious symbol. The amiable Maximinus was probably a corn merchant. 12. Chi-Rho (first two letters of XPICTOC, Christ), commonly called "the Constantino monogram," with Alpha and Omega (Rev. i. 8); the whole set in a chaplet. The barrel denotes that SEVERUS was a vintner. 13. Raising of Lazarus (as in no. 7). Our Lord's head is encircled by a nimbus or halo. The inscription, in bad Latin, probably means, " Datus and Bonosa, the parents, placed this to the memory of their son Datus, who lived 20 years. In peace," CHAPTER I. THE JEWISH AND GENTILE PKEPAKATIONS. The Iiistory of the Church may be said in strictness to begin with the Day of Pentecost. The Day of Pente- cost, however — the conception of the Church alto- gether — had its antecedents. The New Jerusalem did not come dosm from heaven quite as it is pictured in the Apocalypse, without manifold links of connec- tion with the past. St. Paul has this in view when he sa3^s that it was in " the fulness of the time " that God sent forth His Son (Gal. iv. 4). 1. The Old Testament Preparation. — Mani- festly, the Christian Church has a peculiar and genetic relation to the Old Testament. For the Old Testament community was also in its way a Theocracy — a Church (c/. Acts vii. 38; Heb. ii. 12). The word ecdesia, used in the New Testament to designate the Christian society, is that chiefly used in the LXX as the equi- valent of the Hebrew word qahal, assembly or congre- gation. ^ Though bound up with national forms, that theocracy ever cherished in its bosom the con- sciousness of a UNivERSALLSTic DESTINY. Older than the national form in its existence was the patriarchal — the covenants with the Fathers — and here already we have the clear enunciation of the idea that Israel was a people called with a view to the ultimate blessing of the race (Gen. xii. 3, xviii. 18, etc.). That idea ^ On terms cf. Hort's Christian Ecdesia, Lect. I. 1 2 THE EARLY CHURCH reaches its fullest expression in the glowing predic- tions of the Prophets and the Psalms (e.g., Is. Ix. ; Ps. Ixxxvii., R.V.). With the prophets, too, we see the rise of a new idea — the thought of a Church within a Church, a true and spiritiial Israel within the natural Israel — which is the birtli of the Church idea proper ((/. Is. viii. 16-18). A further important step in the formation of the Church consciousness was taken in the Babylonian Exile, when the people, driven from their land, and deprived of holy city, temple and sacrifices, became a Church in the full meaning of the word. Their return to Palestine did not annul this feature of their religious life. On the contrary, their return was marked by a new development of religious institutions — priestly government, the formation of a canon of Scripture, the rise of scribism, the reading and teaching of the law — all which prepared the way for the liberation of the Church idea from its national and political form. ' 2. The Post-Exilian Preparation. — Of special V importance in this connection are the four following series of facts : — (1) The rise and spread of Synagogue Worship. — The synagogue may go back to the days of Ezra ; in any case it was a prominent institution after the return, both in Judea and in the lands of the dispersion (Acts XV. 21). We note about it, in contrast with the temple, its local character, giving it practical uni- versality ; its simple and spiritual worship — reading of law and prophets, reciting of prayers, singing or rather chanting of psalms, a discourse or exhortation, in which the passage read was expounded and applied, a concluding blessing ; and the absence of all priestly or sacerdotal offices. The officials were the ** elders^ (probably identical in towns with the civic elders), the JEWISH AND GENTILE PREPARATIONS 3 archisynagogos or " ruler " (one or more )J who had the charge of the public worship, the "minister" or servant (Luke iv. 20), corresponding to the modern sacristan or beadle, " collectors of alms," with an " interpreter " (Targumist) to give the sense of the lessons in the current Aramaic.^ ;^ There was consider- able freedom in the service. The Scriptures were read, the prayers recited, the exhortations given, not by officials, but by persons selected from the congrega- tion (Luke iv. 16-20 ; Acts xiii. 15). The resemblance to a simple Christian service is obvious. (2) The rise of the Jewish Sects. — The greater part of the period after the exile is an absolute blank in our knowledge. The one thing certain is that from the time of Ezra the nation set before it as its ideal the strict observance of the law of Moses. Hence the rise of an order of men whose special business it was to guard, develop and expound the law — the order of the Scribes. When the curtain lifts again in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (b.c. 175), we find ourselves in a different atmosphere, and the three parties of his- torical note among the Jews are already in existence. The Pharisees first appear as a party of protest, against the lax Hellenising tendencies of the period. The name they bore — "Assidseans" (Heb. Chasidim) — denotes them as the strictly '* pious " or " Puritans " of their day. Parties of this kind, how^ever, are peculiarly liable to degeneration, and in their exag- gerated scrupulosity and excessive literalism, the "Assi- dseans" soon sank into the "Pharisees" (separated) as w^e know them in the Gospels. The Sadducees (from Zadok), on the other hand, were not a religious ^ The " ten men of leisure," said to be retained to form a quorum, are subject of controversy. 4 THE EARLY CHURCH party at all, but simply a political or aristocratic clique, into whose possession the honours of the high priesthood and other influential offices hereditarily passed. They represent the worldly-wise, diplomatic, time-serving party in the state, men of sceptical, rationalistic temper, and epicurean in their view of life. Of much greater importance for the history of the Church, though not mentioned in the Gospels, is the third of these parties — the Essenes. These had their chief settlement in the desert of Engedi, on the north-west shore of the Dead Sea, but were found also in the towns and villages throughout Palestine. Their total number was about 4,000. At Engedi they lived as a sort of brotherhood with customs of their own. They offered no animal sacrifices, contenting them- selves with sending to the temple gifts of incense. They abounded in lustrations, and wore white gar- ments. They rejected marriage, and practised com- munity of goods. Their employments were chiefly agricultural, but in the towns they exercised trades. They had the peculiar custom (perhaps Oriental) of greeting the sunrise with prayers. They forbade slavery, war, and oaths, were given to occult studies, had secret doctrines and books, etc. The superficial resemblances have led some to trace Christianity itself to Essene sources, but in fundamental ideas no systems could be more opposed. We shall see that Essenism probably became ultimately merged in a form of Christianity. (3) The Judaism of the Dispersion.— The dispersion had its origin in the captivities, but was more due to voluntary settlements for trade. The Greek rulers did everything they could to attract settlers to their newly-founded cities, and the troubles in Palestine made multitudes willing to leave their native country. JEWISH AND GENTILE PREPARATIONS 5 Thus it came about that there was hardly a land or city where Jews were not to be found. They some- times had rights of citizenship, and in many places, as in Alexandria, enjoyed special privileges. The effect on the Jew himself was profoundly and insensibly to modify his whole manner of thought. A freer spirit was necessarily introduced. From being a citizen of Zion, he became a citizen of the world. The dispersion provided points of contact for Christi- anity through the spread of the synagogues {cf. Acts, passim), the circulation of the Jewish Scriptures in the Greek tongue, above all through the creation of a large body of proselytes. But outside the circle of proselytes proper there was in most communities a following of converts — the *' devout persons " of the New Testament (Acts x. 2, 22; xiii. 16, 26, etc.) — who, while attending the synagogues, only observed the Mosaic law in certain leading points — e.g., the Sab- bath. Many of the first converts of the Gospel were drawn from this class. It is noteworthy that the admission of proselytes was not only by circumcision and sacrifice, but by baptism, and, if Talmudic state- ments are to be trusted, the children of proselytes were baptised with their parents. (4) The contact of Jewish thought — particularly at Alexandria — with Hellenic Culture and Philosophy. — The classical name here is Philo, though the elements of Philo's doctrine are already met with in the Apocry- phal Book of Wisdom. Philo was born about B.C. 20, and lived till near the middle of the first century. He was therefore a contemporary of both Christ and St. Paul. Profoundly versed in Greek philosophy and literature, he sought to bring about an amalgamation of Jewish and Greek modes of thought. His character- istic doctrine is that of the Logos or " Word " of God, 6 THE EARLY CHURCH whom he conceives of partly in Platonic and Stoical fashion, but whom, at the same time, following hints of the Old Testament and of the Jewish schools, he tends to hypostatise, or interpose as a distinct person- ality between God and His creation. His doctrine has often been compared with that of the Apostle John. There are, however, radical contrasts. The Apostle has his feet on historic facts (John i. 14 ; 1 John i. 1-3). Philo's theory would have repelled an incar- nation. 3. Providential Mission of Greece and Rome. — The splendour of Athens in the age of Pericles should not blind us to the fact that for Greece as a whole the fifth century B.C. was an age of decline. ^ The great colonising energy of Greece was in the previous century. The mission of the Greeks was not to be the rulers, but the INTELLECTUAL EDUCATORS of mankind. The rule passed to Macedonia, and for a brief moment it seemed as if Alexander's dream of a Greek empire of the world was to be realised. His empire fell to pieces at his death, but his great design was fulfilled of diffusing Greek letters and culture wherever his arms had gone. Rome gradually gathered up the fragments of the Macedonian empire, but Rome herself yielded to the intellectual supremacy of Greece. It cannot be too firmly grasped how profoundly Greek influences had taken possession of the Roman empire at the be- ginning of the Christian era. Greek language, Greek philosophy, Greek literature, Greek culture were every- where. Rome itself was at this time in great measure, what Juvenal calls it, a Greek city. It is a fact which may not always strike us that the Epistle to the Romans was written in Greek. 1 Cf. Freeman, JEWISH AND GENTILE PREPARATIONS 7 While, however, profoundly influenced by Greece, Rome's i)rovidential mission was different from hers. It was the task of Greece to show what the human mind can do at its highest and best in the way of natural development ; to teach the world the elements of her own culture and civilisation ; to give it a language fitted for every noble purpose of thought and life. It was the function of Rome to bind the nations together into a great political unity — to weld them by strong bonds of law and government into a vast, uni- versal commonwealth. The practical instinct of the Roman people and their genius for government enabled them to accomplish this as no other people of the world could have done. It is no chance coincidence that the hour of the completion of this great political fabric was also that of the birth of Christianity — that the two events almost completely synchronised. The world-empire and the world-religion came into being together. i. The Greek Preparation. — The very intensity of the intellectual development in Athens tended to hasten a moral dissolution. The Greek religion was not one which would bear looking at critically. The POPULAR theology iu Greece was simply that of the poems of Homer. When this is said, it is easy to see that its foundations must have been swept away the moment men began to incjuire rationally into the causes of things, and to entertain more elevated moral concep- tions. Morality in the older period had rested largely on tradition — on custom. Now a spirit of inquiry had set in which would allow nothing to custom. A class of popular educators had arisen who had no difficulty in dissolving the most cherished beliefs in the play of their sceptical dialectic. Other causes aided the col- lapse. Even the enervation of morals by the refine- 8 THE EARLY CHURCH merit and luxury of the prosperous period was not so fatal to moral life as the long-continued and exhaust- ing wars of states, with their woeful lack of principle in public men, the constant breach of faith in treaties, the strife of factions, and like evils. But Greece had a more important service to do for Christianity than simply to reveal the depths of her own moral impotence. The preparation had a positive SIDE as well. With the overthrow of the old religion there was going on, on the jmrt of the nobler spirits, a search for a more rational and abiding foundation for religion ; with the overthrow of the old morality there began with Socrates the search for a deeper ground of morality in man's own nature ; with the breaking up of the old states there was seen in Stoicism the rise of the conception of a state or commonwealth based on reason, wide as the world, and embracing man in a new brotherhood. In these THREE DIRECTIONS therefore, (1) a more inward view of morality, (2) the recognition of a common nature in man, and the reaching out to a universal form of society, and (3) a tendency to Monotheism, clearly discernible in all the nobler minds, we are to look for the positive preparation for Christianity in the ancient world. But all these advances of the human spirit could not avert the dissolution of belief and morals. The note of uncertainty in later Greek philosophy is very marked (Sceptical Schools). The most earnest minds were those who felt it most deeply. Dissatisfied with human opinion they felt, as Plato phrases it, the need of some " word of God," which would more surely carry them (Pheedo). 5. The Roman Preparation. — If the philosophy of Greece could not save Greece itself, it was not to be expected that it would be able to save Rome. The JEWISH AND GENTILE PREPARATIONS 9 Romans were a people of graver, more serious dis- position than tl)c Greeks. They liad not tlie (piick, versatile imagination of the Greeks. Their gods were mostly personifications of abstract ideas (Justice, Pity, Clemency, Pleasure, and the like). Religion was to them a very serious part of the business of life, to be engaged in with strict formality, and punctilious observance of prescribed rites. Their gods were viewed, too, as more really the guardians of fidelity and virtue in household and state than among the Greeks. All testimonies accordingly bear witness to the severe virtue and simple manners of the early Romans. This simplicity did not endure. With the growth of power — especially after the fall of Carthage and Corinth — there was a great inrush of foreign customs. The Greek gods came with the Greek culture, and a change took place in Roman reli- gion for the worse. Altered conditions in the state co-operated to bring about deterioration of morals. The old distinction of patrician and plebeian was supplanted by that of rich and poor. The wars destroyed agricultural industry, and threw the land into the hands of wealthy men, who farmed their estates by gangs of slaves. Slavery became the basis of the social structure, and labour was despised as beneath the dignity of citizens. The populace were supported by doles from the state, or largesses from nobles, and lived only to be fed and amused ("bread and games," Juvenal). The sanguinary spectacles of the amphitheatre fostered in them a cruel and blood- thirsty spirit. Marriage lost its sacredness, and licen- tiousness flooded society. What all this meant for religion it is not difficult to foresee. The chief features, in a religious respect, are: (1) The wide prevalence of scepticism, or total 10 THE EARLY CHURCH unbelief among the cultured or educated classes ; and (2), the vast growth of superstition and a great influx of foreign cults among the people in general. The cults chiefly in favour were the Oriental, and this again shows that the religious consciousness had en- tered on a deeper phase. For, whatever the defects of the Oriental religion, there was expressed in most of them a deeper feeling of the discord, the pain, the mystery of life, and many of their rites showed a long- ing for redemption. Special importance attaches to the rise of an en- tirely new cult — the worship of the emperor. In CiESAR WORSHIP the religion of paganism may be said to have culminated. The Roman people had long been familiar with the idea of a Genius of the Republic. Now, when all powers and offices were gathered up in the emperor, he became to ordinary eyes an almost godlike being. From this the step was easy to formal apotheosis. The Senate took this step when they decreed divine honours to the emperors — many of them the basest and vilest of mankind. Yet this worship of the emperor took root, and, in the provinces especi- ally, gained amazing popularity. A special class of guilds [Augustales) sprang up to attend to it. The peculiarity of it was that it was the one worship which was common to the whole empire. In it also the Roman Empire expressed its inmost spirit. As the deification of brute power, it was the strongest possible antithesis to the worship of the Christ. It was THE WORSHIP OF THE BEAST. Luxurious, frivolous, sceptical and corrupt as the age was, however, there is not to be overlooked in it the presence of certain better elements. As in Greece, so here, the preparation was not \vholly negative. Stoicism and Platonism had received a religious tinge JEWISH AND GENTILE PREPARATIONS 11 (Seneca, Plutarch), and exercised an elevating influence on the purer minds. There were, doubtleHs, numerous individual examples of virtue. The Collegia (organ- ised associations or guilds) of the empire, and the MYSTERIES havc intimate and curious relations with the history of the Church in the first centuries. Dr. Hatch would explain from the former several of the offices of the early Church. ^ The mysteries of Mithras, Professor Harnack says, were in the third century the strongest rival of Christianity.- The burial societies were legal, and the Christians took advantage of this for their protection. When all is said, the verdict of history on that old world must be that it was as corrupt as it could well be to exist at all, and what was worse, had not within itself any principle of regeneration. 