The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

CHAPTER TEN: The Period of the Apologists

I. Historical Setting of Ante-Nicene Period

The period of the Ante-Nicene fathers to be surveyed in the next several chapters—from about A.D. 150 to the first general Council of Nicaea, in 325—covers the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, its contest with Judaism and heathenism, its persecution by the Roman state, early Christian martyrdom, the development of organization and discipline in the church, the embryo of the Papacy, the early heresies, and the initial development of the old Catholic theology. PFF1 219.1

The latter part of the first century had seen the planting of Rome’s idolatrous ensigns within the precincts of the Holy City, Jerusalem, and the erection in Rome of the triumphal Arch of Titus to commemorate his victory. Even imperial coins were minted to commemorate the captivity of Judah. (Reproduction appears on page 160.) Thus Jerusalem was destroyed according to the prophecy, the political power of the priesthood broken, and the Jewish dispensation, or times, brought to an end. In its place the Christian church spread across the Roman Empire until there was scarcely a city of any importance that did not have its congregation of Christians. By the end of the second century churches were scattered throughout Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, Egypt, Northern Africa, in the distant isles of Britain, and probably in Spain. ¹ PFF1 219.2

Rome’s iron empire ruled, and paganism flourished. Ultimately the images of emperors were erected in public places for worship. Christians refused this adoration, and violent opposition, with persecution even to imprisonment and death, lifted its heavy hand against them. Truth still shone from the evening glow of the apostolic day. But with the passing of time, changes for the worse came in many of the churches, and gross perversions of the Christian faith appeared. Legalism and ritualism on the one hand, and false, mystical philosophy on the other, made fatal inroads. The boasted wisdom of the Gnostics diverted many away from the gospel simplicity. Sects arose in the Graeco-Roman church denying the deity or the humanity of Christ, and the atoning character of His death. The period has been aptly denominated by Schaff as history’s most radical transition hour. ² PFF1 220.1

Direct attacks upon Christianity came from both Jews and pagans by the middle of the second century. The assaults by Celsus (c. A.D. 178) were the most outstanding, his philosophical and critical sophistry anticipating most of the arguments and sophisms of later times. Attacks were made particularly on the sacred books of the Christians. And vicious assaults were made not only upon Christ and Christianity—its facts, doctrines, and alleged contradictions—but upon the Christians themselves. PFF1 220.2

It was these attacks of argument and calumny that called forth the extensive Christian apologetic literature ³ of the early church leaders. It is chiefly from these “apologies,” frequently addressed to the Roman emperor, that we glean the most significant utterances cited, which reveal the status of prophetic interpretation as centered in the advent hope and expectancy at the time. These church leaders met the crucial issues of the hour, the subversive positions taken, and the specious arguments employed, with a clear declaration of faith. PFF1 220.3

It is to be remembered that this is the age of the early martyrs, whose praises we rightly sing. And it was the age before the rise of the Papacy in its later form—although of course the “mystery of iniquity” was already at work, and the ecclesiastical falling away had then actively begun. ⁴ Moreover, certain of these writers voiced opposition to the ambitions of the Roman bishop, for the high antiquity of the church at Rome and the political pre-eminence of the city conspired to give him ecclesiastical pre-eminence. ⁵ This period therefore represents the views of the leading writers of the early church before the development of the Papacy. PFF1 220.4

Sometimes among the “confessors” (those who confessed Christ at peril of life, but were not executed) and “martyrs” (those who suffered all manner of abuse, including death itself), were those in whom the flame of enthusiasm became a wild fire of fanaticism. There were some who rashly sought the martyr’s crown that they might merit heaven and be venerated on earth as saints. But after allowance for such extravagances the martyrdom of the first three centuries remains one of the grandest spectacles of heroism in history. And these martyrs, put to death by pagan Rome, were mostly premillennialists. ⁶ PFF1 221.1

However, the early veneration of the martyrs’ noble sacrifice later degenerated into worship of saints and relics. The veneration of martyrs afterward came to hold a meritorious efficacy, and veneration came to be transferred to their remains. Thus saint worship in time came into being. The exaltation of the clergy also came in close connection with the idea of a special priesthood. Separation from secular business was followed by separation from social relations, and then celibacy. Ceremonial pomp led, about the middle of the third century, to a multiplication of ecclesiastical offices, such as subdeacons, readers, acolytes, exorcists, precentors, interpreters. Then came the monarchical episcopate, and the beginnings of the patriarchal system. ⁷ Such is the fleeting panoramic picture presented by the times that form the setting for the testimony of the representative spokesmen whom we are to hear. But first we must take note of the inroads of Gnosticism, a heresy which, although expelled from the church, left its marks, and sowed tares in Christian thought which were later impossible to root out. PFF1 221.2