THE LIBRARY OF CHRISTIAN
CLASSICS
JOHN BAILLIE
Principal, New College,
Edinburgh
JOHN T. McNEILL
Auburn Professor of Church History,
Union Theological Seminary,
New York
HENRY P. VAN DUSEN
President, Union Theological Seminary,
New York
| Volume | |
| I. | Early Christian Fathers. Editor: Cyril C. Richardson, Washburn Professor of Church History, Union Theological Seminary, New York. |
| II. | Alexandrian Christianity. Editors: Henry Chadwick, Regius Professor of Divinity and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford; J. E. L. Oulton, late Professor of Divinity, Trinity College, Dublin. |
| III. | Christology of the Later Fathers. Editor: Edward Rochie Hardy, Professor of Church History, Berkeley Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut. |
| IV. | Cyril of Jerusalem and Nemesius of Emesa. Editor: William Telfer, formerly Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge. |
| V. | Early Latin Theology. Editor: S. L. Greenslade, Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Canon of Christ Church, University of Oxford. |
| VI. | Augustine: Earlier Writings. Editor: J. H. S. Burleigh, Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Edinburgh, and Principal of New College, Edinburgh. |
| VII. | Augustine: Confessions and Enchiridion. Editor: Albert Cook Outler, Professor of Theology, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. |
| VIII. | Augustine: Later Works. Editor: John Burnaby, Fellow of Trinity College and formerly Regius Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge. |
| IX. | Early Medieval Theology. Editor: George E. McCracken, Professor of Classical Languages, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. |
| X. | A Scholastic Miscellany: Anselm to Ockham. Editor: Eugene R. Fairweather, Associate Professor of Dogmatic Theology and Ethics, Trinity College, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. |
| XI. | Nature and Grace: Selections from the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas. Editor: A. M. Fairweather, Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Edinburgh. |
| XII. | Western Asceticism. Editor: Owen Chadwick, Master of Selwyn College and Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Cambridge. |
| XIII. | Late Medieval Mysticism. Editor: Ray C. Petry, Professor of Church History, The Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. |
| XIV. | Advocates of Reform: From Wyclif to Erasmus. Editor: Matthew Spinka, Waldo Professor Emeritus of Church History, Hartford Theological Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut. |
| XV. | Luther: Lectures on Romans. Editor: Wilhelm Pauck, Professor of Church History, Union Theological Seminary, New York. |
| XVI. | Luther: Early Theological Works. Editor: James Atkinson, Canon Theologian of Leicester. |
| XVII. | Luther and Erasmus on Free Will. Editor: E. Gordon Rupp, Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Manchester. |
| XVIII. | Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel. Editor: Theodore G. Tappert, Schieren Professor of the Synod of New York and New England, Church History, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. |
| XIX. | Melanchthon and Bucer. Editor: Wilhelm Pauck, Professor of Church History, Union Theological Seminary, New York. |
| XX. | Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion. Editor: John T. |
| XXI. | McNeill, Auburn Professor Emeritus of Church History, Union Theological Seminary, New York. |
| XXII. | Calvin: Theological Treatises. Editor: J. K. S. Reid, Professor of Church Dogmatics, University of Aberdeen. |
| XXIII. | Calvin: Commentaries. Editor: Joseph Haroutunian, Professor of Systematic Theology, The Divinity School, University of Chicago. |
| XXIV. | Zwingli and Bullinger. Editor: G. W. Bromiley, Professor of Church History and Historical Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. |
| XXV. | Spiritual and Anabaptist Writers. Editors: George Huntston Williams, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History, The Divinity School, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; ANGEL M. MERGAL, Professor of Theology, Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. |
| XXVI. | English Reformers. Editor: T. H. L. Parker, Vicar of Oakington, Cambridge, England. |
Newly translated and edited by
CYRIL C. RICHARDSON, Th.D., D.D.
Washburn Professor of Church History in the Union Theological Seminary,
New York
In collaboration with
EUGENE R. FAIRWEATHER, Th.D.
Associate Professor of Dogmatic Theology in Trinity College,
Toronto
EDWARD ROCHIE HARDY, Ph.D.
Professor of Church History in the Berkeley Divinity School,
New Haven
MASSEY HAMILTON SHEPHERD, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor of Church History in the Episcopal Theological School,
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Philadelphia
Published simultaneously in Great Britain and the United States of America.
by the S.C.M. Press, Ltd., London, and The Westminster Press, Philadelphia.
First published MCMLIII
Printed in the United States of America
The Christian Church possesses in its literature an abundant and incomparable treasure. But it is an inheritance that must be reclaimed by each generation. The Library of Christian Classics is designed to present in the English language, and in twenty-six volumes of convenient size, a selection of the most indispensable Christian treatises written prior to the end of the sixteenth century.
The practice of giving circulation to writings selected for superior worth or special interest was adopted at the beginning of Christian history. The canonical Scriptures were themselves a selection from a much wider literature. In the Patristic era there began to appear a class of works of compilation (often designed for ready reference in controversy) of the opinions of well-reputed predecessors, and in the Middle Ages many such works were produced. These medieval anthologies actually preserve some noteworthy materials from works otherwise lost.
In modern times, with the increasing inability even of those
trained in universities and theological colleges to read Latin
and Greek texts with ease and familiarity, the translation of
selected portions of earlier Christian literature into modern
languages has become more necessary than ever; while the
wide range of distinguished books written in vernaculars such
as English makes selection there also needful. The efforts that
have been made to meet this need are too numerous to be noted
here, but none of these collections serves the purpose of the
reader who desires a library of representative treatises spanning
the Christian centuries as a whole. Most of them embrace
only the age of the Church Fathers, and some of them have
long been out of print. A fresh translation of a work already
John Baillie
John T. McNeill
Henry P. Van Dusen
| CONTENTS | |
|---|---|
| page | |
| 13 | |
| 15 | |
| 27 | |
| LETTERS IN CRISES | |
THE LETTER OF THE CHURCH OF ROME TO THE CHURCH OF CORINTH, COMMONLY CALLED CLEMENT’S FIRST LETTER (Edited and Translated by the Editor ) |
|
| 33 | |
| 39 | |
| 43 | |
THE LETTERS OF IGNATIUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH (Edited and Translated by the Editor ) |
|
| 74 | |
| 81 | |
| 87 | |
THE LETTER OF POLYCARP, BISHOP OF SMYRNA, TO THE PHILIPPIANS (Edited and Translated by Massey Hamilton Shepherd, Jr. ) |
|
| 121 | |
| 127 | |
| 131 | |
| THE WAY OF MARTYRDOM | |
THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP, AS TOLD IN THE LETTER OF THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA TO THE CHURCH OF PHILOMELIUM |
|
(Edited and Translated by Massey Hamilton Shepherd, Jr. ) |
|
| 141 | |
| 145 | |
| 149 | |
| A CHURCH MANUAL | |
THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES, COMMONLY CALLED THE DIDACHE (Edited and Translated by the Editor ) |
|
| 161 | |
| 167 | |
| 171 | |
| AN EARLY CHRISTIAN SERMON | |
AN ANONYMOUS SERMON, COMMONLY CALLED CLEMENT’S SECOND LETTER (Edited and Translated by the Editor ) |
|
| 183 | |
| 190 | |
| 193 | |
| IN DEFENSE OF THE FAITH | |
THE SO-CALLED LETTER TO DIOGNETUS (Edited and Translated by Eugene R. Fairweather ) |
|
| 205 | |
| 213 | |
THE FIRST APOLOGY OF JUSTIN, THE MARTYR (Edited and Translated by Edward Rochie Hardy ) |
|
| 225 | |
| 239 | |
| 242 | |
A PLEA REGARDING CHRISTIANS BY ATHENAGORAS, THE PHILOSOPHER (Edited and Translated by the Editor ) |
|
| 290 | |
| 297 | |
| 300 | |
| AN EXPOSITION OF THE FAITH | |
SELECTIONS FROM THE WORK AGAINST HERESIES BY IRENAEUS, BISHOP OF LYONS (Edited and Translated by Edward Rochie Hardy ) |
|
| 343 | |
| 355 | |
| 358 | |
| INDEXES | 399 |
In this volume we have attempted to give new translations of some of the basic Christian writings of the first two centuries. Our aim has been to render the originals in clear, idiomatic English, and to facilitate the reading of these classics by revising the standard paragraphs and by relegating the chapter and verse numbers to the margins.
In view of the fact that most of the material in our book has been rendered into English so frequently as well as so recently, the translations offered cannot but reflect some knowledge of those already published. While our work has been done without conscious borrowing, the same turn of phrases is likely to occur to more than one translator, and acquaintance with previous renderings cannot be, and should not be, eradicated from the memory.
We have sought to provide adequate introductory material, and to add such notes as are necessary for understanding the text. The lists of books are purposely more extensive than in some other series, and are planned to aid the student who wishes to study these particular documents more thoroughly.
The division of work among the contributors is indicated by the Table of Contents. I should like to thank the general editors for their assistance in the preparation of the manuscript and for their many helpful suggestions; the three contributors for their splendid co-operation; and Dr. Bard Thompson for his help with the notes for Athenagoras.
Cyril C. Richardson.
Union Theological Seminary.
The most striking facts about early Christian literature are
its rich variety and its almost exclusively Gentile authorship.
Outside the New Testament writings little belongs to the first
century, the only considerable document being
To choose the works of the first two centuries that can be
called "classics" is a difficult, even an arbitrary, task. It is the
purpose of this volume to select a number of the most notable
treatises, having in mind their representative character as well
as their intrinsic worth. Thus an early sermon has been included
despite its somewhat banal nature, while more weighty works
such as the Apologies of
The earliest Christian writings after the New Testament are
customarily known under the title "Apostolic Fathers." It is
to a French scholar of the seventeenth century,
These writings do not form a unity either in date or in type.
The earliest is
In type, the letter predominates. Even the account of
Of the other works in this group, the Shepherd of Hermas is
an apocalpyse, dealing with repentance after baptism; the
Didache is a Church manual; while the fragments of
What marks these writings, taken as a whole, is their literary
simplicity, their earnest religious conviction, and their independence of Hellenistic philosophy and rhetoric. They are
closer to the New Testament in their artlessness, and while
they may lack something of its spiritual depth, they reveal an
intense concern for its basic message. They come from a time
The next important group of Christian writings in the second
century is that of the Apologists. The earliest is perhaps the
brief addressed to Diognetus. There follow the Apologies of
A third group of early Christian writings is the apocryphal
literature.
Then there is Christian poetry. Little of this has survived, the most significant work being the Odes of
Another group of early Christian writings is composed of the
stories of martyrdoms. The simple but stirring tale of
Finally, there are the Christian forms of Gnostic and anti-Gnostic
literature. Most of the former has perished, though excerpts in the writings of Church Fathers enable us to reconstruct the systems of the great Gnostic teachers such as
Such are the types of Christian writing in the first two centuries.
Almost all of it was penned by Gentiles. Practically no
Jewish Christian literature has survived. It is possible that
The introductions to the various documents in our volume will provide the reader with the requisite information to appreciate their setting and importance. It may, however, be appropriate here to characterize briefly the main lines of the Christian development in the second century.
The expansion of Christianity in this period was rapid and
far-flung. It penetrated Mesopotamia to Edessa and Arbela
and reached as far west as the interior of Spain, and perhaps
the southern coast of Britain. Christians were to be found on
the Rhone in Gaul, and even on the Rhine. The Dalmatian
coast was beginning to be missionized. The Church was taking
root in North Africa, Cyrenaica, and interior Egypt, as well
Primary among the marks of the period is the rise of the Catholic consciousness. By this phrase is meant the emergence of a distinctly ecclesiastical point of view, evident in the ordering of Church life. The kerygma, or "preaching," of the New Testament becomes the regula fidei of the early Fathers. Didactic and ethical interests come to the fore. The faith is more carefully prescribed and the Church more exactly organized. The leading concern is to conserve the apostolic witness, and, while showing its relevance to pagan modes of thought, to guard against the extremes of Gnostic speculation and prophetic enthusiasm.