6. Christianity and Roman Law. — What is some- times said of the tolerance of the Romans requires to be taken with considerable modification. The Romans had laws enough against foreign rites ; even where the practice of a foreign religion was permitted, this permission did not extend to Romans. Christianity, therefore, fell under the ban of the laws in a double respect. It was unsanctioned (religio illicita), and it drew away Romans from the established religion. Even with this disadvantage, however, it might have escaped, for the authorities found it impracticable rigidly to enforce the laws. But there were special features about Christianity which, from a Roman standpoint, made tolerance im- possible. Christianity was not a national religion. 1 Cf. Hort, pp. 128-210. 2 Their strange caricatures of Christian rites wore a source of perplexity to the Fathers, 12 THE EARLY CHURCH The sentiment of antiquity respected the gods of other nations ; but Christianity appeared rather in the Hght of a revolt against the ancient faith from which it sprang, and had no national character of its own. It had no visible deity or temple, and to the popular mind seemed a species of atheism. Specially, it could not fail to be seen that, with its exclusive claims, it struck at the very existence of the Roman state re- ligion. If its precepts were admitted, the state religion would be overthrown. The more earnest men were, therefore, to maintain or revive the prestige of the established system, the more determinedly must they oppose this new superstition. The iiTcconcil- ability of Christianity with the established religion came naturally to its sharpest point in the refusal of Christians to offer at the shrine of the emperor. This was an act of disobedience in a vital point, which could not be passed over. Add to this the manner in which Christianity came into conflict with the laws prohibiting secret and nocturnal gatherings ; the powerful material interests affected by its spread (c/. Acts xix. 24-27) ; the odium in which Christians were held on account of the crimes imputed to them by their enemies ; the outbursts of popular fury to which they were opposed in times of public calamity, and it will readily be understood how, even when there was no general persecution, they lived in a constant state of insecurity, and how the very " name " of Christian should be held sufficient to condemn them. Points for inquiry and study. — Compare Synagogue and Church (services, ofl&ces, etc.) Compare Essenism and Chris- tianity. Give a fuller account of Philo, and compare his doctrine with St. John's Prologue. Show how with Socrates and after him moral thinking in Greece took an inward turn. JEWISH AND GENTILE PREPARATIONS 13 Illustrate Monotheism among Greeks and Romans. Read Tertullian's contrast of Christian meetings with heathen Collegia {ApoL, oh. 39). Find out more about the Mysteries and their relation to the Church. Illustrate the position of Christians in the Roman Empire from Pliny's letter to Trajan, and the Apologies of Justin Martyr and Tertullian. The following books may be consulted on the subjects of this chapter : Besides the Church Histories (Neander, etc.), Edersheim's Jesus tlie Messiah; Bollinger's Jew and Gentile, Uhlhorn's Conflict of Christianity ; Pressens^'s ^rtcif-n^ World and Christianity ; Fisher's Beginnings of Christianity ; Schiirer's Jeivish People, etc. ; Lightfoot on •' Essenes " {Commentary on Colossians) ; Freeman's Chief Periods of European History; Loring Bruce's Gesta Christi and The Unknown God; Schmidt's Social Results of Early Christi- anity; Hatch's Organisation of Early Christian Churches and Infliience of Greek Ideas ; Ramsay's Church in Roman Empire. CHAPTER II. THE APOSTOLIC AGE AND LATER JEWISH CHRISTIANITY. Into the pagan world such as we have described it Christ's religion came as the breath of a new life. "The time is fulfilled," said Jesus, "and the King- dom of God is at hand" (Mark i. 15). In Christ's life, deeds, preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom, death and resurrection, the moveless foundations of the Church were laid. Christ's last injunction to His apostles was to abide at Jerusalem till they should receive " the promise of the Father " (Luke xxiv. 49 ; Acts i. 4, 5). In the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts ii.) the New Testament Church was born. 1. The Church of the Apostles.— Obvious reasons compel a glance at the phenomena of the Apostolic Age. Three main stages in the development may be distinguished : — (1) The first takes us to the martyrdom of Stephen, and may be called the period of unbroken unity with Jewish institutions. The Church in this stage was composed wholly of Jewish believers, and w^as presided over by the apostles as a body. The first disciples stood in unbroken unity with temple and synagogue (Acts ii. 46 ; iii. 1).^ Their specifically Christian ^ Much later Saul sought the Christians in the synagogues (Acts ix. 2). (14) THE APOSTOLIC AGE 15 fellowship expressed itself in domestic gatheriugs (ch. ii. 46). Even the apostles did not dream of parting with their national usages {cf. Peter's scruples, Acts x.), but probably thought of the Gentile mission to which they knew themselves called (Matt, xxviii. 19; Acts i. 8; ii. 2l, 39), as an incorporation into Jewish privilege. How long this naive stage lasted is uncertain, but the need must early have been felt for more independent assemblies. Tiiis became imperative when, under the new impulse of love, the so-called " community of goods " was introduced (ch. ii. 44, 45). It is in connec- tion with the judgment on Ananias and Sapjjhira that the word " Church " first occurs (ch. v. 11).^ Even yet we must beware of attributing to these gatherings of the disciples too formal an organisation. Everything is as yet fluent, growing, unconstrained. The first mention of "elders" is in Acts xi. 30, and, doubtless, the analogy followed there was that of the Jewish synagogue. The oldest definite step in organisation we read of was the appointment of The Seven (Acts vi.), called for by the disputes between Hebrews and Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews) about the daily distribution. It is customary to see in these " Seven " the proto- types of the " deacons " ; but it may be questioned whether the design went farther than to meet a parti- cular emergency. Naturally, as believers multiplied, similar associations tended to spring up in the sur- rounding districts (Acts ix. 31 ; Gal. i. 22). These appear to have stood in a certain relation of depend- ence on the mother Church in Jerusalem.'^ But the 1 Not in Acts ii. 47 ; cf. R.V. "^ Even when so important a Church as that of Antioch was formed, it seemed the natural thing to send delegates to it from Jerusalem to look after its welfare (Acts xi. 22). 16 THE EARLY CHURCH distinction of Hellenist and Hebrew had a further influence, and one of greater importance. It lay in the nature of the case that the Hellenistic Jews were men of a freer, more cosmopolitan spirit than their Hebrew compatriots. From their circle came Stephen, the forerunner of St. Paul. It seems plain that Stephen had clearly grasped the principle that salvation by faith, and the spirituality and inwardness of Christ's religion generally, rendered obsolete the prescriptions of the law (Acts vi. 13, 14). His address in his defence turns throughout on this idea, that God's revelations are not tied to times and places, and that His worship is not necessarily bound up with these (ch. vii.). It was this that led to his martyrdom for blasphemy. It did not occur to anyone that he had left a suc- cessor in the young man at whose feet his clothes were laid, and who was the most clamorous for his destruction. (2) The second stage extends from the martyrdom of Stephen to the Council of Jerusalem, and may be termed the period of the founding op the Gentile Churches. The birth of Gentile Christianity was not an event which took place all at once, or without being prepared for within the Church itself. The first barrier broken down was that between Jews and Samaritans (Acts viii. 5-8) ; a second was broken down when Philip sought and baptised the Ethiopian eunuch (ch. viii. 2640) ; a third and greater one was removed when Peter was sent to Cornelius (ch. x.) ; the last was broken down when some men of Cyprus and Cyrene, likewise Hellenes, boldly struck into a new line, and began to preach the Gospel to the Greeks at Antioch (ch. xi. 20, 21). This was quite A new departure. Previously, it is said, the Word had been preached to none but Jews only (ver. 19) ; now THE APOSTOLIC AGE 17 it was preached to Gentiles, and a purely Gentile Church was founded. The special thing to notice is how the Church at Jerusalem received the tidings of these advances. It did so in a way worthy of it. It saw itself being led into new paths, but it was not disobedient to the heavenly vision (cf. viii. 14; xi. 18, 22, 23). Meanwhile God had been preparing His own instru- ment for this work. The conversion of Saul is one of the most remarkable facts in history ; one also the most far-reaching in its effects. " Pharisaism ht\s fulfilled its historical mission when it has brought forth this man" (Harnack). It is not an unlikely conjecture that the reason why Saul opposed the Christians with so unrelenting a hostility was that, with his powerful, consistent intellect, he saw more clearly than others that the logical consequence of this system was the utter overthrow of Judaism.^ When, therefore, it pleased God to reveal His Son in him (Gal. i. 15), this was to him one and the same thing as the call to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. A prolonged retirement to Arabia was followed by a fifteen days' visit to St. Peter at Jerusalem ; the next few years were spent in his native district (Gal. i. 17-21). Thence he was brought by Barnabas to help him at Antioch, where a power- ful Church had been established, and the disciples had received the name by which they have since been known — "Christians" (Acts xi. 26). From this point begins a new development. St. Paul and Barnabas are separated for a mission to the Gentiles (ch. xiii. 2). We need not follow the Apostle in his MISSIONARY JOURNEYS. His progress is marked ^Thus Baur. 2 18 THE EARLY CHURCH by light points, for it was a principle with hira, neg- lecting outposts, to aim at the great centres. This enables us to trace him as he goes along — at Antioch in Pisidia, at Philippi, at Thessalonica, at Athens, at Corinth, at Ephesus — till finally his desire was gratified in a way he had not looked for, and he saw Rome also (Rom. i. 15 ; xv. 32). The conditions under which these Churches planted by St. Paul had their origin caused them to present certain peculiarities, (a) They were /ree to a greater extent than the Palestinian Churches from the Imv and synagogue; (b) they were mostly mixed Churches — composed in varying proportions of Jews and Gentiles ; and (c) they were more completely independent than the Palestinian and Syrian Churches. The latter, it was noted, stood in a certain relation of dependence on the mother Church at Jerusalem. The only bond of union among the Pauline Churches was their consciousness of a common faith, and the personality of their great apostle, whose letters and travels from Church to Church kept them in touch with him and in connection with one another. (3) The third stage extends from the Council of Jerusalem (inclusive) to the end of the apostolic age, and is marked as the period of the great contro- versy BETWEEN Jew and Gentile. The Church in Jerusalem appears to have been considerably rein- forced by the more conservative section (Acts vi. 7 ; XV. 5 ; xxi. 20). These had been content to be silent when it was only the case of one individual (the eunuch), or one family (Cornelius), or one Church (Antioch), directly under the eyes of their own delegates. Now (close of first missionary journey), the Gentile mission had been pushed far and wide, and there seemed a danger that their distinctive Jewish privilege would be altogether swamped. A THE APOSTOLIC AGE 19 REACTIOXART PARTY accordingly emerged, whose watchword was " Except ye be circumcised, ye cannot be saved" (ch. xv. 1, 5, 24). Their machinations at Antioch led to Paul and Barnabas being sent up to the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for a settlement of this question, and to the calling of the Grkat Council of Acts xv. The chief points to be noted are the entire agreement of the Jerusalem leaders with Paul on the main issue (thus also Gal. ii.),^ and the broad basis on which the decision was amved at — " The apostles and elders, with the whole Church " (ch. XV. 23). The decision itself was of the nature of a compro- mise, but it left untouched a point of great importance for the future peace of the Church. The Jews were not to insist on circumcision ; the Gentiles were to observe precepts (vers. 28, 29). But it was not settled whether Jews were at liberty to dispense with the customs of their nation. On this point real difference of opinion still existed.^ St. Paul was probably the only one perfectly clear in principle ; the majority of the Jewish believers took the other view. The differ- ence was one which was bound to emerge in mixed Churches — especially in eating. Hence the collision OF St. Paul and St. Peter at Antioch (Gal. ii. 11-14), which turned on this point. The question of principle, however, once raised, could only be settled in one way in the interests of the liberty and unity of the Church (r/. the Epistles of St. Peter and St. James, which lay not the slightest stress on the observance of the law of Moses — this though both are directly writing to the Diaspcn-a). Still, as a matter of usage, the Jewish Christians continued to walk faithfully in the customs ^ Some do not identify these visits. ^ Thus Ritschl. 20 THE EARLY CHURCH of their fathers (thus even St. Paul, Acts xxi. 24 ; xxviii. 17).i It will be seen from this that the Judaising party which opposed St. Paul with so much bitterness in the Churches did not consist entirely of those who insisted on circumcision. This was the nature of the opposi- tion in Galatia (Gal. v. 1-4 ; vi. 13, 14). But it would include also those who, without insisting on the cir- cumcision of the Gentiles, resented the abrogation of the law for Jews. This was probably the nature of the opposition at Corinth, where we do not read of any attempt to raise the question of circumcision, but of attacks on St. Paul's apostleship, and the attempt to form a Petrine in opposition to the Pauline party (1 Cor. i. 12 ; ix. 1). After this the controversy seems to have died down (a last trace in Phil. iii. 2). From this time St. Paul had to contend with mixed forms of error, in which legality had a place, but in associa- tion with Essenian and other heretical elements (c/. Colossians). By the time we reach the Gospel and Epistles of St. John we are moving in an atmosphere far above these oppositions, and find all antitheses resolved in the calm assurance of the possession of " eternal life." 2. Constitution and Worship of the Apostolic Cliurches. — Fresh light has been thrown on these subjects b}'- the recently discovered BidachP. — probably a work of the end of the first century. ^ With respect to constitution, the chief gain in our knowledge is the distinction we are enabled to make between ordinary and extraordinary office-bearers. 1 Gf. the description of St. James (from Hegesippus) in Eusebius, Hist., ii., 23. 2 See Chap. iv. THE APOSTOLIC AGE 21 The cn-dinary office-bearers are the elders (or bishops) and DEACONS. The facts may bo thus exhibited : (1) Each congregation was presided over by a number of elders or bishops (Acts xi. 30 ; xiv. 23 ; Titus i. T), etc.). With these were joined the deacons, who seem to have served or assisted tlie elders in temporal matters. (2) Elders and bishops were identical. The names are inter- changeable (Acts XX. 17, 28 ; Phil. i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 1, 8 ; Titus i. 5, 7). There is no reason for supposing that the persons described more generally in 1 Cor. xii. 28; i Thess. v. 12; Heb. xiii. 8, etc., are other than the elders. (3) The elders had spiritual, and not merely administrative, functions.^ They have oversight of the flock, watch for souls, speak the Word, pray with the sick, etc. (Acts xx. 28 ; Heb. xiii. 17 ; 1 Pet. v. 2 ; James v. 15). (4) As in the case of "the Seven," election was popular (thus also Didache)y with subsequent ordination (Acts vi. 5 ; 1 Tim. iv. 14; v. 22; Titus i. 5). While this was so, there was a class of extramdinary office-bearers, to whom the work of teaching and ex- horting more especially belonged. These were the APOSTLES and evangelists, prophets and teachers (Acts xiii. 1; 1 Cor. xii. 28; Eph. iv. 11). They differed from the others in that their ministry was itinerant. The Didache gives minute directions re- garding the apostles, prophets and teachers (ch. xi.-xiii.). Their support is to be voluntary. The apostle is not to tarry more than two days in one place. If any asks for money, he is a false prophet. The prophet may settle in a congregation and become ^ This against Hatch. His conjecture that the designa- tion " bishops " in Gentile churches was suggested by the guilds connects itself with his idea that their functions were mainly financial or administrative. 22 THE EAKLY CHURCH what we would call its pastor. If prophets or teachers are absent, the bishops and deacons perform their service. Besides this special and general ministry in the Church, there were cases in which the ordering of the affairs of the Church was put into the hands of specially appointed apostolic delegates — men like Timothy and Titus. Their position is probably to be looked on as deputed and exceptional, and adapted to the circumstances of a transition period (c/. 1 Tim. i. 3 ; Titus i. 5). The above was the general constitution of the Gentile churches, and the Jewish churches in the main agreed with it. In one important respect, however, a different type was presented by the Church at Jerusalem. This Church, we saw, was presided over by the apostles, and took an oversight of the Jewish churches in its neighbourhood. Afterwards its presi- dency was in the hands of Jambs, the Lord's brother, who, from his personal pre-eminence and relationship to Christ, held practically apostolic rank. From this circumstance the idea seems to have grown up that the head of the Church at Jerusalem should be a blood relation of Christ; and, after St. James's martyrdom (c, A.D. 70), a cousin of the Lord, Symeon, was elected. ^ He held this position till his own martyrdom {c. a.d. 107). Soon after, in the reign of Hadrian, the Jewish Church in Jerusalem came to an end. In its worship, as in its constitution, the Church was modelled partly on the usage of the synagogue. In Jewish-Christian, and even wider circles, the name " synagogues " was long in use for Christian assemblies (c/. James ii. 2). What was new came from the freer 1 Hegesippus in Eusebius, Hist., iii., 11. THE APOSTOLIC AGE 23 spirit which Christianity introduced, and from the entrance of specific Christian ideas and observances. Chief among these new elements may be noted : (1) The new day of Christian service — the first day of the week, or Lord's Day (Acts xx. 7 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 2 ; Rev. i. 10 : thus also Didache). (2) The exercise of the spiritual gifts — tongues, prophesyings, etc. (1 Cor. xii.). (3) The singing of Christian hymns (c/. Eph. V. 19). Fragments of these hymns are believed to be found in such passages as Eph. v. 14 ; 1 Tim. iii. 16. (4) The reading of apostolic letters (Col. iv. 16; 1 Thess. v. 27). (5) The observance of Baptism and the Lord's Supper (breaking of bread, eucharist). Baptism, after Oriental custom, was administered generally, though not exclusively, by immersion. Another method was pouring, for which directions are given in the Didarke (vii.).