c. t. cruttwell - a literary history of early christianity n.1

8/13/2019 C. T. Cruttwell - A Literary History of Early Christianity n.1

1/351


2/351


3/351


4/351


5/351


6/351


7/351

A LITEEAEYHISTOEY or EAELY CHEISTIANITY.


8/351

STANDARD WORKS.BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

Fifth Edition, Ss. 6d.A HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE. From the Earliest

r. riod I ) tile Times of th-' Antoiiines. By the Rev. C. T. CruttwelL,M.A., Late Fellow of Merton College, Oxford.

Mr. Oruttwoll has done a keai, service to all students of the Latin language andliterature. . . . Full of gjood scholarship and good criticism. Athtnceum. A most serviceableindeed, isdispen'sxbi.esruide i


9/351

Li

A LITERARY HISTORYOF

EARLY CHRISTIANITY:INCLUDING THE

FATHERS AND THE CHIEF HERETICAL WRITERSOF THE ANTE-NICENE PERIOD.

jfor tbe TUsc ot StuCents an& General TReaDers.

CHARLES THOMAS CRUTTWELL, M.A.RECTOR OF KIBWOKTH, LEICKSTER, AND RURAL DEAN; FORMERLY FELLOW OF MERTON

COLLEGE, OXFORD.AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE, ETC.

5n ^wo tDolumes.VOL. I.

LONDON:CHARLES GRIFFIN AND COMPANY, Limited,

EXETER STREET, STRAXD.1893.

[All rights reserved.]


10/351


11/351

TO THE MOST REVERENDEDWARD.LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

VISITOR OF MERTON COLLEGE,WHOSE PROFOUND LEARNING IS NOWHERE MORE AT HOME.

THAN AMONG,Ube Undent ifatbers,

THIS

HISTORY OF THE LITERATURE OF THE EARLY CHURCHIS BY HIS PERMISSION

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.


12/351


13/351

PEEFACE.The encouraging reception given to my History of EomanLiterature, published in 1877, suggested the extension ofthe same plan to the more complicated field of the Literatureof the early Church.

So far as I am aware, there is no English work whichexactly covers the same ground ; and I hope that the presentvolume may be found to supply a real want, both for studentsof theology and for general readers who desire to see forthemselves what the first exponents of Christian doctrineafter the Apostles believed and taught.

Upwards of seven years have been spent in collecting thematerials for this work. The original authorities have in allcases been carefully studied, and, in addition, informationhas been gathered from such of the best known and mostrecent Church histories, dictionaries, and monographs aswere within my reach. Where more than the general out-lines of the thought have been borrowed, I have sought inevery instance to acknowledge my indebtedness.The purpose I have had in view is mainly literarythat is,

I have endeavoured to point out the leading intellectual con-ceptions which animate the various writers, to indicate thedegree of success attained by each, and to estimate thepermanent value of each one's contribution to the growingedifice of human thought and knowledge.The student will find included in the list of Christian

writers, besides the Church Fathers, a considerable number


14/351

viii PREFACE.of heretical teachers whose works have perished, but whoseideas are more or less correctly preserved iu the controver-sial treatises of their opponents. Though rightly repudiatedas heretical, these speculations entered so closely into theChurch's daily life, and both by attraction and repulsioninfluenced so strongly the statements of Catholic doctrine,that it was felt impossible to pass them by with a merecursory notice. It is lioped that the analysis of them, remoteand fantastic as they seem to us, will not prove wearisome tothe reader.The Ante-Nicene period is, on the whole, more varied iu

character than that which immediately follows it. The twomain streams of Christian thought, represented respectivelyby the Greek and Latin Churches, have already begun todiverge from their common watershed. In Origen and Ter-tuUian they have hewn out valleys which he who climbs theintervening heights can still simultaneously survey, but theyhave not yet become two rivers watering different regions, asis the case when we come to compare, let us say, Athanasiuswith Augustine.

At the present day, the most fruitful Christian thought ismoving on the lines of the Greek Fathers. The controversieswhich have attended the publication of Liuc Mundi havesuggested to men's minds the inadequacy of the Augustiniantheology to satisfy the desire for spiritual enlightenment.A deeper, wider, more truly human theolog}' is required. Inthe pages of Clement of Alexandria, of Origen, and especiallyof Athanasius, such a theology is already provided. TheIncarnation, as the self-revealing of Divine wisdom and lovein terms of a nature fitted by its kinship to the Deity to bethe vehicle of such revelationthis is the central truth ofChristianity as apprehended by the great thinkers of Alex-andria. Christ the Redeemer of all humanifv.hnmanitv


15/351

PREFACE. ixrecalled to its true self in and by Christ,the will once moreset free by the living power of an indwelling Spirit, Whoopens out infinite possibilities of development by revealing toman the true law of his beingsuch are some of the inspir-ing thoughts of Greek theology, which respond to our purestaspirations, and reconsecrate man's intellect to the serviceof God.An able writer ^ has taken exception to the clothing of the

Church's doctrine in the forms of Greek metaphysics. Butwe may fairly ask : In what other form could it have beenclothed ? The intuitions of Revelation, to be presented tothe universal consciousness, must needs be recast in the formof thought which nearest approaches universality. And theworld has yet to devise an instrument better fitted to achievethis lofty task than the language of Greek philosophy,fashioned to the processes of exact thought by the continuouslabour of the highest minds for nine centuries, and, forChristians at least, stamped with the inspired approval ofthe disciple whom Jesus loved. The answer to Dr. Hatch'sobjection can hardly be better expressed than in the wordsof an American writer r^ The influence of Hellenic specula-tion in determining the true nature of the Person of Christis not a thing smuggled surreptitiously into the domain ofChristian thoughtan alien element, to be carefully elimi-nated, if we would understand the original revelation in itssimplicity and purity. It enters into the Divine process ofpreparation for the Advent of Christ as a constituent factorit is essential to a right interpretation of the Christian Ideain its widest and highest a^jplication.

The interpretation of revelation is a process continuouswith revelation itself. It is vain to wish for the establish-

^ The late Dr. Hatch, in his Hihhcrt Ltctures.- Professor Allen, in his Continuity of Christian Thought.


16/351

X PREFACE.ment in theolog}' of the simple, instinctive religious languageof the Old and New Testaments. This language always willbe, as it always has been, the spontaneous expression ofdevout souls as they address their prayers or praises to theAll-Merciful Father. But until the modern world can achieve,as perhaps it may, on the basis of inductive science, a meta-physical termiuolog}' superior to that of ancient Greece, wemay well be content to accept the historic definitions ofthe Church, only removing what can be proved to be adven-titious or unwarranted by the sense of Scripture. This wasindeed the professed object of the leaders of the Keformatiou,but they were not able sufficiently to disengage themselvesfrom their environment to perceive that the views theyreceived as primitive were in truth largely coloured by anAugustinian medium, which refracted and often obscuredthe light.The process which they inaugurated was in its very nature

incomplete, and it would neither be possible nor desirable toarrest its course. In taking her stand upon Holy Scriptureas distinct from any special reading of its sense, the AnglicanChurch admits the possibility of a progressive interpretationcorresponding to the infinite fecundity of Scripture itself.And the true successors of the great divines of the sixteenthand seventeenth centuries are surely those who are turningupon Holy Scripture the entire light of tlie purified humanintelligence, and trying to make it speak for itself in thoseclear tones to which, once heard, the mind of man cannotbut respond.No reverent soul will presume to limit the meaning of

Scripture to that primary sense historically present to themind of the writer, which it is the mission of our presentBiblical criticism incontrovertibly to establish and uniquelyto emphasise. Tf it could be so limited. Scripture would cease


17/351

PREFACE. xito be for us what it undoubtedly is, the Word of God. Butit is surely a fallacy to conclude that those who bid us studythe Bible as we study any other book, mean also to assertthat the Bible is nothing more than any other book. Theyare really reverting under changed conditions of thought tothe example of the Greek Fathers, who brought to the studyof Scripture those canons of interpretation which the highestscience of their day applied to all the noblest products of thehuman mind, to Homer, to the poetic Cycle, to the entirelore of the antique world. No doubt their method wasimperfect, transitory, destined to be superseded ; but theprinciple on which they acted, that of employing the highestavailable culture in the task of interpreting Scripture, wastrue and valid, and therefore sure to reapjDear when thecourse of intellectual development made its reajDpearancepossible.

The methods at present in favour, no doubt, appear tothose engaged in applying them as wholly satisfying andfinal. And the language used by many Biblical criticsundoubtedly justifies a cautions attitude with regard to asubject so momentous on the part of those who are respon-sible for the custody of the body of doctrine handed downto them. At the same time, since it is by reason and reasonalone that the words of Scripture as of all other literaturemust be judged, the instructed Christian will not mistrustthe disciplined use of that divine gift which then is mosttruly free when it serves most impersonally in the causeof truth.

It is my belief that both in the English Church and outsideit there is a large and increasing number of earnest personswho fully recognise the connection between the writings ofthe Fathers and their own religious position, but who desireto approach the study of them from a somewhat less technical


18/351

xii PREFACE.point of view tbau that usual in theological works. To such,whether professed students or not, I venture to submit thissurvey of early Christian literature as embodying a chaptersecond to none in significance in the history of man's spirit,and contributing results of undying value to the treasure-house of man's intelligence.

KiBwoRTH Rectory,Easter 1893.


