Post Apostolic Age

Part Two: Hierarchy, Heresies, Apologists, Persecutors

In Church history, the Apostolic Age usually refers to the time of the Apostles and the generations of
Christians that followed them.

Three degrees of hierarchical ministry

The three degrees of ordained ministry that exist in our Church today start to take on definite form by
the end of the first century. We know this from the still existing seven letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch,
a heroic martyr of the early Church at the time of the Apostles. Tradition has it that he may have
known St. John the Evangelist. His seven letters stress, among other things, the importance of the
bishop’s role in the Christian community and of the community’s faithfulness to their bishop. Ignatius
writes:
Follow your bishop, every one of you, as obediently as Jesus Christ followed the Father.
Obey the presbyters (the college of presbyters) as you would the apostles; give your deacons the same
reverence that you would a command from God. Make sure that no step affecting the church is ever
taken by anyone without the bishop’s sanction. The sole eucharist you should consider valid is one that
is celebrated by the bishop himself, or by some person authorized by him. Where the bishop is to be
seen, there let all his people be; just as wherever Jesus Christ is present, we have the catholic church. Nor is it
permissible to conduct baptisms or agapes (a meal of support and fellowship with a religious significance but
different from the eucharist) without the bishop. On the other hand, whatever does have his sanction can be sure of
God’s approval (Ignatius, To the Smyrnaeans, 8). It is for the rest of you to hold the deacons in as great respect as
Jesus Christ; just as you should also look upon the bishop as a type of the Father and the clergy as the apostolic
circle forming his council; for without these three orders no church has any right to the name. (Ignatius, To the
Trallians, 3)

Ignatius is the first person to refer to the Church as the “Catholic Church.”

Bishop of Rome. Before Jerusalem is burned by the Romans in 70AD, the bishop of Jerusalem is considered the
most important bishop in the Church. After the fall of Jerusalem, Rome gradually
becomes the capital city of Christianity, the place where Peter and Paul are martyred. It is the capital
of the Empire. The bishop of Rome is seen as the successor of Peter. In the second century (130-202),
St. Irenaeus of Lyons (in present-day France) says of the Roman See: “Every other (local) church must be in
harmony with this church (Rome) because of its outstanding pre-eminence.” In the middle of the third century,
Bishop Cyprian of Carthage writes: “To be in communion with the bishop of Rome is to be in communion with the
Catholic Church.”

Despite these words of Irenaeus and Cyprian, it will take many centuries before all the bishops in a
growing Church come to recognize the jurisdiction of the Church of Rome over all other churches,
something the bishops of the Eastern Church never fully recognize. Instead, these bishops, especially
the bishop of Constantinople, see themselves as equal to the bishop of Rome. Eastern bishops reject
the belief that the bishop of Rome has universal jurisdiction. This tension between the East and
West reaches a climax in 1054 when the leaders of both sides excommunicate each other.

God raises up great teachers to deal with heresies.

Three prominent heresies emerge in the first two centuries of the Church are Marcionism, Montanism and
Gnosticism. A brief word about each of them….

Marcionism. Marcion affirms that Jesus rejects the God of the Jews, the God of the Old Testament;
that the Jewish covenant is over and replaced by the Gospel. This heresy prompts the Church to reaffirm
its connection with the Revelation of God in the Old Testament.
Montanism. Montanus and his followers are charismatic preachers who place great emphasis on the Holy Spirit
and his gifts. This group sees very little need for earthly authority and Church order. They impose rigorous practices
of fasting and ascetism. In 177AD, Montanus and his followers are excommunicated.

Gnosticism. The greatest internal threat to early Christianity are heresies that fall under the umbrella
title of Gnosticism. These groups claim to profess the true Christian religion by virtue of a special
saving knowledge (Greek, gnosis = knowledge) that they have received secretly from Jesus or one of his
followers. The Gnostics’ “dualist” philosophy holds that the spiritual realm and the material realm are
totally opposed, and that matter is the handiwork of an evil god. Hence for Gnostics, the God of the Old
Testament who created matter is an evil god, and Jesus is not human, but only appears to be human.