^ {Cf. the baptism of the Spirit by outpouring, Acts ii. 33 ; x. 46, etc.). The rite was administered on profession of faith — hence primarily to adults — and was frequently accompanied with spiritual gifts {e.g., Acts xix. 16). Opinions differ as to the baptism of the children of believers. A class of cases may indicate that the Jewish analogy was followed of receiving the household with its head (Acts xvi. 15, 33 ; 1 Cor. i. 16; cf. 1 Cor. vii. 14). The crowning act of the New Testament religious service was the Lord's Supper, with which in this age was always combined the Agape, or *' love-feast." The two formed, indeed, one sacred meal, in the course of which, after blessing, bread was broken and wine drunk after the example of the Lord (1 Cor. xi. 23- 34). Different types of observance may, however, be distinguished. In Gentile churches the service ^ Illustrated also iu Catacomb pictures. 24 THE EARLY CHURCH tended to be adapted to the freer model of the Greek feast (hence the abuses at Corinth, 1 Cor. xi.) ; m Jewish churches there was closer adherence to the ritual of the Passover. The eucharistic prayers in the Didache are on the latter model (chs. ix.-x.). The directions do not include the words of institution ; but these may be presumed to be presupposed. 3. Transition to later Jewish Christianity. — We have found two parties in Jewish Christianity — one our extreme Pharisaic party, who not only observed the law themselves, but would have imposed it on the Gentiles ; the other, more tolerant and liberal, and friendly to the mission of St. Paul. A series of events now took place which had the twofold effect of (1) finally separating the Jewish Christian Church from the older Judaism ; (2) finally separating the two Jewish parties — the stricter and more tolerant — from each other. Such events were : — (1) The catastrophe of the destruction of Jeru- salem (a.d. 70). Warned, it is said, by a divine revelation (more probably mindful of the predictions of the Lord), the Christians had withdrawn to Pella, in the Decapolis, and there beheld the storm sweep over their doomed nation which wrought its over- throw. So awful a providence could not but lead them to ponder anew their relation to a system which had thus perished, as it were, under the visible curse of God. (2) The REVIVAL OF Rabbinism, and increasing hostility of the Jews. The political fall, far from destroying Rabbinism, became the occasion of a great increase in its power (new centre at Jamnia, schools opened, court of justice established, etc). This stiffen- ing and concentration of Judaism was accompanied by a bitterly intensified hostility to the Christians THE APOSTOLIC A(;K 25 (Minim), who, repelled, cursed, persecuted by their brethren according to the Hesh, were naturally in- fluenced to ally themselves more closely with (ientile believers. (3) Matters were brought to a crisis by the great REBELLION UNDEii Rarcocuba (" Sou of a Star"), in the reign of Hadrian (a.d. 132), when the refusal of Christians to enlist under the banner of the false Messiah exposed them to the worst cruelties. The revolt was followed by the erection on the site of Jerusalem (a.d. 135) of a new heathen city, jElia Capitolina, from which by express decree all circiim- cised persons were excluded. The old Jerusalem Church was thus finally dispossessed, and a (ientile Church took its place, which served itself heir to its traditions and prestige. 4. Nazarenes and Ebionites. — The same causes which led to the separation of Jewish Christianity from Judaism proper led also to the separation of its two sections from each other. It is evident that the narrower of these sections, the old opponents of St. Paul, had never really grasped the essential nature of Christianity, and were bound to become more re- actionary as time went on. Even the more liberal section, who recognised the legitimacy of the (ientile mission, were necessarily hindered by their environ- ment from attaining any large and worthy conception of the religion they professed ; and, cut off from the great developing body of Gentile Christianity, tended likewise to become a historical anachronism. This is what actually happened. Justin Martyr {c. a.d. 150) describes two kinds of Jewish Christians, one of whom did not \vish, while the other did, to impose the law upon the Gentiles. The latter he already treats as heretical. Jerome (beginning of fifth century) knows 26 THE EARLY CHURCH of two classes distinguished by like peculiarities, whom he names respectively Nazarenes and Ebionites. Supplementing his statements by those of others, we gain the following points : — The Nazarenes (oldest Jewish name for Christians, Acts xxiv. 5) were a sect small in numbers. Their chief seats were in Syria, about Pella, in Bashan, etc., where they lived among the Jews quite apart from the Gentile community. They held themselves, as Jews, under obligation to observe the law, but did not extend this obligation to the Gentiles, and recognised the mission of St. Paul. They used an Aramaic Gospel called the Goapel of the Hehrew8, corresponding, with considerable changes and interpolations, to our Gospel of Matthew. They regarded Jesus as born of the Virgin Mary, and in a special way filled with the Divine Spirit, who came upon Him at His baptism. The Ebionites (" poor"), on the contrary, held the law to be binding on all, and refused to have any fel- lowship with uncircumcised Gentiles. They bitterly calumniated St. Paul. Jesus they regarded as a mere man, chosen to be the Messiah for His legal piety. Their version of the Gospel omitted the story of the supernatural birth. The identity of the two parties with those formerly described seems as clear as it can be, and is not set aside by the fact that other Fathers (e.(/., Trenseus, Origen, Eusebius), to whom the Nazar- enes were not well known, ^ group all under the common designation of Ebionites, attributing to them the views of the law proper only to the narrower section, while aware of the distinction in their views of Christ. Neither party had a future. The Ebionites were still ^ Epiphauius and Jerome had first-hand knowledge of them. Augustine, like Jerome, looks kindly on the Nazarenes. THE APOSTOLIC AGE 27 numerous in the fourth century, but, as a sect formally rejected, seem to have melted away in the first half of the fifth century. The Nazarenes are not hoard of after tlie time of Jerome. 5. Essenian Ebionitism— the " Clementines." — The Ebionites above described are of the ordinary Pharisaic type. But Epiphanius (end of fourth century) is o\u' authority for another type of Ebionitism, whose peculiarities are best explained by supposing a fusion, some time after the fall of Jerusalem, of Jewish Chris- tianity with Essenism.i An interesting monument of this party appears to remain in the so-called Clementine writings [Jie- cognitions and Homilies), originating in the latter part of the second century (possibly in the beginning of the third). ^ The titles do not designate distinct works, but denote divergent recensions or forms of the same work, which again embody older docu- ments. In character the Clementines are a story or romance — an early instance of the religious novel — one, too, wrought out with no slight literary art. Clement, to whom the writings are attributed, is represented as the son of a noble Roman, whose wife and twin children had become lost, and who himself disappeared in seeking for them. The youthful Cle- ment's mind is consumed with an ardent passion for truth. He meets with Barnabas at Rome (Horn., Alexandria), and ultimately attaches himself to Peter at Ca3sarea. Peter's great mission appears to be to follow Simon Magus (a supposed mask for St. Paul) ^ Thus Neander, Ritschl, etc. "^ The first to mention tliem is Origen. The Recognitions exist only in a Latin translation ; the complete Greek text of the Homilies was first published in 1853. There is also an Epitome of the Homilies. 28 THE EARLY CHURCH about from place to place and counteract his influence. Clement is instructed by Peter, acts as his amanuensis, and sends accounts of his discourses, debates with the Magus, etc., to St. James at Jerusalem. In the course of their travels reunions are effected of all the members of Clement's family (mother, twin brothers, father) — hence Recognitions. This romance is the frame- work in which the theological ideas are skilfully set. The Ebionitism of the Homilies is the more pro- nounced, but the type of doctrine in both forms is similar. The key-thought is that of the one "true prophet," who, changing form and name, goes down through the ages, appearing now as Adam, now as Moses, now as Christ. Christianity is thus the re- promulgation of the eternal law. Over against Adam, as the true prophet, stands Eve as the bringer in of false or " female " prophecy, to which is attributed everything in the Old Testament false or unworthy of God. Sacrifice is rejected (in the Recognitions viewed as a provisional expedient ; in the Homilies as a work of false prophecy). A remarkable feature in these works is that the point of circumcision is con- ceded (only baptism), and the Gentile mission itself is taken over from St. Paul, and claimed for St. Peter. The ecclesiastical system is that of second century episcopacy. In these circles the Lord's Supper was observed with water (Epiphanius). Intimately connected with the Ebionites of the Clementines were the Elkesaites, who take their name from a supposed leader, Elkesai, in the reign of Trajan. It has been plausibly conjectured, however, that "Elkesai" ("hidden power") is rather the name of a revelation hooh} with which this sect is always ^ It was actively circulated in the third century. THE APOSTOLIC AGE 29 associated. This book, of wliose orip;in mythical accounts are given, aimed at an amelioration of discip- line by teaching a second forgiveness of sins through baptism. Unlike the Clementines, it insisted on circumcision. The whole movement appears to show a bold attempt to popularise a type of Ebionitism on Gentile soil, and within the Catholic episcopate. It met, however, with no permanent success. Points for inquiry ami study. — Read relevant sections of the Didachc. On early constitution, read Lightfoot, Hort, and Hatch (see below). On gift of tongues, see Stanley's "Excursus" in Commentary on Corinthians. Books. — Conybeare and Howson, Lewin, and Farrar on St. Paul; Ramsay's St. Paul the Traveller ; Bartlet's Apostolic Age ; Lightfoot on " Christian Ministry " (in Philippians) ; Hort's Christian Ecclesia ; Hatch's Organisation; Lechler's Apostolic and Post-Apostolic Age ; Gore's Ministry of Christian Church. CHAPTER III. GENTILE CHRISTIANITY : NERO TO DOMITIAN (A.D. 64-96.) The indications in the New Testament of a rapid pro- gress of the Gospel are filled out by traditions of the labours of the apostles after their dispersion fiom Jerusalem (Thomas in Parthia, Thaddaeus in Edessa, Andrew in Scythia, etc.), often untrustworthy, but in their main features bearing out an early extensive diffusion of Christianity throughout the countries of the known world. Corroboration will be found in the facts now to be recited. 1. First Contact with the Empire. — The world has rarely seen more perfect specimens of human wickedness than in the series of emperors who suc- ceeded Augustus. "The dark, unrelenting Tiberius " (Gibbon) was followed by the mad Caligula, and he by the dull, sottish Claudius (a.d. 41), to whose reign belongs the first distinct notice we have of the pre- sence of Christianity in the empire. The historian Suetonius relates that Claudius " banished from Rome all Jews, who were continually making disturb- ances at the instigation of one Chrestus." This is the banishment referred to in Acts xviii. 2 (a.d. 52). There is little doubt that "Chrestus" is a misspelt name of "Christ," and that what Suetonius alludes to is tumults in the Jewish quarters which had arisen through the preaching of Christ. This is six years (30) NERO TO DOMITIAN 31 before the Epistle to the Romans (a.d. 58), and shows how remarkably Christianity had already spread in the capital {cf. Rom. i. 8, and Tacitus below). In A.D. 54 Claudius was poisoned to make way for his step-son, Nero, in whom every vice that tongue can name seemed concentrated. Under Nero happened what is usually reckoned as the first persecution, though this mode of enumerating persecutions is in mciny ways misleading. 2. The Persecution under Nero. — One night (a.d. 6-4) Rome was discovered to have been set on fire by an unseen hand. The fire spread with terrible rapidity till ten out of fourteen quarters of the city were destroyed. Popular suspicion fastened this crime on Nero, and he, to avert odium from himself, turned it on the Christians. A frightful persecution ensued. An "immense multitude" were convicted, not so much, as Tacitus confesses, on evidence of having set the city on fire, as on account of their "hatred of the human race." To the most exquisite tortures w^ere added mockery and derision. Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts, and thrown to be devoured by dogs ; others were crucified ; num- bers were burnt alive ; and many, covered with pitch, were lighted up when the day declined, to serve as torches during the night. ^ The emperor lent his own gardens for the spectacle, and heightened the gaity of the occasion by games. The persecution was local, but so terrible an event occurring in the capital could not but have the most serious consequences affecting the status and treatment of Christians in the pro- vinces (cf. 1 Peter and Apocalypse). ^ " At the stake they shine, Who stand with throat transfixed, and smoke and burn." — Juvenal. 32 THE EARLY CHUKCH Apart from its inherent pathos, the persecution yields instructive light on the rapidly growing num- bers of the new sect, and on the estimate in which they were held by the pagans. When even an intel- ligent writer like Tacitus can speak of them as uni- versally detested, and deserved^ punished for their crimes, and of their religion as a " pernicious super- stition," it is easy to imagine how the ignorant and unreasoning crowd must have thought and felt regard- ing them ! It was not only into the lower strata of society, however, that Christianity had penetrated. We have at least one interesting case in this reign to show that it had found its way into higher circles as well. Tacitus relates that in a.d. 57 a very dis- tinguished lady, PoMPONiA Gr.ecina, wife of Aulus Plautius, commander of the army in Britain, was accused before her relatives of having adopted a "foreign superstition," which led her into habits of seclusion and melancholy. This " foreign supersti- tion " has been generally understood to be Christianity ; and the discovery of a crypt in the catacombs con- nected with the Pomponian gens (one descendant bear- ing this very name, Pomponius Graecinus), puts the matter beyond doubt. 3. Martyrdom of St. Paul and St. Peter.— To this reign of Nero, according to the concurrent testi- mony of antiquity, belong the martyrdoms of the two great apostles — St. Paul and St. Peter. That St. Paul suffered at Rome, having carried the Gospel "to the extreme limit of the west," is attested by Clement (a.d. 96) ; and is indeed evidenced by his ow^n latest epistle (2 Tim.), which anticipates a speedy death by the sword of the executioner. Clement's language favours the supposition that he did not meet this fate at the end of the imprisonment recorded in NERO TO DOMITIAN 33 Acts xxviii. 30, 31, but had a new period of activity, journeying perhaps as far as Spain (t/. Rom. xv. 28). His second imprisonment is probably to be regarded as an after effect of the terrible persecution already described. His trial seems to have had two stages. He himself writes pathetically that at his first answer or defence he could get no one to act as his patron or advocate (2 Tim. iv. 16) — a testimony to the general terror Nero's recent acts had inspired. He suffered, tradition says, on the Ostian Road, probably a.d. 67 or 68. To the same period must be assigned the martyrdom of his brother apostle — St. Peter. The fiction of St. Peter's seven years' episcopate at Antioch and twenty- five years' e[)iscopate at Rome (source in the Clernen- tines ^ and in apocryphal Acts) may be disregarded. On the other hand there is a consensus of testi- mony to the fact that St. Peter came to Rome in the end of his life, and suffered martyrdom about the same time as St. Paul. This we may accept as the historical nucleus round which embellishments of legend subsequently gathered. The story of St. Peter desiring to be crucified with his head downwards is first found in Origen (beginning of third century). Most beautiful of the legends about St. Peter is the well-known Quo Va/Iis story (fourth or fifth century). Peter was fleeing from the city when he met the Lord carrying His Cross. "Lord," he asked, "whither goest Thou?" " 1 go to Rome," said Jesus, " to be crucified again." Smitten with the rebuke, St. Peter turned back to prison and to death. 4. The Empire till Domitian.— From Nero to Do- ^ In an epistle prefixed to the Homilies Peter is represented as transferring his episcopate to Clement. 3 34 THE EARLY CHURCH mitian, the next emperor who concerns us, is thirteen years (a.d. 68-81). In this short interval no fewer than five emperors were raised to the purple. The reigns of three of them (Galba, Otho, Vitellius) were compressed in the brief space of eighteen months. Vespasian and Titus were good rulers. Their names are connected with the Jewish war and the destruction of Jerusalem. On the death of Titus (a.d. 81), not without suspicion of poison, the empire was taken by Domitian, Vespasian's younger son. Historians say he took Tiberius for his model. His moroseness, dissimulation, cruelty of disposition, are dwelt on by all who speak of him. Under him took place what it is customary to call the second persecution. 6. The Persecution under Bomitian.