Early Church Fathers

A STORY OF IRENAEUS

Irenaeus lived between 130 and 200ad. He was bishop of Lyons around the year 177, until the time of his death. He is known for his adhering to the truth. taking a stand against Gnosticism and Marcionism, as well as being in opposition to the radcial Helenistic culture of the Greeks. Not much is known about Irenaeus' personal life,butit is known that he grew up in Smyrna and had priviledge to sit at the feet of Polycarp, who, according to Irenaeus, had known the apostles, particularly John. It is supposed, that he drew his desire for biblical theology from the likes of Polycarp, for he said:" Polycarp related all things in harmony with the scriptures, not on paper,but in his heart", Irenaeus wittnessed Polycarps debate with Anicetus in Rome, at about 155 ad. and studied in Justin Martyr's school, gaining greatly from the appologetic methods that were taught, but not adhering to the partiality between Biblical Theology and Platoism, He was ordained as a Presbyter in Lyons, some time around 164 ad. and was sent on a mission to deliver a letter to Eleutherius, Pope of Rome at the time while a Pogrom was initiated and persecutions began to take place in Lyons and Vienne in 177 ad. and after Pothinus, Bishop of Lyons was martyred in the persecution,Irenaeus, succeeded him. When Victor, of Rome,(189 ad to 199 ad.) excommunicatedseveral chritians in Asia, for observing the Hebrew Passover, instead of Easter, which was celebrated on sundays, like the romans did, Irenaeus, issued a stern rebuke to them, writing in the name of "The Bretheren of Gaul" (France) He pointed out that although a variety of practice was customary among Christians, even from antient times, they had always lived in peace with one another and pointed out to Victor, that all of his predicessors in Rome, even though they held a different practice, did not excommunicate the Asians, For Irenaeus knew that even though Polycarp and Anicetus had direct confrontation with one another and neither could sway the other, they still remained in Communion with one another.

A STORY OF ORIGEN

Origen (185 to 254) He was born in Alexandria Egypt, around 185 ad. He was reared in a christian home and his father, having seen his son's gift, provided ofr him, the best Greek education available. the boy memorized whole passages of scripture and it was said that he could quote them. when his father Leonides, was imprisoned for the faith in the year 202 ad. Origen wrote to his father to be of encouragement and to admonish him never to deny the christ, and were it not for his mother hiding his clothes, he too,would have given himself to the heathen authorities to be put in jail. After his fathers property was confiscated by the heathens, a wealthy matron assisted Origen and his family. Eventually, Origen began giving instruction in the Greek language and copying available manuscripts. in the year 203 ad. bishop Demitrius of Alexander, nominated Origen to be the president of the Catechetical school there and he became responsible for all new converts to the faith. It is said that Origen lived a very strict and disciplined life, devoted to the teaching of the Gospel. He had only one coat, did not own shoes, did not worry about the following day,refused gifts or pay, ate no meat, drank no wine and had no bed. most of his time was spent in prayer and study. He eventually went so far as to castrate himself because of what (Matt.19:12) says. (ultimately avoiding scandal while instructing young woman in the school) But this was an act that he later regreted and came to see it as "ill advised" and should not be used as an example. He visited many people while they were in prison, showing thhem much love. even though he was quite possibly the greatest scholar of his time and could keep as many as seven secretaries busy while reciting his wisdom, he came to the place of realization that complete rationalization and explaination of the christian faith was impossible. For christians could only grow spiritually by meditating on what the scriptures said and not by study alone. Among his works were,"On First Principles" which was the first theology, ever put down in writing, and for 28 yrs. he worked on an enormous textual analysis of the Old Testament, it included a transliteration and four translations into Greek, He interpreted hte scriptures on three levels, Literally,Morally and Allegorically (which he used to interpret the christ in the Old Testament) Demetrius ultimatelyexcommunicated him for impossing foreign speculation on the church doctrine. Two church councils enacted motions against him in the years, 231 and 232 ad. So Origen sought refuge in Arabia and Palistine and was ultimately accepted, then, after a pupil of his became bishop of Alexandria, during the Decian persecution, Origen was put into prison, tortured and sentenced to die at the stake. But the death of the emporer prevented his execution, so, instead, because of his failing health, he died at the age of 69, in either 253 or 254 ad.