Under the single bishop who, with his council of presbyters,
rules the congregation, there is built up a closely knit
organization which will be able to withstand the concerted
persecutions of the third century. The bishop is the successor of the apostles, representing the localizing of the prophetic, teaching, and
liturgical functions of the original apostolate. He becomes the
center of the Church's life, the living witness and guardian of
its faith. Exactly how it came about that a single bishop should
succeed to powers earlier vested in local bodies of presbyters,
is not altogether clear; though much may be explained by the
occasional settling of an apostle, prophet, or teacher of the
original missionary ministry, in some locality. What, however,
is clear is that the development was orderly, and that it was
very widespread by the time of
The bishop is the living center of the Christian tradition.
He is a prophetic as well as a sacramental person; and nothing
more clearly reveals the second century attitude toward the
episcopate than the description the Smyrnaeans give of their
martyred bishop,
With the rise of the episcopate there emerges the importance
of the great sees of Christendom, claiming apostolic foundation.
The significance of the episcopate in Irenaeus, for instance,
does not lie in a sacramental chain of ordinations, but in a
chain of authorized teachers, which reaches back to the apostles.
Of first importance among such sees is Rome, the center of
Western Christianity, whose place of eminence is due both to
its being the imperial city and to its being the city of
The tradition of the faith, however, was incorporated in more than living personalities. It was enshrined in a book, and expressed in brief, formal statements suitable for baptismal confessions. The second century saw the rise of the New Testament canon and the formation of the earliest creeds. Both were partly determined by the pressure of heresy and the consequent necessity for the Church to make its message clear. But heresy was only one factor in the development. The internal needs of the Church were such that the tradition should be preserved in accepted writings and in authentic confessions.
The New Testament canon has its origin in the high regard with which Christians from the first viewed the logia of the Lord and the writings of apostles. Until A.D. 150, however, the only Bible of Christians was the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament. This the Church had inherited from Judaism, and at first it sufficed. The Christian message entailed the explication of the Old Testament in the light of the acts and words of the
The actual formation of the canon, however, was both
determined and hastened by the Gnostic rejection of the Old
Testament. The sharp dualism of the Gnostics, who viewed the
Jewish and Christian revelations as antithetical, found its
clearest expression in
The creed developed as a baptismal formula. The most important is the Roman symbol which underwent various revisions until the seventh century, and came finally to be known as "The Apostles’ Creed." Its primitive form is reflected in Irenaeus, and at the end of the second century
The process whereby the faith became ordered in the episcopate,
preserved in the canon, and defined in a creed, has its
counterpart in the development of the liturgy. Throughout
the second century prayer was still extemporaneous, though set
forms and phrases had been taken over from the Jewish synagogue, and Christian prayers were gradually becoming stereotyped. We have an instance of a traditional intercessory prayer in I Clement (chs. 59 to 61), and some reflections of the
By the turn of the first century the Eucharist was no longer
a supper meal. The ceremony of the bread and wine had been
attached to a service of lections and prayer, derived from the
synagogue. The first description we have is in Justin's Apology
(I, chs. 65; 67). The service takes place about dawn in a private
house, and its order is as follows: lections, sermon, intercessory
prayers, kiss of peace, offering of the bread and wine, consecration
prayer, Communion. By the end of the century we have a text of the consecration prayer in
The change from a supper meal to a dawn service arose from several factors. For one thing, slaves, who formed a significant part of a Christian congregation, were not free to attend an evening meal. Then again, imperial edicts had forbidden unlicensed clubs to hold such suppers. Moreover, to Gentiles, who dated their days from midnight, a supper on Saturday evening would have seemed an odd way of celebrating the day of the resurrection. Jews dated their days from sundown, and so the primitive Christian communities (envisaged in the liturgical section of the Didache) naturally celebrated the day of the resurrection with a Saturday supper. For Gentiles, however, this cannot but have seemed inappropriate.
Practically all the documents in our volume refer to the
persecution of Christians, and of this a brief word may be said.
It is a disputed point whether Christians in this early period
were persecuted because of an official, imperial rescript forbidding
their existence, or whether the action taken against
them rested only on the general police powers of Roman
magistrates. In any case there was persecution; but it was
neither so incessant nor so widespread as is often imagined.
There were spasmodic outbreaks of a savage nature, as
Internally, the life of the Church in the second century was disturbed by two important movements—Gnosticism and Montanism. The former was an attempt to modernize the faith by accommodating it to the syncretic spirit of the age. During our period the type of Christianity that flourished in two widely separated centers, Edessa and Alexandria, was avowedly Gnostic; and not, indeed, until the turn of the second century did there emerge significant Catholic minorities in those areas.
Gnosticism
In the Christian forms of Gnosis there are instances where the
Christian element is clearly a superficial addition to a system
already complete. But in other cases, as in those of the great
Alexandrine teachers,
Other serious consequences followed from the Gnostic
disparagement of the body. The doctrine of the incarnation
was denied.
In the ethical sphere the Gnostics either espoused a strict
asceticism or else indulged in antinomianism. In the one case
they argued that the soul should cut itself as loose as possible
from the material world; in the other case they contended
that, because creation was outside the sphere of the good God,
the soul's relation to it was a matter of indifference. Both these
attitudes were challenged by the anti-Gnostic writers, such as
At the opposite pole to Gnosticism stands the Montanist
movement of the latter half of the second century. In essence
this was an earnest attempt to recover the prophetic note in
primitive Christianity, and to challenge both the intellectualistic
tendencies in Gnosticism and the ecclesiastical trend of the
second century Church. It was a revival of the religion of
the Spirit—an ecstatic outburst, eagerly expectant of the end
of the world and rigorous in its ascetic demands. It opposed
the developing laxity in Christian morals, which went hand
in hand with the Church's claim to forgive sins after baptism,
and the antinomianism to which some forms of Gnosticism had
led. Born in Phrygia in Asia Minor, it passed eventually to
North Africa, where it won for its cause the vehement
The Catholic opposition to Montanism rested on the conviction that
the Christian revelation was complete. Nothing new in principle could be added to the apostolic deposit of the faith. The Church, too, was cautious about ecstasies in which the prophet lost the use of his reason and identified himself with God. "I am come neither as an angel, nor as an ambassador, but as God the Father," said
The ascetic tendencies in Gnosticism and Montanism affected
the ethical life of the Catholic Church. While the extremes of
both positions were renounced, an increasing veneration of
celibacy and virginity is to be observed. In both
To conclude: The dominant interest of the second century Church was the ordering of its life and teaching. To preserve the apostolic witness against Gnostic perversions and Montanist extravagancies, the episcopate, the canon, and the creed were developed. To interpret it to the Gentile mind, its affinities with the best in pagan religious thought were utilized. To maintain it against persecution, the martyr was willing to suffer. Finally, to ensure the perpetuity of the faith, the Church built up a closely knit organization which was as uncompromising toward heresy and schism as it was toward the demands of the State.
In addition to the books mentioned in the introductions to the various documents, the following more comprehensive works may be consulted. In the list below and elsewhere in this volume the names of publishers are given only for books published since 1928.
Altaner, B., Patrologie, 2d ed. J. C. Herder, Freiburg, 1950.
Bardenhewer, O., Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur, 5 vols. J. C. Herder, Freiburg, 1913–1932.
Goodspeed, E. J., A History of Early Christian Literature. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1942.
Harnack, A., Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur bis Eusebius, 5 vols. Leipzig, 1893–1904.
Labriolle, P. de, Histoire de la littérature latine chrétienne. Paris, 1924.
Monceaux, P., Histoire de la littérature latine chrétienne. Paris, 1924.
Puech, A., Histoire de la littérature grecque chrétienne jusqu’à la fin du IVe siècle, 3 vols. Société d’édition "Les Belles Lettres," Paris, 1928–1930.
Quasten, J., Patrology, Vol. I (the best manual in English). Spectrum Publishers, Utrecht, 1950.
Raemers, S. A., A Handbook of Patrology (based on J. Tixeront, M langes de patrologie ). J. C. Herder, St. Louis, 1934.
Stählin, O., Die altchristliche griechische Literatur (in W. von Christ, Geschichte der griechischen Literatur ,2.2), 6th ed. Munich, 1924.
Duchesne, L., Early History of the Christian Church, 3 vols. London, 1909–1924.
Elliott-Binns, L. E., The Beginnings of Western Christendom. Lutterworth Press, London, 1948.
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History. Greek text by Schwartz, E., in Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte. Leipzig, 1903. English translations with copious notes by McGiffert, A. C., in Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series I, Vol. I, New York, 1890; and by Lawlor, H. J., and Oulton, J. E. L., London, 1928.
Harnack, A., The Expansion of Christianity, English translation by J. Moffatt, 2 vols. New York, 1904–1905.
Kidd, B. J., A History of the Church to A.D. 461. 3 vols. (standard work, carefully documented). Oxford, I922.
Latourette, K. S., The First Five Centuries (Vol. I of A History of the Expansion of Christianity). Harper & Brothers, New York, 1937.
Lebreton, J., and Zeiller, J., The History of the Primitive Church, 2 vols., English translation by E. C. Messenger. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1949.
Lietzmann, H., The Beginnings of the Christian Church, English translation by B. L. Woolf. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1937.
The Founding of the Church Universal, English translation by B. L. Woolf. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1938.
Moffatt, J., The First Five Centuries (brief sketch with rich bibliography, including novels with early Christian background). University of London Press: Hodder, London, 1938.
Bauer, W., Rechtgläubigkeit und Ketzerei im ältesten Christentum (fundamental study of relation of orthodoxy to heresy, somewhat radical). J. C. B. Mohr, Tübingen, 1934.
Bethune-Baker, J. F., Introduction to the Early History of Christian Doctrine (standard work), 5th ed. Cambridge University Press, London, 1933.
Cadoux, C. J., The Early Church and the World (clearly organized and well-documented work on early Christian ethics). Edinburgh, 1925.
Dix, G., The Shape of the Liturgy (standard work on liturgy, deals largely with early period). The Dacre Press, London, 1944.
Harnack, A., A History of Dogma, English translation by N. Buchanan, 7 vols. London, 1894 ff.
Lebreton, J., Histoire de la dogme de la Trinité , 2 vols. Paris, 1927–1928. English translation of Vol. I by A. Thorold. Burns, London, 1939.
McGiffert, A. C., A History of Christian Thought, 2 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1931.
Seeberg, R., Textbook of the History of Doctrines, English translation by C. E. Hay. Philadelphia, 1905.
Srawley, J. H., The Early History of the Liturgy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1947.
The New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers. Oxford, 1905.
Tixeront, J., History of Dogmas, English translation by H. L. B., 3 vols. St. Louis, 1923 ff.
Ayer, J. C., A Source Book for Ancient Church History. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1933.
Grant, R. M., Second Century Christianity (a small volume of some important fragments). S.P.C.K., London, 1946.
James, M. R., The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford, 1924.
Migne, J. P., Patrologia cursus completus: Series Graeca, Paris,1857–1866; Series Latina, Paris, 1844–1855.
Berlin Corpus: Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte. Berlin, 1897 ff.
Vienna Corpus: Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum. Vienna, 1866 ff.
Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalium. Paris, 1903 ff. There are four series, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic, and Ethiopic.