19/351

TABLE OF CONTENTS.INTRODUCTION.

PAGESLiterature of Ante-Xicene Church exclusively theologicalReasons

of thisFailure of the Imperial regime to satisfy the aspirationsof mankindTask which the Apostles and their followers setbefore themAnte-Nicene literature inferior to the classical invarietyThree periods of early Christian literature, the Apostolic,the Ante-Nicene, and the Post-NiceneHeretical systems dueto the intrusion of a Pagan elementIndebtedness of Christiantheology to Greek metaphysicsValue of the patristic writingsComparison between the early ages of Christianity and our owntimeDifferent solutions of the problem of the universeWitnessof the Fathers to the authenticity of the Gospels . . . 1-19

BOOK I.THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS.CHAPTEK I.

GENERAL REMARKS.Gap in our information between close of New Testament and rise of

dogmatic ChristianityApostolic Fathers tell us littleTheirwritings the subjects of keen controversyFeatures common tothem allDistinctive characters of eachThree of them pre-eminently apostolic, Clement, Ignatius, and PolycarpThe othersless important .......... 21-27

CHAPTER 11.CLEMENT OF ROME (fl. a.d. 95 ?).

Next to nothing known of his historyThe Roman episcopal successionWas Clement identical with Flavins Clemens?Governmentand characteristics of the Roman ChurchHis relation to theNew TestamentShows a conciliatory tendencyHis dogmaticpositionCharacter of his mind and geniusHistorical notices ofthe Epistle Its estimation in the ChurchExtracts . . . 28-39


20/351

CONTENTS.CHAPTER 111.

THE PSEUDO-CLEMENT. PAGESThe so-called Second Epistle of Clement-Its probable date (a.d. ioo-

140)Its relation to the New Testament CanonThe two Epistleson Virginity-The two Epistles to James 4- 44

CHAPTER IV.THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS (a.d. 75?).

Ar-uments for and against its genuineness-Written in Alexandria- Its dateIts Christology-Authorities for the text-Connectionwith the Didach^-Its argument-Its exegesis-Extracts-Pointsof divergence from received tradition 45 5

CHAPTER V.THE DIDACHE, OR TEACHING OF THE TWELVEAPOSTLES (A.D. 90?).

History of its discovery-Its immense interest-The Two Ways-AChurch manual-Prin.itive condition of the Church revealed mit-Relation to the Old and New TestamentsPlace of composi-tionTranslation of the work 57-/

CHAPTER YLIGNATIUS (A.D. 40-115?).

Authorities for his biography-Circumstances preceding his death-Etymology of his name-Discussion as to the genuineness of theletters ascribed to him- Lightfoot's summing up of the evidence-Reasons for the paucity of Christian writings during the sub-aoostolic periodThe main contributions of Ignatius to theologyHis views on episcopacy-Specimens of his style-Cha.actenstics 72~Q2of his mind and genius

CHAPTER YII.POLYCARP (A.D. 69?-i55)-

A disciple of S. John-His life-His disciples-His martyrdom-Genuineness of his Epistle-The Letter of the Church of Smyrna-It contrasts favourably with most other Acts of Martyrdom . 93-101


21/351

CONTENTS. XV

CHAPTER YIII.PAPIAS AND THE ASIATIC ELDERS (a.d. 70-150?)

PAGESSchool of S. John at EphesusAccount of Papias' workJohn the

Apostle and John the ElderPapias held Millenarian viewsGives an account of S. Mark's GospelThe object Papias setbefore him in his bookIrenieus indebted to himOther eldersquoted by Irenseus ......... 102- no

CHAPTER IX.THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS.'

Its peculiar characterBiography of HermasSketch of the contentsof the ShepherdIts high repute in the ChurchModem viewson its claim to inspirationIts relation to Holy ScriptureItsdateNotices of it by Church writers ..... 111-127

BOOK II.THE HERETICAL SECTS.CHAPTER I.

jfEWISH PERVERSIONS OF CHRISTIANITY^EBIONISM.Christianity erected on foundation of Christ's MessiahsbipLimitations

of this conceptionJewish ChristianityTwo classes of EbionitesGnostic EbionismElchasaitesConnection with EssenismAttempts to proselytiseTheir influence exaggerated . . 131-135

CHAPTER II.THE CLEMENTINE LITERATURE.

List of documents purporting to emanate from ClementHomiliesand RecognitionsAutobiography of ClementAscents of JamesLetter of Clement to S. JamesThe EpitomeThese worksunorthodox in several particularsTheir conciliatory objectTheTrue ProphetDepreciation of S. PaulDate of the workPlaceof composition .......... 136-150h


22/351

xvi CONTENTS.CHAPTER III.

THE EARLY APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE.PAGES

The Fathers, as a rule, learned, not popular, writersA genuine popularliterature existed from early times, but was largely heretical inoriginIt consisted of Apucalypses, Apocryphal Gospels, andApocryphal ActsApocalypse of Peter : early notices of the work :account of its partial recovery : extracts : its connection with theSibylline OraclesOther ApocalypsesApocryphal Gospels, viz.(1) Gospel according to the Hebrewsnot originally heretical;(2) Gospel according to the Egyptianshad a Gnostic colouring ;(3) Gospel according to Peter : its Docetic tendency: translationof the recovered fragmentOther GospelsThe ProtevangeliumGospel of the Infancy of MaryGospel of Nicodemus, or Actsof Pilate ; (4) Apocryphal Actsthe earliest of them Judaeo-ChristianLeucius CharinusLipsius' criticismActs of Pauland TheclaApocalypse of Moses 151-180

CHAPTER IV.ON GNOSTICISM IN GENERAL.On the rise of heresyRelation between faith and knowledgeGnostic

dualismOrigin of evilEffect of Gnosticism on moralsTheoriesof CreationEffects on doctrine ; on Scripture exegesis . . 181-193

CHAPTER V.FIRST DIVISION: GNOSTIC SECTS NOT IN ANTA-GONISM TO yUDAISMSIMONCERINTHUS

DOCETISM.Simon Magus : how far a historical personageSect of Simonians

Cerinthus : his relations with S. JohnJulius CassianusDocetismof the early Gnostics......... 194-198

CHAPTER VI.BASILIDES AND THE PSEUDO-BASILIDEANS.

Ancient authorities for the views of BasilidesSummary of his philo-sophyEthical aspect of his doctrineDiscipline and worshipGeneral characteristics of his systemIsidoreThe pseudo-Basilideans not genuine followers of Basilides .... 199-207


23/351

CONTENTS. xviiCHAPTER VII.

VALENTINUS AXD THE VALENTINIANS. PAOKSThe most influential of the early hereticsPhilosophy of reli^onFacts of his lifeHis theologyThe doctrine of .^onsThePleromaSophia and AchamothThe DemiurgeHis theory ofRedemptionHis anthropologyHis doctrine of the MessiahThe SoterThe Spiritual and H3-lic naturesMarcusHeracleonPtolemseusHis theory of the Law ..... 208-222

CHAPTER VIII.SECOND DIVISION : THE ANTI-JUDAIC GNOSTIC SYS-TEMS : OPHITESCARPOCRATESBARDAISANJULIUS CASSIANUS.

The Ophites hardly to be considered as ChristiansCarpocratesImmorality of his viewsEpiphanes Sethites, Cainites, andNicolaitansBardaisan or BardesanesHis Book of the Laws ofCountriesLess heretical than other GnosticsHis sect almostconfined to SyriaJulius Cassianus holds Encratite viewsPistis-SophiaQuestions of Mary 223-232

CHAPTER IX.MARCION AND HIS SCHOOL.

The noblest of the GnosticsHis genius not speculative but practicalIncidents of his careerBorrows his philosophy from the SyrianCerdoRelations with PolycarpThe Creator of the world anEvil BeingHisDocetic ChristologyThe love of God opposed toHis justiceThe Old Testament contrary to the NewMarcion'sGospelHis antithesesApellesControverted by RhodonHer-mogenesHis Stoic affinitiesTheory of the eternity of matter 233-241

CHAPTER X.THE EARLY UNITARIAN TEACHERS.

MonarchianismTwo forms of it, one approximating to Deism, theother to Pantheism The sect of the Alogi Theodotus ofByzantiumArtemon : his rationalistic theologyRelation ofthe Roman Church to Monarchianism Beryllus of BostraRefuted by OrigeuPaul of SamosataHis life and characterHis ChristologyConflict between him and the Catholic bishopsHis relations with ZenobiaIntervention of AurelianPraxeas The Patripassian theory Tertullian s treatise AgainstPraxeas NoetusSabelliusHis explanation of the TrinityHis Christology General summary of heretical teaching . . 242-254


24/351

xviii CONTENTS.

BOOK III.THE APOLOGISTS (a.d. 130-250).ClIAi'TEK 1.