— Domitian began as a precisian, but ere long developed qualities which made him what Pliny calls " the enemy of all good men." His rapacity and lust of blood found a fitting prey in the Christians. Clement (a.d. 96) ^ speaks of " a vast multitude of the elect " who suffered for Christ, and gives vivid glimpses of the indignities they endured. An interesting story is told by Hege- sippus,^ of TWO grandchildren of Jude, the brother of the Lord, whom Domitian caused to be brought before him, but dismissed as simpletons on finding that they had no money, and expected only a celestial kingdom. A more remarkable instance in every way is that of Flavius Clemens, the consul, and his wife, DoMiTiLLA, who, the heathen historian Dion Cassius informs us, were in this reign (a.d. 96) accused of " atheism," and " going after the customs of the Jews." These two persons were of the highest rank. Clemens was the cousin, Domitilla the niece, of the ^ See Chap. iv. ^In Eusebius, iii., 20. NERO TO DOMITIAN 35 emperor, and their two sons hud been adopted by Doraitian as his heirs. Yet Clemens was put to death, and his wife was banished to an island in the .Egean. The peculiarity of the charge implies Christianity, and this is now confirmed by the discovery of the cemetery of Domitilla in the catacombs. So near even in that early age had Christianity come to the throne of the Ca3sars ! Dion further relates that " many others " were put to death or had their goods confiscated on the same charge, and instances Acilius Glabrio, who had been consul with Trajan, and whose family was one of the most illustrious in the state. ^ In 1888 the crypt of the Olabrioncs, in the catacombs, was likewise laid bare by De Rossi. Other discoveries show that Christianity had penetrated deeply into the family of the Flavians. 6. Last Days of St. John. — To this reign also, if the oldest witnesses are to be trusted, is to be referred the banishment of the apostle John to Patmos,^ and the composition of the Apocalypse. It is in any case to the period after Nero we must assign St. John's removal to Asia Minor, and his labours and teaching in Ephesus, of which there is ample attestation. Here, surrounded by a circle of friends and disciples, he continued to an extreme old age, his residence broken only by the banishment above mentioned. Among those about him in his later days we have notices of the apostles Philip and Andrew, of Polycarp, of a second John (the " Elder"), and of other ** elders," who continued his tradition. Ephesus, in short, in the closing years of the century, became the new centre ^ On this family see Lanciani (note at end). 2 Tacitus tells us, with evident reference to this reign, that the islands were filled with exiles, and the rocks stained with murder {Hist., i., 2). 36 THE EARLY CHURCH of the Church, as Jerusalem had been earlier, and Rome was to be later. As St. John grew old, tradition relates, his friends gathered round him and besought him to write down what he had taught about Christ. Thus his gospel originated. There seem to have been two editions of it, if -^-e may judge from the supplementary chapter xxi., itself attested by a note from the elders (vers. 24, 25). Many beautiful stories remain to us of St. John's later days, how, for instance, when too weak to repair to church, he caused the young men to carry him thither, and, being unable to speak much, contented himself with saying, " Little children, love one another " (Jerome) ; or the fine story told by Clement of Alexandria of his reclaiming the young man who had become a robber. ^ St. John's life is said to have extended into the reign of Trajan, i.e., beyond a.d. 98. His tomb was shown in Ephesus. 7. The Catacombs. — Reference has been made to the catacombs. These singular excavations are immense SUBTERRANEAN BURIAL-PLACES of the early Christians, in the fields around Rome, near the great roads, within a circle of three miles from the city. They began in the first century, probably as private burial places in the vineyards or gardens of the wealthier converts. The older cemeteries, which formed the nucleus of the catacombs, can in this way in several instances be distinguished. These smaller burial- places, as the excavations proceeded, ran into each other, and formed the larger areas. The EXTENT of the catacombs is enormous. They consist of a vast maze or labyrinth of passages, often 1 See the story in full in Godet's Introduction to St John's Gospel. NERO TO DOMITIAN 37 in descending levels, intersecting each other in all directions, with little rooms or vaults on cither side. The total length of the passages is reckoned at some 587 geographical miles. These corridors with the accompanying chambers are literally packed with graves. The number of the dead interred in them has been variously estimated, but can hardly be less than 2,000,000. This fact speaks volumes for the extent to which Christianity had spread in and around Rome during the three centuries or thereabouts that the catacombs were in use. The oldest cemeteries, as those of Lucina (Pomponian), of Domitilla, of Priscilla, etc., are distinguished by their architectural elegance and classical style of decoration. Special interest attaches to the art-features, sym- bols and inscriptions of the catacombs. They make large use of painting. The oldest tombs exhibit this art in its highest perfection. Afterwards painting becomes conventional, and often, as iu the pictures which stand for Xoah in the Ark, Jonah and the fish, etc., sinks well-nigh to the ridiculous. The Biblical representations embrace scenes from both Old and New Testaments. The figure of the Good Shepherd appears from the very first, and there are early repre- sentations of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The SYMBOLS of the catacombs bear striking testimony to the circle of ideas in which the Christian mind moved, and to the hopes by which it was sustained. They are of all kinds, from rudest scrawls to care- fully-executed designs. Most were Biblical, a few pagan (Orpheus, etc.). Favourite symbols were the anchor, the dove, the lamb, the ship, the palm, the crown. The cross is not early. Chief among em- blems, on account of its mystical significance, was the fish. It finds its explanation in the fact that the 38 THE EARLY CHURCH letters of the Greek name ichthus stand for the first letters of the names of Christ — " Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Saviour." Like the symbols, the inscrip- tions are often rude in style, but show also how differently death, and everything connected with it, was looked upon in Christian, as compared with pagan circles. The inscriptions are marked by a rare simplicity — often no more than " in peace " — but breathe always the spirit of hope, trust, and charity towards others. There is about them nothing horrible or revengeful. The tools of labour are portrayed, but not the instruments of torture. They speak to the power that overcomes death. The catacombs were long lost to knowledge : were rediscovered by Bosio in 1578 ; and have been carefully explored in the present century by De Rossi and his coadjutors. Points for inquiry and study. — Read Suetonius and Tacitus on Nero and Domitian (Tacitus on Domitian in Life of Agricola). Test the grounds of St. Peter's alleged Roman Episcopate {cf. Barrow's Supremacy). Illustrate from the New Testament the penetration by the Gospel of the upper ranks. Collect the legends of the later life of St. John (cf. Godet). Read Browning's Death in the Desert. Study further the testimony of the catacombs. Books. — On the history, Merivale's Romans under the Empij-e ; Farrar's Early Days of Christianity and story Darkness and Dawn; Lightfoot's "Later School of St. John" in Essays; Lanciani's Pagan and Christian Rome; Northcote & Brownlow's Roma Sotterranea ; Withrow's Catacombs ; Qrr's Neglected Fa^tcrrs in Study of the Early Progress of Christianity (deals with numerical progress, spread of Christianity in higher circles, etc.). CHAPTER IV. THE AGE OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS (a.d. 9G-117). With the mild Xerva, after the murder of Domitian (a.d. 96), begins the series of what are sometimes known as "The Five Good Emperors." Nerva was suc- ceeded (a.d. 98) by the frank and soldier-like Trajan, under whom we reach, as ordinarily reckoned, the THIRD PERSECUTIOX. 1. The Persecution in Bithynia—Pliny and Trajan. — A correspondence preserved to us between Pliny and the emperor serves as a flashlight to reveal ihe EXTRAORDINARY PROGRESS made by Christianity in certain parts of Asia Minor in the beginning of the second century. Pliny at the time (a.d. 112) was proconsul of the extensive province of Bithynia-Pontus. So widely spread was Christianity in this province that the temples were almost deserted, the sacred rites had long been suspended, and sacrificial victims could scarcely find purchasers. Persons of all ages and ranks, and of both sexes, had embraced the new " superstition." Informations had been laid before the proconsul, and numbers of Christians had already been put to death. The test applied was to offer wine and incense before the images of the gods and emperor, and to revile Christ. The multitude of the (39) 40 THE EARLY CHURCH persecutions involved Pliny in doubt as to how he should act, and he referred to the emperor for direction. Trajan's reply in effect was that he was not to look for cases, or receive anonymous informations, but if Christians were brought before him and proved ob- stinate, he was to punish them. If this letter of Trajan afforded Christians a measure of protection, in other respects it was a distinct worsening of their position. Hitherto Christians had fallen only under the general laws of the empire ; now they were, so to speak, singled out as a party definitely proscribed. Their illegal standing was directly affirmed. Hence- forth the very name of Christian sufficed to condemn them. On the other hand, Pliny's letter is a powerful VINDICATION of the Christians. Investigation, even under torture, had demonstrated that their proceed- ings were perfectly innocent, and that all that could be charged against them was (as Pliny judged of it) an absurd and extravagant superstition. The letter throws valuable light also on the worship of the time. The Christians met, it is told, on a ** stated day " (Sunday) before daybreak, sang a hymn to Christ as God, and bound themselves by an oath (the pledge of the Supper T) to abstain from every kind of crime ; in the evening they reassembled to eat a harmless meal (the Agape, now separated from the Supper). This latter meeting they discontinued after Pliny's prohibition. Not without reason has this re- markable epistle been called " the first apology for Christianity." 2. Martyrdom of Ignatius — The Ignatian Epis- tles. — Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, is the first martyr- hero of whom we have a definite account. The often- told story of his condemnation by Trajan, his dialogue with the emperor, his play upon the word Theophoros THE AGE OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 41 (God-bearer), etc., is derived from old "Acts," and is imaginary. All we really know of the martyr is drawn from his own much-controverted Epistles. The Middle Ages were familiar with an enlarged and interpolated edition of twelve epistles. In 1G44 Ussher brought to light a shorter Latin edition of seven epistles, and the Greek text of these was discovered soon after (six by Vossius). This corresponds with the number known to Eusebius. In 1845 a yet shorter Syriac edition of three epistles, much abbreviated, was discovered by Cureton ; but opinion has now fairly well settled down in favour of the seven Vossian epistles as the genuine Ignatius. From these we glean that Ignatius was tried and condemned at Antioch (c. a.d. 110), not by the emperor but by the governor, and was sent across Asia Minor under the care of ten guards (" leopards," he calls them) to Rome, to be thrown to wild beasts. The road to Smyrna, where a halt was made, divides into two, a northern and a southern. The martyr was taken by the upper route, but the Churches along the lower route were asked to send delegates to meet him at that city. The Church of Smyrna at the time was presided over by the holy Poly carp. This brings us to the origin of the epistles. Before leaving, Ignatius wrote letters to the Churches along the lower road (Ephesians, Magnesians, 'frallians) ; one also to the Romans, breathing an ardent de- sire for martyrdom. The remaining three letters (Philadelphianfi, Sinyrnceans, and a personal one to Polycurp) were written from Troas, the next impor- tant halting-place. He passes thence to Philippi, and this is the last glimpse we get of him. The call at Philippi, however, was the occasion of obtaining for us another valuable relic of the period in the Epistle of Polycarp (see below), to whom the Philippians had 42 THE EAKLY CHURCH written, asking for copies of the martyr's letters.^ In due time Ignatius would arrive at Rome, would be delivered into the proper custody, then when the fete-day came would be led into the blood-stained arena, to meet his death at the jaws of the beasts, amidst the roar of thousands of delighted spectators. His epistles are his legacy — and his photograph. Of warm Syrian temperament, eager and impetuous, a born " impeller of men," yet consumed with a pas- sionate devotion to Christ, which made him not count his life dear to him if, at any cost, he could " attain" to union with His Lord, he is to all ages the typical "Martyr." 3. The Literature of the Period— The " Apos- tolic Fathers." — The name " Apostolic Fathers " is given to a number of writings whose authors were believed to be, in the strict sense, apostolic men, i.e., either contemporaries {e.g., Clement, Barnabas, Hermas) or disciples (Polycarp, Ignatius) of the apostles. This use of the designation is now abandoned. No one pretends to find in each of the authors of these writings direct personal relationship with the apostles. In another respect, however, these writings are fitly grouped together. They all emanate from the sub- apostolic age, and represent the thought and feeling of a period in regard to which they are nearly the only Christian monuments we possess. Incomparably inferior to the writings of the New Testament (a fact which the authors themselves w^ere fully aware of), they have yet many beauties and a distinct interest. Leaves and scraps of a lost literature — for such they really are — they are far from lacking in variety of subject and style. 1 To this is probably due the collection of these letters. THE AGE OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 43 At the head of the list stands the EnaxLE of Clement to the Corinthians (a.d. 96).^ The author, formerly, but mistakenly, identified with the Clement of Phil. iv. 3, is the same who appears in the early lists as the third of the Roman bishops (Linus and Anacletus being the first and second), whose fabulous history is given in the Clementines.'^ The occasion was a revolt of the Corinthian Church against certain of its elders, which had issued in their forcible expid- sion from office. Clement writes in name of the Roman Church to urge concord and submission to authority. The tone is one of " sweet reasonableness," yet in parts there is a note of imperiousness, which Dr. Lightfoot not unfairly regards as prophetic of future claims to domination. The epistle is an early witness to St. Paul's (first) letter to the Corinthians, in which the apostle also dissuades from contentions. Its closing chapters (59, 60) are a prayer of a distinctly liturgical character. The so-called second epistle of Clement is really an ancient homily or sermon — the first of the kind we possess.^ Its date may be about a.d. 130-40. It is a simple edifying production, with here and there a touch of ultra-spiritualising. A peculiarity in it is the quotation of several sayings of our Lord from an apocryphal source "* (chs. 4, 5, 12). ^ The dates are approximate only. The complete Greek text of Clement, and of the so-called second Clement, was discovered by Bryennios at Constantinople (1873) in the same volume from which the Didache was afterwards published (1883). 2 Some scholars would identify him with Flavins Clemens, but on insufficient grounds. ^ It seems to be a 7-ead exhortation. •* Possibly the Gospel of the Egyptians, see Chap. vi. 44 THE EARLY CHURCH A third writing, the so-called Epistle of Barnabas, derives its name from the belief that it was the pro- duction of the companion of St. Paul. Internal evidence entirely negatives this supposition. The epistle was written after the destruction of Jerusalem (to which event it alludes), and bears a strongly anti-Judaic character. Yet it is of very early date (a.d. 70-100). Its literary peculiarities suggest that it emanated from Alexandria. It is marked by excessive fondness for allegorising, and by a far-fetched, fanciful style of treatment generally. It aims at imparting a higher "knowledge" {gnosis) in the mystical inter- pretation of types {e.g., Abraham's 318 servants, oh. 9 ; clean and unclean beasts, ch. 10.). Both Barnabas and, in a slighter degree, Hernias (below) incorporate matter found in the earlier chapters of the Didache — thus raising an interesting literary problem. The Shepherd of Hermas is our oldest allegory. It has been fitly called the Pilgrim's Progress of the early Church. It was held in the highest repute in the Church; is spoken of even as "scripture" (Irenseus, Origen). The author was at one time identified with the Hermas of Romans, xvi. 14; but this is now abandoned. An early notice makes him the brother of Pius I., Bishop of Rome (a.d. 140-155). He speaks of himself, however, as a contemporary of Clement of Rome (ch. 4), and the simplicity of the Church order in the book agrees with this earlier date (c. A.D. 100). Hermas, according to his own account, was the slave of a Roman lady, named Rhoda, who set him free and showed him many kind- nesses. His book consists of three parts — Visions, Mandates, and Similitudes. The chief figure in the Visions is the Church, represented by a venerable lady, who appears younger in each new vision. In THE AGE OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 45 the last Vision the Saviour appears as a Shepherd (hence the name), and bids him write down the commandments and parables He would give him. The Mandates show acquaintance with the Didache. The Similitudes remind one of Bunyan's Interpreter's House. They contain ten parables, and give their interpretations. The Epistles of Ignatius (a.d. 110) have already been described. Their chief interest is in their bear- ings on the origin of Episcopacy (see below). Allusion has also been made to the origin of the Epistle of PoLYCARP to the Philippians (a.d. 110), a beautiful letter, remarkable in a critical respect for the use it makes of 1 Peter and 1 John, and for the authen- tication it gives to St. Paul's epistle to the same Church. One of the finest of all the post-apostolic writings is the Epistle to Diogxetus, which, though it really belongs to the next period (c. a.d. 150), is best taken here. It found its way into our list from the belief that its author was a disciple of the apostles ; then was long attributed to Justin Martyr. The Diognetus to whom it is addressed may not improbably have been the tutor of Marcus Aurelius of that name. It combats idolatry, defends theism, and gives a strong and clear presentation of evangelical truths. One thought dwelt on is the cosmopolitan character of Christianity. " What the soul is in the body, that Christians are in the world." The ** Didache," or "Teaching of the Apostles" (one of the most valuable "finds " of recent years) has been before us in an earlier connection. It is in part a book of moral instruction, in part our oldest work on Church order (baptism, eucharist, offices). The literary relations with Barnabas and Hermas can best be explained by supposing that both the Didache and 46 THE EARLY CHURCH Barnabas work up material from an older source — a moral treatise on " the two ways " (" there are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between the two ways "), which, in that case, must go back to apostolic times. The book in its present form may be dated about a.d. 100. There remain certain fragmexts of Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis. Papias was a man of weak judgment, but a diligent collector of traditions about the sayings of our Lord. He wrote a work in five books entitled An Exposition of Oracles of the Lord, which is alleged to have been still in existence in 1218 at Nismes. It may yet possibly be recovered. Eusebius gives from it well-known extracts on the authorship of two of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark). Papias was martyred about the same time as Poly carp (c. a.d. 155). 