San Beda College Alabang THEO3: The Church, Sacraments, Prof. Carlo Enrico C.

Tinio,
CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

Lesson 2
THE APOSTOLIC AGE:
THE ANCIENT CHRISTIAN WRITERS AND THE
CHRISTIAN LITERATURE OF THE EARLY CHURCH

CHURCH ORDERS

Concern for the organization of the community’s daily life appears quite soon in the history of
the early Church. A need was felt to regulate the common life of its members, the manner of
receiving guests and strangers, and aid for the poor and sick. In particular, there was an effort to
order common prayer so as to avoid all confusion. These concerns found juridical or, as we would
say, canonical, expression in the so-called CHURCH ORDERS.

A trail of evidence for these can be found in all patrologies, even though unlike other ancient
Christian writings, they do not strictly belong to the history of early Christian literature.1 In fact, most
of these “canonical” writings are anonymous and owe their origin to compilers. Put together mostly
during the third and fourth centuries in Syria and Egypt, these collections are closely related to each
other. The later ones are essentially reworkings of earlier ones. Their authors, in fact, did not intend
to preserve the traditions they received but to adapt them to new circumstances in their
communities. We should note in this regard that concern to regulate the community’s daily life soon
becomes a concern to guarantee its hierarchical order. Thus we can speak of a living literature.
Finally, these collections are distinguished by their pseudepigraphal character. They were issued
under apostolic authority. At first this claim was meant only to stress their conformity to apostolic
teaching. But with time greater emphasis was placed on their apostolic origin, and they were
attributed to Clement of Rome, Hippolytus, individual apostles, and even Jesus himself.

Although these documents are collections and pseudepigraphal in nature, they deserve to be
considered as the first. More than other writings, they bear witness to the historical evolution of
rites and liturgical prayers, at least for those times and places where they originated. Their compilers,
by issuing them under apostolic authority, filled the lacuna existing between the authority of Sacred
Scripture, which was accepted during the second century, and the authority of synods, which would
not be recognized until the fourth century.2 At any rate, these documents pseudepigraphal nature
certainly contributed to their acceptance by local churches which were more or less important. It is
not easy to interpret this “canonical” evidence. The original versions have not always been
completely preserved. Often we must turn to much later translations from Syriac, Latin, or other
languages. We must also exercise care when judging the acceptance of documents that were already
a collection. The new compiler has not only placed them in a different setting but has also frequently
modified individual chapters. Finally, we must not forget that in condemning certain abuses and

1
B. Altaner and A. Stuiber, Patrologie, § 64. “Kirchenordnungen und liturgische Texte.”
2
G. Schöllgen, Kirchenordnungen, 21.

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CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

insisting on certain rules, the compiler has presented personal ideals but not described the actual
situation in the community.

1. Didaché

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, usually called the Didaché, has been described as a manual
of catechetics, liturgy, and discipline (Rordorf). It was probably composed around the end of the first
century near Antioch in Syria. It includes three parts and an epilogue. The first part consists of a
moral instruction of Jewish origin, which has been Christianized: the teaching on the Way of Life and
the Way of Death (1-6). The second part deals with baptism, Christian fasting, daily prayer, and
prayers of thanksgiving (7-10). Especially noteworthy is the fact that baptism is administered with a
trinitarian formula. As for the prayers before and after meals, we are not sure if these are Eucharistic
Prayers. In any case, their structure, which is borrowed from Jewish tradition, can help us to
understand better the later Eucharistic anaphoras. The third part contains disciplinary prescriptions
concerning hospitality, the ministers of the community, and the Sunday celebration (11-5). The work
ends with an eschatological admonition (16).

Its liturgical orientation is evident in the chapters on baptism, the prayers of thanksgiving, and
the Lord’s Day. But the other chapters are not without liturgical interest. In fact, the instruction is
presented with a view to baptism (see 7, 1) and so is pre-baptismal in nature. The same is true for
fasting and prayer. The teacher speaks about the position of prophets and their relation to bishops
and deacons, after alluding to their liturgical ministry (10, 7).3 Finally, the epilogue urges the
community to gather frequently in order to be ready for the parousia of the Lord, whose hour no
one knows (16, 1f). No doubt this first Church Order, although it reflects only the situation in one
minor local church, sheds a great deal of light on the beginnings of the Christian liturgy. It helps us
recognize its Jewish background. As prototype of a whole Series of “canonical” documents, it also
helps us understand how from the very beginning Christian communities felt the need for liturgical
and disciplinary rules and prescriptions.

2. Traditio Apostolica

According to Quasten, the Apostolic Tradition must be considered a document of inestimable

value for our knowledge of church institutions and Christian life during the first centuries.4

The document's structure is not very clear. Based on the titles, which according to Botte are
ancient, it is divided as follows: Prologue, in which the author defends the tradition of his community
against certain innovations; Church Order (1-21), including rituals and prayers for the ordination of
bishops (2-4), presbyters (7), and deacons (8), as well as the catechumenate and Christian initiation

3
See also 15, 1 where the subject changes from Sunday to the appointment of bishops and deacons. It is
significant that in the Apostolic Constitutions (VII 26, 6) the prophets are replaced by presbyters.
4
J. Quasten, Patrologia I (Rome, 1967) 35.