The Apologists.

When Christianity is attacked, God raises up a group of writers who become known as apologists, defenders of the
faith. These intellectual leaders can explain the faith through reason and philosophy.

Six Apologists. The best known apologists in the early Church are Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr,
Polycarp, Irenaus, Origen and Tertullian.

Ignatius of Antioch (35-115AD) was born in Syria and a convert to Christianity. He becomes bishop
of one of the most prominent Sees of the ancient church. In 107, Emperor Trajan visits Antioch and
forces Christians to choose between death and apostasy. Because Ignatius will not deny Christ, he
is condemned to be put to death in Rome.

Justin Martyr (100-165AD) is a well-educated philosopher prior to becoming a Christian. He is known as the patron
saint of philosophers and the most famous of the Apologists in the second century. He defends the faith from
attacks and helps to explain it to Gentile inquirers. Justin also writes one of the earliest descriptions of the Mass
which can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (para.1345). In 165AD, Justin is beheaded for his faith.

Polycarp (69-155AD), one of the most important bishops in the early Church, is a disciple of the apostle John;
hence, his importance when it comes to apostolic succession and teaching. When a Roman official tries to save
Polycarp’s life by convincing him to deny his faith, the aged bishop says: “For eighty-six years I have served him,
and he never did me any wrong. How can I now blaspheme my king and God?”

Irenaeus (125-202AD). As a youth, Irenaeus sat at the feet of Polycarp. This makes him, with his
teacher, a great witness to Apostolic succession and Apostolic teaching. Irenaeus is a defender of the
Church against Gnosticism. He is also a proponent of the medicine of mercy when dealing with heretics.

Origen (185-254AD) is recognized by most as the greatest Christian scholar before the fourth century.
According to St. Jerome (342-420AD), Origen produced about two thousand books. At only 18 years old, the
brilliant young scholar is appointed by his bishop to head the renowned catechetical school of Alexandria, where
he serves as a lay scholar for many years. Origen is denied the title “saint” because of some of his beliefs. He dies
after suffering greatly during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Decius.

Tertullian (155-222 AD). Tertullian may have been the most brilliant lawyer in the Roman Empire.
Inspired by Christian martyrs, he became a Christian in his late forties. One of Tertullian’s most famous sayings is:
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” It is the blood of the martyrs that convinces him to become a
Christian.

Problems arise when Tertullian shows no tolerance for lukewarmness, cowardice and immorality among Christians.
Calling for a purer church, he falls under the influence of the schismatic Montanus.
Schism is an attempt to preserve orthodoxy while breaking from union with the Church and the Pope. Sadly, this
man who spent many years drawing people to the Church, dies outside the Church.

Roman Empire’s persecution of Christianity

Rome is generally tolerant of different religions and initially saw Christians as just another sect within Judaism. But
as Christianity grows in numbers and becomes more visible, and as Christians preach that there is only one God
and that he is not the emperor, Rome begins to change its attitude towards the new religion. Because Christians
refuse to worship the emperor—which Rome has mandated in order to foster unity in the Empire—they are
accused of being atheists and subversive, a threat to civil harmony.

Most persecutions of the first two centuries are brief and limited to certain areas, but they are brutal. In 64AD,
Nero falsely accuses Christians of burning Rome in order to deflect blame from himself. He tortures and crucifies
Christians, igniting their bodies as a spectacle for the bloodthirsty crowds.

In the middle of the third century, the Emperor Decius, fearing the growing number of Christians, calls for the first
empire-wide persecution of the Church. Christians who refuse to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods are imprisoned
or put to death. While many Christians bravely submit to a cruel death rather than deny Jesus, thousands of them,
including clergy, renounce (“apostatize”) their faith.