Patrologia Orientalis, ed. Graffin, R., and Nau, F. Paris, 1907 ff.
Patrologia Syriaca, ed. Graffin, R. Paris, 1894–1926.
The Ante-Nicene Fathers (reprint of the Edinburgh edition by A. Roberts and J. Donaldson, revised by A. C. Coxe). Buffalo, 1884–1886.
Translations of Christian Literature, ed. W. J. Sparrow-Simpson and W. K. Lowther Clarke. Four series: Greek Texts, Latin Texts, Liturgical Texts, and Oriental Texts. London, 1917 ff.
Ancient Christian Writers, ed. J. Quasten and J. C. Plumpe. Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1946 ff.
The Fathers of the Church, ed. L. Schopp. Cima Publishing Company, New York, 1947 ff.
Bibliothek der Kirchenväter, ed. O. Bardenhewer, Th. Schermann, and C. Weyman, Jos. Kösel, Kempten, 1911–1930; Second Series, 1932–1939.
Sources chrétiennes, ed. H. de Lubac and J. Daniélou. Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 1941 ff.
The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, 1907–1914.
Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie. Paris, 1907 ff.
Dictionnaire de la théologie catholique. Paris, 1903 ff.
Dictionary of the Apostolic Church. Edinburgh, 1915–1918.
Dictionary of Christian Biography. London, 1877–1888.
Realencyclopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche, 3d ed. Leipzig, 1896–1913.
Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum. Hiersemann Verlag, Leipzig, 1941 ff.
Heussi, K., and Mulert, H., Atlas zur Kirchengeschichte. Tübingen, 1919.
Shepherd, W. R., Historical Atlas. 7th ed. Henry Holt & Company, Inc., New York, 1929.
Wright, G. E., and Filson, F. V., The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1945.
Richardson, E. C., Bibliographical Synopsis in The Ante-Nicene Library, Vol. 10. New York, 1899.
See also the relevant sections in the manuals listed, especially Altaner and Quasten.
Goodspeed, E. J., Index Patristicus (Greek index of the Apostolic Fathers). Leipzig, 1907.
Goodspeed, E. J., Index Apologeticus (Greek index of the Greek Apologists). Leipzig, 1912.
The Letter of the Church of Rome
to the Church of Corinth,
Commonly Called
Outside the new testament writings, the
earliest Christian document we possess is an anonymous
letter of the church of Rome to the church of
Corinth. It was written about A.D. 96, and was so highly
esteemed in Christian antiquity that for a while it was even
reckoned as part of the canon in Egypt and Syria.
Some references in the letter itself indicate that it stems from
the period of the second generation of Christians. The Neronian
persecution of A.D. 64 is already past (chs. 5; 6): the Corinthians
are viewed as an "ancient church" (ch. 47:6), and there
are in Rome those who from youth to old age have lived irreproachable Christian lives (ch. 63:3). Yet
The occasion of the letter was a schism in the Corinthian church. The same factious spirit that
News of the dissension seems to have reached Rome through hearsay (ch. 47:7). It is possible that some traveling Romans had not been accorded the usual welcome, as visitors, by the rebellious faction, and on returning home had spread the report. This would account for the emphasis on hospitality (chs. 1:2; 11; 12). In any case there is no evidence that Corinth applied to Rome for a judgment in the matter. Rome's intervention is to be explained from other factors.
It was nothing extraordinary for leaders of one church to
send a letter of advice and warning to another congregation.
The apostolic prerogative exercised by
Furthermore, that Rome should intervene in the internal
affairs of the Corinthian church is partly to be explained by
the close relations between the two cities. Refounded as a
Roman colony in the middle of the first century, Corinth had
built up a peculiarly intimate connection in trade and culture
with the mother city. Indeed, excavations have made clear
how exactly Corinth tried to mimic Rome—in its sculpture,
architecture, organization, and even its names. Neither the
church at Rome nor that at Corinth was, it is true, Latin in
race or language. The predominant element in both congregations
was doubtless converted Hellenistic Jews. Yet these
affinities between the two cities help to explain even the
Yet it cannot be denied that these two explanations do not
fully account for the tone of the letter. Rome very definitely
regards it as her duty to intervene (ch. 63) and sends envoys
to see that matters are put right (ch. 65). Something of her
unique place as the church of the imperial city, and the church
of
While the letter was written in the name of the church of
Rome and its subscription did not originally mention
Precisely who
More than that we do not know of
The most striking feature of
There is a strain of moralism in his religion, which links him
on the one hand with Hellenistic Judaism and on the other
with Stoicism. Where, for
These instances must suffice to indicate the extent to which
It is, however, in the treatment of church order that
It has been already observed that
To summarize: Clement's Letter reflects the movement away
from the Pauline faith to a type of Christianity in which ethical
interests and concern for law and order predominate. This
does not, however, exclude both acquaintance with, and some
grasp of, the Pauline gospel. The cleavage is not so sharp as is
sometimes made out. Nor do the Stoic expressions to be found
in
Despite the fact that Clement's Letter was widely read in
Christian antiquity, and at one time formed part of the New
There are four other witnesses to the text. There is a Syriac
version, extant in one twelfth century manuscript, now in
Cambridge. It was published by
The best modern edition of the Greek text, and the one used
for this translation, is that by
There are a number of important modern translations. As
well as the renderings by
In German there are renderings by
In French there is the translation by
In Italian there is a rendering by
All these editions have introductions and notes. The most
illuminating are those by
Studies in Clement are numerous. The most significant are these:
There are also a number of important articles:
The Letter of the Church of Rome
to the Church of Corinth,
Commonly Called Clement's First Letter
The church of God, living in exile
1 Due, dear friends, to the sudden and successive misfortunes
and accidents we have encountered,
2You were all humble and without any pretensions, obeying
orders rather than issuing them, more gladly giving than
receiving.
2In consequence, you were all granted a profound and rich
peace and an insatiable longing to do good, while the Holy
Spirit was abundantly poured out on you all.
3You were full of
holy counsels, and, with zeal for the good and devout confidence, you stretched out your hands
2 From this there arose rivalry and envy, strife and sedition,
persecution and anarchy, war and captivity. 3And so "the
dishonored" rose up "against those who were held in honor,"
4 For Scripture runs thus: "And it happened after some days that Cain brought God a sacrifice from the fruits of the earth,
while Abel made his offering from the first-born of the sheep
and of their fat. 2And God looked with favor on Abel and on
his gifts; but he did not heed Cain and his sacrifices. 3And Cain
was greatly upset and his face fell. 4And God said to Cain,
'Why are you so upset, and why has your face fallen? If you
have made a correct offering but not divided it correctly, have
you not sinned?
7You see, brothers, rivalry and envy are responsible for fratricide.
8Because of rivalry our forefather Jacob fled from the presence of his brother Esau.
9It was rivalry that caused Joseph to be murderously persecuted and reduced to slavery.
10Rivalry forced Moses to flee from the presence of Pharaoh, the king
of Egypt, when he heard his fellow clansman say: "Who made
you a ruler or judge over us? Do you want to slay me as you
did the Egyptian yesterday?"
5 But, passing from examples in antiquity, let us come to the heroes
6 To these men who lived such holy lives there was joined a
great multitude of the elect who by reason of rivalry were the
victims of many outrages and tortures and who became outstanding examples among us.
2By reason of rivalry women were persecuted in the roles of
7 We are writing in this vein, dear friends, not only to admonish you but also to remind ourselves. For we are in the same arena and involved in the same struggle.
2Hence we should
8 The ministers of God's grace spoke about repentance through the Holy Spirit,
2and the Master of the universe himself spoke of repentance with an oath:
"For as I live, says the Lord, I do not desire the death of the sinner, but his repentance."
3He added, too, this generous consideration: "Repent, O house
of Israel, of your iniquity. Say to the sons of my people, Should your sins reach from earth to heaven, and
be redder than scarlet and blacker than sackcloth, and should you turn to me
with your whole heart and say 'Father!' I will heed you as though you were a holy
people."
9 So, then, let us fall in with his magnificent and glorious intention, and let us prostrate
ourselves before him as suppliants of his mercy and kindness. Let us turn to his compassion and give up
useless ventures and strife, and rivalry that leads to death.
2Let us father our eyes on those who have served his magnificent glory to perfection.
3Let us take Enoch, for instance, who, because he proved upright by his obedience, was translated and never died.
4Noah proved faithful in his ministry and preached a new birth to the world. Through him, therefore,
the Master saved those living creatures that entered peacefully into the ark. 10 Abraham, who was called
"The Friend," proved faithful in obeying God's words.
2It was obedience which led him to quit his country, his kindred, and his father's house,
so that by leaving a paltry country, a mean kindred, and an insignificant house, he might inherit God's promises.
3For he told him: "Depart from your country and from your kindred and from the house
of your father, and go to a land which I will show you. And I will make you great among the nations and
I will bless you and I will make your name great and you will be blessed. And I will bless those who bless you
and curse those who curse you, and all the tribes of the earth will be blessed through you."
12 Because of her faith and hospitality
13 Let us then, brothers, be humble and be rid of all pretensions and arrogance and silliness and anger. Let us act as Scripture bids us, for the Holy Spirit says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man of his might or the rich man
of his wealth. But let him that boasts boast of the Lord; and
so he will seek Him out and act justly and uprightly."
14 It is right, then, and holy, brothers, that we should obey God rather than follow those
arrogant and disorderly fellows who take the lead in stirring up loathsome rivalry.
2For we shall incur no ordinary harm, but rather great danger, if we recklessly give
ourselves over to the designs of men who launch out into strife and sedition to alienate us from what is right.
3Let us be kind to one another in line with the compassion and tenderness of him who created us.
4For it is written: "The kind shall inhabit the land, and the innocent shall be left upon
it. But those who transgress shall be destroyed from off it."
15 Let us, then, attach ourselves to those who are religiously devoted to peace, and not to
those who wish for it hypocritically.
2For somewhere it is said, "This people honors me with its lips, but its heart is
far removed from me."
16 It is to the humble that Christ belongs, not to those who exalt themselves above his flock.
2The scepter of God's majesty, the
15And again he himself says: "I am a worm and not a man, a disgrace to mankind and despised by the people.
16All those who saw me mocked me, they made mouths at me and shook their
heads, saying: 'He hoped on the Lord. Let him rescue him, let
him save him, since he is pleased with him!'
17You see, dear friends, the kind of example we have been
18 And what shall we say of the famous
19 The humility and obedient submissiveness of so many and so famous heroes have improved not only us but our fathers before us, and all who have received His oracles in fear and sincerity. 2Since, then, we have benefited by many great and glorious deeds, let us run on to the goal of peace, which was handed down to us from the beginning. Let us fix our eyes on the Father and Creator of the universe and cling to his magnificent and excellent gifts of peace and kindness to us. 3Let us see him in our minds and look with the eyes of our souls on his patient purpose. Let us consider how free he is from anger toward his whole creation.
20 The heavens move at his direction and peacefully obey
him.
2Day and night observe the course he has appointed them, without getting in each other's way.
3The sun and the moon and the choirs of stars roll on harmoniously in their appointed
courses at his command, and with never a deviation.
4By his will and without dissension or altering anything he has
decreed the earth becomes fruitful at the proper seasons and brings forth abundant food for men and beasts and every living thing upon it.
5The unsearchable, abysmal depths and the indescribable regions
21 Take care, dear friends, that his many blessings do not turn out to be our condemnation, which will be the case if we fail to live worthily of him, to act in concert, and to do what is good and pleasing to him. 2For he says somewhere, "The Spirit of the Lord is a lamp which searches the hidden depths of the
3 heart."