THE APOLOGETIC LITERATUREGENERAL REMARKS.PAGES

The Christian faith had four chief forces to contend with (i) Judaism,(2) Philosophy, (3) Pagan religion, (4) the State(i) Judaism-Inflexible conservatism of the Jews with regard to the CeremonialLawA few liberal spirits here and there, as Pliilo and TryphoPoints made by the Christian controversialists against the JewsNet result of the controversy the establishment of a Christianinterpretation of the Old Testament (2) Philosophy Greekphilosophy contained a genuinely spiritual elementComparedwith Hebrew prophecyExplanation of its opposition to Chris-tianityThe best philosophers not unwilling to give it a hearingChristian writers except Alexandrian school opposed to philosophy(3) Pagan religionsWe must not deny to pagans a sincerereligious convictionBreak-up of the old faiths tended to end inthe worship of CresarThe higher minds took refuge in theMysteriesReaction of the Mysteries on Christian thought^Revival of religious enthusiasm in the second centuryChristiansregarded as AtheistsSuspected of unnatural crimes(4) TheStateAttitude of Roman law towards religious beliefsApparentinconsistency of its attitude towards Christianity explainedChristianity an unlicensed religionLaws against clubsEmpirenot excusable for its neglect to inquire into the true nature of theChristian faith 257-276

CHAPTER II.THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF APOLOGISTS.

First Classification of apologetic writings into those addressed to theCivil Power and those addressed to the public Second Classifi-cation into those addressed to Jews and those addressed toheathens Third Classification into those which are based on theImmanence of Deity and those which are not, corresponding toEastern and Western ChristianityTo first class belong Justin,Athenagoras, Clement, and OrigenTo an intermediate sectionbelong Tatian, Irenteus, the writer to Diognetus, and to someextent TertullianThe former section admits Greek philosophyto be a divinely appointed medium of truth, the other sectiondenies thisThe second class of apologists includes Arnobius andLactantius and (at a later date) S. AugustineThe treatment ofChristian evidences varies in accordance with this fundamental


25/351

CONTZxNTS. xixPAGES

diflFerence of principleThe spiritual proof is most relied on byClement and Origen, the external by Justin and Tertullian,though these admit also the internal or spiritual proofInfluenceof Plato on the Greek apologistsAll schools of apologists agreein accepting the authority of Scripture and the concurrent voiceof the Church as final ........ 277-287

CHAPTER HI.THE EARLIEST APOLOGISTSARISTIDESQUADRA-TUSAGRIPPA CASTORARISTO OF PELLA.Remarkable discovery of the lost Apology of AristidesThe Armenian

monksHistory of Barlaam and JoasaphFragment of an earlyCreedDate of AristidesQuadratusDoubts as to his identityAgrippa CastorAristo of Pella, the author of the dialoguebetween Jason and Papiscus 288-295

CHAPTER IV.ATHENAGORASEPISTLE TO DIOGNETUSDIONYSIUS

OF CORINTHMAXIMUSTHEOPHILUS.Progress of the Athenian ChurchMutual influence of Jew and GreekPhilosophical character of Athenagoras' writings-Hermias

The Letter to Diognetus, a gem of Christian thoughtConjecturesas to its authorshipBirks' theoryIts date must remain uncertainSketch of its argumentExtractsShould be compared withJustin and AthenagorasDionysius of Corinth (a.d. 170) anenergetic administrator and prolific writer of epistlesControversywith PinytusComplains that his works were interpolatedGivesmuch interesting information as to the state of the ChurchMaximus Dialogue on Matter Its argument borrowed byMethodiusTheophilus of AntiochSketch of his argumentAlludes to his conversion by reading the Old TestamentParallelstory of a Japanese philosopherHis attitude to Greek mythologymore severe than that of Justin 296-316

CHAPTER V.yUSTIN MARTYR (a.d. i 10-164).

Best known of the apologistsHis nationalityStory of his conversionResidence at Ephesus and RomeHis martyrdomThreeonly of his writings genuineFirst ApologyIts remarkablededicationIts account of the Eucharist Second Apology


26/351

CONTEXTS.PAGES

Justification of the Christians' conductDialogue with TryphoTrj'pho's objections weightyFirst objection, that the law, beingDivine, must be bindingJustin's answerSecond objection,that salvation cannot be effected by a human SaviourJustin'sdoctrine of the IncarnationHe occupies an original position inChurch literatureHis bequests to Christian thoughtA reason-able theologj'Conception of the Logos as the Divine Reasonimmanent in humanityThe Spermatic WordHis relation tothe writings of the New TestamentHis style . . . . 317-337

CHAPTER VI.TATIAN (A.D. 110-180?).

His name linked with that of JustinCircumstances of his conversionHis oration to the GreeksSatirical tone of itHe drifts intoheresyEncratismHis DiatessaronNotices of it in the earlyChurchProcess of its re-discoveryAnalysis of its contentsAn important witness for the four Gospels .... 338-351

CHAPTER VII.THE BEGINNINGS OF CHURCH HISTORY.

HEGESIPPUS (A.n. ii5?-a.d. 185?).Early rise of a popular religious literatureUsed by Papias and

Hegesippus, but neglected by the great controversial writersDiscussion of the orthodoxy of HegesippusHis narratives of themartyrdom of James the Just, and of the grandsons of Judas beforeDoniitianSimple piety of his character ..... 352-361

CHAPTER VIII.THE LATER SCHOOL OF S. JOHNMELITO TO

POLYCRATES.Melito of SardisList of his worksHis able statement of the double

nature of ChristTertullian's criticism of himSpurious writingscirculatedin the Middle Ages under his nameClaudius Apollinaris The Thundering LegionMiltiadesModestusPolycratesTook a leading part in the Paschal controversyDifferences ofpractice in observing EasterHis letter to VictorAttitude ofAnte-Nicene Christianity to apostolic traditionVigorous intel-lectual life of the Asiatic ChurchPassage from Rdnan quoted 362-373


27/351

CONTENTS. xxi

CHAPTER IX.IRENMUS (A.D. 125-203?).

PAGESIrenpeusthe founder of Orthodoxy and Church polemicsGentleness

and steadfastness of his characterThe disciple of PolycarpVisits RomeElected Bishop of LyonsIntervenes with effectin the affairs of the Church at largeLiterary qualificationsHisgreat work against heresiesAnalysis of the separate booksHistheory of the fourfold GospelHis Millenarian proclivitiesHisviews on eternal punishmentLightfoot's high estimate of hisvalueList of his lost worksHis influence on the ChristianChurch 374-392

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IX.LETTER OF THE GALLICAN CHURCHES.

IreniEUs supposed by many to be its authorEncomiums on it fromcritics of all shades of opinionTranslation of the entire epistle,as preserved by Eusebius ........ 393-403

CHAPTER X.THE GR^CO-ROMAN SCHOOL MURATORIAN FRAG-

MENT HIPPOLYTUS, CAWS, VICTOR, ANDOTHERS.(A.D. 17(^235?).

Roman Church had from the first assumed a position of moralauthorityRetention of the Greek language in her public docu-ments an obstacle to its successful exerciseBy middle of thirdcentury Roman Church thoroughly Latinised Her path todominion was now becoming clearMuratorian fragment on thecanonA translation from the Greek Its probable dateHippolytusConflicting notices of his positionHis chairHisextant workHis antagonism to the bishops of his daj'His seeor episcopal charge at PortusHis biography of CallistusHislist of heresiesOther works ascribed to himKis orthodoxyCaius the presbyterVictorApolloniusRhodonHis contro-versy with ApellesSerapionHis notice of the Gospel of PeterApollonius Writes against the Montanists Answered byTertuUian 404-426


28/351

xxii CONTENTS.

BOOK IVTHE ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY(a.u. 175-3C0;.

CHAPTER I.GENERAL REMARKS.

PAGESAlexandria becomes the centre of Christian thought DifiFerent

elements which met thereThought wholly freeInstitutionseminently favourable to philosophic candour of mindThe Churchrose to her opportunityThe Catechetical schoolPantiunusEndeavours to harmonise Christianity with the best humanthoughtProgress of Greek philosophy towards conceptions whichcould be assimilated by the ChurchPlatonism of PhiloNeo-PlatonismDifficulty of the task undertaken by the AlexandrianCatechists 429-438

CHAPTER II.CLEMENT (A.D. 145-220?).

The most original spirit of the Ante-Niceue ChurchHis lifeHisliterary training Catalogue of his writings Their variedcharacter His theological principlesApproaches Christianitywholly free from Jewish prepossessions Conceives of God asman's Instructor, disciplining him for perfectionHuman pro-gress, forward and backward, made intelligible by Jesus ChristRedemption consists chiefly in enlightenment The ChristianGnostic Asserts freedom of the human will ; but does notwholly clear himself of a certain dualism, viz., that of the lowerand higher believersViews on Scripture and the ChurchDefects of his theology from the orthodox point of viewShortnotices of his three works, the Protrepticus, the Psedagogus,the Stromateis Accounted as a saint, but erased from theCalendar by Clement VIII 439-461

CHAPTER III.ORIGEN (A.D. 185-253)H/S LIFE.

Part I.His greatnessHis reputation injuredLived in an age of transitionHis life divided into two periods, (a) at Alexandria, {b) at


29/351

CONTENTS. xxiiir-AGES

CjcsareaAnecdotes of his boyhood Appointed to the cateche-tical chairAusterity of his lifeHis intercourse with AmmoniusSacasVisit to RomeTakes Heraclas as his assistantThorough-ness of his educational methodWhile at Ctesarea is licensed topreachRecalled by DemetriusFriendship with AmbrosiusThe HexaplaVarious missions abroadOrdained presbyter byTheoctistus and AlexanderIncurs the anger of DemetriusIsdeposed from the priesthood and ordered to quit AlexandriaContinues his theological studies at CaesareaDiscussion withBeryllusHis Contra Celsum Death of AmbrosiusDeathof Origen at Tyre 462-479

CHAPTER TV.ORIGEXHIS THEOLOGICAL SYSTEM, INFLUENCE

AND LITERARY GENIUS.Part II.