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CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

(15-21); Prescriptions for community banquets (22-30); Various prescriptions (31-42); Epilogue, in
which the author insists again on the value of tradition.

Given the contents of this document, there is no way to deny its unique importance for the
history of liturgy. But what is needed is an interpretation of its texts that takes into account the fact
that Botte’s edition is a reconstruction based primarily on the fourth-century Latin version. The
Eastern additions, possibly lost in the Latin version, must also be considered. Those who would say
that Hippolytus of Rome compiled the Apostolic Tradition should not forget that the writings
attributed to him are divided into two blocks: the so-called Eastern writings and the writings
mentioned in the list on the chair of the “statue of Hippolytus.” Only writings from the second block
may be used for an auctor per auctorem explanation. Furthermore, the importance of the Apostolic
Tradition, which certainly existed in some form, is also a result of its acceptance by later compilers
and translators.5

3. Didascalia Apostolorum

The Didascalia Apostolorum, written around the year 230 by a bishop in Syria, was only partially
transmitted in Greek — in the Apostolic Constitutions (I-VI). On the other hand, it was completely
preserved in other languages, especially in a Syriac version, which must ante-date the middle of the
fourth century. Also important is a partial Latin version, which may go back to the end of the fourth
century. Dealing with a large number of disciplinary questions, it insists strongly on freedom from
the Law (24f). As for its liturgical elements, the chapters on the bishop’s duties, including those
toward penitents (4-14), are especially interesting. Other subjects of interest include the organization
of the liturgical assembly (12), deacons and deaconesses (16), and the discipline of fasting (21).

4. Canones Ecclestastict Apostolorum (CPG 1739)

The Canones Ecclesiastici Apostolorum, also called the Apostolic Church Order, are a brief work
that, like the Didaché, includes the teaching on the Two Ways (4-15), a part on church ministries (16-
22), and a part on the role of the laity, men and women (23-30). It goes back to the third or fourth
century and reflects conditions in Syria or Egypt.

5. Constitutiones per Hippolytum — Canones Hippolyti

The Constitutions of Hippolytus, also known as the Epitome, have been incorporated into Book VIII of
the Apostolic Constitutions, the Canons of Hippolytus and the Testamentum Domini. They may reflect
the situation in the Roman Church, but they leave many unanswered questions. Nowadays the
Canons of Hippolytus are regarded as prior to the Apostolic Constitutions.

5
See the information in CPG 1737.

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CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

6. Constitutiones Apostolorum (CPG 1730)

The rather extensive work known as the Apostolic Constitutions is the first of the pseudo-
apostolic canonical collections. Written around the end of the fourth century in northern Syria, it is
presented by its compiler (compilers?) as the final document of the so-called Council of the Apostles
(Acts 15), edited by Clement of Rome. It includes pre-Nicene canonical and liturgical texts, specifically
the Didascalia (I-VI), the Didache (VIII, 1-32), the Traditio Apostolica (VIII), and the Canoni Apostolici
(VIII, 47). As documentary evidence for the liturgy of the first four centuries, it is of considerable
importance. It contains a nearly complete eucharistic ritual (VII-VIII) and many prayers not found in
the received sources. These are mostly from the author himself. Those texts borrowed from earlier
collections have obviously undergone later development. The compiler’s modifications and additions
become more substantial in the third book, and in the last two books they predominate. Of a stylistic
nature, they add to the number of biblical quotations, show greater respect for the community’s
new situation, highlight the apostolic origin of the documents, and adapt them to the compiler’s
own theology. However, this last point is still debated by specialists. At any rate, the author’s
theology should not be called Arian, even though it does not really reflect orthodox belief at the time
of its composition. The Quinisext Synod (692) had already rejected certain of the collection’s
passages as heretical interpolations. On the other hand, its apostolic origin was never questioned in
antiquity. Thus it is not surprising that the collection was translated, at least in part, into various
languages.6

There are also other canonical collections, such as the Collectio Veronensis (CPG 1731), the Sinodos
Alexandrina (CPG 1732), and the Octoeuchos Clementinus (1733). But these collections are later than
the year 400, although they may contain earlier documents. The same is true of the Testamentum
Domini (CPG 1743).

[Source: Basil Studer, O.S.B., “Liturgical Documents of the First Four Centuries,” in Handbook for
Liturgical Studies, Vol. I, ed. A.J. Chupungco (Collegeville Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1997) 199-205.]

PRIVILEGED TESTIMONY

In their discussions and acceptance of the faith of Nicaea (325), fourth-century bishops and
theologians began to appeal not only to Sacred Scripture, but also to the Fathers.7 At first this name
was used with reference to those who had taken part in the first ecumenical council. Later it was
extended to all who had joined their colleagues in testifying to and defending the Catholic faith
defined by that council. From the fifth century on, the name “Fathers” was also given to all
ecclesiastical writers, whether bishops or not, who had been acknowledged as witnesses of the true
faith. Following in the wake of Augustine, Vincent of Lérins referred to the holy Fathers “who in their
times and places persevered in the unity of communion and faith and were regarded as approved
teachers.”8 Today when scholars speak of the “Fathers of the Church,” they no longer mean only

6
See CPG 1730.
7
See Dizionario patristico e di antichità cristiane (3 vols. Casale Monferrato, 1983-1988), s.vv.
“Argomentazione patristica,” “Padre” and “Padri della Chiesa.”
8
Vincent of Lérins, Common 29, 1.