22 Now Christian faith confirms all this. For this is how Christ addresses us through his Holy Spirit: "Come, my children,2 listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
2What man is there that desires life, and loves to see good days?
3Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from uttering deceit.
4Refrain from evil and do good.
5Seek peace and follow after it.
6The eyes of the Lord are over the upright and his ears are open to their
23 The all-merciful and beneficent Father has compassion on those who fear him, and with kindness and love he grants his
favors to those who approach him with a sincere heart.
2For this reason we must not be double-minded, and our souls must
not harbor wrong notions about his excellent and glorious gifts.
3Let that verse of Scripture be remote from us, which says: "Wretched are the double-minded, those who doubt in their
soul and say, `We have heard these things even in our fathers'
times, and, see, we have grown old and none of them has
happened to us.'
4You fools! Compare yourselves to a tree. Take a vine: first it sheds its leaves, then comes a bud, then a
leaf, then a flower, and after this a sour grape, and finally a
ripe bunch."
24 Let us consider, dear friends, how the Master continually
points out to us that there will be a future resurrection. Of this
he made the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruits by raising him
from the dead.
2Let us take note, dear friends, of the resurrection at the natural seasons.
3Day and night demonstrate resurrection. Night passes and day comes. Day departs and night returns.
4Take the crops as examples. How and in what way is the seeding done?
5The sower goes out and casts each of his seeds in the ground.
25 Let us note the remarkable token which comes from the
East, from the neighborhood, that is, of Arabia.
2There is a bird which is called a phoenix. It is the only one of its kind and lives
27 With this hope, then, let us attach ourselves to him who is faithful to his promises and just in his judgments.
2He who bids us to refrain from lying is all the less likely to lie himself. For nothing is impossible to God save lying.
28 Since, then, he sees and hears everything, we should fear
29 We must, then, approach him with our souls holy, lifting up pure and undefiled hands to him, loving our kind and
compassionate Father, who has made us his chosen portion.
2For thus it is written: "When the Most High divided the nations, when he dispersed the sons of Adam, he fixed the
boundaries of the nations to suit the number of God's angels.
30 Since, then, we are a holy portion, we should do everything that makes for holiness. We should flee from slandering, vile and impure embraces, drunkenness, rioting, filthy lusts, detestable adultery, and disgusting arrogance.
2"For God," says Scripture, "resists the arrogant, but gives grace to the
humble."
31 Let us, then, cling to his blessing and note what leads to it.
2Let us unfold the tale of the ancient past. Why was our father
2For from
33 What, then, brothers, ought we to do?
34 The good laborer accepts the bread he has earned with his head held high; the lazy and negligent workman cannot look his employer in the face.
2We must, then, be eager to do good; for everything comes from Him.
3For he warns us: "See, the Lord is coming. He is bringing his reward with him, to pay each
one according to his work."
35 How blessed and amazing are God's gifts, dear friends!
2Life with immortality, splendor with righteousness, truth with confidence, faith with assurance, self-control with holiness! And all these things are within our comprehension.
3What, then, is being prepared for those who wait for him? The Creator
and Father of eternity, the all-holy, himself knows how great
and wonderful it is.
4We, then, should make every effort to be found in the number of those who are patiently looking for
him, so that we may share in the gifts he has promised.
5And how shall this be, dear friends? If our mind is faithfully fixed
on God; if we seek out what pleases and delights him; if we
do what is in accord with his pure will, and follow in the way
36 This is the way, dear friends, in which we found our salvation, Jesus Christ, the high priest of our offerings, the protector and helper of our weakness.
2Through him we fix our gaze on the heights of heaven. In him we see mirrored God's pure and
transcendent face. Through him the eyes of our hearts have
been opened. Through him our foolish and darkened understanding springs up to the light. Through him the Master has
willed that we should taste immortal knowledge. For, "since he reflects God's splendor, he is as superior to the angels as his
title is more distinguished than theirs."
37 Really in earnest, then, brothers, we must march under
his irreproachable orders. 2Let us note with
what discipline, readiness, and obedience those who serve under our
generals carry out orders. 3Not everybody is a
general, colonel, captain, sergeant, and so on. But "each in
his own rank"
38 Following this out, we must preserve our Christian body too in its entirety. Each must be subject to his neighbor, according to his special gifts. 2The strong must take care of the weak; the weak must look up to the strong. The rich must provide for the poor; the poor must thank God for giving him someone to meet his needs. The wise man must show his wisdom not in words but in good deeds. The humble must not brag about his humility; but should give others occasion to mention it. He who is continent must not put on airs. He must recognize that his self-control is a gift from another. 3We must take to heart, brothers, from what stuff we were created, what kind of creatures we were when we entered the world, from what a dark grave he who fashioned and created us brought us into his world. And we must realize the preparations he so generously made before we were born. 4Since, then, we owe all this to him, we ought to give him unbounded thanks. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
39 Thoughtless, silly, senseless, and ignorant folk mock and jeer at us, in an effort, so they imagine, to exalt themselves.
2But what can a mere mortal do? What power has a creature of earth?
3For it is written: "There was no shape before my eyes, but I heard a breath and a voice.
4What! Can a mortal be pure before the Lord? Or can a man be blameless for his actions, if
he does not believe in His servants and finds something wrong with His angels?
5Not even heaven is pure in His sight: let alone those who live in houses of clay—of the very same clay
of which we ourselves are made. He smites them like a moth;
and they do not last from dawn to dusk. They perish, for they
cannot help themselves.
6He breathes on them, and they die for lack of wisdom.
7Call out and see if anyone will heed you, or if you will see any of the holy angels. For wrath destroys a
stupid man, and rivalry is the death of one in error.
8I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly their home is swept away.
9May their sons be far from safety! May they be mocked at the
40 Now that this is clear to us and we have peered into the depths of the divine knowledge, we are bound to do in an orderly fashion all that the Master has bidden us to do at the proper times he set. 2He ordered sacrifices and services to be performed; and required this to be done, not in a careless and disorderly way, but at the times and seasons he fixed. 3Where he wants them performed, and by whom, he himself fixed by his supreme will, so that everything should be done in a holy way and with his approval, and should be acceptable to his will. 4Those, therefore, who make their offerings at the time set, win his approval and blessing. For they follow the Master's orders and do no wrong. 5The high priest is given his particular duties: the priests are assigned their special place, while on the Levites particular tasks are imposed. The layman is bound by the layman's code.
41 "Each of us," brothers, "in his own rank"
42 The apostles received the gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus, the Christ, was sent from God.
2Thus Christ is from God and the apostles from Christ. In both instances the orderly procedure depends on God's will.
3And so the apostles, after receiving their orders and being fully convinced by the
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and assured by God's
word, went out in the confidence of the Holy Spirit to preach the good news that God's Kingdom was about to come.
4They preached in country and city, and appointed their first converts,
after testing them by the Spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers.
5Nor was this any novelty, for Scripture had
mentioned bishops and deacons long before. For this is what
43 And is it any wonder that those Christians whom God had entrusted with such a duty should have appointed the officers
mentioned? For the blessed
44 Now our apostles, thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, knew that there was going to be strife over the title of bishop.
2It was for this reason and because they had been given an accurate
knowledge of the future, that they appointed the officers we
have mentioned. Furthermore, they later added a codicil to
the effect that, should these die, other approved men should
succeed to their ministry.
2You have studied Holy Scripture, which contains the truth and is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
3You realize that there is nothing wrong or misleading written in it. You will not find that upright people have ever been disowned by holy men.
4The righteous, to be sure, have been persecuted, but by wicked men. They have been imprisoned, but by the godless. They have been stoned by transgressors, slain by men prompted by abominable and wicked rivalry.
5Yet in such sufferings they bore up nobly.
6What shall we say, brothers? Was
46 Brothers, we must follow such examples.
2For it is written: "Follow the saints, because those who follow them will become saints."
47 Pick up the letter of the blessed apostle Paul.
2What was the primary thing he wrote to you, "when he started preaching the gospel?"
48We must, then, put a speedy end to this. We must prostrate ourselves before the Master, and beseech him with tears to have mercy on us and be reconciled to us and bring us back to our honorable and holy practice of brotherly love.
2For it is this which is the gate of righteousness, which opens the way to life, as it is written: "Open the gates of righteousness for me, so that I may enter by them and praise the Lord.
3This is the Lord's gate: the righteous shall enter by it."
5Let a man be faithful, let him be capable of uttering "knowledge,"
50 You see, brothers, how great and amazing love is, and how its perfection is beyond description.
2Who is able to possess it save those to whom God has given the privilege? Let us, then, beg and implore him mercifully to grant us love without human bias and to make us irreproachable.
3All the generations from Adam to our day have passed away, but those who, by the grace of God, have been made perfect in love have a place among the saints, who will appear when Christ's Kingdom comes.
4For it is written: "Go into your closets for a very little while, until my wrath and anger pass, and I will remember a good day and I will raise you up from your graves."
51 Let us, then, ask pardon for our failings and for whatever we have done through the prompting of the adversary. And those who are the ringleaders of the revolt and dissension ought to reflect upon the common nature of our hope.
2Those, certainly, who live in fear and love would rather suffer outrages themselves than have their neighbors do so. They prefer to endure condemnation themselves rather than bring in reproach our tradition of noble and righteous harmony.
3It is better for a man to confess his sins than to harden his heart in the way those rebels against God's servant
52 The Master, brothers, has no need of anything. He wants nothing of anybody save that he should praise him.
2For his favorite,
53 You know the Holy Scriptures, dear friends—you know them well—and you have studied God's oracles. It is to remind you of them that we write the way we do.
2When
5O great love! O unsurpassed perfection! The servant speaks openly to his Lord. He begs pardon for his people or requests that he too will be wiped out along with them.
54 Well, then, who of your number is noble, large-hearted, and full of love? 2Let him say: "If it is my fault that revolt, strife, and schism have arisen, I will leave, I will go away wherever you wish, and do what the congregation orders. Only let Christ's flock live in peace with their appointed presbyters."
3The man who does this will win for himself great glory in Christ; and will be welcome everywhere. "For the earth and its fullness belong to the Lord."
55 Let us take some heathen examples:
56 So we too must intercede for any who have fallen into sin, that considerateness and humility may be granted to them and that they may submit, not to us, but to God's will. For in that way they will prove fruitful and perfect when God and the saints remember them with mercy.
2We must accept correction, dear friends. No one should resent it. Warnings we give each other are good and thoroughly beneficial. For they bind us to God's will.
3This is what the Holy Word says about it: "The Lord has disciplined me severely and has not given me up to death.
4For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and punishes every son he accepts."
16You see, dear friends, how well protected they are whom the Master disciplines. Yes, he is like a good Father, and disciplines us so that the outcome of his holy discipline may mean mercy for us.
57 And that is why you who are responsible for the revolt must submit to the presbyters. You must humble your hearts and be disciplined so that you repent.
2You must learn obedience, and be done with your proud boasting and curb your arrogant tongues. For it is better for you to have an insignificant yet creditable place in Christ's flock than to appear eminent and be excluded from Christ's hope.
3For this is what the excellent Wisdom says: "See, I will declare to you the utterance of my Spirit: I will teach you my word.
4Since I called
58 So, then, let us obey his most holy and glorious name and escape the threats which Wisdom has predicted against the disobedient. In that way we shall live in peace, having our confidence in his most holy and majestic name. 2Accept our advice, and you will never regret it. For as God lives, and as the Lord Jesus Christ lives and the Holy Spirit (on whom the elect believe and hope), the man who with humility and eager considerateness and with no regrets does what God has decreed and ordered will be enlisted and enrolled in the ranks of those who are saved through Jesus Christ. Through him be the glory to God forever and ever. Amen.