The first systematic theologianQuite as much a philosopher as atheologianEgyptian and Greek influences combine to form hismindSummary of his views under four heads(i) Exegesis ofScripture: he accepts its inspiration the Father of Biblicalcriticismhis textual labourshis system of interpretationallec^orical method scientifically unsoundnot intended by Origento cramp the intelligencemuch influenced by Plato's philosophy(2) Dogmatic theology: aims at being an explanation of theuniversethe Deitydoctrine of the Trinityof creationtheascent and descent of soulsfreedom asserted both of God andmanthe human soul of Christdefective views of redemption ;(3) Apologetic theory : the True Word of CelsusOrigen's replycentres round the Incarnation as the ground-truth of Christianitythe fullest and most convincing of all apologetic treatises(4) Ecclesiastical andpractical views: Origen spiritualises Christianethicsregards knowledge when joined with love as the goal ofChristian perfectiona vein of literalism still remained in himecclesiastical ideas not his strong pointorganisation of theChurch hardly alluded to by himthe Church a purely spiritualbodyEschatological viewsHis influence on Christianity per-manent in three directions : first, in his confidence that truthcan be attained ; second, in his treatment of Scripture as a livingdivine voice ; third, in his absolute confidence in the final victory ofGod's loveLiterary qualitiesSufiEers from over-productivenessContrasted with Tertullian . 480-512


30/351

XXIV CONTEXTS.CHAPTER V.

THE SUCCESSORS OF ORIGEN. PAGESSeveral of his pupils occupied the See of AlexandriaHis influence

there lasted for a century Alexander of Jerusalem JuliusAfricanusHis ChroniconHis CestiHis criticism on the storyof SusannaGregory ThaumaturgusHis lifeSelections fromhis writingsPanegyric on OrigenDionysius of AlexandriaHis reasonableness in controversyHis criticism on the Book ofRevelation His relations with the Roman SeeCompared withCyprian Later Origenists Pamphilus of Caesarea, friend ofEusebiusLucian of AntiochMethodius .... 513-535

BOOK v. LATIN CHRISTIANITY.CHAPTER I.

LATIN THEORY OF THE CHURCH.Christianity hitherto has moved in a Greek worldConception of the

Church in accordance with the fundamental ideas of Greek philo-sophy an ideal one, viz., the company of believing peopleLatinconception of Church that of a visible society', expressing theapparatus of salvation, not the fact of itOrder or law the basisof this conception Its speculative foundations laid by Tertullian,Cyprian, and AugustineTwo documents of the first importanceTertullian's dc Pi'wscriptione Ilcrcticorum and Cyprian's dcUnitate EcclesiaeOther Latin writers are of secondary interest 539-545

CHAPTER II.THE AFRICAN CHURCHQ. SEPTIMIUS FLORENSTERTULLIANUS (-\.d. 160-230?).

Part I.The rise of New Carthage Carthage as a Christian centreTertullian

her first eminent ChurchmanHis remarkable personalityFirstbent the Latin language to ecclesiastical expressionExaggerationof tone, but genuine belief underlying itGeneral orthodoxy infundamental doctrinesTertullian and MontanismSome accountof IMimtanus and his doctrinePermanent elements in Montanism(a) The conflict between the natural and supernatural ; (h) thedispensation of the Holy Spirit ; (c) the prophetical office of theChurch ; (c/) the distinction between the visible and invisibleChurches ........... 546-559


31/351

CONTENTS. XXVCHAPTER III.

TERTULLIAN'S WRITINGS.Part II.

PAGESPartly orthodox, partly MontanistDivided into four groups(i.)

Apologetic Treatises: the most forcible of all, especially his cele-brated ApologyShort summary of its main pointsTranslationof its perorationAddress to the SoulHis intense appreciationof the claims of KevelationHis treatise against the Jews : (2.)Controversial writings: The Prescription of HereticsAppeal toHoly ScriptureTreatise against Marcion ; its literary historyWorks against Valentinus and Praxeas DifiEerent forms ofMonarchianism : (3.) Dogmatic Treatises: On Baptism; hismaterialising view of the sacramentChristological treatisesInterpretation of ScriptureHis psychologyTreatise on PrayerCurious customs of the African churches : (4.) Moral andPracticed works : His views on persecution and martyrdomThede Spectaculis ; extract from itHis views on the authority oftraditionTreatises on female behaviourOn the relation of thesexesOn monogamyOn penitence and fastingOn patienceWant of Christian charity in his later worksGeneral summaryof his qualities 560-592

CHAPTER IV.CYPRIAN (a.d. 2oo?-257).

Bom in a good positionConverted in middle lifeElected bishopsoon after his ordinationEstimate of his characterContro-versies in which he took partDispute as to treatment of thelapsedLaxity of Church discipline combated by CyprianHisstatesmanlike mindArrogance of the ConfessorsDispute as torebaptism of hereticsCyprian opposes Stephen of RomeThreesynods of African bishopsFinal judgment of the Church at theCouncil of AriesCriticism of his literary qualitiesHis tract onthe Unity of the ChurchThe supremacy of PeterCyprian'sviews as to the decay of the worldTriumphant tone of hisargumentHis martyrdom and canonisation .... 593-612

CHAPTER Y.ROMAN CHURCHMINUCIUS FELIXNOVATIAN.

Discussion as to date and nationality of MinuciusAnalysis of theargument of the OctaviusIts imperfect dogmatic positionItsliterary historyNovatianHis lifeHis PuritanismHis ambi-tionHis writingsChristology of the de TrinitateNovatus 613-629


32/351

CONTENTS.CHAPTER VI.

ARNOBIUS (FL. A.D. 200?)LACTANTIUS (a.d. 240-325?)COMMODIAN {A.u. 260?)VICTORINUS PETAVIENSIS.r.\GE3

Inferiority of these African theologians to those of the Alexandrianschool Arnobius a rhetorician His successful refutation ofPaganismHis treatment of the argument that the world is ina state of decay, and that this is due to ChristianityDespairingscepticism of the ageEstimate of his workLactantiusHislife and characterList of his worksThe Divine ImlitutioniA philosopher rather than a theologianDefects of his dogmaticsystemCommodianVictorinus of Pettau .... 630-653

Conclusion 654-657

List of Authors from whose Works Specimen Passages areTranslated 658-659

Index 661-686Index to Greek Words 684Index to Latin Words 686


33/351

A LITERARYHISTOKY OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY.

INTRODUCTION.The literature of the first three centuries of the Churchdiffers in this respect from all other literatures, that it iswholly theological and religious.^ The remark may be appliedwith almost equal accuracy to the centuries that immediatelyfollow. And if to these we add the entire mediaeval period,with all its complex life, we shall still find the same state-ment substantially true. No doubt, in this latter period,some forms of secular thought emerge and find a more orless articulate utterance. But speaking broadly and popu-larly, we may assert that the long succession of ages fromthe time of the New Testament to the Revival of Letters, ifnot absolutely restricted to theological modes of expression,is dominated throughout by a theological spirit. This issurely a very striking phenomenon. Theological ideas arenot so easily grasped as to form the natural clothing of man'sthought, nor so comprehensive as to cover its entire field.Nor, if we survey the history of those other literatures whichhave most powerfully influenced mankind, shall we find anyadequate parallel. The literatures of India, of Persia, ofIslam, though springing from a religious source, and longconfined within a religious sphere, include many other ele-ments. Even the Scriptures of the Old Testament and

^ So absolutely is this the case, that the authorship of the Cesti, abookattributed on good authority to Julius Africanus, has been strongly ques-tioned on the sole ground that it deals with secular topics. See Bk. iv. ch. 5.A


34/351

2 INTRODUCTION.Apocrypha display numerous features that are not whollyspiritual. They embrace history, law, politics, poetry, legend.How comes it, then, that for so immense a period Christianliterature was so predominantly theological ?The cause is twofold. On the one hand, the transcendent

power of the central Christian truth, which set itself to trans-form the entire attitude of the human mind to knowledgeon the other, the inevitable reaction from the long and exclu-sive dominion of the secular intelligence. The world intowhich Christianity entered was emphatically a secular world.Its philosophy, its poetry, its law, were all the products ofman's natural wisdom, and addressed themselves to his hopesand fears as concerned with this present world. For hisspiritual instincts, for his aspirations after holiness, theymade no provision. It is true that among the higher mindsmany lofty ideas on religion had been reached. Noble souls,true seekers after God, strove to raise men's minds to theheights of contemplation, and, by explaining the order of theuniverse, to inculcate indifference to external things andarouse an enthusiasm for the supreme good. But theseheroic spirits stood almost if not quite alone. It is doubtfulwhether they greatly influenced the lives even of the smallnumber who could understand their thoughts. It is certainthat they left wholly untouched the vast multitude beneath.The subject nations of the Empire, mechanically united butspiritually heterogeneous, were ready enough to yield obedi-ence to Cfesar's power ; but when, amid the chaos of fallenreligions, they asked for a god to worship, no god was offeredthem but that very Csesar whom their own hands had fashionedan undoubted, unmistakable idol.