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CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

those writers who were conspicuous for their antiquity, orthodoxy, holiness of life, and approval by
the Church — as was said in Catholic circles after the Council of Trent. Instead they include in this
name all Christian writers of the first five or eight centuries. It is in this broad sense that we speak
here of the Fathers, patristic theology, and the patristic age. Those writers who lived more or less
outside the Great Church or were considered — rightly or wrongly — as marginal by later writers,
testified in their own way to the acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even though they were
dissenters, they can often help us understand better the testimony of those who are usually
acknowledged as authentic witnesses hand Christian life.9

No doubt the existence of post-apostolic communities and their Conditions can be known by
people today chiefly through the written documents left by early Christian writers. It was they who
bore witness to the faith and life of the first generations of believers. Following Augustine, who
distinguishes between fides historica and fides religiosa,10 their testimony can be considered as
historical or theological.

On the one hand, early Christian writers furnish a wealth of information on the spread of
Christianity in the area around the Mediterranean, on the history of the growing number of
communities, and on the gradual Christianization of the Roman Provinces and even. the surrounding
regions. Thus it is not surprising that the origin and evolution of liturgical life are known primarily
through their writings, handed down from age to age even to the Present. Thanks to this evidence,
which is certainly abundant, modern readers can get an idea of the organization of liturgical
celebrations, especially Christian initiation, study the origin of sacred times, especially the feast of
Easter, learn about the evolution of ecclesial ministries, and understand the symbolic meaning
Christians attached to their acts of worship.

But believers today are not satisfied with a purely historical study of the Church’s liturgy.
They are trying to grasp the deeper meaning of Christian Worship. Thus they look at the early liturgy
within the framework of the secular dialogue about belief in God. They see that it is at the heart of
the ongoing conversation between the first Christians and their God. People who believe in Christ are
convinced that their dialogue with God must be apostolic, that is, based on apostolic tradition as
handed down especially in Sacred Scripture. They are also convinced that their dialogue of faith is
truly apostolic only to the extent that it takes place within the wake of the tradition of the post-
apostolic Churches—especially those closer to the origins of Christianity. With these two premises in
mind, Christians today also know that their liturgical dialogue with God will be apostolic only if it
recovers the voice of those who in the beginning celebrated the liturgy of the Church of God. More
concretely, the faithful and especially liturgical theologians who wish to be nourished by the faith of
their fathers and mothers and share the faith of the early liturgical assemblies, need the theological
witness of the early Church’s writers. Only by knowing these writings and recognizing their

9
For criteria to ascertain the degree of trustworthiness of Christian writers, see B. Studer, in J. Feiner and M.
Löhrer (ed.), Mysterium Salutis I (Einsiedeln, 1965) 588-99.
10
Augustine, De Civit. 15, 9; 18, 38.

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CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

theological value, will they be guaranteed a share in the spirit that inspired the liturgy of the patristic
age, itself based on the liturgy of the apostolic communities.11

This twofold witness, historical and theological, is found first of all in the Church Orders that
date back to the first four centuries.12 These documents were written by private individuals whose
names are unknown. But since they were issued under apostolic authority, they were accepted by
most of the patristic Churches. They include the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, called simply the
Didache (late 1st century), the Traditio Apostolica, once attributed to Hippolytus of Rome (early 3rd
century), the Didascala (3rd century), and the Apostolic Constitutions (late 4th century).13 Since they
contain not only information about the development of the sacramental rites, but also models of
liturgical prayer, they enable us to reconstruct to a large extent the origin and historical
development of the various liturgical traditions.

In order to reconstruct the history of Christian initiation, we must also turn to the
mystagogical catecheses. These include explanations of baptism and the Eucharist given to the
newly baptized at Easter and during the following week. Most of them are from very famous bishops
of the fourth and fifth century: Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia,
Ambrose of Milan, and Augustine. Since they were given in Jerusalem, Antioch, and Milan, they
reflect traditions that are of prime importance for the history of liturgy. Although Hippo did not give
birth to a liturgical family, the catecheses of Augustine greatly influenced Latin sacramental
theology, thanks to their extraordinary spread.