4. The Theology of " The Apostolic Fathers." — The writings above-named have little independent theological worth, but are valuable as reflecting the state of mind in the early Churcli ere theological reflection had yet well begun. The descent from the full and vigorous presentation of doctrine in the apostolic epistles is very marked. There is plentiful use of Scriptural language, but often little real insight into its meaning. As if to efface past differences, and emphasise Catholicity, there is a studious linking together of the names of St. Peter and St. Paul as of equal honour and authority. But the sharp edges are taken off the thoughts of both, with the result that we have what has been called an average type of doctrine,^ in which common features are retained, and distinctive features tend to be lost. The Christology of these writings is in the main 1 Thus Ritschl. THE AGE OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERH 47 strong and clear. It follows the lines of New Testa- ment teaching on the pre-existence, deity, incarnation, and true humanity as well as true divinity of the Son. Hernias has been thought to be an exception, but his ninth Similitude, in which he compares Christ to a " rock " and a *' gate " — a " rock " because it is old (so the Son of God is older than all creation, and was the Father's adviser in creation), and a " gate " because it is new (so He was made manifest in the last days that we may enter the Kingdom of (iod through Him), should clear him from this imputation.^ On the Doctrine of Salvation there is greater vague- ness. In some of the writings the evangelical note is feeble and hardly discernible (Hermas, Didache), in others it is remarkably pronounced (Polycarp, Epistle to Dioc/netus). By most stress is laid on the blood- shedding, the sufferings, the death of Christ, as the medium of cleansing and redemption, but there is no attempt at explanation. Pauline phraseology is used, but the Pauline thought is generally blunted, and, under the conception of Christianity as a " New Law" (Barnabas, Hermas, Didache), there is a tendency to obscure the relation of faith and works, and to lay a one-sided emphasis on obedience as the condition of salvation. Forgiveness is connected with Baptism ; the rule after that is obedience, and good works {e.g., alms-giving) aid repentance in the covering of sin. "Alms-giving removeth the burden of sin" (2 Cle)n. 16). In EscHATOLOGY, bcsidcs retaining the ordinary ele- ments of apostolic doctrine (resurrection, return of Christ to judgment), most of the Fathers seem to have ^ Professor Hamack makes Hermas a representative of an " adoptionist," in contrast with a " pneumatic," tjrpe of Christology. There is a tendency in Hermas to confuse " Son " and " Spirit." 48 THE EARLY CHURCH been millenarians, i.e., held the doctrine of 1,000 years' reign of Christ upon the earth (Barnabas, Papias ; Didanhe speaks of first resurrection). This doctrine, especially when bound up with material and sensuous elements, as in Papias, is named Chiliasm. The punishment of the wicked is viewed as eternal (" For after we have departed out of the world, we can no more make confession there, or repent any more," 2 Clem. 8). 5. The Ignatian Episcopacy. — We are brought at this stage face to face with the question of the origin of Episcopacy. Two sets of facts meet us : — (1) A large body of evidence exists to show that, in the sub-apostolic age, in the Churches of the West at least, the constitution was not essentially different from that which earlier prevailed. The Churches are ruled by elders or bishops and deacons, and there is no hint of any higher office. Thus, in Clement^s Epistle, elders and bishops are still the same persons, and these, with deacons, are the only office-bearers recognised. This is evidence for both Rome and Corinth. The writer, afterwards called Bishop of Rome, makes no claim of the kind for himself. The testimony of Hennas, likewise emanating from Rome, is to the same effect. Hermas knows only of bishops who are also elders. The names are interchangeable. The Didache bears the same witness, " Choose for yourselves bishops and deacons." A higher order is unknown. Ignatius, in his Epistle to the Romans, fails in any reference to a bishop existing in that city similar to the bishops in Antioch, Smyrna, Ephesus, etc.i This, in so strenuous an upholder of episcopacy, ^Mr. Gore, therefore, oversteps the evidence when he says, on the strength of a rhetorical expression of Ignatius, that Ignatius knows of " no non-episcopal area." THE AGE OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 40 shows that even in his time there was still no monarchical bishop in Rome. Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians bears testimony of the same kind for Philippi. There was still in that Church no office higher than the apostolic bishops and deacons. (2) When we turn to the remain'ng Epistles of Igmitius different conditions confront us. It will be observed that the evidence under this head relates to the Churches of a defined area — Syria and Asia Minor. We find not only a bishop for each Church distinct from the presbyters (elders), but the most extravagant exaltation of the office of the bishop. The bishop is as God, and the presbytei-s as the council of God. Or the bishop is as Christ, and the presbyters are as the council of the apostles. The presbyters are to be attuned to the bishop, as the strings of a lyre to the lyre. The great thing is to be united with the bishop. Without the bishop it is not lawful to baptise or cele- brate the eucharist. There is here, therefore, as clearly three grades of office-bearers — bishops, presby- ters and deacons — as formerly there were two. Other evidence confirms the testimony of these epistles. We have Polycai-p, e.g., at Smyrna, Papias at Hierapolis, etc. How, now, is this state of things to be accounted for ? By apostolic authority 1 or by the operation of natural causes, elevating the episcopate from the pres- byterate ? It is important, in answering this question, to look precisely at the nature of the Ignatian Epis- copate. Distinction must be made between the facts to which Ignatius witnesses and the theory he holds. Ignatius was firmly persuaded that in exalting the power of bishops he was taking the best means of securing the peace and unity of the Church. But it /loes not follow that bishops had yet all the power he 4 50 THE EARLY CHURCH claimed for them. The very vehemence of his advo- cacy implies that they had not. When facts are calmly considered, it is surprising to discover how little affinity, after all, the Ignatian bishop has to the bishop of the developed episcopal system. (1) He is a purely congregational, not a diocesan bishop. Each several Church — Antioch, Smyrna, Ephesus, Tralles, etc. — had its own bishop, who, in this respect, differs little from the modern "pastor." (2) He makes no claim to apostolical succession. There is no hint of this in Ignatius. Had the idea existed, so keen a defender of episcopacy could not have passed it over. (3) He has no sace^^dotal functions. " There is not throughout these letters the slightest tinge of sacer- dotal language with reference to the Christian ministry" (Lightfoot). This should be decisive as to the ideas of the age in question. Such are the facts — a govern- ment by presbyters in the Churches of the West ; a form of congregational episcopacy in Asia Minor and Syria. By the middle of the second century all the Churches would seem to have advanced to the Ignatian stage. How did the change come about ? The theory of a DIRECT APPOINTMENT of bisliops, as a third higher order, by the original apostles is no longer tenable in view of the above. Canon Gore, accordingly, would supple- ment the action of the original apostles by that of " apostolic men " — such apostles and prophets as we read of in the Didache. We cannot doubt, he thinks, that one of these prophets settling down in a Church would become its bishop (pastor?). Apart, however, from the objection that the functions of prophets and bishops were distinct, this, even if admitted, would cover only a fragment of the facts. We have seen that even at the beginning of the second century THE A(iE OF THE ATOSTULIC FATHERS r,l leading Apostolic Churclies had no one-man })i.sliop, and it is pure assumption that the bishops of all other Churches owed their origin to the " settling down " of travelling prophets. There is not a word of this in Ignatius. There remains the possiltility that the system, how- ever introduced, had the sanction of apostles — at least of the Apostle John (Lightfoot). Clement of Alexandria has a statement that St. John went about from place to place establishing bishops and organising Churches. The fact can neither be proved nor dis- proved, for Clement may well be reading back into John's action a meaning from his own times, ^ and we have no clue to the nature of the bishops (a plurality^ or single). In any case this is hardly an account of the oy-igin of the system. Of that the simplest ex- planation is probably the truest. The president of the Council of Elders {primus inter 2^are.s), as the official representative of the Church, having the ordinary direction of business, the conduct of public worship (a sort of archisynagogos),^ and generally an outstanding man, would naturally acquire a position of prominence in distinction from the other elders. Times of stress and trial, such as came to the Church after the death of the apostles, when tendencies to disintegration and schism were rife, would [jowerfully strengthen his authority. The need of the time was 1 Mr. Gore says about Tertullian that we have to acknow- ledge " a little idealising " in his statements about the apos- tolic institution of the Episcopates at Corinth and Philippi (p. 336). 2ThusRitschl. 3 The " angel " of the Book of Revelation (ch. ii. 1, 8, 12, etc.) might find his analogue here. But it is doubtful if an individual is meant at all. 52 THE EARLY CHURCH good leaders, strong and stable government, wise direction. Under these circumstances, episcopacy, such as we know it in Ignatius' day, may well have arisen without the assumption of any apostolic inter- position. Points for inqiciry and study.— Follow out the traditions and traces of the early progress of Christianity. Read the legend of Ignatius' trial. Read Clement's appeal for concord drawn from creation (20), also the final prayer (59, 60). Read the vision of the shepherd in Hermas (v.). Read chapters 5 and 9 in Epistle to Diognetus. Collect the passages on Christ's passion and its effects in this group of writings. Show the equivalence of bishops and elders in Clement, Hermas and Polycarp. Books. — Pressense's Early Years of Christianity ; Farrar's Lives of the Fathers ; Ramsay's Church in Roman Empire; Orr's Neglected Factors ; Lightfoot's (or other) translation of Apostolic Fathers; Donaldson's Apostolic Fathers; Hatch's Organisation ; Lightfoot's Essay on " Ministry ". CHAPTER V. THE AGE OF THE APOLOGISTS (a.d. 117-180). The period of the Apologists is covered by tlic three remaining names in our list of the " Good Emperors." They are Hadrian (a.d. 117-138), Antoninus Pius (a.d. 138-161), and Marcus Aurelius (a.d. 161-180). The period is marked externally by intermittent, but severe persecution of the Christians, and by the com- mencement of written attacks on Christianity ; inter- nally by the rise of apology, and the develoj)ment of Gnosticism and Montanism. Despite persecution, the remarkable progress of the Church is continued. 1. Hadrian and Antoninus Pius.— The attitude of the versatile emperor Hadrian, in whose reign written apology began (see below), was on the whole not unfavourable to Christianity. There is, however, evidence that both in his reign and that of his suc- cessor, though no formal persecution is reckoned, the Christians were continually exposed to harassment and outbreaks of violence. A rescript of the emperor to Fundanus, the proconsul of Asia, whose predecessor had written, much as Pliny did, to ask direction, for- bids him to receive irregular accusations, or to yield to popular outcry. If Christians are proved to break the laws,^ they are to be punished, but libellers are to be punished still more severely. ^ It is a moot point whether breaking the laws here means more than the mere proof that one was a Christian. (53) 54 THE EARLY CHURCH Hadrian nominated to succeed him Antoninus, better known (from his dutifulness in insisting on the deifi- cation of Hadrian) as Antoninus Pius. With him was associated during his reign of twenty-three years his nephew, Marcus Aurelius. Antoninus was, however, the acting and responsible emperor. His clemency, uprightness, and aflfableness of disposition are the praise of all historians. His reign has commonly been regarded as free from the stain of persecution. This is a mistake, though probably the emperor him- self was not to blame. It is doubtful whether he is the Antoninus who, when proconsul of Asia, after some Christians had been condemned, and when the rest in great numbers presented themselves at his tribiuial, said : " ^Miserable men, if ye desire to die, have ye not ropes and precipices?" (Tertullian). But the two Apologies of Justin Martyr, and his Dialogue luiih Trypho — all of this reign — are indubitable evidence that Christians were everywhere objects of hatred and persecution, and had to endure losses, tortures, and death for their religion (e.g.^ Dial., 110 ; specific cases in 2 ApoL, i. 2). Melito of Sardis, another apologist, speaks of numerous edicts issued by Antoninus (e.g., to the Larisspeans, Thessalonians, Athenians, forbidding the cities to take new measures against the Christians. This shows that the emperor both knew of these persecutions, and, in accordance with his humane character, took steps to check their violence. 2. The Martyrdom of Polycarp. — We have, how- ever, one undoubted instance of martyrdom in this reign, the details of which, preserved in a contem- porary narrative, throw light upon the whole. Poly- carp OF Smyrna has already been before us in con- nection with Ignatius. Of his earlier life we know THE AGE OF THE APOLOGISTS 55 little. He was eighty-six years old at the time of his martyrdom (a.d. 155) : so may have been born a.d. 69 or 70. He was a disciple of St. John, in Asia Minor, and often repeated to the youthful Irenseus (who was kin disciple) the things he had heard from the apostle.^ The account of his martyrdom is given in a beautiful and affecting letter of the Church of which he was bishop. The great festival of Asia was being held at Smyrna. Some cause had aroused the fury of the populace against the Christians. The Jews are specially mentioned as active in the persecution. Several Christians had already perished amidst dread- ful torments, when the cry went up, "Let search be made for Polycarp." Polycarp at first concealed him- self, then, on his retreat being discovered, surrendered himself to the will of God. On the way to the city he was taken up into the chariot of the captain of police, who, with his father, urged him to recant. Failing in their object, they thrust him out with violence. Arrived at the stadium, he was interro- gated by the proconsul, "Swear by the genius of Caesar; say, Away with the Atheists!" Polycarp, looking to heaven, said, "Away with the Atheists!" "Revile Christ," urged the proconsul. "Fourscore and six years have I served Him," was the memokablb REPLY, "and He hath done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me ? " The herald proclainied, " Polycarp hath confessed himself a Christian," and the cry rose to have a lion let loose on him. But the games were ended. The shout then was that he should be burned alive. Polycarp, ^ On his visit to Anicetus, the Roman bishop, see below, Chap. viii. 56 THE EARLY CHURCH at his own request, was only bound, not nailed to the stake. It seemed for a time to the wondering by- standers as though the fire refused to touch him. To end the scene, an executioner was ordered to stab him.i The poor malice of the Jews frustrated even the desire of the brethren for possession of his body, which was consumed. The bishop's death stopped the persecution, and probably sent many home to think, with the consequence that they became Christians too. Such, at least, we know to have been a frequent outcome of these martyrdoms (Justin, Dial., 110; 2 Apol., ii. 12). 3. The Age of the Antonines— Marcus Aure- lius. — Marcus Aurelius is the classic representative of his age. Vespasian, in the previous century, had in- stituted a salaried hierarchy of teachers — rhetoricians, grammarians, philosophers — by whom the Roman people was to be lectured into wisdom and virtue. The result was a species of ethical, philosophical, and even religious revival in the empire. Paganism had its itinerant preachers {e.g., Dion Chrysostom, Maxi- mus of Tyre), whose orations or harangues were the counterparts of the Christian sermons. These tendencies came to a head in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. For once in the world's history, Plato's dream of a state which had a philosopher for its ruler, and was governed by philosophic maxims, seemed about to be realised. Personally, Marcus is justly reckoned one of the noblest characters of heathenism. His " Meditations " embody the highest ideal of stoical morality, in union with a firm confidence in a rational ordering of the 1 The legendary feature of a " dove " issuing from his side is not in the oldest version (Eusebius), and is probably a cor- ruption or interpolation. THE AGE OF THE APOLOGISTS 57 world, characteristic of the later Stoicism. Yet it is the STOICAL, not the Christian ideal, it lacks the tenderness, humility, dependence, benignity, hopeful- ness of the (v'hristian temper. Between Christianity, with its confession of sin and moral weakness, and Aurelius, with his philosophic self-sufficiency, passive resignation, stern suppression of passion, and cheer- less fatalism, there could be nothing but antagon- ism. There is but one allusion to Christianity in the Meditations (xi. 3), and it breathes the iciest contempt. Marcus, too, if a Stoic, was a devoted Roman, fixed in his determination to maintain the established institutions. His character was not with- out its strain of superstition,^ and it is noted of him that in his latter years his melancholy disposition grew upon him, and he became peculiarly zealous in heathen rites. It is scarcely wonderful, therefore, that, even under this paragon of emperors, "Christian blood flowed more freely than it had flowed any time during the previous half century " — that " in fact the wound was never staunched during his reign " (Lightfoot). To him is ascribed what we are accustomed to reckon the FOURTH PERSECUTION. 