It was impossible that such a system could end otherwisethan in failure. Men asked for bread and were given astone. The age was, indeed, profoundly conscious of itsmisery. 1 The gi-eat spiritual void could be filled neither bymaterial prosperity nor by a multitude of inconsistent super-

' The second and third centuries after Christ, though differing in somerespects, are sufHciently alike in their moral condition to be groupedtogether in a general survey.


35/351

INTRODUCTION. 3stitions. The literature that has come down to us representsthe thoughts of the cultivated, the fortunate, the noble. Yetit disjilays with few exceptions a spirit of indignant, hopelessdespair. The utmost that philosophy could do for man wasto teach liim how to yield to fate ; and if self-respect forbadehim to yield, he must seek an escape by a voluntary death.Suicide was erected into a virtue, it was even glorified asman's highest privilege, more than compensating him for hisoutward inferiority to the gods. A profound melancholy ora forced hilarity pervade the poetry of this period ; bitteranger or unavailing regret form the burden of its historians.The soul of life seemed dead. The world had become a hugemachine, whose vast proportions mocked the puny efforts ofindividuals.

If the favoured few were thus depressed, what must weimagine to have been the condition of the undistinguished,inarticulate multitude ? Undoubtedly the Empire had giventhem one great benefit in increased personal security. Butthis had been bought at too high a price. They had sacri-ficed all freedom, even the illusion of it.^ They looked toHome for the entire mechanism of their outward Kfe, whiletheir national gods were lost to them through their indis-criminate adoption into the Eoman pantheon. Thus bereftof political life, bereft of religious belief, they sank into theidle frequenters of circus and arena, or sought in degradingsuperstitions the alternate terror and amusement which re-flected but too truly the motive forces of their life.

The task which the Apostles and their followers set beforethem from the outset was to regenerate the human mind.It was not to alter some of its convictions, or even to givemen certainty instead of doubt, knowledge instead of igno-rance, but it was to destroy the dominion of falsehood andto set up that of truth ; in S. Paul's emphatic language, tomake a new creation. The efforts of all former teachers had

^ Luc. Phars. ix. 204, 205 Olim vera fides Sulla Marioque receptis

Libertatis obit : Pompeio rebus adempto,Nunc et ficta perit.''


36/351

4 INTRODUCTION.been limited to a small circlt> of disciples. Even the divinely-given mission of Moses was confined to a single race. Butfrom the first the proclamation of Christianity was not madeto a few but to all ; and therefore it was necessary that itswatchword should be not merely true in itself, but disengagedfrom everything that could localise, limit, or obscure it. Tobring this about, it was necessary, as it were, to dig out andexpose to view the root-principle of the Pagan world, andthen to plant another principle equally comprehensive inits place. The root from which the entire civilisation ofheathendom grew is rightly declared by Tertullian to beidolatry. They luorshippcd the crcatvre rather titan theCreator the transient instead of the permanent, the phan-tom instead of the reality.^ This is S. T'aul's summary ofheathenism, and it cannot be surpassed in its insight. It iswhat we worship that at bottom decides our attitude to theexternal world. This truth, which had been recognised inearlier and better periods, had in the time of the Empirebecome wholly obscured. It was this truth which the Churchplaced in the van of her teaching, We know what weworship.''

In order to bring home to man the power of this truth forhis salvation, it was necessary to penetrate every departmentof thought and conduct with its inspiring influence, and thisinvolved nothing less than the reconstruction of the wholeframework of humanity, or, as Plato expresses it, the turn-ing round of man's whole soul towards the light. ^ For sucha task as this a religious literature of three, four, or fivecenturies can hardly seem too long ; and though we mayregret that the process was not completed in the generousspirit in which it was begun,^ yet its greatness cannot bedenied, nor the patient study of its methods be deemed awaste of time.

' Rom. i. 25. Er5wXo'= a phantom, a shadow, not a graven image.- S. John iv. 22. * 3 Plat. Rep. vii. p. 518, D.* The attitude of the earl)' fathers as of the Apostles themselves towards

the human spirit is far more generous and sympathetic than that of theI.ntin Church from Tertullian onwards.


37/351

INTRODUCTION. 5The writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers do not exhibit

that variety of view, that sympathetic play of intellect, whichlends such a deathless charm to the secular literature ofGreece and Rome. But these verj- deficiencies bring intorelief the overwhelming power of that central inspirationwhich could restrain the pride of learning, and force into asingle channel the most versatile gifts. This constant self-repression has prevented the intellectual relation of theFathers to theii' contemporaries from being justly estimated.Already iu the second century Christian thinkers rank amongthe abler men of their day, and in the third and fourth theyare indisputably superior to their Pagan rivals. It is notthat men like Clement, Origen, Cyprian, and Tertullian werenot fully capable, had they so chosen, of adorning manyfields of literature ; but that, filled with the master-impulseof illuminating things human by things divine, they concen-trated all their powers on the work of tracing man's wholefield of knowledge direct to its fountain-source.

In one sense, indeed, and that the most obvious one, itmust be allowed that they failed. For v:e are able to discernwhat they were not, that there exists a sphere of humantruth as real, as legitimate as that of di\-ine truth ; nay more,that these two spheres so interpenetrate one another, thatmany domains which once formed branches of divinity arenow clearly seen to belong to human learning, and yet theyhave by no means lost their living connection with the DivineSpirit.^

Yet in another and perhaps a higher sense they may besaid to have succeeded ; for, though their method is oftenfaulty and their results erroneous, they did good ser%ice toman's progress by keeping open the conception of a revela-tion, i.e., a source of truth outside the human mind. No onewould connect Christianity directly with the rise of inductivescience ; and yet it is precisely in the patient observation of

' E.g., ethics, social and historical science. The application of thisthought to the realm of physical science is yet to come. But already thetheologian is beginning to realise his right in the Reign of Law, asmost precious revelation'of the Mind of God.


38/351


39/351

INTRODUCTION. 7The history of this literature presents three well-marked

stages first, the period of birth, of creative energy andforce; secondly, the period of growth, of controversy andstruggle ; and thirdly, the period of maturity, which is alsothat of authority and rule.The first period includes the Orvjines of Christianity

down to the close of the Apostolic era. It witnesses thelaunching of the new-born truth into the ocean of the world,and it covers all the phenomena of Christianity that are trulyoriginal.^ With this period, flooded as it is with divine light,we are not here directly concerned ; but, inasmuch as it formsthe mainspring and source of all subsequent developments,it will be as well to state what were its grand original ideas,which have entered into and enriched the spiritual inheritanceof mankind. They are four in nuinber : ^

1 The idea of the Divine Son of God taking man's naturein order to redeem it.

2. The idea of the Brotherhood of redeemed mankind assons of God in Christ.

3. The idea of the Church, i.e., a society independent ofall local or natural ties, founded on a purely spiritual basis.

4. The idea of love to God and man as the one sufficientmotive for realising human perfection.

Of these four cardinal points of Christianity, all due toChrist Himself, three at least were absolutely new to man-kind. The other, viz., the Church, had already been antici-pated by Sakya Mouni five centuries earlier in a distantpart of the world, though in connection with a very differentmoral ideal.We may here remark that it is precisely these root-ideasof Christianity which, amid all the changes of human life,persist in showing their inherent vitality and consequent

1 Besides the Scriptures of the New Testament, we refer to the practicallabours of the Apostles, and particularly those of S. John in the latterpart of the first century, which appear in the establishment of Episcopacy,and probably of liturgical worship.

- The reader will not suppose that this catalogue is presented as in anysense exhaustive. It rather represents the points in which Christianitystands out as original when compared with the Old Testament.


40/351

8 INTRODUCTION.superiority to all later superstructures built on them.Translated out of the sphere of Divine Revelation into thatof moral or social science, and only too often wrested into ashape that seems to belie their origin, they are neverthelessmightily at work iu human society to-day, and evidentlyhold its future in their hand. To what shall we ascribe thegrowing reverence, almost adoration, paid to human natureas such, in glaring contrast to its dishonour in the ancientworld, if not to an unconscious acknowledgment that theIncarnation of Jesus Christ was no isolated Divine Fact,enacted far off in the heaven of heavens, but a processinherently connected with the Divine Idea of manhood,which by it, and by it only, has been made capable ofrealisation ?To what shall we ascribe the tremendous power of modern

social and democratic movements if not to an irresistible,albeit perverted, acceptance of a universal brotherhoodfounded upon an equalitysocial, moral, and political ? towhat the growing impatience of dogmatic restrictions, if notto an overmastering desire that the Church Universal shallexpress itself in its ideal form as the entire human race ? towhat the pervading anxiety for the preservation of peace, ifnot to the conviction that man's destiny can best be wroughtout by love, and not by hate ? Doubtless these motives arenot always present to men's minds in their Christian form.On the contrary, to multitudes who profess them every em-bodiment of the Christian faith is highly distasteful. Yetif we look below all accidental differences to the essentialsprings of the human spirit, we shall be justified in connect-ing these mighty developments with their source in Palestineeighteen centuries ago.The second period, the period of growth and struggle,includes the second and third centuries, A.D. It begins with

a few isolated writings, which in form and tendency are closelyconnected with the preceding age. They are those ranked assub-apostolic ; and in spite of their pronounced inferiority tothe New Testament Scriptures, such was the prestige theyenjoyed from their antiquity and devotional fervour, that


41/351

INTRODUCTION. 9large portions of the Church regarded them as inspired, andallowed their use in Divine service. But to 'us'their import-ance is above all things historical. We find in tliem no newspiritual ideas, no broad outlook on the future of Chris-tianity. They form a kind of back-water of apostolic in-spiration, a transitional phase between the truly creativeepoch and that process of laborious adaptation to its environ-ment which next engages the attention of the Church ofChrist.

