The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

II. Eschatological Concept of Early Church in Outline

1. THE COMMON THEME OF SUBAPOSTOLIC AGE

In harmony with characteristic subapostolic-age emphasis, the common theme of The Didache, or The Teaching, is the portrayal of the “two ways, one of life and one of death.” The unity of the treatise is thus preserved, and the last chapter discloses the inevitable ending of the two ways—for the good it is life, for the wicked it is death. Following is an epitome of this early manual for baptismal instruction. CFF1 775.2

In essence, the “way of life” leads to readiness for the last events—the Second Advent, the resurrection, and the eternal kingdom. In contrast, the “way of death” leads to the final destruction of the impenitently wicked. Those who follow the way of life will practice the love of God to their fellow man, participate in the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which point to “life eternal,” and engage in prayers and meditation, awaiting the return of the Lord. There is no admixture—of Jewish Philonian or Greek Alexandrian philosophy, and nothing remotely resembling the later Innate-Immortality-of-the-soul concept either in phrase or thought, and its later common corollary, the Eternal Torment of the impenitent. CFF1 775.3

The eschatology of The Didache involves the living survival of a certain number of believers and the resurrection of the rest. Eternal life is conceived of as independent of the body. After the great apostasy the world passes through trial by fire, and the righteous are saved. These are the destined endings of the two ways. CFF1 776.1

2. INVOLVEMENTS OF THE “WAY OF LIFE.”

Here are the exact citations. The opening sentence of chapter one reads: CFF1 776.2

“There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, thou shalt love God who made thee; second, thy neighbour as thyself.” ² CFF1 776.3

Then follow the main points of the Sermon on the Mount. The Teaching passes from the positive to the negative, and grosser and lesser sins are forbidden. After the listing of various precepts, chapter four ends, “This is the way of life” (“Barnabas, ‘the way of light,’” note 29). ³ CFF1 776.4

3. “WAY OF DEATH” CONTRASTED WITH “ETERNAL LIFE” PROVISION

Chapter five opens with “And the way of death is this.” Barnabas’ paralleling statement of the second way is intensified to the “way of eternal death.” ⁴ Twenty-two sins are then listed in The Didache, which the righteous are to avoid. After warning against false teachers, there is admonition to baptize in “living water” (note 18: “Probably running water”), and to participate in the Lord’s Supper. This prayer for the church, which is to be “gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom,” is then suggested, beginning: CFF1 776.5

“We thank thee, holy Father .... Thou, Master, almighty, didst create all things for Thy name’s sake; Thou gavest food and drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to Thee; but to us [followers of Christ] Thou didst freely give spiritual food and drink and life eternal through Thy Servant [Jesus Christ].” ⁵ CFF1 776.6

The prayer draws toward its close with: CFF1 777.1

“Remember, Lord, Thy Church, to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in Thy love, and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for Thy kingdom which Thou hast prepared for it.” ⁶ CFF1 777.2

It closes with the appeal “Let this world pass away,” and an admonition to repentance and holiness. ⁷ Then it adds, “Maran atha”—“our Lord cometh.” CFF1 777.3

4. PERILS OF COMING APOSTASY PORTRAYED

The closing chapter (sixteen), on “Watchfulness; The Coming of the Lord,” begins with the words: CFF1 777.4

“Watch for your life’s sake (note 2; “over your life”). Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh.” ⁸ CFF1 777.5

The warning is given that “the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made perfect in the last time.” That is a continuing theme. CFF1 777.6

We next read: CFF1 777.7

“For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increaseth, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hand and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning.” ⁹

5. ESCHATOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF LAST THINGS

And now follows the outline of the last things, in time’s last hour, from The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. First, the time of trial: CFF1 777.8

“Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved.” ¹⁰ CFF1 777.9

Finally comes the climax, at the Second Advent, presented in these words: CFF1 777.10

“And then shall appear the signs of the truth [of “the personal advent”]; first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven (note 6: “Hitchcock and Brown, Schaff and others, prefer ‘opening”’); then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and third, the resurrection of the dead; yet not of all, ¹¹ but as it is said: The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him (note 17: “Probably it is based upon the Pauline eschatology”). Then shall the world see the Lord’s coming upon the clouds of heaven.” ¹² CFF1 777.11

That is all. The treatise ends abruptly, with the Advent expectancy. But it reflects the apostolic teaching in the subapostolic age. It fits the pattern—the Apostolic Fathers present life only in Christ for the righteous, or Conditional Immortality, and eternal death for the wicked. CFF1 778.1