59 If, on the other hand, there be some who fail to obey what
God has told them through us, they must realize that they will enmesh themselves in sin and in no insignificant danger.
2 We, for our part, will not be responsible for such a sin. But we will
beg with earnest prayer and supplication that the Creator of the universe will keep intact the precise number of his elect in
the whole world, through his beloved Child
4We ask you, Master, be our "helper and defender."
60 You brought into being the everlasting structure of the world by what you did. You, Lord, made the earth. You who are faithful in all generations, righteous in judgment, marvelous in
strength and majesty, wise in creating, prudent in making
creation endure, visibly good, kind to those who trust in you,
"merciful and compassionate,"
3Yes, Master, "turn your radiant face toward us"
61 You, Master, gave them imperial power through your majestic and indescribable might, so that we, recognizing it was you who gave them the glory and honor, might submit to
them, and in no way oppose your will. Grant them, Lord, health, peace, harmony, and stability, so that they may give no offense in administering the government you have given them.
2For it is you, Master, the heavenly "King of eternity,"
62 We have written enough to you, brothers, about what befits our religion and is most helpful to those who want reverently and uprightly to lead a virtuous life.
2We have, indeed, touched on every topic—faith, repentance, genuine love, self-control, sobriety, and patience. We have reminded you that you must
reverently please almighty God by your uprightness, truthfulness, and long-suffering. You must live in harmony, bearing no grudges, in love, peace, and true considerateness, just as our forefathers, whom we mentioned, won approval by their
humble attitude to the Father, God the Creator, and to all men.
3We were, moreover, all the more delighted to remind you of these things, since we well realized we were writing to people who were real believers and of the highest standing, and who had made a study of the oracles of God's teaching.
63 Hence it is only right that, confronted with such examples and so many of them, we should bow the neck and adopt the attitude of obedience. Thus, by giving up this futile revolt, we
3We are sending you, moreover, trustworthy and discreet persons who from youth to old age have lived irreproachable lives among us. They will be witnesses to mediate between us. 4We have done this to let you know that our whole concern has been, and is, to have peace speedily restored among you.
64And now may the all-seeing God and Master "of spirits" and Lord "of all
flesh,"
65Be quick to return our delegates in peace and joy,
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you and with all everywhere whom God has called through him. Through him be glory, honor, might, majesty, and eternal dominion to God, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen.
The Letter of the Romans to the Corinthians
The Letters of Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch
The significance of these seven letters lies in
their being intimate, familiar, and popular. They do not, in the
first instance, reveal a set of ideas though they are not lacking in thoughtfulness. Rather do they reveal a man. So much of early Christian literature is impersonal that it is refreshing to stumble upon letters reminiscent of the frank and personal note of
The conditions under which Ignatius’ letters were written
did not make for careful reflection. They are the letters of a
prisoner on his way to martyrdom. Their religious character
is popular rather than deep. Their style is compressed and
turbulent, reflecting the brusque and impetuous nature of
their author (Trall., ch. 4), as well as the irritation of a captive
subjected to brutality (
Our knowledge of Ignatius is confined almost entirely to these letters. The later acts of his martyrdom are pure romances, resting on no historical foundations. It is only for the few days when he journeys from Philadelphia to Troas under a military guard that we catch a glimpse of this early second century bishop.
It appears that he was bishop of Antioch in Syria,
Ignatius’ letters are dominated by three concerns. First
is his approaching martyrdom. To "imitate the Passion of my
God"
(
The second concern is for the unity of the Church. Against
threatening schisms, Ignatius is persistent in his stress on
obedience to the Church authorities. In his letters there first
emerges the picture of the local congregation governed by a
single bishop who is supported by a council of presbyters and
assisted by deacons. In this Ignatius betrays a stage of development beyond the situation reflected in the Pastoral Epistles, the
Didache, and I Clement. There the titles "bishop" and "presbyter," and perhaps the offices too, are not clearly distinguished. The local congregations are ruled by boards of officials
(sometimes called bishops, sometimes presbyters), subject only
to apostolic figures, such as
What, however, is most striking about this appearance of
the monepiscopate in Ignatius is the lack of an explicit doctrine
of apostolical succession. For him the authority of the Church
officers is not derived from a chain of teaching chairs (as in
The bishop in Ignatius, moreover, is not only an administrative and liturgical officer. He is also a prophet. This is especially true in his own case. In Philad., ch. 7, he gives us an instance of his gifts in this direction, while the name Theophorus ("God-inspired"), which he assumes, is likely not a
The third concern in Ignatius is to unmask those heretical movements which are leading to schism. Two of these are prevalent; and while he does not go into detail, believing as he does more in order than in argument, we may gather their main features from his casual references.
In Philadelphia he came into personal contact with a Judaizing movement similar to the one attacked by
At the opposite pole to this error was the Docetic heresy, rife in Smyrna. Here the attempt to accommodate the gospel to Greek culture had gone to the limit of denying the reality of the Lord's body. The basic Hellenistic idea that matter was evil led inevitably to disbelief in the incarnation. God could not have a direct relation with the sensible world, since this was the province of evil. Accordingly, Christ could not have been genuinely man. He only appeared or seemed to have a body (whence "Docetism," from the Greek dokeō, seem), being as it were a phantom from the heavenly sphere. The way Ignatius plays on this theme is interesting. By inventing a sham Christ (a Christ who only "seems" to be), the Docetics prove themselves to be a sham, and they will end up by becoming apparitions! (Trall., ch. 10; Smyr., ch. 2).
Against such views Ignatius introduces two of the leading emphases of his theology. One is the divinity of Christ. This was compromised by the Judaizing movement, which viewed him as the last of the prophets. For Ignatius, Christ is "our God." He can even speak of the "Christ God" (Smyr. 10:1), revealing by such an expression his own Christocentric faith and also something of the liberal use of the word theos (god) to be found in Hellenistic circles.
The other emphasis of Ignatius’ Christianity falls upon the
reality of the incarnation, Passion, and resurrection of the
Christ. He continually stresses the genuine and actual nature
While these are two of the central themes of Ignatius'
thought, recent study has drawn attention to other aspects of
it. One concerns the affinities between Ignatius and the
Gnostics. There are, indeed, traces of Gnostic terminology
in the letters, and a number of ideas (as for instance those in Eph., chs. 19; 20)
which were later elaborated in the Valentinian and other systems. But Ignatius was not a Gnostic: he was
very far from it. His was not a speculative mind. Indeed, it is
the simplicity and uncompromising quality of his basic convictions, so frequently expressed in compact, credal statements,
which are most characteristic of him. That is not, however, to
deny that Ignatius is hospitable to quite a few phrases and ideas
familiar from Hellenistic religion and alien to the general
stream of Biblical thought. The Eucharist is "the medicine of
immortality" (
Closely connected with this issue are others which bear upon
Ignatius’ relation to the New Testament faith. How far does he
deviate from the Pauline gospel? Is he influenced by
Ignatius knew several letters of
With
In general it would be true to say that the Christianity of Ignatius represents a step removed from the central New Testament faith. It lacks the freshness and depth of the Pauline and Johannine gospels, though this can easily be exaggerated. The process by which the faith became ordered and organized, thereby losing something of its original spontaneity and reliance on the Spirit, is evident in the New Testament itself, especially in the Pastoral Epistles. Ignatius carries the development a little farther, striking out on a line of Church mysticism somewhat different from the moral note of the Pastorals and I Clement. But at the same time it is impossible to miss in Ignatius the intense devotion to the person of Christ and the consciousness of fellowship with his sufferings.
"A soul seething with the divine eros"—such is
Yet, for all this, there is a nobility about this Oriental martyr. He can recognize his weakness, and he has grasped the central truth of the Christian gospel, incorporating it into his very life. He will suffer with Christ and so become a genuine disciple.
The letters of Ignatius were first collected by
We possess no pure manuscript of the original corpus, for in
the fourth century the letters were interpolated and six additional ones added
(
The greater part of the extant manuscripts contains the seven
interpolated letters along with five or six of the spurious ones,
With the revival of learning in the Renaissance a critical
spirit toward the Ignatian corpus first arose; but it was not until
the labors of
A pioneer work which attempted to separate the wheat from
the chaff was that of the Genevan professor
Two years later (1646)
The authenticity of the text defended by Ussher and Voss
was soon attacked by French Calvinists (notably by
Considerably later (1845) an English canon,
To summarize: the letters of Ignatius have come down to us in three forms. There is the long recension, interpolated in the fourth century. There is the short Syriac recension, which is an abridgment of the authentic letters. Finally there is the middle recension, or genuine text.
A full description of the manuscripts (including the Armenian, and the Syriac and Coptic fragments) will be found in Lightfoot,
op. cit., pp. 70–126; 587–598. To this must be added
the fifth century Berlin papyrus fragment of Smyrnaeans (in Greek: see
The Acts of Ignatius’ Martyrdom are current in five forms. Of these only two are independent, the so-called Antiochene and Roman Acts. The others are combinations and modifications of them.
The Antiochene Acts derive their name from the fact that
their center of interest is Antioch, where Ignatius is tried by
Even more crudely legendary are the Roman Acts, which
belong to the sixth century and record Ignatius’ trial before
The best Greek text, and the one used for this translation,
is by
The more important translations are as follows: by
The best French translation, incisive and idiomatic, is by
In German there are these versions: by
In Italian there is I Padri apostolici, Part 2a, by
All these editions have introductions and notes, the most valuable being those of Lightfoot, Srawley, Kleist, and Bauer.
In addition to the works of Zahn and Lightfoot previously
mentioned, the following are the more important recent studies
in Ignatius:
The Letter of Ignatius,
Bishop of Antioch
Written from Smyrna, where Ignatius and his military guard made
a halt on their way to Rome via the northern road to Troas, this is the
longest of his letters. Four delegates, including the modest and retiring bishop
Ignatius takes the occasion to thank the Ephesians for their kindness. While praising them for their unity and orthodoxy, he proceeds to warn them against schism and the prevalent Docetic heresy which was being disseminated by itinerant teachers.
Heartiest greetings of pure joy in Jesus Christ from Ignatius,
the "God-inspired,"
1 I gave a godly welcome to your church which has so endeared itself to us by reason of your upright nature, marked as it is by faith in Jesus Christ, our Saviour, and by love of him. You are imitators of God; and it was God's blood that stirred you
up once more to do the sort of thing you do naturally and have now done to perfection.
2For you were all zeal to visit me when you heard that I was being shipped as a prisoner from Syria
for the sake of our common Name
2 Now about my fellow slave
3 I do not give you orders as if I were somebody important. For even if I am a prisoner for the Name, I have not yet reached Christian perfection. I am only beginning to be a disciple, so I address you as my fellow students. I needed your coaching in faith, encouragement, endurance, and patience. 2 But since love forbids me to keep silent about you, I hasten to urge you to harmonize your actions with God's mind. For Jesus Christ—that life from which we can't be torn—is the Father's mind, as the bishops too, appointed the world over, reflect the mind of Jesus Christ.
4 Hence you should act in accord with the bishop's mind, as you surely do. Your presbytery, indeed, which deserves its name and is a credit to God, is as closely tied to the bishop as the strings to a harp. Wherefore your accord and harmonious love is a hymn to Jesus Christ.
2Yes, one and all, you should form yourselves into a choir,
5 If in so short a time I could get so close to your bishop—I do not mean in a natural way, but in a spiritual—how much more do I congratulate you on having such intimacy with
him as the Church enjoys with Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ
with the Father. That is how unity and harmony come to prevail everywhere.
2Make no mistake about it. If anyone is not inside the sanctuary,
6 The more anyone sees the bishop modestly silent, the more he should revere him. For everyone the Master of the house sends on his business, we ought to receive as the One who sent him. It is clear, then, that we should regard the bishop as the Lord himself.