It is this second period with which alone the present workis concerned, the period usually known as Ante-Nicene. Itsactivities were spread over a wide area, and radiated fromwell-marked centres, each with its own spiritual character.It was conditioned by the existence alongside of it of twohostQe forces, the one external, the other internal, the neces-sity of repelling which brought out and consolidated its innerunity. But this unity was always the free consensus of in-dependent convictions arrived at by discussion, and broughtinto relief by the exigencies of controversy ; it was rarely ornever the mechanically imposed unity of centralised powerenforced by anathemas. Hence the complexity and indeter-minateness of the dogmatic system of this period, which,though in its main points firmly fixed in the conscience ofthe Churches, had not yet found precise formulation inauthoritative symbols. In this period, moreover, there is noexclusive predominance of any one Church, so that localforms of thought and expression find all the greater play.

This very cause, however, adds considerably to the difiicultyof grasping the leading features of the period as a whole,since we are confronted with writers from Palestine, Syria,Asia Minor, Greece, Alexandria, Carthage, Gaul, and Rome,each displaying his national peculiarities, not yet planeddown by the oppressive weight of Roman or Byzantine pre-ponderance. We have individuality not only in style but inthought. We have differences of standpoint in principleslittle short of fundamental, and yet over all we have thebroad, unformulated, yet morally coercive unity of apostolicteaching and tradition. This unity is so real that it generates


42/351

lo INTRODUCTION.as it by instinct a decided rejection of the heretical elementnot only on the part of such orthodox writers as Ireuaeusand Cyprian, but on the part of those who, like Origen andTertuUiau, were deservedly censured for the unsoundness oftheir views.

At the same time, this very heretical element which theChurch rejected demands our careful consideration. Unlesswe understand it, we shall not be able to appraise at theirtrue worth those recent criticisms of dogmatic Christianitywhich regard it as a compromise between Israel's revelationand Pagan thought. This description, so unjust when appliedto the doctrine of the Church, is strictly accurate when appliedto the Gnostic systems. The brilliant authors of those systemswere far from accepting the opprobrious name of heretic,fixed on them by the orthodox. They maintained, and nodoubt with sincerity, that theirs was the higher, the purer,the more spiritual Christianity ; and they contended that, inharmonising the truths revealed by Christ with the funda-mental conceptions of philosophy, they were placing religionupon its only sure basis, the processes of a purified reason.

It is evident that there must have been some irreconcilableantagonism of first principles between these able theoristsand tliinkers intellectually so closely akin to them as Clementand Origen, in order to produce in the latter their firm atti-tude of uncompromising resistance. And this antagonismunquestionably arose from the relations of the two parties tothe doctrines of Pagan philosophy. The one absorbed thevital essence of Christianity into a vast cosmogonical scheme,into which it was made to fit ; the other drew out and ampli-fied the Christian idea by the methods of Greek metaphysicwithout absorbing or destroying it. And this capital dis-tinction cannot be clearly discerned unless the schemes ofGnostic Christianity are placed side by side with that of theChurch, and the comparative influence of Paganism in each isthus brought out. Our present object will not be to defendthe orthodox system, or to pass strictures upon the heretical,but, by sketching briefly yet accurately the views of both, toexhibit the factors in that complex process by which the


43/351

INTRODUCTION'. iiessential ideas of Christianity were brought to a more com-plete statement.

There can be no doubt that from an early period Christianwriters were indebted to Greek metaphysical science. How farback in Christian history this indebtedness extends has longbeen, and still is, matter of controversy. In the New Testa-ment there are two writings which exhibit an affinity real orapparent with the Gr^co-Judaic philosophy of the school ofPhilo, the Gospel of S. John and the Epistle to the Hebrews.There have been writers of mark who believe that in boththese instances the distinctive doctrine of the Di\ane Logosis borrowed from Alexandria. In the case of S. John thishypothesis has been ably refuted ; and Semitic scholars haveshown that expressions and modes of thought existed withinthe Jewish range which were capable of the developmentthey assume in his writings without being borrowed fromPhilo. In the case of the Epistle to the Hebrews, there isno doubt much more to be said in favour of an Alexandrianinfluence ; but even there the metaphysical aspect is sub-ordinate to the theological, and the Epistle can be adequatelycriticised without reference to Philo.

But so soon as we leave the New Testament and turn tothe Apologetic literature, we are face to face with a verydifferent state of things. What before was at best dubious,is now unquestionable. If we examine the same Logos-doctrine as expounded by Justin, Tatian. or Origen, we findno vestige of a Semitic colouring. The conception is recastin the crucible of Greek metaphysics, and evolved in accord-ance with the searching dialectic of the schools. And this isdone as a matter of course, as the most natural thing in theworld. Moreover, the same process is repeated with all theleading ideas of the Christian faith.

Take, for example, the dogma of Creation. To the Jewthis was not conceived of so much in the way of an explana-tion of the Universe as in the light of an authoritative dictumof the Eternal Creator. To the Greek Christian it offersitself both as a truth to be established and as a problem tobe ex]Dlained. He connects it by various lines of reasoning,


44/351

12 INTRODUCTION.sometimes heretical, sometimes orthodox, with the essentialnature of the Supreme God, and shows that it flows neces-sarily from that nature when properly understood. It becomes,therefore, not only a supernatural revelation, but an intel-lectual truth.

The same remark is true of the doctrine of the Trinity,the Incarnation, original sin, redemption, and all the othermysteries of the Christian faith. An attempt is always madeto connect them intelligibly with the formal revelation to theChurch on the one hand, and with the processes of the humanintelligence on the other. The methods and terminology ofmetaphysics are applied with the greatest freedom, and carriedinto the very citadel of Revelation ; and so thoroughly is theamalgamation between the two spheres effected, that, asDean Milman has declared with scarcely an exaggeration,in the fourth century of our era Christianity had become aGreek religion. Nor is there anything in this that need sur-prise us. No thinkers can transcend the forms of thoughtin which their minds have learned to move. The Jew couldnot; still less could the Greek. But in the latter case itwas the less necessary, since, of all forms of thought in whichthe human mind has worked, that which comes nearest touniversality is that wrought out in the laboratory of theHellenic mind. Thus, in speaking of Dogmatic Christianityas a Greek religion, little more need be implied than thatthe great spiritual truths that came forth clothed in thepopular dialect of the Jews were re-stated in terms of theuniversal human intelligence.As the outcome of this energising of Greek culture upon

(christian data, we have the presentation of Christianity notonly as a life to be lived but as a system of connected trutha complete explanation of the universe. This is our greatdebt to the writers of this period. They do not all stand onone elevation ; they are content at first with presenting theirbelief in the form of spiritual epistles on the model of thoseof the New Testament, or with issuing forensic pleadings forthe toleration of their cult. But they soon gird themselvesto the larger task of determining the place of Christianity


45/351

INTRODUCTION. 13among the competing systems of the day, and proving it tobe not only the superior of them all, but the only one thatis able to explain what in the rest is false, and to include allthat in them is true. The genius of the writers increaseswith the exigencies of their task ; the slender insight intoGreek philosophy possessed by Aristides widens into thebroad sympathetic touch of Justin, or the able but hostilepolemics of Tatian and the writer to Diognetus. And thisagain gives place, as time rolls on, to the gigantic learningand comprehensive grasp of Clement, and the tender butdiscriminating sympathy of the beautiful soul of Origen, tobe succeeded in its turn by the brilliant scornoffspring notof ignorance but of profound knowledgewhich gleams inthe pages of Tertullian, and the large-hearted but super-ficial eclecticism which makes at once the strength andweakness of Lactantius.To this second period we owe also the ennobling practical

conviction that truth is attested by suffering for the truth'ssake. The long line of martyrs who died for their faith,not only, as Tertullian declared, sowed by their blood theseed of the Church, but they also brought home to the mindsof all unprejudiced heathens the actual living presence ofthat Lord who enabled His servants to overcome the wholepower of the world, and to display before the turbid andchaotic fury of a hopelessly despairing age the spectacle of aserene certitude, sure of its object, and content to die inrealising it. The lesson thus given to mankind has not beenlost. Though we cannot declare a doctrine to be true solelybecause men suffer for it, yet it has generally been foundthat those beliefs for which good men have willingly suffereddeath have, as a matter of fact, been true, and so the sacredunion between divine truth and human witness to it throughthe path of suffering or contempt has become, as it were,ingrained as an axiom in the consciousness of mankind.The third period, which it is beyond the province of the

present volume to discuss, comprehends the great dogmatictreatises of the Church, and to its saints and theologians weowe the vast conception of a Christian civilisationthat is,


46/351

1 INTRODUCTION.a reconstruction of the wliole fabric of liinnan lifts within andwithout, upon the basis of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ,the mightiest idea that has ever been presented to this earth,and which, in the future as in the past, will surely cai'ry usonward to its distant but inevitable consummation. On this,however, we cannot here enlarge.