4. Persecutions under Marcus— The Martyrs of Yienne and Lyons. — There is one story told of Marcus which, if it could be believed, would clear his memory in part of the stain of persecution. It is the story of the Thundering Legion. TertuUiau and others relate that in one of his campaigns the army was in extreme distress from thirst. The Christian soldiers of the twelfth legion prayed, and, in answer to their prayers, copious showers of rain fell, and a violent storm drove away the enemy. Appended to 1 See Froude, Renan, Uhlhorn, etc. (note at end). 58 THE EARLY CHURCH Justin's first Apology is an alleged epistle from the emperor to the senate, ascribing his deliverance to the prayers of the Christians, and commanding that they be no more molested. Unhappily the epistle is not genuine. It seems certain that the deliverance took place, only the heathen attributed it, not to the prayers of the Christians, but to the interposition of their own gods. In the pagan account Marcus is represented as stretching his hands to heaven, and invoking Jupiter. The positive evidences of persecution in this reign, and of the emperor's implication in it, are not few. At Rome itself there is the case of Justin Martyr AND HIS SIX COMPANIONS, who Suffered under the prefect Rusticus (a tutor of Aurehus) about a.d. 163-66 (see below). The emperor could hardly have been ignorant of this case. There is the testimony of Melito of Sardis (c. a.d. 170) to a very severe persecu- tion in Asia Minor. He speaks of God's servants being persecuted as they never were before by " new edicts " which gave the property of Christians to their accusers. Melito professes to doubt w^hether these edicts emanated from the emperor, but the doubt can only be assumed for the purposes of his appeal. A proconsul would not issue such "edicts "on his own responsibility. Even the heathen Celsus, who wrote in this reign (see below), speaks of Christ as banished from EVERY land and sea, and of His servants as bound and led to punishment, and put upon the stake (Origen, viii. 39). But the chief persecution we know of, which stands out with the distinctness of a limelight picture in its blending of the horrible and the sublime, is that of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons in Gaul. It was a case in which Marcus Aurelius was expressly con- THE AGE OF THE APOr^OfJTRTS no suited, and gave his sanction to what was done. The account of it is contained in a circular epistle ad- dressed by the Churches ' to their brethren in Asia and Phrygia— "the pearl of the Christian literature of the second century," Renan calls it. Lyons and Vienne were two cities of Gaul where the Rhone and the Saone join. Lyons was a great seat of Ciesar- worship, and the place of the aiuiual meeting of the Gallic deputies in council. The jiersecution was in A.D. 177, in the midst of the closing troubles of Marcus's reign. It began with acts of mob-violence ; then the prominent pei*sons of the two Churches were arrested, and dragged with clamour and insult before the tribunals. Tortiu-es beyond description w^ere ap- plied to the Christians to make them confess t(^ secret crimes, but without effect. Four names stand out conspicuous for heroism and constancy — Sanctus, a deacon from Vienne ; Maturus, a recent convert; Attains, from Pergamos ; above all, Blandina, a slave girl, whose mistress was also one of the martyrs. Blandina was torn and mangled almost beyond recognition without extorting from her more than the words, " I am a Christian ; there is nothing vile done among us." The aged bishop Pothinus (ninety years old) was dragged before the judgment seat, and there so cruelly maltreated that, when cast into prison, he lingered only two days. Irenajus succeeded him. A new round of torments was devised for the others — mangling by wild beasts, roasting in an iron chair, etc. Blandina was suspended on a stake and exposed to the attacks of wild animals. But they refused at this time to touch her. Attains, a Roman citizen, was reserved till Cicsar's i)leasure should be known. ^ Possibly written by Irenaeus. 60 THE EARLY CHURCH The FINAL SCENE of the martyrdom was on the day of the great festival. The emperor's reply had come, ordering that such as confessed themselves Christians should be put to death. All who proved steadfast were brought forth to punishment. The Romans were beheaded ; the rest were taken to the amphitheatre. Again the round of frightful torture was gone through. Attalus, as a specially notable Christian, was, despite his Roman citizenship, roasted in the chair. Blandina herself, after renewed manglings and burnings, was enclosed in a net and given to be tossed by a bull. Thus, last of all her company, she perished. The knell of slavery was surely rung when scenes like these could be enacted ! The rage of the people wreaked itself even on the lifeless remains of the victims. To prevent resurrection they burned them, and scattered the ashes in the Rhone. What strikes one in the pathetic narrative of these sufferings is its tone of calm sobriety — its utter absence of boasting, or spiritual pride, or over-eager desire for martyrdom. Other religions have their martyrs — but have they martyrs like these ? 5. The Rise of Apology. — The rise of a written apology for Christianity in this age is a fact of great significance. It shows that Christianity had entered LITERARY CIRCLES; showS alsO the GROWING BOLDNESS of the Christians, and their confidence in their ability to refute calumny and vanquish prejudice by an openly-reasoned statement of their case. They had the world against them ; but their invincible reliance was on the power of truth. They were ready to lay down their lives as heretofore ; bat they would not let the world remain in blindness as to the nature of the religion it assailed. They set themselves to VINDICATE Christianity ; to expose also the folly THE AGE OF THE APOLOGISTS 61 and IMMORALITY of the pagan idolatry by which it was opposed. The apologetic literature of the second century, therefore, is both voluminous and rich. It covers a wide area in space. Its authors are men of culture AND LEARNING, skilled reasoncrs, many of them philo- sophers by profession, who, at the cost of their worldly prospects, put their talent and eloquence at the ser- vice of the religion they had espoused. It breathes throughout a tone of dignity and lofty conviction, and must have been a powerful factor in aiding the progress of Christianity it so strikingly describes. Such an apology was demanded, if by nothing else, by the slanders in circulation about the Christians, and almost universally believed (cannibalism, promis- cuous immorality, worship of ass's head, etc.). The refutation of these charges is complete. Scarcely less effective is the reply to the charges of impiety and disloyalty ; while the exhibition of the truth and reasonableness of Christian doctrine, and of the purity and simplicity of Christian worship and morality, is heightened by the dark background of heathen irreli- gion and vice against which it is cast. The apologists may be grouped as those belonging to the reign of Hadrian (Quadvatus, Aristides), those of the reign of Antoninus (Justin, Tatian), and those of the time of Marcus Aurelius (Athenagoras, Theophilus, Melito, Minucius Felix, etc.). Tertullian and Ori.Ljcn belong to the next period. 6. The Earlier Apologists— Justin Martyr.— The oldest apologist, Quadratus, is little more than a name to us.^ He addressed an apology to the 1 Possibly he is identical with Quadratus, an evangelist mentioned by Eusebius (iii. 37). 62 THE EARLY CHURCH Emperor Hadrian (Athens, a.d. 125-26?), of which only a single extract is preserved. He lays stress upon the Saviour's miracles. The other apologist of this reign, Aristides, was, till lately, even more completely unknown. It was only know^n that he was a philosopher of Athens, and had also presented an apology to Hadrian (a.d. 125-26). In 1889, how- ever, a complete Syriac version of this apology was brought to light 1 (tw^o Armenian fragments earlier). Then the remarkable discovery was made that scholars had this apology all the while, and were not aware of the fact. In a famous mediaeval romance, Barlaam and Joscqjhat, an apology for Christianity is put into the mouth of one of the characters. This turns out to be substantially the apology of Aristides, of which the Greek text has thus been obtained. The apology is mainly a defence of theism against the errors of paganism, and a powerful vindication of Christian morality. It testifies to the existence of a written Gospel. A third writer, Aristo of Pella, reputed author of a lost dialogue betw^een a Christian (Jason) and a Jew (Papiscus), may belong to the end of this reign. The work is before or about the middle of the century. Greatest of all the apologists of this period whose works have come down to us is Justin the Martyr. From him we have two Ajyologies, addressed to Anto- ninus Pius and the Roman Senate (c. a.d. 150), and a Dialogue ivith Trypho, a Jew^, a little later in date. Other w^ritings attributed to him are of doubtful iThe discovery was made by Dr. Kendel Harris, in the Convent of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai. An inscription in the Syriac version puts the apology under Antoninus, but the ordinary date seems preferable. The author knows the Didache, or the work on which it is based. THE AGE OF THE APOLOCISTS 63 genuineness or s})urious. Justin was a native of Flavia Neapolis (Sychem) in Samaria. In tlie intro- duction to his Dialogiie he narrates the manner of his CONVERSION. He had gone from one jjhilosophical school to another in searcli of truth. A conversation with an old man whom he met on the seashore directed him to the Scriptures and to Christ. He became persuaded that here was the only sure and worthy PHiLOSorHY, and, still wearing Ids philosopher's cloak, thenceforth set himself to impart to others the light he had obtained. We find him at Ephesus and Rome teaching and disputing in his double capacity of philosopher and Christian. His disputes brought him into collision with one Crescens, a cynic, who plotted his death and that of his disciples. Through the machinations of this man, or in some other way, he and six companions were apprehended. Brought before the prefect Rusticus, they were condemned to DEATH by decapitation 1 (a.d. 163-66). . Justin's FIRST APOLOGY is in the main a nobly con- ceived and admirably sustained piece of argument. It consists of three parts— the first refuting the charges against the Christians, the second proving the truth of the Christian religion, chiefly from prophecy,^ the third explaining the nature of the Cliristian worship. The second apology was evoked by a specially shame- ful instance of persecution under Urbicus the prefect. The Dialogue with Trypho is the account of a long disputation at Ephesus with a liberal-minded Jew, and meets his objections to Christianity. ^ The "Acts" of this martyrdom are accepted as rehable. 2 The apologetic argument from prophecy would need to be wholly recast in the light of modern knowledge; yet the Scriptures chiefly relied on are those which the Church has always accepted as in a true sense Messianic. 64 THE EARLY CHURCH Incidentally, Justin's writings throw valuable light on many matters of importance, as, e.g., on the existence and use of the canonical Gospels, called by him the "Memoirs of the Apostles" (1 AjooL, 66-7; Dial., 10, 100, 103), on the victorious spread of Christianity {Dial., llTy and on the details of the Christian weekly service (1 AjjoL, 65-7). The picture of the last is singularly life-like and minute. The day of worship, as in Pliny, is Sunday, the service is under the direction of a " president " (not even yet by Justin called a bishop), the reading of the Prophets and the Gospels is an established part of the service, the president delivers a "homily" or discourse, the congregation rise at prayer, and respond to the prayer of the president with an " Amen," the eucharist is celebrated at the close of the prayer after sermon (the agajye probably in the evening), the distribution is made by the deacons, who take portions to the absent, after the eucharist offerings are made for the poor, the sick, prisoners, etc. The other apologist of the reign of Antoninus is Tatian, an Assyrian b}^ birth, and disciple of Justin's. He afterwards fell into gnostic heresy.^ Tatian's apologetic work is an Address to the Greeks (a.d. 150), learned, but bitter, biting, and contemptuous in spirit. He is better known through his famous Diatessaron, or " Harmon}^ of the Four Gospels," the discovery of which in its complete form in an Arabic translation is one of the sensations of recent years. ^ This finally 1 The catacombs too attest this, and show that Christianity had entered the highest ranks {e.g., cemeteries of Prsetextatus and Ceecilia). See Neglected Factors, p. 132 &. 2 See Chap. vi. 2 Published in 1888. Latin of an Armenian translation of a Syriac commentary on the Harmony was published in 1876. THE AGE OF THE APOLOGISTS 05 establishes the character of the " Gospels " described by Justin as in use in the Churches. 7. Later Apologists. — The apoloj^ists of the reign of Marcus Aurelius can be more rapidly enumerated. The first, Athenagoras, was, like Aristides, a philo- sopher of Athens. He is the most polished and classical in style of all the apologists. His apology, entitled an Intercession for the Christians (a.d. 177), is chiefly devoted to the refutation of the charges against the Christians (atheism, eating human flesh, immorality), and is a piece of calm, reasonable, effective pleading. He wrote also a work on the Resurrection. Theo- PHILUS, Bishop of Antioch, belongs to the severe school of apologists. He wrote an apology in three books addressed to his friend Autolychus (c. a.d. 180). He can see no good in the philosophei-s and poets, whose errors and contradictions he shows up in detail. The few grains of truth he finds in them were stolen, he thinks, from the Hebrew prophets. He has some forcible chapters on the purity and beauty of the Christian morality. Theophilus is the first to men- tion the Gospel of St. John by name. The Gospel itself, of course, was in use long before. It was in- cluded, e.g., in the Diatessaron of Tatian. Melito, Bishop of Sardis (c. a.d. 170), has been quoted on the edicts of emperors. His apology to Marcus Aurelius is known only from extracts. It is characteristic of the age that, in addressing the emperor, he speaks of the new religion as "our philosophy." Melito wrote numerous other works. To him we owe also the first C^hristian list of the Hebrew Scriptures, i.e., of the Old Testament canon. Hermias, date uncertain, wrote A Mockery of Heathen Philosophers, still extant. The title explains the character of the work. Other writers, whose apologetic works are lost, 5 66 THE EARLY CHURCH were Apolinarius, Bishop of Hierapolis (c. a.d. 174), and MiLTiADES, the former the author of Five Books against the Greeks, addressed to the emperor, the latter of an apology addressed To the Rulers of this World, with other treatises. Finally, there is the beautiful and able book of the Latin apologist Mmu- cius Felix. There is a doubt, indeed, whether this work should be placed here, or later, after Tertullian ; but the presumption is strong in favour of the earlier date. Fronto, e.g., who wrote against the Christians in this reign (see below), is spoken of as a contem- porary. The piece itself is in the form of a dialogue between Octavius and a heathen Csecilius (friends of Minucius, a Roman advocate) — hence its title Octavius. Caecilius states the case for the old faith and Octavius replies. The intrinsic worth of the book is enhanced by its high artistic and literary merit. 8. Other Writers. — A passing allusion should be made to two other writers of note in this age — Hegesippus, who wrote five books of Memoirs some time between a.d. 175 and a.d. 189 ; and Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth (c. 170), whose fame rests chiefly on his pastoral epistles, of w^hich he wrote a great many. The works of both are lost, but Eusebius has pre- served valuable extracts. The Memoirs of Hegesippus were not history in the strict sense, but appear to have been a collection of reminiscences of the apos- tolic and post-apostolic ages, drawn partly from written, partly from oral sources, in part also from the writer's own observation. The author was extensively travelled, and the information he had to convey would, if we possessed it, be extremely useful. 9. The Literary Attack on Christianity.