2Indeed,
7 Some, indeed, have a wicked and deceitful habit of flaunting the Name about, while acting in a way unworthy of God. You must avoid them like wild beasts. For they are mad dogs which
8 Let no one mislead you, as, indeed, you are not misled, being wholly God's. For when you harbor no dissension that can harass you, then you are indeed living in God's way. A cheap sacrifice
9 I have heard that some strangers came your way with a wicked teaching. But you did not let them sow it among you. You stopped up your ears to prevent admitting what they disseminated. Like stones of God's Temple, ready for a building of God the Father, you are being hoisted up by Jesus Christ, as with a crane (that's the cross!), while the rope you use is the Holy Spirit. Your faith is what lifts you up, while love is the way you ascend to God.
2You are all taking part in a religious procession,
10 "Keep on praying"
11 The last days are here. So let us abase ourselves and stand in awe of God's patience, lest it turn out to be our condemnation. Either let us fear the wrath to come or let us value the grace we have: one or the other. Only let our lot be genuine life in Jesus Christ.
2Do not let anything catch your eye besides him, for whom I carry around these chains—my spiritual pearls! Through them I want to rise from the dead by your prayers.
May I ever share in these, so that I may be numbered among the Ephesian Christians who, by the might of Jesus Christ, have always been of one mind with the very apostles.
12 I realize who I am and to whom I am writing. I am a convict; you have
been freed. I am in danger; you are safe.
2You are the route for God's victims.
13 Try to gather together more frequently to celebrate God's Eucharist and to praise him. For when you meet with frequency,
14 You will not overlook any of this if you have a thorough belief in Jesus Christ and love him. That is the beginning and end of life: faith the beginning and love the end.
15 It is better to keep quiet and be real, than to chatter and be
unreal. It is a good thing to teach if, that is, the teacher
practices what he preaches. There was one such Teacher,
who "spoke and it was done"
3
The Lord overlooks nothing. Even secrets are open to him.
Let us, then, do everything as if he were dwelling in us. Thus
we shall be his temples
16 Make no mistake, my brothers: adulterers will not inherit God's Kingdom.
17 The reason the Lord let the ointment be poured on his head was that he might pass on the aroma of incorruption to the Church. Do not be anointed with the foul smell of the teaching of the prince of this world, lest he capture you and rob you of the life ahead of you. 2Why do we not all come to our senses by accepting God's knowledge, which is Jesus Christ? Why do we stupidly perish, ignoring the gift which the Lord has really sent?
18 I am giving my life (not that it's worth much!)
19 Now,
20 If Jesus Christ allows me, in answer to your prayers, and it is his will, I will explain to you more about [God's] plan in a second letter I intend to write. I have only touched on this plan in reference to the New Man Jesus Christ, and how it involves believing in him and loving him, and entails his Passion and resurrection.
2I will do this especially if the Lord shows me that you are all, every one of you, meeting together under the influence of the grace that we owe to the Name,
21 I am giving my life for you and for those whom you, to God's honor, sent to Smyrna. I am writing to you from there, giving the Lord thanks and embracing Polycarp and you too in my love. Bear me in mind, as Jesus Christ does you. 2Pray for the church in Syria, whence I am being sent off to Rome as a prisoner. I am the least of the faithful there—yet I have been privileged to serve God's honor. Farewell in God the Father and in Jesus Christ, our common hope.
Like the Ephesians, the Christians at Magnesia (a town some fifteen miles from Ephesus) sent delegates to greet Ignatius in Smyrna. Among them was their youthful bishop,
Every good wish in God the Father and in Jesus Christ from Ignatius, the "God-inspired," to the church at Magnesia on the Maeander. In Christ Jesus, our Saviour, I greet your church which, by reason of its union with him, is blessed with the favor of God the Father.
1 I was delighted to hear of your well-disciplined and godly
love; and hence, impelled by faith in Jesus Christ, I decided to write to you.
2Privileged as I am to have this distinguished
and godly name,
2 Yes, I had the good fortune to see you, in the persons of
3 Now, it is not right to presume on the youthfulness of your bishop. You ought to respect him as fully as you respect the authority of God the Father. Your holy presbyters, I know, have not taken unfair advantage of his apparent youthfulness, but in their godly wisdom have deferred to him—nay, rather, not so much to him as to the Father of Jesus Christ, who is everybody's bishop. 2For the honor, then, of him who loved us, we ought to obey without any dissembling, since the real issue is not that a man misleads a bishop whom he can see, but that he defrauds the One who is invisible. In such a case he must reckon, not with a human being, but with God who knows his secrets.
4 We have not only to be called Christians, but to be Christians. It is the same thing as calling a man a bishop and then doing everything in disregard of him. Such people seem to me to be acting against their conscience, since they do not come to the valid and authorized services.
5 Yes, everything is coming to an end, and we stand before this choice—death or life—and everyone will go "to his own place."
6 I believed, then, that I saw your whole congregation in these people I have mentioned, and I loved you all. Hence I urge you to aim to do everything in godly agreement. Let the bishop preside in God's place, and the presbyters take the place of the apostolic council, and let the deacons (my special favorites) be entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ who was with the Father from eternity and appeared at the end [of the world].
2Taking, then, the same attitude as God, you should all respect one another. Let no one think of his neighbor in a
carnal way; but always love one another in the spirit of Jesus
Christ. Do not let there be anything to divide you, but be in
7 As, then, the Lord did nothing without the Father
2Run off—all of you—to one temple of God, as it were, to one altar, to one Jesus Christ, who came forth from one Father, while still remaining one with him, and returned to him.
8 Do not be led astray by wrong views or by outmoded tales
9 Those, then, who lived by ancient practices arrived at a new
hope. They ceased to keep the Sabbath and lived by the Lord's
Day, on which our life as well as theirs shone forth, thanks to
Him and his death, though some deny this.
10 We must not, then, be impervious to his kindness. Indeed,
were he to act as we do, we should at once be done for. Hence,
now we are his disciples, we must learn to live like
Christians—to be sure, whoever bears any other name does not belong to God.
2Get rid, then, of the bad yeast
11 I do not write in this way, my dear friends, because I have
heard that any of you are like that. Rather do I, well aware of
my humble position, want to caution you ahead, lest you fall a
prey to stupid ideas, and to urge you to be thoroughly convinced of the birth, Passion, and resurrection, which occurred
while
12 I want to be glad about you ever so much, if, that is, I
deserve to be. For though I am a prisoner, I cannot compare
with one of you who are free. I realize that you are not conceited, for you have Jesus Christ within you. And more, I know
you are self-conscious when I praise you, just as Scripture says,
"The upright man is his own accuser."
13 Make a real effort, then, to stand firmly by the orders of
the Lord and the apostles, so that "whatever you do, you may
succeed"
14 I realize you are full of God. Hence I have counseled you but briefly. Remember me in your prayers, that I may get to God. Remember too the church in Syria—I do not deserve to be called a member of it. To be sure, I need your united and holy prayers and your love, so that the church in Syria may have the privilege of being refreshed by means of your church.
15 The Ephesians greet you from Smyrna. I am writing to you
from there. Like you, they came here for God's glory and have
revived me considerably, as has
The Christians at Tralles (a town some seventeen miles east of Magnesia) had sent their bishop, Polybius, to greet Ignatius in Smyrna. His letter in response is characteristic. Its leading themes are unity and obedience to the Church officials—themes provoked by the spreading danger of the Docetic heresy. It contains, too, several flashes that reveal Ignatius’ character. Particularly striking is ch. 4, where he discloses his own impetuous and fervent nature which contrasts with the calm gentleness of Polybius.
Full hearty greetings in apostolic style,
1 Well do I realize what a character you have—above reproach
and steady under strain. It is not just affected, but it comes
naturally to you, as I gathered from
2 For when you obey the bishop as if he were Jesus Christ, you
are (as I see it) living not in a merely human fashion but in Jesus Christ's way, who for our sakes suffered death that you
3 Correspondingly, everyone must show the deacons respect. They represent Jesus Christ, just as the bishop has the role of the Father, and the presbyters are like God's council and an apostolic band. You cannot have a church without these. 2I am sure that you agree with me in this.
In your bishop I received the very model of your love, and I have him with me. His very bearing is a great lesson, while his gentleness is most forceful. I imagine even the godless respect him.
3While I could write about this matter more sharply, I spare you out of love. Since, too, I am a convict, I have not thought
it my place to give you orders like an apostle.
4 God has granted me many an inspiration, but I keep my limits, lest boasting should be my undoing. For what I need most at this point is to be on my guard and not to heed flatterers. Those who tell me . . . they are my scourge.
5 Am I incapable of writing to you of heavenly things?
6 I urge you, therefore—not I, but Jesus Christ's love—use only Christian food. Keep off foreign fare, by which I mean heresy. 2For those people mingle Jesus Christ with their teachings just to gain your confidence under false pretenses. It is as if they were giving a deadly poison mixed with honey and wine, with the result that the unsuspecting victim gladly accepts it and drinks down death with fatal pleasure.
7 Be on your guard, then, against such people. This you will
do by not being puffed up and by keeping very close to [our]
8 It is not because I have heard of any such thing in your case
that I write thus. No, in my love for you I am warning you
ahead, since I foresee the
9 Be deaf, then, to any talk that ignores Jesus Christ, of
10 And if, as some atheists (I mean unbelievers) say, his suffering was a sham (it's really they who are a sham!), why, then, am I a prisoner? Why do I want to fight with wild beasts? In that case I shall die to no purpose. Yes, and I am maligning the Lord too!
11 Flee, then, these wicked offshoots which produce deadly fruit. If a man taste of it, he dies outright. They are none of the Father's planting.
12 From Smyrna I send you my greetings in which the churches of God that are here with me join. They have altogether raised my spirits—yes, completely. 2My very chains which I carry around for Jesus Christ's sake, in my desire to get to God, exhort you, "Stay united and pray for one another!"
It is right that each one of you and especially the presbyters should encourage the bishop, in honor of the Father, Jesus Christ, and the apostles.
3Out of love I want you to heed me, so that my letter will not tell against you. Moreover, pray for me. By God's mercy I
need your love if I am going to deserve the fate I long for,
13 The Smyrnaeans and Ephesians send their greetings with love. Remember the church of Syria in your prayers. I am not worthy to be a member of it: I am the least of their number.
Farewell in Jesus Christ.
2Submit to the bishop as to [God's] law, and to the presbytery too. All of you, love one another with an undivided heart.
3My life is given for you, not only now but especially when I shall get to God.
His final letter from Smyrna, Ignatius writes to the church of Rome. Unlike his other letters, this one is not concerned with questions of heresy and Church unity. Rather is it an intensely personal document. In it he reveals most clearly the spirit of the Oriental martyr; and in a double way it is a letter to prepare his martyrdom. It is, on the one hand, a plea to the Romans not to interfere with the fate in store for him; and on the other hand it is, as it were, a letter to himself to brace him for the coming ordeal. It betrays an excess of zeal which is strange to most of us, and even repugnant to some. It must, however, be read in the light of the fact that Ignatius was tormented by the brutality of his Roman guard (his "ten leopards" as he calls them, ch. 5:1), and reacted with the intemperance of a man who had already given his life away. Some will find in the letter a perverted masochism; others will discern in it all the splendor of the martyr spirit. No one, however, will miss its burning sincerity or the courageous zeal of a disciple to suffer with his Lord.