With regard to the liturgical year, most of our information comes from the preaching that
took place on the various feasts. First of all, we should mention the 2nd century Easter homilies of
Melito of Sardis, Pseudo-Hippolytus, and others. They clarify the meaning of the most important
Christian feast.14 They are also the most important witness to the first developments of Christian
exegesis, based on liturgical theology. Later developments in the sacred times are known chiefly
from the feast day sermons of the great bishops of the imperial Church. The discourses of Gregory of
Nyssa are worth special mention for they enable us, perhaps better than others, to understand the
meaning of the Christian feast.15 Also interesting are the sermons of Leo I, which emphasize the
sense of hodie, that is to say, the presence of the mysteries of Jesus in the celebrations of Christmas,
Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost.16

The last thing to be considered as primary evidence in the history of liturgy is church history.
In this area Eusebius of Caesarea obviously holds first place. His Historia Ecclesiastica is our chief
source for the history of Christianity during the first three centuries, including the liturgical life of the

11
The earliest documentary evidence for the history of the liturgy will be presented, along with pertinent
bibliography, in the chapter entitled “Liturgical Books in the First Four Centuries.”
12
G. Schöllgen, Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung der frühchristlichen Kirchenordnungen: FCh 1 (1991) 13-21; A.
Faivre, Ordonner la fraternité: pouvoir d’innover et retour à l’ordre dans I'Èglise ancienne (Paris, 1992).
13
See the edition of the Apostolic Constitutions edited by M. Metzger in SCh and also DPAC, s.vv. The
individual documents will be treated in part IIIA, chapter 1.
14
R. Cantalamessa, La Pasqua nella Chiesa antica = Traditio christiana 4 (Turin, 1978).
15
B. Studer, “Das christliche Fest, ein Tag der gläubigen Hoffnung,” SA 95 (Rome, 1988) 517-29.
16
B. de Soos, Le mystère liturgique d’après saint Léon le Grand (Münster i.W., 1958) 22-7.

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CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

early Christian communities. It contains information on the cult of the martyrs, the Easter
controversy and the first buildings for worship, along with details on the history of baptism and the
Eucharist, as well as the meaning of the Christian feast and the Christian use of mystery language.
This Priceless information can be supplemented by the historical writings of Eusebius's successors, as
well as by the hagiographic literature, for example, the martyrdom of Polycarp.

In addition to these major sources for liturgical history, almost of early Christian literature
contains more or less important evidence about the development and meaning of Christian worship
in the patristic age. We should mention especially the theological treatise on baptism,17 the
Eucharist,18 and prayer.19 Also of interest are the biblical commentaries. In them great early Christians
exegetes such as Origen, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Augustine, and many others, often comment on
biblical texts related to the Christian rites (John 3; Matt 28:19f; Rom 6; 1 Cor 11, etc.). But that is not
all. They also develop some of the basic concepts of patristic liturgical theology, such as μυστήριον,
sacramentum, salvation history, the unity of the Old and New Testaments, etc. Then we should add
the synodal documents insofar as they have to do with worship20. In addition, there are the
collections of letters of bishops, popes, and even emperors, such as the letters of Constantine the
Great.21 Finally, there are the poetic works of Ambrose, Prudentius, and Paulinus of Nola.22

All of this rich and varied evidence allows us to see how the Christian liturgy, beginning with
the worship of the apostolic communities, took shape in a quasi-definitive manner during the first
centuries. In particular we can understand the factors in its historical development: its Jewish matrix,
the positive and negative influences of Greco-Roman cults, the philosophy of the Logos, the Roman
legal mentality. We can also sense the deeper meaning the Fathers gave to the liturgy of their
communities and consider the pro nobis aspect of early Christian worship, that is, the perennial
timeliness of the faith that inspired it.

(Source: Basil Studer, O.S.B., “Liturgy and the Fathers,” in Handbook for Liturgical Studies, Vol. I, ed.
A. J. Chupungco (Collegeville Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1997) 53-57.]

I. The Early Christian Apologists

The word Apologist was originally a title of honor for those who wrote or spoke in defense of
orthodox or true Christianity: The name conventionally applied to a group of Christian writers, chiefly
Greek, who from the second century AD onward defended the Christian religion. in treatises, often
addressed to emperors, and tried to show that the current accusations of godlessness (atheism) and

17
Tertullian, De baptismo; Cyprian, Epist. 69-75; Augustine, Opere antidonatiste: BA 28-32.
18
Cyprian, Epist. 63.
19
Tertullian, De oratione; Origen, De oratione; Cyprian, De oratione. See A. Hamman, La prière. Les trois
premiers siècles; for Augustine, see M. Vincent, Augustin, maître de prière d ‘après les Enarrationes in Psalmos =
Théologie historique 84 (Paris, 1990).
20
C. Munier, Collezioni Canoniche: DPAC 729-34.
21
A. di Berardino, L'imperatore Castantino e la celebrazione della Pasqua: G. Bonamente and F. Fuso (eds.)
Costantino il Grande (Macerata, 1992) 362-84.
22
J. Fontaine, Naissance de la poésie dans l’Occident chrétien, (Paris, 1981).

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immorality (cannibalism and incest) were unfounded. In the course of the defense they came to
interpret the meaning of Christianity in relation to Greco-Roman culture, especially its philosophical
aspects.