The last and perhaps worst of all the Roman persecutions takes place under Diocletian (284-305AD). His aim is to
uproot Christianity from the Empire. He tries to do it by confiscating the property of Christians, destroying their
churches and sacred books, banishing them to hard labor, subjecting them to a host of tortures, and inflicting the
death penalty.

Two early female martyrs. Two of the best known early female martyrs are Perpetua and Felicity who are
martyred in 203. They are jailed while they are catechumens, showing that the catechumenate is illegal. Both
Perpetua and Felicity are baptized while in prison. Perpetua’s father and the Roman governor beg her to offer
sacrifice to the emperor so she could escape death but she bravely refuses. Early Christian martyrs are buried in
caves, called “catacombs,” outside the walls of the city of Rome. They remain today as a monument for many who
suffered and died for Christ.

Dealing with the lapsed

During the persecution of the Church, not all Christians submit to their death bravely. Thousands of them,
including clergy, try to offer sacrifice to the emperor to escape death. We should not be
surprised at their failure. Had not Peter, the first Pope, denied Christ when it seemed he too might be
crucified? How to deal with the so-called lapsed was a controversial issue in the early Church. A priest name
Novatian who is himself consecrated as an antipope, says that the Church has no power to
reconcile apostates or those guilty of murder, adultery, fornication or a second marriage. In
251AD Pope Cornelius holds a synod in Rome and orders the “lapsed” to be restored to the Church
with the usual “medicine of repentance.”

There is another heresy associated with this period of Church history, namely, Donatism, from Donatus, who
believes that the clergy responsible for turning over sacred books or vessels during the persecution by Diocletian
should not be forgiven by the Church or reinstated to ministry.

Early Christian lifestyle

Concerning this aspect of early Christianity, Michael Pennock writes:

Christianity had become distinct from Judaism and other religions in the Roman Empire. Through
persecutions and other challenges, the early Christians increasingly developed into a
recognizable Church. This community of faith crossed ethnic and racial lines to embrace all people. Common
practices and beliefs of local Christian Churches throughout the Roman Empire included preaching the Gospel,
public prayer, a ministry of care for each member, initiation rites, Eucharistic fellowship, and a common view of life
and human destiny. (ibid, p.58)

Reasons for the rapid spread of Christianity

We close this article by briefly looking at some of the reasons for the rapid spread of Christianity
throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. By the end of the third century, the Christian Church is like
an empire within an empire. While there is indeed a divine side to the expansion of Christianity, God
usually works through human beings and events to achieve his purposes. So, on a human level, what
caused the rapid spread of Christianity? Here are some reasons:

• The first Christians had a burning desire to share the awesome good news that they had experienced.
Theirs was not a private religion.
• Non-believers were moved by the witnessing of the first Christian communities as they cared for the
widows, orphans and the poor, and visited the condemned in prison. They said, “See how those
Christians love one another.”
• The public killing of Christians helped to ‘market’ the Christian faith. Martyrdom was frequently witnessed by
thousands in the Roman amphitheaters. Even the hardest of hearts must have been moved by the way Christians
went to their death, especially the witness of women like Perpetua and Felicity.
• The ability of great teachers like Justin, Ignatius and Irenaeus served to defend Christian beliefs and
explain them to educated non-believers.
• Two conditions within the Roman Empire facilitated the work of Christian missionaries:
a) the marvelous system of roads and shipping made it easy for missionaries to travel throughout the
empire;
b) since most people in the empire spoke Greek, Greek-speaking missionaries proclaimed the
Gospel in all the large cities and were understood.

Discussion questions.

1. What, if anything, did you learn that you had not previously known?
2. Christians who live in countries where Christianity is persecuted pay a price for being
Christian and are usually stronger Christians. How do you respond if you were persecuted for your beliefs in Jesus?
3. Re-read the letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch above. What is the implication of that letter? Explain what you have
understood on that letter.