The significant place that the Roman church held in the imagination
of Ignatius is clear from the flattering inscription, with its emphasis on
the extensiveness of that church's charity, and from the mention of
Greetings in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, from Ignatius, the "God-inspired," to the church that is in charge of affairs in Roman quarters
1 Since God has answered my prayer to see you godly people, I have gone on to ask for more. I mean, it is as a prisoner for Christ Jesus that I hope to greet you, if indeed it be [God's] will that I should deserve to meet my end.
3 You never grudged anyone. You taught others.
4 I am corresponding with all the churches and bidding them
all realize that I am voluntarily dying for God—if, that is,
you do not interfere. I plead with you, do not do me an
unseasonable kindness. Let me be fodder for wild beasts—that is
how I can get to God. I am God's wheat and I am being ground
by the teeth of wild beasts to make a pure loaf for Christ.
2I would rather that you fawn on the beasts so that they may be
my tomb and no scrap of my body be left. Thus, when I have
fallen asleep, I shall be a burden to no one. Then I shall be a
real disciple of Jesus Christ when the world sees my body no
more. Pray Christ for me that by these means I may become God's sacrifice.
3I do not give you orders like
Even now as a prisoner, I am learning to forgo my own wishes.
5 All the way from Syria to Rome I am fighting with wild beasts, by land and sea, night and day, chained as I am
to ten leopards (I mean to a detachment of soldiers), who only
get worse the better you treat them. But by their injustices I
am becoming a better disciple, "though not for that reason am
I acquitted."
7 The prince of this world wants to kidnap me and pervert my godly purpose. None of you, then, who will be there, must abet him. Rather be on my side—that is, on God's. Do not talk Jesus Christ and set your heart on the world.
2Harbor no envy. If, when I arrive, I make a different plea, pay no attention to me. Rather heed what I am now writing to you. For though alive, it is with a passion for death that I am writing to you. My
Desire
8 I do not want to live any more on a human plane. And so it shall be, if you want it to. Want it to, so that you will be wanted! Despite the brevity of my letter, trust my request.
2Yes, Jesus
9 Remember the church of Syria in your prayers. In my place
they have God for their shepherd. Jesus Christ alone will look
after them
3With my heart I greet you; and the churches which have
welcomed me, not as a chance passer-by, but in the name of
Jesus Christ, send their love. Indeed, even those that did not
naturally lie on my route went ahead to prepare my welcome in the different towns.
10 I am sending this letter to you from Smyrna by those praiseworthy Ephesians.
After leaving
Two friends of Ignatius, the deacons
Greetings in the blood of Jesus Christ from Ignatius, the
"God-inspired," to the church of God the Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ, which is at Philadelphia in Asia—an object of the
divine mercy and firmly knit in godly unity. Yours is a deep,
abiding joy in the Passion of our Lord; and by his overflowing
mercy you are thoroughly convinced of his resurrection. You
are the very personification of eternal and perpetual joy. This
is especially true if you are at one with the bishop, and with
1 I well realize that this bishop of yours does not owe his ministry to his own efforts or to men. Nor is it to flatter his vanity that he holds this office which serves the common good.
Rather does he owe it to the love of God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ. I have been struck by his charming manner.
2 By being silent he can do more than those who chatter. For he is in tune with the commandments as a harp is with its strings.
2 Since you are children of the light of truth, flee from schism and false doctrine. Where the Shepherd is, there follow like sheep.
4 Be careful, then, to observe a single Eucharist.
5 My brothers, in my abounding love for you I am overjoyed
to put you on your guard—though it is not I, but Jesus Christ.
Being a prisoner for his cause makes me the more fearful that
I am still far from being perfect.
6 Now, if anyone preaches Judaism to you,
7 Some there may be who wanted in a human way to mislead me, but the Spirit is not misled, seeing it comes from God. For
"it knows whence it comes and whither it goes,"
8 I, then, was doing all I could, as a man utterly devoted to
unity. Where there is schism and bad feeling, God has no place.
The Lord forgives all who repent—if, that is, their repentance
brings them into God's unity and to the bishop's council. I
put my confidence in the grace of Jesus Christ. He will release
you from all your chains.
2I urge you, do not do things in cliques, but act as Christ's
disciples. When I heard some people saying, "If I don't find it
in the original documents, I don't believe it in the gospel," I answered them, "But it is written there." They retorted, "That's just the question."
9 Priests are a fine thing, but better still is the High Priest
10 Thanks to your prayers and to the love that you have for me
in Christ Jesus, news has reached me that the church at
11 Now about
At Smyrna Ignatius had come into personal contact with Docetism. To his mind this presented such an imminent danger to the church there that his letter plunges at once into the theme with a vigorous affirmation of the reality of Christ's Passion and resurrection. Only toward the end of his letter does he refer to the hospitality he had received during his stay. The number of greetings at the conclusion indicate the warm welcome he had been given.
It is worthy of notice that he adopts a harsher attitude to the Docetic heretics than to the Judaizers. The former are to be avoided altogether—he will not even mention their names (chs. 4:1; 5:3; 7:2).
Another interesting feature of this letter is the first appearance in Christian literature of the phrase "the Catholic Church" (ch. 8:2). It stands for the universal and transcendent Church in contrast to the local congregation.
Heartiest greetings in all sincerity and in God's Word
from Ignatius, the "God-inspired," to the church of God the
Father and the beloved Jesus Christ, which is at
1 I extol Jesus Christ, the God who has granted you such
wisdom. For I detected that you were fitted out with an unshakable
3 For myself, I am convinced and believe that even after the resurrection he was in the flesh.
2Indeed, when he came to
4 I urge these things on you, my friends, although I am well
aware that you agree with me. But I warn you in advance
against wild beasts in human shapes. You must not only refuse
to receive them, but if possible, you must avoid meeting them.
Just pray for them that they may somehow repent, hard as that
is. Yet Jesus Christ, our genuine life, has the power to bring it about.
2If what our Lord did is a sham, so is my being in chains.
Why, then, have I given myself up completely to death, fire,
sword, and wild beasts? For the simple reason that near the
sword means near God. To be with wild beasts means to be
with God. But it must all be in the name of Jesus Christ. To
5 Yet in their ignorance some deny him—or rather have been
denied by him, since they advocate death rather than the truth.
The prophets and the law of
6 Let no one be misled: heavenly beings, the splendor of
angels, and principalities, visible and invisible, if they fail to
believe in Christ's blood, they too are doomed. "Let him accept
it who can."
2Pay close attention to those who have wrong notions about
the grace of Jesus Christ, which has come to us, and note how
at variance they are with God's mind. They care nothing about
love: they have no concern for widows or orphans, for the
oppressed, for those in prison or released, for the hungry or the thirsty.
7 They hold aloof from the Eucharist and from services
of prayer, because they refuse to admit that the Eucharist is
the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
8 Flee from schism as the source of mischief. You should all
follow the bishop as Jesus Christ did the Father. Follow, too,
the presbytery as you would the apostles; and respect the
deacons as you would God's law. Nobody must do anything
that has to do with the Church without the bishop's approval.
You should regard that Eucharist as valid which is celebrated
either by the bishop or by someone he authorizes.
2Where the bishop is present, there let the congregation gather, just as
where Jesus Christ is, there is the
2By God's grace may you have an abundance of everything! You deserve it. You have brought me no end of comfort; may Jesus Christ do the same for you! Whether I was absent or present, you gave me your love. May God requite you! If for his sake you endure everything, you will get to him.
10 It was good of you to welcome
11 Your prayers have reached out as far as the church at
12 The brothers in
13 Greetings to the families of my brothers, along with their
wives and children, and to the virgins enrolled with the
widows.
Along with the letter to the church of
The sense of Christian solidarity which bound together the local churches
is evident from the various delegations which Ignatius received
in Smyrna. The suggestion, however, in the letter to the Philadelphians
and repeated in this one to Polycarp, that the churches should send
delegates as far as Syrian
Heartiest greetings from Ignatius, the "God-inspired," to Polycarp, who is bishop of the church at Smyrna—or rather who has God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ for his bishop.
1 While I was impressed with your godly mind, which is fixed,
as it were, on an immovable rock, I am more than grateful
that I was granted the sight of your holy face.
2God grant I may
2 It is no credit to you if you are fond of good pupils. Rather
by your gentleness subdue those who are annoying. Not every
wound is healed by the same plaster. Relieve spasms of pain with poultices.
2In all circumstances be "wise as a serpent,"
and perpetually "harmless as a dove."
3Just as pilots demand winds and a storm-tossed sailor a
harbor, so times like these demand a person like you. With
your help we will get to God. As God's athlete, be sober. The
prize, as you very well know, is immortality and eternal life.
Bound as I am with chains that you kissed,
3 You must not be panic-stricken by those who have an air of
credibility but who teach heresy.
4 Widows must not be neglected. After the Lord you must be
their protector. Do not let anything be done without your
consent; and do not do anything without God's, as indeed you do not. Stand firm.
2Hold services more often. Seek out everybody by name.
3Do not treat slaves and slave girls contemptuously.
Tell my sisters to love the Lord and to be altogether contented with their husbands. Similarly urge my brothers in the
name of Jesus Christ "to love their wives as the Lord loves the Church."
6 Pay attention to the bishop so that God will pay attention
to you. I give my life as a sacrifice (poor as it is) for those who
are obedient to the bishop, the presbyters, and the deacons.
Along with them may I get my share of God's reward! Share
your hard training together—wrestle together, run together,
suffer together, go to bed together, get up together, as God's stewards, assessors, and assistants.
2 Give satisfaction to Him in
whose ranks you serve and from whom you get your pay.
7 News has reached me that, thanks to your prayers, the
church at
8 I have been unable to write to all the churches because I am
sailing at once (so God has willed it) from
2Greetings to every one of you personally, and to the widow
of
The Letter of Polycarp,
Bishop of Smyrna,
to the Philippians
At the time of his martyrdom,
Yet, strange to say, our sources for the life of Polycarp are
extremely meager. His own extant letter to the church in
Our earliest testimony to Polycarp is contained in the letters
that Ignatius addressed from
Not long after Ignatius’ departure from the Middle East—possibly
before he had reached Rome—Polycarp penned his
letter to the Philippians, in answer to several requests from
them. One of these had to do with the collection of copies of
Ignatius’ letters and also with the delegation of Church representatives which Ignatius had requested his friends in
Brief as it is,
Of his later years, we possess only a few reminiscences of
The unity of the letter has been the subject of considerable
debate since the publication of Dr. P. N. Harrison's exhaustive
study. According to Dr. Harrison, ch. 13, and possibly also
ch. 14, was written shortly after Ignatius left
Dr. Harrison's thesis is open to rebuttal. It was pointed out
by Lightfoot long ago that the Latin phrase, "Those who are
with him," in ch. 13:2, represents a Greek idiom—"those
with him"—and that it cannot therefore be used as proof that
Polycarp was acquainted with the Synoptic Gospels and
The
On one other subject, namely, the monarchical episcopate,
the silence of Polycarp is also problematic. This has usually
been explained as due to the absence of this organizational
arrangement in the church at
The best edition of the text, and the one used for the translation in this volume, is that of
In addition to the translations included in the above texts
by Lightfoot, Lake, Lelong, and Bosio, the following should
be consulted: English:
German translations:
An index verborum of the Greek text is included in
Encyclopedia articles include:
The fundamental study is that of
Brief summary introductions may be found in
The best text of Eusebius is that of Eduard Schwartz, Eusebius Werke, II: Die Kirchengeschichte, I Teil, Die Bücher bis V (Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte), Leipzig, 1903. One should also consult the voluminous notes in the English translation of Hugh Jackson Lawlor and John Ernest Leonard Oulton, Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, The Ecclesiastical History and the Martyrs of Palestine, Translated with Introduction and Notes, 2 vols., S.P.C.K., London, 1928 (see the index under "Polycarp").