(Sources: Catholic Dictionary and The Westminster Dictionary of Church History)

II. The Apostolic Fathers

The Apostolic Fathers are writers of the immediate post-apostolic era who in their own persons
embody the living connection with the apostles. More particularly, they are «the writers of the early
Christian era who according to contemporary knowledge can positively identified as students or
hearers of the apostles who together with the apostles, but even without personal acquaintance
with them, can be regarded in the whole teaching to a high degree as carriers of apostolic
information, but who cannot be included in the New Testament authors»

(J. A. Fischer, Die Apostolicshen Väter, 1956, IX).

According to this definition we certainly should have to include Clement of Rome, Ignatius of
Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna. However, two other Christian authors, whose classification on this
category is still debatable among Patrologists, are Quadratus and Papias of Hierapolis.

Besides the first group of actual Apostolic Fathers, there is a number of early Christian writings
which according to the above mentioned definition do not really belong to this category, but which
because of their age and closeness to the Apostolic era are usually treated in this context; they are
the Epistle.to Diognetus, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Didache, and the Shepherd of Hermas.

All of these writings are of inestimable value for knowledge of early Christian life and thought.
They show how the transition was affected from the apostolic founding of communities to the early
constitutional form, and how the institutional character, which originally was strongly covered by
charismatic spirit, became more in time. They also give information about the formation of the New
Testament canon. Part of these early Christian writings in the beginning was counted among the
contents of the New Testament and was even used during the service and regarded as guiding
principle (canon) of the revealed faith. Among these, for example, were the Letter of Clement [to the
Corinthians], the Shepherd of Hermas and the Letter of Barnabas In Syria and Egypt. The use of these
writings shows that the process of separation was still going on. Only when the concept of
inspiration, which had been sketched by the Apostolic Fathers themselves worked out, were the
post-apostolic writings separated from the inspired New Testament writings of the Holy Scripture.
Here we can also see how numerous other theological concepts are formed or continue to develop.
Finally, these early Christian writings reflect a Christianity that is usually strongly influenced by
Judaism but marked with the striking diversity in thought as well in style.

A. The First Letter of Clement to the Corinthians

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The date of the Letter of Clement to the Corinthians is generally reckoned to be about 96 AD.
The messengers who bore the epistle are described as ‘men whose lives have been irreproachable
from youth to old age,’ that is Christians of the second generation. This brings us the end of the first
century AD. The allusions in the opening chapters to the Roman Church’s ‘recent misfortunes’ could
then be the persecution during Domitian’s reign of terror in the early nineties, which could fit well
with the references to the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, which seem rather more distant.

The occasion of the epistle was trouble in the Church of Corinth. True to form from what we
know of the Church there from Paul’s epistles, the Church had this time ejected its leaders — they
were called presbyters — and installed others. The old presbyters had served the Church
blamelessly, and this lack of discipline and its underlying causes, envy and jealousy, are castigated by
Clement in his epistle. Why the Church of Rome felt called upon to involve itself in the affairs of the
Church in Corinth, we do not know, but Clement’s tone does not falter and his authority is assured.
Corinth had been re-founded as a Roman colony in 44 BC, so there could be strong links between the
two communities, and anyway the early Christians felt a strong sense of brotherhood and mutual
responsibility [especially, the primacy of the Roman Church]. Although Clement does not write like a
Pope exercising extraordinary jurisdiction [in the Medieval sense], may be a step had already been
taken in that direction.

(Source: August Franzen, A History of the Church and The Westminster Dictionary of Church History)

B. The Seven Epistles of St. Ignatius of Antioch

According to Eusebius of Caesarea, it was during the reign of Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 AD) that
Ignatius, third bishop of Antioch, Syria, after St. Peter, was condemned as a Christian and sent to
Rome to face martyrdom around the year 110 AD. On his way there he wrote (or dictated) seven
letters, the first four at Smyrna and the other three at Troas. The four epistles written in Smyrna
were sent to the Churches of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles — three cities he would miss on his journey
to Troas — and to Rome, his ultimate destination; the three written in Troas were dispatched to the
Churches of Philadelphia and Smyrna, both of which he had passed through on his way there, and to
Polycarp, the saintly Bishop of Smyrna. From Troas he went by sea to Neapolis in Macedonia and
thence via Philippi to Rome. There he was martyred by being exposed to the wild beasts in the
Flavian amphitheater known also as the Colosseum.

All the seven epistles of St. Ignatius of Antioch are filled with magnificent thoughts. From the
point of view of constitutional history it is clear form St. Ignatius’ epistles that in his area the
monarchical episcopate had prevailed. Only a single bishop now stands at the head of the Christian
community and St. Ignatius exhorts,
All of you follow the bishop as Jesus Christ the Father, and the presbyterium as the apostles;
the deacons, however, respect like God’s command! No one shall act regarding the church
without the bishop. The celebration of the Eucharist is only authentic when it takes place under
a bishop or one of his representatives. Where the bishop appears, there shall be the
community, just as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church (Epistle to the Church of Smyrna,
VIII, 1).

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At this point St. Ignatius of Antioch has already developed a theology of the bishop’s office in
which he finds embodied the unity of the Church. Christ, bishop and church are one.