— No sketch of the literature of this period would be com- plete which, besides a survey of the apologists, did not THE AGE OF THE APOLOrnsrs ^7 include some reference to the litehauy opposition to Christianity. It is another testimony to the growing importance of Christianity that the age which saw the rise of a formal Christian apology saw also the begin- nings of a formal literary attack of exceptional skill and keenness. Tlie earliest of the literary assailants we know of was Fronto, tutor of Marcus Aurelius, who published an oration in which he reiterated the scandalous charges brought against the Christians. His argument is conjectured by Kenan to be nearly textually embodied in the discourse of Csecilius in the Octavius of Minucius Felix. A more formidable assailant was Celsus, whose T7m€ Discourse (c. a.d. 180) was the subject of Origen's later classical refutation in his Euikt Books against Celsus (a.d. 249). Celsus is probably to be identified with an (alleged) Epicurean of that name, an able literary man, and friend of Lucian, who wrote also against magic. Of wide reading and undeni- able acuteness, he spares no pains to damage and DISCREDIT the Christians, while acquitting them of the graver calumnies that were current. He first introduces a Jew to gather up the slanders of the synagogue ; then in his own name subjects the Gospel history and beliefs of the Christians to criticism and ridicule from the standpoint of the true philo- sophy. Everything in Christianity — particularly its doctrine of redemption —is an offence to him. It is not too much to say of his work that, relatively to its age, it was as trenchant an assault as any that has since come from the artillery of unbelief. Yet, as far as can be seen, its influence was nil in stopping the triumphant march of Christianity. Its obvious un- fairness and utter insensibility to the holy love and power of the Christian religion, deprived it of all effect 68 THE EARLY CHURCH on minds that knew from experience what Christianity- was. Another typical opponent of Christianity in this age was the sceptical and witty Lucian of Samosata, a born hater of shams, but withal cynical and heart- less in his judgments on men and things. In his Peregrinus Proteus he describes how a cynic charlatan succeeded in imposing on the Christians, and was made the object of their lavish kindness when in prison for his faith. Yet the picture he draws of the attentions of Christians to their unfortunate brethren, intended to cover them with ridicule, in reality re- dounds to their highest honour. Only Lucian was not the man to see this ! Points for inquiry and study. — Read the original narra- tives of the martyrdom of Polycarp and of the martyrs of Vienne and Lyons (Eusebius, Lightfoot). Note indications in the latter of the social rank of the victims, and compare catacomb testimony (Orr). Compare more fully the ethics of the Meditations with the morality of the Gospel. Study the character of Marcus on its Roman side. Read Justin's account of his conversion and of the Christian worship. Analyse the True Discourse of Celsus (Pressense), and account for its failure. Classify the principal branches of second century apology. Books. — Merivale, Pressense, Uhlhorn, Farrar, Orr, etc., as before ; Cape's Age of the Anto7iines, in " Epochs " series ; Fronde's " Origen and Celsus," "A Cagliostro of the Second Century," "Lucian," in Short Studies; Renan's Marcus Aureli^is : Jjong's Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius ; Diatessaron, etc., in additional volume of " Ante-Nicene Library." CHAPTER VI. THE AGE OF THE APOLOGISTS (Continued)— GNOSTICISM AND MONTANISM (a.d. 117-180). The external conflict of the Church in this period was with paganism. Its internal conflicts were with Gnos- ticism and MoNTANisM. The conflict with Gnosticism reacted powerfully on the development of theology ; the conflict with Montanism did much to strengthen the bands of ecclesiastical authority. But the apolo- gists also, from the nature of their task, had to state and defend Christian doctrines, i.e., to theologise. They are our first theologians. They form the link between the Apostolic Fathers, whose theology is as yet naive and unreflective, and the later Church teachers, with whom the construction of a system of Christian truth has become a distinct and conscious aim {e.g., Origen). 1. The Apologists as Theologians. — It is usual in recent years to speak of the apologists as teachers of a RATIONAL THEOLOGY (a doctriue of God, virtue, immortality), which misses the distinctive essence of Christianity — to which Christianity is related only as revelation and supernatural attestation. There is colour for this judgment, but it is one-sided and defective. From the necessity of their position, the apologists dealt chiefly with the truths of what we may call "natural religion" — the imity and moral government of God, the creation of the world, (69) 70 THE EARLY CHURCH judgment to come, a future state of rewards and punishments, etc. — and sought to emphasise these in opposition to pagan idolatry, stoical pantheism, epi- curean indifFerentism, and belief in fate. If they gave these doctrines a rational dress, this is explained by their training and habits as philosophers, and by accommodation to the spirit of the age. It would have been out of place in reasoning with pagans to have discussed the interior doctrines of the Christian religion about which the pagans knew and cared nothing (c/. St. Paul, Acts xvii. 23-31 ; xxiv. 25). But the doctrines taught are Christian doctrines (in contrast with Greek and other speculations), and are treated in their Christian aspects and relations. The morality also is the spiritual morality of the Gospel. The apologists, one and all, held strongly to the doctrine of the Trinity, and in this connection gave prominence to the doctrine of the Logos (" Word "), the Father's insti'ument in the creation of the world, who became incarnate in Jesus Christ. This too is Scriptural doctrine. It is to be noted, however, that, while holding Son and Spirit to be truly of the nature of God, they fell short in one important respect of the doctrine of the later creeds. Assuming in some sense an eternal distinction between the Logos and the Father, they yet seem to have believed that the coming forth of the Son (Spirit also) into distinct PERSONAL existence (as second " Person " of the Trinity) was not eternal, but was immediately prior to creation, and with a view to it. The Logos ("Word") was held to be the source of all rational intelligence and wisdom in men (c/. John i. 4, 9), and what portions of truth heathen sages possessed w^ere due to His presence in their minds. In Christ the whole Word was incarnate ; hence in Him Christians THE AGE OF THE APOLOGISTS 71 have the full truth (Justin). The apologists are witnesses to Gospel facts and hopes— Justin especi- ally. From the writings of Justin a great part of the Gospel history can be reproduced. Further, while most of the apologists confine them- selves to the general ("rational") truths indicated above, Justin has something to say of the specific Christian doctrines. Man through disobedience is become the child of necessity and ignorance, and has fallen under the tyranny of the demons (1 ApoL, 10, 54-61, etc. The heathen world generally is viewed as ruled by the demons). Jesus by His sufferings and death has redeemed us from the curse, and obtained remission of sins for those w^ho repent, believe, and keep His commandments {e.g., Dial., 94-6). Forgive- ness is Ijestowed in Baptism, which is spoken of as "regeneration" (1 ApoL, 61, 66, etc.). The sacra- mentarian idea is thus already well established. A mystical virtue, in like manner, attaches to the bread and wine of the eucharist, which are no longer " com- mon food and drink," but the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, through which our own flesh and blood are nourished (1 Apol., 66). Still it is true that Justin regards Christianity, in accordance with the temper of the time, too much as " a new philosophy " and " a new law\" 2. Gnosticism — Its General Character. — Gnos- ticism is the peculiar heresy of the second century. It is one of the most remarkable appearances of any age. It may be described generally as the fantastic pro- duct of the blending of certain Christian ideas — particularly that of redemption through Christ — with speculations and imaginings derived from a medley of sources (Greek, Jewish, Parsic, Oriental ; philosophies, religions, theosophies, mysteries) in a period when 72 THE EARLY CHUKCH the human mind was in a kind of ferment, and when opinions of every sort were jumbled together in an unimaginable welter. It involves, as the name de- notes, a claim to " knowi.bdge" — knowledge of a kind of which the ordinary believer was incapable, and in the possession of which " salvation " in the full sense consisted. This knowledge of which the Gnostic boasted related to the subjects ordinarily treated of in religious philosophy ; Gnosticism was a species of RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY. Such qucstious wcrc the relation of infinite and finite, the origin of the world and of evil, the cause, meaning, purpose and destiny of things, the reason of the difference in men's capa- cities and lots, the way of salvation, etc. Imagination ran riot in inventing solutions of these problems, and as the answers which would satisfy the Gnostic had no real relation to Christianity, and could not by any rational process of interpretation be educed from Scripture, they had to be drawn from it by appljang to the sacred text the method of allegory. It is difficult to give an intelligible account of systems so multiform and continually changing ; and hardly any features can be named common to all systems. The following may serve as a general in- dication. At the head is the ultimate, nameless, un- knowable Being, spoken of as the " Abyss." Forming a connecting chain between Him and the finite crea- tion are the "^ons" (or "powers," "angels," etc.) proceeding from the highest Being by "emanation." These "aeons," taken together, form the "pleroma," or fulness of the Divine (His self-unfoldings). The origin of the world is generally explained by a fall or RUPTURE in the " pleroma," or the descent of some lower or inferior " seon." Matter is conceived of as inherently evil — sometimes as independently exist- THE AGE OF THE APOLOGISTS 73 ing. In all Gnostic systems ' a distinction is made between the Supreme God and the "Demiurge" or author of this lower world. The latter is regarded as an inferior, limited, imperfect Being, and is identified with THE God of the Gi.n Testament and of the Jews. The God of the Gospel revealed by Jesus Christ is thus invariably contrasted with the God of creation and of the Old Testament. This might almost be said to be the hinge on which Gnosticism turns. Jesus Himself is conceived of either as a heavenly " a^on " who descends to earth, clothed with the appearance of a body — a phantasmal body (doketism), or as an earthly Messiah, on whom the heavenly " seon " descends at the Baptism, but leaves Him again at the Crucifixion. Redemption is through knowledge, and is possible in the full sense only to the "spiritual " part of mankind (the " Gnostics "). The rest are either " carnal," wholly incapable of salvation, or belong to an intermediate class (" psychical," soulish) who have a modified benefit. In practical operation Gnosticism was sometimes ascetic (mortifying the body, forbidding marriage, etc.) ; sometimes, as an assertion of the superiority of the spirit to the flesh, it passed over into unrestrained licentiousness. 3. The Gnostic Systems.— The beginnings of Gnosticism are already iiianifest in the New Testa- ment (Colossian heresy ; 1 Tim. i. vi. 20, " gnosis falsely so called " ; Rev. ii. 24 ; St. John's epistles). As known in Church history, we may distinguish the early gnostic systems, the semi-developed systems (Ophite, etc.), and finally the developed systems (Basilides, Valentinus, Marcion). At the head of ^ An exception such as that of Bardesenes (Syria) is hardly worth noting. 74 THE EARLY CHURCH gnostic teachers the Fathers always place Simon Magus. Claiming to be "the Power of God which is called Great " (first and chief of the emanations, Acts viii. 10), Simon had associated with him a female companion of low character (Helena), represented as the "power" next in rank to himself, from whom proceeded the makers of the world. The angels detained this " seon " in the lower world, and Simon descended to redeem her. His disciple was Menander. A sect of Simonians lingered on till the third century. Among early Christian Gnostics a prominent place is given to Cerinthus, the contemporary of St. John. It is he of whom the story is told that St. John, seeing him one day in a bath at Ephesus, exclaimed : " Let us fly, lest the bath should fall while Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is in it." He distinguishes between the lower, earthly Christ born of Joseph and Mary, and the higher, heavenly Christ who descended on Jesus at the Baptism, but left Him again before His death. 1 Carpocrates is the first of the openly licentious Gnostics. Christ in his system has no essential pre- eminence over others. Hence, in the Carpocratian worship, the image of Christ was placed alongside those of other philosophers (first notice of images). The duty of the Gnostic is to show his contempt for the rulers of the world by unbridled indulgence of the passions. The sect was continued by Epiphanes (son of Carpocrates) and Prodicus. The isemi- developed Gnosis is chiefly represented by the remarkable group of systems known as Ophite (from opMn, serpent). They derive this name from the honour paid to the " serpent " as the symbol of intelligence. The Creator of this world is an ignorant, ^ St. John's epistles may have this system in view. THE AGE OF THE APOLOGISTS 75 imperfect Being (faldabaoth = " Son of Chaos "), who thinks Himself the Supreme God. It is therefore a merit when the serpent (Gen. iii.) persuades the first pair into disobedience of Him. The most characteristic of the multitude of sects bearing this name (Naasenes, Peratsc, Sethites, etc.) is the Cainites, who reversed all the ordinary standards of moral judgment, choosing as their heroes the persons whom the l>ible condemned (Cain, men of Sodom, Esau, Korah, etc.). The Syrian Gnosis was represented by Saturninus, said to be a disciple of Menander, whose system is marked by strong chinlism and gloomy asceticism. He is reputed one of the founders of the Encratite heresy (condemn- ing marriage, etc.). To this party Tatian fell away after the death of Justin, holding, it is said, with the other Gnostics, a series of " tneons," and a distinction between the Supreme God and the Demiurge. It is, however, in the developed Gnostic systems that we naturally see the movement in its perfection. The first great name here is Basilides, of Alexandria (reign of Hadrian, a.d. 117-38), who, with his son Isidore, taught a system (c/. Hippolytus), afterwards con- siderably modified in a popular direction. Basilides was a man of powerful speculative intellect. His first principle is a Being so abstract that thought cannot give Him a name. The world is continuously evolved from a pansperma or " seed of the world," in which all things were originally potentially contained. It is ruled by two great Archons, who yet subserve the designs of the Supreme. There are no " seons," but the highest *' light " descends through the successive spheres till it rests on Jesus of Nazareth. The process is complete when the Divine element (" sonship ") is all drawn out and restored to God ; oblivion then falls on lower intelligences. Many fine sayings are attri- 76 THE EARLY CHURCH biited to Basilides, e.g., "I will say anything rather than doubt the goodness of Providence." Valentinus, likewise an Alexandrian, taught in Rome (reign of Antoninus, a.d. 138-61). His system is as imaginative and poetical as that of Basilides is speculative. It is a sort of poem of the exile of the soul. Sophia, the lowest of the "a3ons," burns with desire for the knowledge of the Father, and nearly loses her existence in seeking to obtain it. Harmony is only restored in the Pleroma through the creation of two new "seons" (Christ and the Holy Spirit). The expulsion of the product of this disturbance (Achamoth) leads to a repetition of the tragedy in a lower world ; and this, in turn, to the formation of our own world, in which, a third time, the drama of fall and redemption is enacted. The Redeemer here is *' Jesus the Saviour" — an " seon " produced by the Pleroma as a thank-offering to the Father for the restoration of their own harmony. He descends on the earthly Jesus, whose own body, however, is wrought of higher substance. The disciples of Valen- tinus (refuted by Irenseus) are PtoleMzEUs, Marcus, (a charlatan), Heracleon, who wrote a commentary on St. John, etc. Lastly we have the system of Marcion, of Pontus (disciple of Cerdo), w^ho taught in Rome (c. a.d. 140- 55). He was later vigorously refuted by Tertullian. Marcion is properly classed among Gnostics, inasmuch as he makes an absolute distinction between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, is dualistic, and ascribes to Christ only a seeming body. Otherwise his system is wholly unlike those of other Gnostics. He lays, like St. Paul, the stress, not on knowledge, but on faith. His system may be described as an overstrained Paulinism. THE A(4f] OF THE APOLOCHSTS 77 The Pauline contrasts of law and Gospel, sin and grace, works and faith, are strained till they break asunder, and become irreconcilable antagonisms. The God of the Old Testament (and of creation) is opposed to the God of the New Testament as the "just" God (ignorant, harsh, rigorous) to the " good " God, whose nature is wholly love. Marcion wrote a book on the Antitheses between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and drew up also a Canon of Scrip- ture (Marcion's "Canon"), which had but one Gospel, viz., a mutilated Luke, and ten epistles of St. Paul. In practice he was rigorously ascetic. Only water, e.g., was used in the Lord's Supper. Marcion founded a "Church," which endured for some centuries. Of gnostic literature (apart from apocryphal Gospels, etc.) the only complete work that remains to us is the book Pistis Sophia (Ophite or Valentinian Gnosis). Some Ophite MSS. have recently been discovered. For the rest w^e are dependent on the descriptions and quotations in the Fathers. 4. Montanism. — Montanism is another influence that wrought powerfully in the Church from the middle of the second centur3^ It is best explained as a REACTION against the growing rigidity of Church forms, the increasing laxity in Church morals and dis- cipline, and the dying out of the spontaneous element in Church life and worship. It had its origin in Phrygia, the population of which had naturally a strong tendency to excitement and extravagance (hence the name Kataphryyimis). The essence of the movement lay in its claim to be a new prophecy.^ Montanus gave himself out as a new organ of the Spirit. The Paraclete promised by the Saviour had ^ The singular resemblance to the modem Irvingism will be noticed throughout. 78 THE EARLY CHURCH come in him. He was the founder of the new age or dispensation of the Spirit. With Montanus were associated two prophetesses — Prisca, or Priscilla, and Maximilla. It is characteristic of the Montanist prophecy that it was delivered in trance or ecstasy. One of the oracles of Montanus says : " Behold, the man is as a lyre, and I (the Spirit) sweep over him like a plectrum. The man sleeps and I wake." The content of the prophecy did not affect doctrine, but chiefly practice. The tendency of the sect was severely ascetic, and its view of Church discipline was of the strictest (no forgiveness of mortal sin, etc.). Like most movements of the kind, it was strongly millenarian. The place was even named where the New Jerusalem was to descend — the small village of Pepuza, in Phrygia. In its later form Montanism aimed more at being a simple movement of reform in the direction of stricter life and discipline. The antagonism between the Montanists and the Church party grew naturally very bitter. The Montanists called themselves " spirituals," and spoke of the Catholics as " psychi- cals ; " the latter denounced the new prophecy as Satanic delusion. Local synods were held which condemned the movement and excommunicated its adherents. Notwithstanding the opposition of the Church authorities, however, Montanism spread, and attracted a good deal of sympathy from earnest minds. In North Africa it must have obtained a strong hold. Tertullian of Carthage was its most distinguished convert (a.d. 202) — indeed, its onl}'- great man. When, at a council in Iconium (c. a.d. 233), it was decided not to recognise Montanist baptism, the separation from the Church was com- plete. By Cyprian's time (a.d. 250) Montanism must THE AGE OF THE APOLOGISTS 79 have nearly died out in Carthage — at least he never refers to it. 6. Apocryphal Writings. — The second century was marked by the production, chiefly in Ebionitic and Gnostic circles, of a profusion of Apocryphal Gospels, Apocalypses, and similar works (" Acts of Apostles " generally later). Such were the Gospel of thk Hebrews, 1 the Gospel of the Egyptians, the first form of the Protevangelism of James, the Gospel OF Thomas, the Apocalypse, preaching, and Gospel of Peter, etc. A fragment of the Apocalypse of Peter ^ which stood in high repute in the early Church, was discovered in 1892. The Gnostics had gospels of their own, e.g.