It may perhaps be said :Granting the effect of thepatristic writings on the moral progress of mankind, is nottheir scope too restricted to make the study of them pro-fitable to any but theological students ? We may concedeat once that the Fathers will never be popular authors. Inspite of the excellent translations that are available, in spiteof the brilliant essays and commentaries on them by someof our greatest divines, and in spite of the real concern ofmost Englishmen with the subject of religion, people invari-ably prefer lines of reading more akin to their habitualmodes of thought. The Fathers have the mould of ages onthem. Their theolomcal dialect suafofests remoteness fromordinary life ; the doubts and controversies they raise, setforth in the terms of an extinct metaphysic, belie their real])('rmanence and seem to hark back to a buried past. The])rolix tone of the discussions, the arid polemics which seemto -lose themselves in a mist of wordy disputation, repel thereader who is accustomed to the energetic compression ofclassical, or the rich freedom of modern literature. All thesecauses combined lead to very general injustice being doneto the profound wisdom and intense moral grandeur whichshine forth in the literature of the early Church, and morethan atone for its general deficiency in beauty of style.

But although, in an age of hurry and over-pressure, it isdifficult to find time for the study of original works, or evento so read between the lines of a translation as to seize onthe element of living thought and make it our own, yet it byno means follows that the works themselves have lost theirvalue, or that an account of them is not of general interest.

The exact contrary is nearer the truth. At no time sincethe Reformation have the works of the Fathers assumed a moreimportant position in the defence of the Christian religion


47/351

INTRODUCTION. 15than they do now. At no time has the value of their testi-mony been more decisively felt. The point of attack hasveered round of late years, and hostile criticism directs itsshafts against the historical authenticity and credibility ofthe evangelic records. The writings of the first three cen-turies have been subjected, by both parties, to a fresh andmost thorough examination, with the purpose of establish-ing or refuting the claims of the Gospels to be accountedauthentic history. The question of the canon of the NewTestament has been reopened, and the discussion has turnedon its attestation by mtnesses summoned from the early agesof the Church. The whole series of writers, orthodox andheretical, have been cross-examined, with results which havethrown a remarkable and unex]^)ected light on the subject indispute. The Christian believer must needs be deeply con-cerned in this great controversy as to the date of the NewTestament writings. And although he may not feel com-petent to study the evidence at first hand, he will assuredlyfeel a personal interest in appreciating those sources ofinformation, on whose verdict so vital an issue depends. Ashas been said, the aim of the present work is not theologicalor evidential controversy, but literary criticism. Those whodesire to satisfy their minds as to the genuineness of theapostolic writings must read the works of those eminentscholars who have enriched so magnificently the theologicaltreasury of the English Church. The object of this book issimply to review the succession of writings which, com-mencing at the close of the first century, struck out an everwider range, until it culminated in the great philosophicaland theological productions of the Alexandrian and Africanchurches.

It will be necessary, therefore, to disengage the writersas far as possible from their connection with existing con-troversies, and to point out how they became the torch-bearers of progress, mental and moral, through a night whichthreatened extinction to both. It will be useful to keep inview the aspect of the Church Fathers as men placed likeourselves, amid highly stimulating and anxious surroundings,


48/351

1 INTRODUCTION.men of earnestness, men of intelligence, who were bent onunderstanding the needs of their time, who believed that inthe doctrines which had brought them peace they had foundthe only key to its perplexities and its yearnings.

Yet, in truth, if we abstract ourselves from the specialforms of thought then prevalent, and look steadily at theessential nature of the problems raised for solution, weshall find the most striking resemblance between the Im-perial period and our own. Both in its external movementsand in its inner spirit the era of the rise of Christianitycomes nearer to the nineteenth century than to any inter-vening period.

Let us look first at the side of material civilisation. Thewhole world was under one system of law, and a uniform ad-ministration effaced national idiosyncrasies. One language,the Greek, was widely spread if not universal, and that nodead dialect, but a living and growing idiom, albeit fallenfrom its first estate.

Then, as now, the life of man was concentrated in cities,and the country districts were rapidly losing touch with thehigher thought. Communication between different parts ofthe world was, comparatively speaking, easy, safe, and direct.Travel was less expeditious than it is now, but scarcely lessgeneral. It was pursued not only for purposes of commerce,but for pleasure, for health, for the acquisition of knowledge.The habit of studying at foreign universities was, perhaps,commoner then than it is now. Books, no doubt, werescarce, but their place was to some extent supplied by thelocal lecturer or the itinerant sophist. Moreover, the uni-versal habit of open-air life brought people into such constantcontact that information of any kind soon became publicproperty, and opinion speedily ripened in the crowded street.The popular will had no difficulty in finding a voice ; andone effect of it was the general tendency to vulgarisewhat was great or noble. The standard of excellence wasdiffused but reduced. The proud and exclusive familiesof the Eepublic still survived in name, but in reality theywere almost extinct. The j^arvefiu and the cosmopolite were


49/351

INTRODUCTION. 17everywhere predominant. The coarse ideals of wealth andluxury supplanted, as they are supplanting now, but in a stillgrosser manner, the self-discipline of a sterner age. Thefemale sex had asserted its social independence, not withoutsuccess. Roman law was in several respects favourable towomen's rights. On all sides levelling influences were atwork. The proletariate of the world was rapidly assertingitself as the supreme arbiter of desert. All sorts of competi-tors catered for its tastesmountebanks, sophists, mao-icians,philosophers, astrologers, theosophists ; and all of them, tosecure a favourable hearing, were obliged to adopt the sametone, and that anything but a high one. To court applauseit was necessary to play to the gallery. The earnest soul ofAurelius found no fit audience for its meditations. He there-fore addressed them to himself.^On its spiritual side, the parallel between the two epochs

is yet more striking, as also is the contrast. In both themental condition is one of unrest ; in both this unrest is dueto the same cause, decay of religious belief, combined withan uncontrollable desire to penetrate the mystery of ourbeing. The Pagan creed never had more than an aesthetichold over men's hearts, consequently it was no hard task toundermine it. The Christian faith is not surrendered withouta deeper conflict, a darker sense of desolation. But if wescrutinise the different substitutes now offered for it, weshall detect more than one of the very systems to which menof old turned in their search for lost truth.At bottom there are but three solutions of the problem of

the universe. First, there is Theism, with its distinguishingdoctrines of free creation, and moral personality of God andman. It does not profess to account for the origin of matter,and is content to trace the existence of evil to the determi-nations of an independent will. Next, there is Pantheism,which in its lowest sense becomes materialism, identifyingthe Deity with the universe as the unconscious working ofunvarying law, and in its higher sense becomes Spinozism, orthe taking up of all apparent contradictions into an absolute

^ They are entitled twv eU eavrov /it/3Xta. B


50/351

l8 INTKODIK'TION.unity which excludes alike Divine Personality and humanresponsibility. Thirdly, tliere is Dualism, whether undis-guised, as in the Manichean theory of two equal Deities ofdiverse nature, or veiled beneath an abstract unity, whichseeks (but without success) to account for matter by a pro-cess of emanation or projection. Of this the moral resultis inevitably asceticism, for its moral theory at any ratecannot escape from the underlying assumption that matteris essentially evil.

Those are terrible moments for the human spirit, whenit is left to its own resources to choose between these threepositions. When Christianity first appeared upon the scene,the disintegration of belief was already far advanced. Manyof those who embraced the new faith had passed through theother solutions, and some strove earnestly to combine it withone or other of them, unawar(^ of their fundamental incom-patibility.

In the modern world we see the Christian position oncemore placed in competition witli new forms of the sameopposing principles. We see a widespread desire, nay rather,an intense anxiety, to retain the moral side of Christianitywhile relinquishing its Theistic basis. But the Theosophist,the Agnostic, and the higher Pantheist will find their pointof view anticipated, and many of their objections alreadyanswered, in the arguments of the Alexandrian Fathers.They will find that only by an illusory syncretism or fusingtogether of discordant elements, can room be found for aChristian system of conduct that does not spring directlyfrom the fountain-liead of the Incarnation. They will thusbe forced to conclude that either Christianity is, what it pro-fesses to be, a unique phenomenon ; or else it must be rankedas merely one among many religions which, whatever theircomparative merit, are surveyed from a neutral standpointby the truly critical eye.

The last and most deadly enemy of the rising Christianitywas Neo-Platonism, just because of its all-comprehensive,all-resolving spirit, which gave it an apparent universalitywhile yet it was in truth utterly unsubstantial. Precisely in


51/351

INTRODUCTION. 19the same manner, wt- now see its place taken by the Scienceof Eeligions. wliich, so long as it maintains a strictly scientificattitude, is of the highest value; but which will inevitablymelt into nothing if it assumes to transcend the scientificsphere and to come forward as a religion of religions, an all-including body of truth.

In conclusion, we may aflSrm that the reader whoapproaches the study of the Fathers with the object of in-vestigating their testimony to the historical character ofChrist's life on earth, and the authenticity of the recordswhich embody it. will find a rich recompense for the diffi-culty and obscurity of his subject ; he will perceive in theobjections made against it by able heathen opponents ananticipation of many of those with which we have of lateyears become so familiar. As he reads on, the obsoletetrappings of antiquity will seem to drop off, and the essentialfreshness of the evidence and its general applicability to ourown time will abundantly appear. And if his bent of mindlead him rather to theological than to historical disquisitions,he will observe, perhaps with surprise, the profound learning,the acute conceptions, and the power of spiritual insightthat characterise writings which he has been led to regard asmere monuments of technical skill, with little bearing on the\TLtal questions of his own daily life.