...For Jesus Christ, our unwavering life, is the mind of the Father, just as the bishops, who have
been established to the boundaries of the world, are in the mind of Jesus Christ.
For which reason it is fitting for you to be in accord with the mind of the bishop, as indeed you
are. Your presbyterate, in keeping with its name, is worthy of God and has thus been in harmony
with the bishop as strings with the lyre. On account of this, by your oneness of mind and your
concord in life Jesus Christ is being hymned. May you become, each one of you, a chorus. Since
you are in concord in your oneness of mind and have taken up the melody of God in unity, may
you sing in one voice to the Father through Jesus Christ, in order that He may hear you and
recognize you through your good works as members of His Son. It is thus useful for you to be
always in irreproachable unity, so that you may always participate in God (Epistle to the
Ephesians, II, 2-V, 2).

In St. Ignatius’ epistle to the Romans he also with certainty assigned a special position to the
Roman Church. He praises not only its profession of love but also — probably in connection with
Clement’s epistle through which he must have known — its firmness of faith and doctrine so that the
special repute and actual preeminence of the Roman community is already clearly perceived (B. Altaner,
Patrology, 86). From Troas, St. Ignatius reminds his brother bishop St. Polycarp who has attended
him in Smyrna of his duty as a shepherd and exhorts him to stand as firm during the persecution of
Christians as an anvil under the blow of a hammer.

C. Epistle of St. Polycarp to the Philippians

St. Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna when St. Ignatius of Antioch passed through that city on his
way to martyrdom in Rome. According to the tradition preserved by Tertullian in his work De
præscriptione, 32, St. Polycarp was appointed to his position as bishop by St. John the Apostle. St.
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, who records the vivid impression of St. Polycarp had made on him in his
youth, reports that Polycarp had been a disciple of St. John the Apostle and that his direct testimony
to the teachings of the apostles was much valued long after their death, for Polycarp lived to a great
age. He told the proconsul at his summary trial that he served Christ eighty-six years, which probably
means that he was then eighty-six years old (and had been possibly baptized in infancy). St. Polycarp
was no thinker. Both his Epistle to the Philippians and St. Irenaeus’ account of him suggest the
picture of a man who treasured the youthful memory of what he had heard from the apostles and
repeated it, and Polycarp was appalled at the Gnostic heretics he encountered in his old age.

St. Polycarp’s epistle to the Christian community of Philippi is an exhortation, pastoral in tone,
the language of which is a veritable patchwork of allusions to and quotations from various writings
of the New Testament that are not, however, ‘quoted’ as such. In this epistle addressed to the
church at Philippi, St. Polycarp gently reminds the Philippians of the duties of Christians: laity,
widows and the clergy. He warns in general terms of the dangers of heresy; he commends the
patient endurance of Jesus in His passion; he warns frequently and insistently the dangers of avarice
(perhaps because of a recent scandal in the church of Philippi involving one of the presbyters). Oddly
for once so close to Ignatius, he says nothing about bishops, neither styling himself such nor

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San Beda College Alabang THEO3: The Church, Sacraments, Prof. Carlo Enrico C. Tinio,
CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

referring to one in Philippi. St. Polycarp is, therefore, a simple presentation of Christianity, combining
moral earnestness with faithfulness to the example of Christ.

D. Other Early Christian Writings

a. The «Epistle to Diognetus» (author unknown)

The Epistle to Diognetus was thought to be a long lost church document until its
accidental discovery in the 15th century. However, its discovery was quite odd. In
about 1435, in Constantinople, where he had gone to study Greek, a young Italian
student by the name of Tommaso d’Arezzo discovered amongst a pile of packing
paper in the fish market a rather tattered volume of ecclesiastical writings in Greek.
The first five treatises in this manuscript volume were spurious works ascribed to St.
Justin the Martyr, the second century apologist, the fifth treatise headed ‘By the
same [i.e. Justin], to Diogenetus.’ It was a work previously unknown—neither
Eusebius of Caesarea not any of the Fathers refers to it—and this sole manuscript
was the basis of many editions. Entitled To Diognetus, the first editor of this
manuscript called it an epistolos and that has stuck, though this literary opus is clearly
a treatise and not an epistle.

To Diognetus is not one of the Apostolic Fathers; it belongs to the genre of apologetic
literature that made its appearance in the second century AD. Our author addresses
himself to an interested pagan of some sort of official position—‘most excellent
Diognetus’—and defends Christianity, beginning by way of attack, virulent and not
particularly fair, on pagan religion and Judaism. Ridicule is his principal weapon. He
then presents an attractive picture of the Christians, a hidden presence for good in
the world and indeed the ‘soul’ of the world, giving it life, holding together and
pointing it beyond itself. He goes on to give an account of Christian teaching,
presenting it as a revelation of God by the Incarnation of the Son of God.

b. Epistle of Barnabas

The Epistle of Barnabas was a second century work written in the epistolary
convention and attributed to Clement of Alexandria and others of the early church to
the apostle Barnabas. It is not an epistle nor can it be considered the work of
Barnabas. It is a theological tractate with an anti-Jewish polemic quite inconsistent
with the attitudes prevailing in the New Testament church. References in it to the
destruction of the Temple [of Jerusalem] mean that it must be later than 70 AD, and
the latest possible date is just after the Bar-Kochba rebellion in Palestine. It was
probably written around 130 AD and may be of Alexandrian provenience since it was
regarded as canonical there (it appears in the Codex Sinaiticus just after the Book of
Revelation) and employs the allegorical method of biblical interpretation so
esteemed there from the time of Philo on.

