The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: Immortality a Gift; Death Is Utter Destruction

Hermas—Portrays Issues of Eternal Life and Utter Destruction

Next in probable order of time comes The Shepherd (or Pastor) of Hermas (c. A.D. 154), ¹ a popular collection of allegorical instructions—five so-called visions, twelve commandments, and ten similitudes, or parables, that were in circulation in the second, third, and fourth centuries. It is first mentioned in the Muratorian Fragment (c. A.D. 170) as written “very recently in our times,” and is noted by various Ante- and Post-Nicene church writers. More than that, it was read in public worship in the churches. ² Originally written in Greek, it was soon translated into Latin and Ethiopic, and is included in the Codex Sinaiticus. CFF1 785.1

The Pastor of Hermas was the initial effort at Christian allegory, and occupies a position similar to that of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress in modern times. It contains little dogmatic teaching, but throws light on the then—current beliefs of the church. Hermas also touches on prophecy, alluding to the coming conflict between a persecuting beast and a woman in white, symbolic of the church—evidently patterned after Revelation 12 ³ He warns of coming tribulation for the church, and gives assurance of ultimate victory. CFF1 785.2

The writer likens the growth and perfection of the church to the building of a tower, with stones of character. And he adds, “When the tower is finished and built, then comes the end.” Following that is the coming world for the righteous, with destruction for the incorrigible sinner. Such, in a word, is the eschatology of Hermas. (See Table F, for chronological placement and grouping.) CFF1 786.1