A Story of Alexander VI

Alexander VI He was a friend to the two philosopher-theologians who taught at Alexandria, Pantaenus and Clement (of Rome), he became friend and supporter of Origen. He was twice a confessor, being imprisoned during persecution for several years at the beginning of the third century, and finally dying in prison during the Decian persecution. Already a bishop of an unknown see in Cappadocia, c.212 he visited Jerusalem and was chosen as coadjuter to the bishop Narcissus, whom he succeeded on his death. His, is the first recorded example both of the appointment of coadjuter and of the translation of a bishop from one see to another (the latter practice forbidden, ineffectually, by the Council of Nicaea)He established a library in Jerusalem, which Eusebius used in compiling "The History of the Church". He defended Origen against the accusations of his bishop, Demitrius, and together with theoctistus,bishop of Caesarea, ordained him to the priesthood. He wrote several letters, from which Eusebius quotes some passages.

The Works of Clement

According to Eusebius (Early Church Historian) Of the works of the Miscellanies, all eight books are in my possession, bearing the title he chose for them - Titus Flavius Clemens' Miscellanies: Gnostic Publications in the Light of True Philosophy. There are eight volumes again of the work he entitled, Outlines, in which he names Pantaenus, as his teacher. In these he expounded his own interpretation along side the traditional. There is also a work of his addressed to the Greeks- the Exhortation; the three volumes of his work are entitled, The Tutor, The Rich Man Who Finds Salvation,and the monograph on The Easter Festival; the discourseson Fasting and Slander; the Exhotation to Patience, or, For The Newly Baptized; and the work entitled, Canon of the Church, or, An Answer to the Judaizers, dedicated to Alexander VI. In the Miscellanies, he has woven a tapestry combining Holy Writ with anything he considered to be helpful in secular literature. He includes any veiw generally accepted, expounding those of Greeks and non-Greeks alike, and even correcting the false doctrines of heresiarchs, and explains a great deal of history, providing us with a work of immense erudation. with all these strands he has blended the arguments of Philosophers, so that the work completely justifies the title, Miscellanies, In it, he has made use also of the disputed writings- the Wisdom of Solomon', the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach', the Epistle to the Hebrews, and those of Barnabus, Clement and Jude; and he refers to Tatian's, Against the Greeks and to Cassian, the compiler of another Chronological Record- also to Philo and Aristobulus, Josephus, Demetrius, and Eupolemus, Jewish authors whose writings all helped to prove that first appearance of the Greeks did not go back as far as Moses and the Jewish people. Choice passages of many other writers fill the pages of this work. In book 1, he shows himself as an almost immediate succesor of the apostles: Farther on, he promises to write a commenary on the book of Genesis. In his work, The Easter Festival, he declares that his friends insisted on his transmitting to later generations in writing, the oral traditions that had com down to him from the earliest authorities of the church; he refers also to Melito, Irenaeus, and some others, whose statements he has reproduced. In the Outlines, to put it briefly, he has summarized all cannonical Scripture, even including the Disputed Books, namely the Epistle of Jude, the Epistle of Barnabas, and the 'Revelation of peter'. the Epistle to the Hebrews, he attributes to Paul, but says that it was written for Hebrews in their own language, and then accurately translated by Luke and published for Greek readers. Hence, in the Greek version of this Epistle, we finnd the same stylistic colour as in the book of Acts. The usual opening- Paul, an apostle'- with good reason as Clement says:

In writing to Hebrews already prejudiced against him and suspicious of him, he was far too sensible to put them off at the start by naming himself... Now, as the blessed presbyter used to say, the lord, the apostle of the Almighty, was sent to the Hebrews; so through modesty, Paul, knowing that he had been sent to the gentiles, does not describe himself as an apostle of the Hebrews, first because he so reverenced the lord and secondly because he was outside his province in writing to the Hebrews too, when he was an ambassador and apostle of the Gentiles.

In the same volumes Clement has found room for a tradition of the primitive authorities of the church regarding the order of the gospels. It is this. He used to say that the earliest gospels were those containing the genealogies, while Mark's originated as follows. When, at Rome, Peter had openly preached the word and by the spirit proclaimed the gospel, the large audience urged Mark, who hhad followed him for a long time and remembered what had been said, to write it all down. This he did, making his gospel available to all who wanted it. When Peter heard about this he made no objection and gave no special encouragement. Last of all, aware that the physical facts had been recorded in the gospels, encouraged by his pupils and irresistably moved by the spirit, John wrote a spiritual gospel.
So much for Clements writings. Clement himself is mentioned, along with Pantaenus, in a letter to Origen written by Alexander VI who knew them both.

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