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San Beda College Alabang THEO3: The Church, Sacraments, Prof. Carlo Enrico C. Tinio,
CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

The work is divided into two main parts: the first seeks to prove that Jews cannot
understand the Old Testament; Jewish Christians may say that the Covenant belongs
to the Jews and Christians alike, but it belongs to Christians whose possession of the
Spirit enables them to understand the pre-figurative language. Without the Spirit the
Jews understand the institutions of the Old Covenant in a literal and almost
idolatrous sense rather than in the allegorical sense that is correct; and the second
half of the book is a catechetical discourse on the Two Ways (Way of Life and Way of
Death) very similar to that in the Didache and undoubtedly based on the same source.

c. The “Shepherd” of Hermas

Hermas was a Roman Christian apocalyptist and moralist, probably of Jewish origin.
He wrote the Shepherd, which takes its name from an angel who appears to Hermas
in the guise of a shepherd in the fifth vision. Such an appearance was a common
place of the Hellenistic mysteries. According to the romantic introduction of his work,
Hermas was early sold into slavery: according to the Muratorian fragments (c.190
AD), he was brother of Pius, Bishop of Rome c. 150 AD. Both could be true. His book
alludes to his unhappy marriage and his anxiety about his post baptismal sins that,
according to his angelic informant, would be forgiven, once only, in the future.

Hermas’ three-part work is divided into five Visions, twel¥e Mandates or

Commandments, and ten Similitudes or Parables. In the first four Visions a woman
(old at first, but young at last) appears to him who represents the church. In the fifth
Vision the angelic shepherd appears. Both the Commandments and the Parables are
also apocalyptic. The theme of the work is penitence. Hermas is worried about his
own sins and those of his wife, who apparently was a veritable virago (man-
like/tomboy), and his children, who may have apostatized under persecution. Hermas
is a witness to early perfectionism in a form, primary Jewish (though with some
Hellenic elements), which has been compared with the Dead Sea Scrolls.

III. The Fathers of the Church or Church Fathers

The distinguished name Church: Father is given to those great theologians who did not stop with
the defense, but who instead had as their aim the deeper theological permeation of the articles of
faith on the basis of revelation. Most of them were bishops; thus arose the name “Father” that was
originally reserved to bishops in communities. Some of them, however, were only priests, such as
Jerome, or laymen, such as Tertullian. Later doctrine lists as attributes belonging to the group of
Church Fathers: first, orthodoxy in doctrine; second, saintliness in life; third, ecclesiastical
recognition; and fourth, belonging to Christian Antiquity. With the help of the last characteristic, the
Church Fathers are distinguished from church teachers who lived and taught during the Middle and
Modern Ages.

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San Beda College Alabang THEO3: The Church, Sacraments, Prof. Carlo Enrico C. Tinio,
CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

The topics of the Church Fathers were often provided by their environment and filled genuine
need of the time. The close contact with Hellenistic philosophy and Gnosticism, for example, had
created for Christianity the danger of being regarded not as pure Divine Revelation, bound to Sacred
Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, but as a syncretistic basis for Gnostic speculation. Very early,
Gnosticism, thoroughly pagan in its core, tried to invade Christianity. For its muddled trains of
thought on the creation and salvation of the world, it utilized an allegorical interpretation of Holy
Scripture, and mixed Christian elements of revelation with pagan ideas, particularly dualistic
concepts. In defense of Christianity it became necessary to fix exactly Christian beliefs and the
sources of revelation, to designate finally and unequivocally in a “Canon of the Holy Scripture” those
writings that alone could provide a guideline (=canon), to define more closely their inspirational
character, and to reserve their authentic interpretation exclusively to the bishop. The arbitrary
interpretation of the Scriptures by heretics was countered by the understanding of the Scriptures in
the spirit of the apostolic tradition as the standard of exclusive validity. The sole guarantee for
maintaining the purity of the body of revelation transmitted by the apostles is its transmission by the
bishop, assured through uninterrupted succession Since the time of the apostles. Thus the Church
Fathers stressed that the real Christian Gnosis could only be the one that understood the faith in the
sense of traditio apostolica. Only through the bishops, the legitimate successors of the apostles, can
orthodoxy be found, and whoever separates himself from the bishop goes astray (Franzen, 31).

A. The Latin Fathers of the Church (in alphabetical order):

St. Ambrose of Milan St. Isidore, Archbishop of Seville (560-636 AD)

Amobius The Apologist (d. 327 AD) St. Jerome, priest and biblical exegete (343-420 AD)

St. Augustine, Bishop of I lippo (354-420 AD) Lactantius l'irminianus, apologist (240-320 AD)

St. Benedict of Nursia (480-546 AD) Pope St. Leo (I) the Great (390-461 AD)

St. Caesarius, Archbishop of Arles (470-542 AD) Marius Mercator, Latin polemicist (5" cent. AD)

St. John Cassian, Abbot (360-435 AD) Marius Victorinus, Roman rhetorician (2nd / 3rd cent.)

