The Nascent Church - An Examination of the Early Fathers

[rest_in_thee]

One of the great challenges in ecumenical discussions is how to appropriately translate particular biblical texts. Some of the biggest issues affected by this problem of correct interpretation include: apostolic succession, celebration of the Eucharist, authority of ordained ministry, the nature of the Church, and the respective roles of Scripture and Tradition. In each of these issues, arguments are crafted using biblical verses and references to various Scriptures, and in the end it seems as if it just comes down to how one chooses to interpret a passage. For this reason I find it is helpful to look at several of the earliest writings from the nascent Church, writings that come from people who either were taught directly by the Apostles and first generation Christians, or were only one generation removed. Several of these writings come from leaders of communities where we know for certain that the teaching of the Apostles was firmly rooted, and thus looking at how they carried out the apostolic teaching can be very beneficial to assisting in the formation of our own understanding of how best to interpret these passages.

Before I begin with some of the writings themselves, I would like to introduce the persons who have authored these works, so that we can know something of their background. We have:

• Ignatius of Antioch - Probably the third bishop of the See of Antioch (though some traditions state he was the second, but it appears that Evodius was an early bishop there who died only a few years into his episcopacy), he became bishop sometime around the year A.D. 67. He was a disciple of Beloved John the Apostle, and certainly would have learned directly from Peter and Paul and Apostles. Theodoret and others report that he was ordained as bishop directly by Peter himself. Having been born right around the time of Christ's death, he certainly learned directly from first generation Apostles. He was martyred in approx. A.D. 110, and on his way to Rome to be fed to the lions he wrote a series of letters to seven different Sees throughout the Church. In these letters we have a profound sense of the theological understanding of the apostolic teaching on a variety of important issues.
  
• Hippolytus of Rome - A late second/early third century, a disciple of Polycarp (who himself was a disciple of the Apostle John) who wrote prolifically and especially made it a point to record the various practices of worship handed down by the Apostles. Through him we have a magnificent glimpse into the Mass of the early apostolic Church.
  
• Clement of Rome - While many in the early Church, including Tertullian, recorded Clement as being the first successor to Peter as bishop of Rome, it appears more likely that he was in fact the third such successor, presiding over that See sometime in the late first century (for several centuries the bishop of Rome did not last very long, as they were almost always martyred. This fact played a significant factor in the development of the primacy of that See, as the fact of their frequent martyrdom lent to the Roman church a great credibility throughout the greater Church). He is also the first Apostolic Father of the Church. There is only one writing of his that we know for sure is authentic, an epistle to the Corinthians, and so I will only examine bits from that one.
  
• Irenaeus of Lyons - An early third century bishop of Lugdunum, Gaul (modern day Lyons, France), who was a disciple of Polycarp. His writings dealt with some of the earliest known heresies of the Church and thus he set forth one very well known work of systematic theology, Adversus haereses, or Against heresies. He wrote other works, as well, though we only have fragments remaining.
  

There are many other early Fathers whose writings we would worthily examine, and if I decide to look at any of them I will offer a very brief biographical introduction as above. How I will do this is instead of posting large sections or even complete works of these Fathers, instead I will focus each post on a Father and an issue, and publish any relevant writings of their related to the issue, and then I will offer a brief commentary of my own that also looks at what Scripture has to say about the same subject. I look forward to having a fruitful discussion as we examine the early Christian understanding of various apostolic teachings.