^ the Cainites had a Gospel of Jude. Of the above-named, the Gospel of the Egyptians and Gospel of Thomas originated and were in wide use in Gnostic circles. A special interest attaches to the Gospel of Peter, the use of which was forbidden in church in the end of the second century by Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, on account of its dohetic character. An important fragment of this gospel was discovered in 1886 (at Akhmin, Upper Egypt). It begins in the middle of the history of the Passion and breaks off in the narrative of the Resurrection. The gospel implies the canonical accounts, but greatly alters and adds to them. It bears out the charge of doketism. Jesus when crucified " held His peace as though hav- ing no pain." His exclamation on the cross was, " My Power, My Power, Thou hast forsaken Me," etc. The Gnostic trail is apparent. Points for inq^uiry and sticdy. —Comp&re the doctrines of the Logos in the Apologists with that of the Nicene Creed. Show that Justin's writings presuppose our Gospels. Study ^ See Chap. ii. 80 THE EARLY CHURCH the system of Valentinus as a type of Gnosticism (Pressense). Illustrate the gravity of the crisis of Gnosticism from the place Gnosticism holds in the works of the early Catholic Fathers. Note the lines of Tertullian's refutation of Marcion. Show the evidence which Gnosticism affords to the growing influence of Christianity (Orr). Cf. Montanism and Irving- ism. Contrast the apocryphal and canonical Gospels. Books. — Lightfoot on " Colossian Heresy" in Commentary on Colossians ; Mansel's Gnostic Heresies ; Pressense's Early Years ; Orr's Neglected Factors ; Sanday's Gospels in Second Century ; Westcott's Canon ; Apocryphal Gospels and addi- tional volume in " Ante-Nicene Library ". CHAPTER VII . THE AGE OF THE OLD CATHOLIC FATHERS (A.D. 180-250). The death of Marcus Aurelius proved liow superficial was the ethical revival associated with his reign. The accession of his son, Comniodus (a.d. 180), reopened the floodgates to the worst evils and vices. The })eriod that followed was one of frequent changes of emperors, of rampant military licence, of much dis- order and disorganisation in the state. This was to the advantage of the Christians, in so far as it drew away attention from them, and left the emperors no time to concert measures to their hurt. But it told also to their disadvantage, in placing them more at the mercy of popular tumult and of governors unfavour- ably disposed. The very calamities of the empire were made a ground of accusation against them. " If the Tiber overflows the walls," says Tertullian, " if the Nile does not irrigate the fields, if the skies are shut, if the earth quakes, if there is a famine or a pestilence, immediately the cry is raised, 'The Christians to the lion ' " (A/>ol., 40). Nevertheless, the Church during this period made unprecedented progress, and, under the guidance of the great anti- Gnostic Fathers (Irenaius, Tertullian, Clement, Origen, etc.), assumed definitely the character of a Church Catholic and Apostolic. (81) 6 82 THE EAKLY CHURCH 1. From Commodus to Severus— The Severian Persecution. — Daring the evil reign of Commodus no systematic attempt was made to molest the Christians. Marcia, the emperor's mistress, was even friendly to the Church, and interested herself on its behalf, e.g.^ in procuring the release of certain con- fessors from the Sardinian mines. Yet, as illustrating the general insecurity above referred to, Clement, writing shortly after the close of this reign, could say, " Many martyrs are daily burned, crucified or beheaded before our eyes " {Strom.^ ii. 20). Apol- lonius, a distinguished senator, suffered in this reign.^ The murder of Commodus was succeeded by a season of confusion, calamity, and bloodshed. Pertinax was killed after a reign of a few months. Then followed a scene of degradation such as the empire had never yet witnessed. The imperial office was put up to public auction on the ramparts of Rome, and unblush- ingly sold to the highest bidder. The purchaser, JuLiANUs, did not keep his dearly-bought honours long. The legions rejected him, and out of the anarchy that ensued Septimius Severus, the Pannonian general, emerged as the strongest man. The eighteen years' reign of this emperor (a.d. 193- 211) proved him to be an able and vigorous, if also a stern ruler. He was at first favourably affected to the Christians ; his Syrian wife, Julia Domna, a lady of literary and eclectic disposition, was also friendly. It is not clear what led to his change of policy. He may have been influenced by his growing dislike of illegal associations, or by cases of insubordination like that related by TertuUian (On the Soldier'' s Crown), ^ His Acts have recently been recovered. The Scillitan martyrs in North Africa (c/. Neander) are now also referred to the reign of Commodus. AGE OF THE OLD CATHOLIC FATHERS 83 where a soldier refused to wear the ordinary laurel garland in going up to receive his donative from the emperor. In any case, in a.d. 202, he issued an edict,^ forbidding under severe penalties conversion to either Judaism or Christianity. Thus was initiated what is reckoned as the fifth persecution, though we have interesting proof from a tract of Tertullian, To the Mart [ITS (before a.d. 202), that even prior to the publication of this edict martyrdom was far from unknown. The severity of this persecution seems to have fallen chiefly on Egypt and North Africa, and some noble martyr incidents are recorded from these regions. A chief seat of the persecution was Alex- andria. Leonidas, the father of Origen, was put to death at this time by beheading ; Origen himself, then a youth of seventeen, would have perished also had not his mother forcibly prevented him from giving himself up. Another conspicuous instance was that of the maiden PoTAMiiENA, who, with her mother, Marcella, was, after many tortures, burned to death with boiling pitch. Her constancy was the occasion of the conversion of others, among them of Basilides, the officer in charge. To North Africa — Carthage or Tuburbium — be- long the famous martyrdoms of Perpetua and her COMPANIONS, of which an account is preserved written partly by Perpetua herself. Perpetua was a young married lady, of noble rank, recently a mother, who, for her faith, was thrown into a loathsome prison with four companions. One was a slave girl, Felicitas ; the three others were youths — Revocatus, Saturninus, and Secundulus. All were catechumens, and were baptised in prison. Perpetua's father was a pagan, and sought ^ Or rescript : thus Neumann. 84 THE EARLY CHURCH by the most heartrending entreaties to induce her to recant. She and her companions stood firm, and were condemned to die at an approaching festival. In prison Felicitas was overtaken by the pangs of mater- nity. When asked how she would bear the keener pain of being torn by the wild beasts, she answered, "It is I who bear my present sufferings, but then there will be One within me to suffer for me, because I too shall suffer for Him." The men were torn to pieces in the amphitheatre by wild beasts ; the women were exposed in a net to be tossed by a cow, and ultimately killed by the swords of the gladiators. The document which tells the pathetic story has in it a tinge of Montanistic enthusiasm, and contains the first traces of prayers for the dead.^ 2. Succeeding Emperors — The Persecution under Maximin. — The persecution went on through the whole reign of Severus ; in the later stages of it some of Origen's disciples suffered. That it continued into the reign of his son, Caracalla (a.d. 211-17), is evident from Tertullian's address To Scapula, in which Severus is spoken of as already dead. But that " common enemy of mankind" was too much absorbed in his vices to trouble about the Christians, and persecution gradually stopped. Under the wicked and effeminate Syrian emperor Elagabalus, nephew of Severus (a.d. 218-22), the Christians were also allowed peace. Ela- gabalus had been high-priest of the Sun at Emesa, in Syria, and now imported into Rome the lewdest excesses of the Syrian Sun and Astarte worship. He had a settled design of blending all worships with his own, and, as a step to this, every foreign religion, ^ There is a trace as early as Hernias of purgatorial, suffering. AGE OF THE OLD CATHOLIC FATHERS 85 including Christianity, was tolerated. Other influences may have been at work, for we find Hii>polytus addressing a treatise to Julia Aquila, tlie second wife of the emperor. She may therefore be presumed not to have been unfriendly to Christianity. Elagabalus was cut off before the full effect of his plans could be seen, and the Church for the first time enjoyed a season of real favour and protection under his gentle and virtuous cousin, Alexander Severus (a.d. 222-35). Alexander profitably divided the hours of his day between private devotion, assiduous attention to public business, the cultivation of his mind through literature and philosophy, manly exercises and rational and refined intercourse in the evenings. In religion he was an eclectic. The bust of ('hrist was placed in his private chapel alongside of those of other persons held in special reverence— Abraham, Orpheus, Apol- lonius, etc.; and he had inscribed on the walls of his palace and public monuments the maxim, " What ye would not have others do to you, do ye not to them." This maxim, it is said, he was constantly repeating. Under the reign of such an emperor the position of Christianity was practically that of a rrligio licita. The mother of Alexander, Julia Mammeea, who exercised a considerable influence on the government, was also deeply interested in Christianity, and invited Origen to confer with her at Antioch. A reign like Alexander's, however, was naturally displeasing to the rude military, and an unfortunate Persian war led to his murder, and to the accession of the Thracian savage, Maximin (a.d. 235-38). Under this tyrant occuiTed what is known as the sixth persecution. Maximin seems to have been moved in his rage against the Church chiefly by hatred of his prede- cessor. His acts were directed at first only against 86 THE EARLY CHURCH the heads of the Churches. Origen, as a friend of JuHa Mammaea, was marked as a victim, and had to flee from Caesarea. Anti-Christian fury, however, once let loose, did not readily confine itself within limits, and the Church suffered severely in different places, especially in Cappadocia and Pontus, where destructive earthquakes had awakened the passions of the populace. A beautiful work of Origen on Martyrdom relates to this persecution. The times of confusion that followed — the reigns of the TWO GoRDiANs, of Balbinus and Maximus, of GoRDiAN TIL (a.d. 238-44), yield nothing for our purpose. During this period the Christians enjoyed a respite, which was continued and even confirmed by the next emperor, Philip the Arabian (a.d. 244-49). Philip was the son of a Bedouin robber-chief — called, therefore, " Philip the Robber " — but he has the dis- tinction of figuring with some ecclesiastical writers as the first Christian emperor. Both he and his wife Severa had correspondence with Origen. It is cer- tain that he looked with very favourable eyes on Christianity, without, however, showing any trace of its influence in his public conduct. At the great secular games, e.g., in celebration of the completion of the thousandth year of Rome's existence — which was the great feature of his reign — the ceremonies were entirely pagan. Philip was slain in conflict with Decius (a.d. 249). 3. Progress of Christianity in this Period. — The astonishingly rapid spread of Christianity in this age is one of the most remarkable facts about it.^ The apologetic writers, e.f/., Tertullian and Origen, give the strongest expression to their consciousness of com- 1 For fuller details, see Neglected Factors, etc. AGE OF THE OLD CATHOLIC FATIIKRS 87 ing victory. " Men cry out," says Tertiillian, "tliat the state is besieged ; the (.'hristiaiis are in the fielaftism was generally connected with the above feast-days, and certain rites had gradually become connected with the original ceremony, e.g., trine immersion (thrice dipping of head), the sign of the cross on the forehead and breast, giving the baptised person milk and honey, unction on the head, a white robe, etc. The practice of exorcism had also become part of the ritual. Shortly before baptism the THE AGE OF THE GREAT PERSECUTIONS 141 creed was imparted to the catechumen as a sort of password [synihol). Baptism in grave cases of sick- ness was administered by sprinkling (clinical baptism). The DISCIPLINE of the Church was also made more elaborate. This followed from the prominence given to the idea of penance for the removal of post- baptismal sin. Penitents were now regularly classi- fied into weepers (who prostrated themselves at church doors imploring restoration), hearers (who were allowed to hear the Scrij)tare lessons and sermon), kneehrs (who were admitted to the prayers, but in a kneeling posture), and slanders (who were allowed to take part in the whole worship standing). ^ The course of pro- bation was often three or four years. (4) Development of Church Councils. — Meetings of this kind sprang up informally in the latter half of the second century. They were at first quite local, one bishop inviting other bishops and clergy to con- fer with him on matters of common concern, and their decisions had no binding force on other churches. In these early councils presbyters and laymen took part as well as bishops ; latterly only bishops appear to have voted. As councils assumed a more regular character they came to be distinguished into dif- ferent kinds. (1) There was the jjarochial council of the bishop and the clergy of his city. (2) There were provincial councils, attended by the clergy of a whole province. These were generally held in the metropolitan city, and the bishop of that city pre- sided. (3) Tertullian speaks of councils of a whole region (regionis) — national councils. (4) Finally, when the empire became Christian, and the emperor himself undertook the summoning of councils, there 1 Thus SchafE. 142 THE EARLY CHURCH became possible councils of the whole Church — ecumenical councils. The first of these was the Nicene (a.d. 325). In reality these were almost exclusively Greek councils. The decrees of the councils were now compulsorily imposed by the emperors. As examples of councils may be mentioned those in Asia Minor about the Montanists and Easter, those in North Africa on heretical baptism, those in Antioch about Paul of Samosata, the Council of Aries against the Donatists, the Council of Elvira in Spain (a.d. 306), etc. (5) Gradations of Rank in the Episcopate Itself. — These sprung from the meetings of councils and other causes in the state of the Church. The bishops of the metropolitan cities soon attained from their position a higher rank than other bishops, and were known as metropolitans. The sanction of the metropolitan came ultimately to be necessary to the validity of the election of another bishop. This was followed in the fourth century by the elevation of the bishops of cer- tain Churches deemed worthy of special honour to the wider jurisdiction of patriarchs. Such Churches were Antioch, Alexandria and Rome, to which Constan- tinople (as new Rome) and .Jerusalem were subse- quently added — five in all. This, however, carries us beyond our special limits. Our sketch has brought us to the triumph of Con- stantine, and formal adoption of Christianity as the religion of the empire. Ere, however, this consum- mation was reached, the Arian controversy had broken out (a.d. 318), and the Church was in flames from within, to the unconcealed delight of the pagan on- lookers, and the intense chagrin of the emperor, who had hoped to find in this monotheistic faith a bond THE AGE OF THE GREAT PERSECUTIONS 143 of peace in his dominions. The Nicene Council itself (a.[). 325) did httle more than open new controversies, with which for half a century the world and Church were filled. Nan-ow-minded imperial interference made matters ever worse. Over all the storms looms the noble figure of Athanasius, who appears already upon the scene before our period closes. To him the Church owes nearly all its real guidance in the dis- tractions of the age that follows. Athanasius contra mundum. On the verge of this new era we cease our tale. Points for inquiry and study. — Study Constantine's later career, and contrast him with contemporaries. Read the Fundamental Epistle of Mani and other Manichsean exposi- tions given in Augustine's works. Read the account of Paul of Samosata in Eus. vii. 30. Study more fully the contrast of the Alexandrian and Antiochian schools of theology. Read Gregory's Panegyric on Origen. Read the so-called Liturgy of Clement in Apostolical Constitutions. Compare different theories of the origin of Church buildings (see Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome). Books. — Gibbon, Neander, and Pressense on Manichaeism ; Hatch's Organisation of Early Churches ; Farrar's Lives of Fathers {cf. Pressens6) ; Lanciani as above ; Brace's Gesta Christi ; Church histories on theology and worship. TABLE OF ROMAN EMPERORS. A.D. Reigned. Augustus . 14 Tiberius . 14-37 23 years Caligula . 37-41 4 „ Claudius . 41-64 13 „ Nero 64-68 14 „ Galba 68-69 Otho 69 Vitellius . 69 Vespasian 69-79 10 „ Titus 79-81 2 ., Domitian . 81-96 15 „ Nerva 96-98 2 „ Trajan 98-117 19 „ Hadrian . 117-138 21 „ Antoninus Pius 138-161 23 „ Marcus Aurelius 161-180 19 „ Commodus 180-192 12 „ Pertinax . 193 Julianus . 193 Septimius Severus . 193-211 18 „ Caracalla 211-217 6 „ Macrinus 217-218 1 „ Elagabalus 218-222 4 „ Alexander Severus . 222-235 13 „ INIaximin . . . . 235-238 3 „ Gordians I. and II. . 238 :\Iaximus and Balbinus . 238 Gordian III. 238-244 6 „ Philip 244-249 5 „ Decius . . . . 249-251 2 „ Gallus . . . . 251-254 3 „ ^milianus . 253 (145) 10 146 THE EARLY CHURCH -A ( Valerian . \ Gallienus Claudius II. Aurelian . Tacitus Florianus Probus Carus / Carinus ^ Numerian [ Diocletian I Maximian Constantius Chlorus Galerius ■. Maxentius (Italy) jLicinius . \ Constantine the Great A.D. 254-260 254-268 268-270 270-275 275-276 276 276-282 282-283 283-284 283-284 284-305 286-305 305-306 305-311 805-312 307-323 306-337 Reigned. 6 14 2 5 1 6 1 1 1 21 19 1 6 7 16 31 THE ABERDEEN UIOVERSITy PRESS LIMITED. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES This book is due on the date indicated below, or at the expiration of a definite period after the date of borrowing, as provided by the library rules or by special arrangement with the Librarian in charge. DATE BORROWED DATE DUE DATE BORROWED DATE DUE ^AfV 7 iQ^ ^AN Z 7 19 )'^ ~ 1 /x C28 (449) M50 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES II III iiiiiiiii I mil III III I III iiiiiiii II 0022669027 JUL 38 1902