Pope Celestine I (d. 432 AD) Minucius Felix, apologist (2nd or 3rd cent. AD)

Pope St. Cornelius (d. 253 AD) St. Optatus, Bishop of Mileve (late 4th cent. AD)

St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (d. 258 AD) St. Pacian, Bishop of Barcelona (4" cent. AD)

Pope St. Damasus I (d. 384 AD) St. Pamphillus, priest (240-309)

Pope St. Dionysus (d. 268 AD) St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola (353-431 AD)

St. Ennobius, Bishop of Pavia (473-521 AD) St. Peter Chrysologus, Archbp. of Ravenna (d. 450 AD)

St. Eucherius, Bishop of Lyons (d. 449 AD) St. Phoebadius, Bishop of Agen (d. 395 AD)

St. Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspe (468-533 AD) St. Prosper of Aquitaine, theologian (390-463 AD)

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San Beda College Alabang THEO3: The Church, Sacraments, Prof. Carlo Enrico C. Tinio,
CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

St. Gregory of Elvira (died after 392 AD) Rufinus, Latin translator of Greek theology (345-410 AD)

Pope St. Gregory (I) the Great (540-604 AD) Salvian, priest (400-480 AD)

St. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (315-368 AD) Pope St. Siricius (334-399 AD)

Pope St. Innocent I (d. 417 AD) St. Vincent of Lérins, priest and monk (d. 450 AD)

St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (130-200 AD)

B. The Greek Fathers of the Church (in alphabetical order):

St. Anastasius Sinaita, apologist (d. 700 AD) Hermas, author of the “Shepherd” (2nd Cent. AD)

St. Andrew of Crete (660-740 AD) St. Hippolytus, martyr (170-236)

Aphraates, Syriac monk (early 4th cent. AD) St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (35-107 AD)

St. Archelaus, Bishop of Cascar (d. 282 AD) St. Isidore of Pelusium, abbot (360-c. 450 AD)

St. Athanasius, Archbp. Of Alexandria (297-373 AD) St. John Chrysostom, Pat. of Constantinople (347-407)

Athenagoras, apologist (second century AD) St. John Climacus, monk (579-649 AD)

St. Basil the Great, Archbp. Of Caesarea (329-379 AD) St. John Damascene, defender of the icons (675-789)

St. Caesarius of Nazianzus (330-369 AD) Pope St. Julius I (d. 352 AD)

St. Clement of Alexandria, theologian (150-215 AD) St. Justin Martyr, apologist (100-165 AD)

Pope St. Clement I of Rome (30-101 AD) St. Leontius of Byzantium, theologian (6th cent. AD)

St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem (315-386 AD) St. Macarius the Great, monk (300-390 AD)

St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria (376-444 AD) St. Maximus the Confessor, abbot (580-662 AD)

Didymus the Blind, theologian (313-398 AD) St. Melito, Bishop of Sardis (d.190 AD)

Diodore, Bishop of Tarsus (d. 392 AD) St. Methodius, Bishop of Olympus (d. 311 AD)

Dionysus the Pseudo-Areopagite (late 5th cent. AD) St. Nilus the Elder, priest and monk (d. 430 AD)

St. Dionysus the Great (190-264 AD) Origen, head of the Alexandrian Catechetical School (184-254 AD)

St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis (315-403 AD) St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (69-155 AD)

Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea (260-340 AD) St. Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople (d. 446 AD)

St. Eustathius, Bishop of Antioch (4" cent. AD) St. Serapion, Bishop of Thmuis (died after 362 AD)

St. Firmillian, Bishop of Caesarea (d. 268 AD) St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (560-638 AD)

Gennandius, Patriarch of Constantinople (d. 471 AD) Tatian the Assyrian, apologist and theologian (130-180 AD)

St. Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople (634-733 AD) Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia (350-428 AD)

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Sasima (329-390 AD) Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus (393-458 AD)

St. Gregory of Nyssa (330-395 AD) Theopilus, Bishop of Antioch (late second century AD)

Gregory Thaumaturgus (213-270 AD)

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San Beda College Alabang THEO3: The Church, Sacraments, Prof. Carlo Enrico C. Tinio,
CAS—Religious Studies Dept. and its Mission S.T.B., M.A.PaM.,M.A.L.

Johannes Quasten, foremost scholar of Patrology in the twentieth century, dates the end of
the patristic period in the East with the death of St. John Damascene (or of Damascus) in
749 AD and in the West with the death of St. Isidore of Seville in 636 AD.

Sources:
Jerald C. Brauer, ed. A Westminster Dictionary of Church History.
John A. Hardon, SJ. Pocket Catholic Dictionary.
Peter M. J. Stravinskas, PhD., SThD., Catholic Dictionary.
Maxwell Staniforth and Andrew Louth. Early Christian Writings.
August Franzen. A History of the Catholic Church.

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