It needs some historical imagination to reproduce to ourown minds the exceeding disadvantage at which, from ahuman point of view, the Christian cause was placed, andthe marvellous energy, surely divine in its source, with whichone obstacle after another was confronted and overcome.At first, by the patient endurance of unmerited suffering(the triumphant realisation of Plato's glorious vision of truthin the Gorgias), and afterwards by the hand-to-hand conflictof argument vnih argument, of ideal with ideal, of thoughtwith thought : until the light won its way slowly but surelythrough the darkness that encompassed it, and the Cross wasproved to be in the realm of man's intellect what it hadalready shown itself in the realm of his moral nature, theEternal Symbol of his supreme and only good.


52/351


53/351

BOOK I.THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS.

CHAPTER I.THE APOSTOLIC FATHERSGENERAL REMARKS.

As has been stated in the introduction, there is a long gapbetween the close of the apostolic writings and the com-mencement of ecclesiastical literature proper. The interven-ing period is one of silent growth, broken only by a fewscattered voices. We could have wislied for fuller informa-tion, both as to the founding of Church institutions and theformulating of Christian doctrine. As it is, we are left agood deal to conjecture. Nor is the amount of knowledgeobtainable from the few documents that remain by anymeans equal to what might have been expected. It waswith Christianity as with so many other great things : theperiod of its early growth was involved in obscurity, andwhen it awoke to self-consciousness, it had forgotten theevents of its infancy, or retained them only in scattered re-collections. The vivid light that encircles its first preachinggives way to a dim twilight, in which the growth that isfast proceeding finds but feeble ex|3ression in words.

The Apostolic Fathers, as they are usually called, thoughsub-apostolic would be a more correct name, supply in a partialand fragmentary way the blank in our sources of infor-mation. They are persons occupying as a rule prominentpositions in the Christian world, and their works are forthe most part occasional writings called forth by special


54/351

22 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS.circumstances. This is true, at least, of the Apostolic Fathersproper. There are some other Christian writings \\ hich fromtheir antiquity and peculiar character are classed as sub-apostolic, but come more properly under the head of regulartreatises and show quite a different tone of mind and teach-ing. To -the former class belong the Epistle of Clement,with which we may rank the short homily also ascribed to him ;the Epistles of Ignatius, and the Epistle of PolycaiiD. Thesestand in a class by themselves. To the second belong theEpistle of Barnabas so called, the Shepherd of Hermas, theExposition of the Divine Oracles by Papias, and, last but notleast, the anonymous manual of Christian lif.- known as theDidach4.The dates and authenticity of nearly all these writings

have been hotly disputed. Few of them have much definiteattestation, which makes it all the more desirable that theattainable evidence, such as it is, should be sifted with anunbiassed mind. Unfortunately, in the case of two out ofthe three primary documents, so many points of ecclesiasticalinterest are involved in the discussion as to their authenti-city that the argument has been as much theological asliterary, and a priori considerations have been mixed upwith matters of historical evidence.The monumental work of Lightfoot has brought into pro-

minence both the importance of these Fathers and the generalresults of the critical study of them. The constant use madein these pages of the Bishop's conclusions will be apparent toany one familiar with them, and need not be referred toagain.

General Characteristics.Before commencing a detailedaccount of these Fathers and their writings, we propose tomention some general characteristics which differentiate themfrom writers of the succeeding age.

I. They are all (except Hermas) closely connected bypersonal association with the Apostles or their immediatefollowers. And no stronger indication can be desired of thesurpassing spiritual gifts of the Apostles than the impressionthev made on those who had intercourse with them. Thus


55/351

GENERAL REMARKS. 23Clement, whose serene and di^rnified temper was far fromprone to enthusiasm, not only speaks of them with the loftiestpraise, but strives to reproduce their thoughts and acknow-ledges their binding authority. Ignatius, while encouraginghimself by their example, nevertheless draws a complete lineof distinction between tlie Apostles and himself. Polycaqiseems to have no other desire than faithfully to reproduceand reiterate the treasured sentences of apostolic teaching.Papias insists in the strongest terms on the superior valueof apostolic tradition to the voluminous but uncertificatedconclusions of those outside their circle. The author of theDidache, while providing for the possible continuance of theapostolic office in his own time, nevertheless rates its dignityas highly as any one, and speaks of Apostles being receivedas the Lord.

2. But this recognition of the unapproachable superiorityof the Apostles was accompanied by a formal imitation oftheir writinsfs, which not onlv differentiates these writersfrom those that follow, but brings into startling relief thedecline in spiritual power that marked the close of the firstage. The sole exception is Ignatius, whose fiery zeal andbrilliant individuality cause his letters to stand out with afreshness hardly inferior to those of the New Testament.Yet, with all his emphasis of expression, he does not speakas one who is laying down principles for the first time. Heis a ruler, but not a creator. The very way in which hemagnifies the episcopal office almost forbids one to believethat it was an absolute novelty, though no doubt sufficientlynew to need authoritative inculcation. The other writerspresent few thoughts that can be called original, thoughmany that are highly valuable for hortatory and devotionalends. Barnabas, indeed, or whoever wrote his epistle, strikesout a vein of exegesis which he regards as a signal proof ofspiritual insight ; but to the modern Christian it appears inthe light of an utterly mistaken, not to say puerile, method.Neither he nor Clement is able to grasp the fundamentalideas of the great Apostle, though both have evidently studiedthem, and Clement at any rate strives faithfully to reproduce


56/351

24 THK AI'OSTOLIC FATHKRS.tlifiii. I'liis will be sufficiently evident if we compare thelOtli. iitli. and I2tli chapters of Clement's Epistle, whichdeal with the grace of faith, with that portion of the Epistleto the Homaus which establishes the I'auline doctrine ofjustification. In the case of Barnabas, the incompetency tounderstand S. Paul is far more glaring, and amounts almostto contradiction. To S. Paul the ^Mosaic law, though doneaway in Christ, was a genuinely divine stage in the greatwork of redempti\'e grace. To Barnabas it was not so mucha concession to human imperfection, not so much a means ofarousing the sense of sin, as a punishment inilicted on theJews for their failure to apprehend the spiritual character ofGod's primal revelation. This misapprehension of the rela-tion of the two covenants is not confined to Barnabas. Itreappears with damaging effect in the arguments of Justin,and even of Clement of Alexandria ; and in a different way itmakes itself felt in IrenfBus and Tertullian, leading the formerthinkers to underrate the value of the legal dispensation, andthe latter to reimpose it in a purified form u]ion the membersof the Christian Church.

It seems almost as if there was a spiritual reaction afterthe immense outpouring of the Divine influence in the gi*eatcreative age. All at once the tension is relaxed, and in placeof the glorious principles of free grace and love as the fulfil-ment of the law, we find a very earnest and devout butdecidedly narrowed conception of the Christian's privileges,and a tendency to erect a new code of ethical commandmentsto replace the old. This is especially noticeable in the Didacheand Epistle of Barnabas, but is by no means wholly absentfrom the higher level of thought attained by Clement andPolycarp.

3. We must remark, however, that it is in their in-tellectual insight alone that these truly holy men displaythis marked inferiority. In the ethical sphere they areadmirable, and well deserve the lionour which the Clnurhhas given them.

So pure is the spirit that animates the practical exhorta-tions of Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp that their Avorks


57/351

(iENKRAL REMARKS. 25were treasured by the faithful as divinely-given helps torijTfhteousness, and those of Clement in especial were read])ublicly in the Cluirches, and frequently embodied in tran-scriptions as sup]:)lem('ntai-y portions of inspired Holy Writ.The same honour was in some (juartcrs accorded also to thewritings of IJarnabas and llermas. to the former from hismystical exegesis of the Old Testament, to the latter fromhis direct claim to inspiration. There is something verybeautiful in the calm assured conviction of Clement, in thepassionate love of Ignatius for his Saviour, in the ])ui-eheavenly wisdom that breathes through Polycarp's shortepistle ; and something very touching in the naive simpli-city of the Didache, with its literal acceptance of Christ'sprecepts and its absolute unworldliness. Never again in theliterature of the early (Jhurch do we meet with writingswhich, whatever their intellectual limitations, bear so fresha stamp of that vision of unearthly purity, that perfect restin the Father's love, and that life which is hid with Christin God.

J^Jach of them has bequeathed something to Christianitywhich the Church could ill spare. To Clement we owe thepervading sense of the Divine Order, manifested in thevisible universe, and not less truly operative in the spiritualworld, though it requires the eye of faith to discern it ; agreat and fruitful thought. Its influence is seen in the sternrepression of his own personality, which gives his words,delivered as the utterances of the Church of the world'scapital, a solemn grandeur, peculiarly appropriate to the diffi-cult duty of interposing in the quarrels of a sister community.To Ignatius we owe the first impassioned ex]3ression of thethirst for martyrdom, which, though carried to excess attimes, was the most effective object-lesson of the supremeattachment of the soul to its Lord. We owe to him, also,the clear perception of the necessity of an organised Chris-tianity if the Church was to carry out her task by system aswell as by zeal. To Polycarp we owe the example of a faith-ful ruler of Christ's flocka rock-like man, deficient inoriginality, unmarked by eloquence ; but all the more fixed

c. t. cruttwell - a literary history of early christianity n.1

Documents