The Vita Polycarpi. Convenient editions of the life ascribed to Pionius may be found in Lightfoot's edition, Vol. II, 2, pp. 1005–1047, 1068–1086; and in Franciscus Diekamp, Patres apostolici, Editionem Funkianam novis curis in lucem emisit, Vol. II, Tübingen, 1913. Discussions of its historical worth: P. Corssen, "Die Vita Polycarpi," Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 5 (1904), pp. 266–302; A. Hilgenfeld, "Eine dreiste Fälschung in alter Zeit und deren neueste Verteidigung," Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie, 48 (N.F. XIII; 1905), pp. 444–458; Hippolyte Delehaye, Les Passions des martyrs et les genres littéraires, Brussels, 1921, pp. 11–59 ("L’Hagiographie de Smyrne"); Streeter, op. cit., pp. 271–278; and Cadoux, op. cit., pp. 306–310. See also the bibliography on the Martyrdom of Polycarp in this volume.
The Letter of Saint Polycarp,
Bishop of Smyrna,
to the Philippians
Polycarp and the presbyters with him, to the church of God
that sojourns at
1 I rejoice with you greatly in our Lord
2 "Therefore, girding your loins, serve God in fear" and in
truth,
3 I write these things about righteousness, brethren, not at my own instance, but because you first invited me to do so.
2Certainly, neither I nor anyone like me can follow the wisdom
of the blessed and glorious
2Then you must teach your wives in the faith delivered to them
2Likewise the deacons should be blameless
3Similarly also the younger ones must be blameless in all
things, especially taking thought of purity and bridling themselves
from all evil. It is a fine thing to cut oneself off from the
lusts that are in the world, for "every passion of the flesh wages
war against the Spirit,"
6 Also the presbyters must be compassionate, merciful to all,
turning back those who have gone astray, looking after the sick,
Let us be zealous for that which is good, refraining from occasions of scandal and from false brethren, and those who
bear in hypocrisy the name of the Lord, who deceive empty-headed people.
7 For "whosoever does not confess that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is antichrist"
8 Let us, then, hold steadfastly and unceasingly to our Hope
9 Now I exhort all of you to be obedient to the word of righteousness
10 Stand
11 I have been exceedingly grieved on account of Valens, who
was sometime a presbyter among you, because he so forgot
the office that was given him. I warn you, therefore, to refrain
from the love of money and be pure and truthful.
2"Shun evil of every kind."
12 I am confident, indeed, that you are well versed in the sacred
Scriptures and that nothing escapes you
13 Both
14 I am sending you this letter by Crescens, whom I recently
commended to you and now commend him again. He has lived
with us blamelessly, and I believe he will do so among you.
The Martyrdom of Polycarp,
Bishop of Smyrna,
as Told in the Letter
of the Church of Smyrna
to the Church of Philomelium
The letter of the Church in Smyrna to the church in Philomelium, commonly known as the Martyrdom of Polycarp, is the oldest account of the martyrdom of a Christian for his faith, outside of the pages of the New Testament, that has come down to us. It is also our earliest testimony to the cult of the martyrs in the Church, i.e., the veneration of the relics of the saints and the annual celebration of the day of martyrdom with liturgical observances. The story of the death of Polycarp and other companions is that of eyewitnesses of the tragedy. There are few pieces in the history of Christian literature that are a match for its moving pathos and edifying effect.
The writer of the narrative, who names himself Marcion,
stresses the point that it was "a martyrdom conformable to
the gospel." The witness unto death of Polycarp and his companions was not only a mere imitation of Christ's Passion as
recorded in the New Testament Gospels—and, indeed, many
details of the story recalled specifically similar details in the
Passion of Christ—but more than that, it was a consummation
by Christian disciples of their Lord's promise and command of
suffering, if need be, for his name's sake. What distinguishes
the martyrdom of a Christian from similar acts of heroism
recorded of Jewish witnesses for the law, or of pagan philosophers and teachers of moral virtue, is that the Christian suffered
not merely for the sake of loyalty and obedience to the beliefs
and practices that he held to be true and inviolable, or because
of a principle of world renunciation. Christian martyrdom
was all this and more, nothing less than a mystic communion
and conformation with One who died for our sins that he
We do not know the exact terms whereby the profession of Christianity was proscribed by Roman law and made subject to the death penalty. But the crucial test always applied by Roman magistrates was conformity to the official worship of the Roman emperor. Failure to comply with the outward requirements of this cult was considered an overt act of treason. The Roman government was very lax, however, in enforcing the State religion. Not until the year A.D. 250 did it take the initiative and attempt a concerted action to force Christians to forswear Christ by a religious oath of allegiance to Caesar. Meanwhile the detection of Christians was left to informers or to popular outcry. Once apprehended, however, a Christian who refused to yield was subject to whatever penalty or torture a magistrate chose to employ. Very often, as in the case of Polycarp's fellow sufferers, Christian prisoners were used as victims in the bloody and cruel spectacles with which the State amused the populace in the public amphitheaters.
The occasion for the outbreak of persecution at Smyrna is
not clearly indicated in our story. Much of the blame is laid
upon the enmity of the Jews toward the Christians and their
incitement of the mob for Christian victims, and Polycarp in
particular. But certain overly zealous brethren of the Church
seem to have offered themselves voluntarily—a thing that
church leaders were diligent in warning their flock against, for
one could never tell how extensive the fury of persecution might
develop from one single instance of indiscretion. One of these
volunteers, named Quintus, is described as a "Phrygian." It
has been suggested that he was possibly known to the church
in Philomelium, and that he belonged to the fanatical sect of
Montanists, often called by the orthodox Christians "Phrygians," from the province of origin of the sect. The Montanists
did not look askance at voluntary martyrdom, but rather
encouraged it.
The life and career of Polycarp have been treated in the
introduction to his letter to the Philippians. The Martyrdom
is our sole testimony for the circumstances and time of his death.
The prayer of Polycarp in ch. 14 has been the subject of some special study. It has many affinities with Eucharistic prayers of a later date. With a slight adjustment of the text it might be taken as a representative of the type of Eucharistic consecration prayer in use in Smyrna in the middle of the second century. Even so, there is no good reason to doubt its being a faithful recalling of what Polycarp said. It would have been most natural for him to repeat at such a solemn moment of his own life's consecration words that he had been accustomed to use in thanksgiving for his Lord's consecration to sacrifice on his behalf.
The various colophons attached to the end of the Martyrdom,
including the one peculiar to the Moscow manuscript (Codex
Mosquensis 159, thirteenth century), shed much light upon
the way in which these stories were preserved for posterity.
In ch. 20, direction is given to the church in Philomelium to
send copies of the Martyrdom "to the brethren elsewhere."
Among these brethren none would have valued the account
more dearly than Irenaeus, who was so fond of recalling his
early association as a young lad with Polycarp. The Gaius
who copied the story from the papers of Irenaeus may well
have been the Roman Christian mentioned by Eusebius
(Hist. eccl. II. 25:6), a writer who seems to have an especial interest in
the "trophies" of the martyrs. As for the Pionius who signs
himself last in the colophon, modern critics are of two opinions.
Some identify him with the Smyrnaean presbyter of that name
who was martyred in the persecution of Decius in A.D. 250.
Others believe that his remarks about the great age of the
Lastly, there has been much discussion respecting the date of
Polycarp's martyrdom, for although the colophon gives us the
day and month, it does not give us the year in which it occurred.
Eusebius guessed that it took place under Marcus Aurelius in
the year A.D. 167. This became the accepted date until the
year 1867, when W. H. Waddington published a study on the
rhetorician Aelius Aristides, who was a friend of the proconsul
L. Statius Quadratus.
The best text, and the one used for the present translation, is that of K. Bihlmeyer, Die apostolischen Väter, Neubearbeitung der Funkschen Ausgabe, I Teil (Sammlung ausgewählter kirchen- und dogmengeschichtlicher Quellenschriften, II Reihe, I Heft, I Teil), Tübingen, 1924, a third revision of the text edited by F. X. Funk, Patres apostolici, 2 vols., Tübingen, 1901. Bihlmeyer's text was reprinted, with copious bibliography, in the collection of Acts of the Martyrs by R. Knopf, Ausgewählte Märtyrerakten, 3d rev. edition by G. Krüger (Sammlung ausgewählter kirchen- und dogmengeschichtlicher Quellenschriften, N. F. 3), J. C. B. Mohr, Tübingen, 1929. Indispensable, however, is the text and commentary of J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, Part II, "S. Ignatius, S. Polycarp," Revised Texts with Introductions, Notes, Dissertations, and Translations, 3 vols., 2d ed., London, 1889. Lightfoot's text was reprinted again in the edition of J. R. Harmer, The Apostolic Fathers, Revised Texts with Short Introductions and English Translations, pp. 185–211, London, 1912. Lightfoot's text, collated with that of K. Lake, was published in pamphlet form, The Martyrdom of Polycarp (Texts for Students, No. 44), S.P.C.K., London, 1930.
Other editions of the text, and references to Eusebius and the
Vita Polycarpi attributed to Pionius, will be found listed in
the introduction to Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians,
namely, those of Th. Zahn, A. Hilgenfeld, K. Lake (Vol. II,
1913, pp. 309–345), A. Lelong, and G. Bosio. Special studies
of the text tradition are Hermann Müller,
Aus der Überlieferungsgeschichte des Polykarp-Martyrium,
Eine hagiographische Studie, Paderborn, 1908; and E. Schwartz,
De Pionio et Polycarpo,
Translations into English of the Martyrdom will be found in the works cited in the bibliography of Polycarp's Letter: The Ante-Nicene Fathers, B. Jackson, F. X. Glimm (pp. 147–163), J. A. Kleist (pp. 85–102), and E. J. Goodspeed (pp. 245–256); and also in the texts of Lightfoot and Lake, listed above. Lelong's text includes a French translation (pp. 128–161); and Bosio's, an Italian (pp. 203–247). A German translation will be found in G. Rauschen, Frühchristliche Apologeten und Märtyrerakten (Bibliothek der Kirchenväter, 14), Vol. II, pp. 297–308, Kempten and Munich, 1913. An English translation with notes, based on the text of Knopf, is given in E. C. E. Owen, Some Authentic Acts of the Early Martyrs, pp. 31–41, 129–134, Oxford, 1927.
In addition to the reference works and dictionary articles listed in the bibliography to Polycarp's Letter, one should consult the bibliography on the literature of the martyrs, in Knopf-Krüger's Ausgewählte Märtyrerakten, pp. vi–ix. To this list may be added Donald W. Riddle, The Martyrs, A Study in Social Control, University of Chicago Press, 1931; and Hans Freiherr von Campenhausen, Die Idee des Martyriums in der alten Kirche, Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1936; and the thorough philological study (with copious bibliography) of the word martus and cognates by Hermann Strathmann in Gerhard Kittel, Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament, IV (1939), pp. 477–520.
Considerable skepticism respecting the historical trustworthiness
of the Martyrdom of Polycarp was expressed by
Hermann Müller, "Das Martyrium Polycarpi, Ein Beitrag zur
altchristlichen Heiligengeschichte," Römische Quartalschrift, 22
(1908), pp. 1–16. Müller's study was effectively answered by
Bernhard Sepp, Das Martyrium Polycarpi, Regensburg, 1911;
Heinrich Baden, "Der Nachahmungsgedanke im Polykarpmartyrium,"
Theologie und Glaube, 3 (1911), pp.115–122, and
"Das Polykarpmartyrium," Pastor bonus, 24 (1911), pp.
705–713, 25 (1912), pp. 71–81, 136—151; and Wilhelm Reuning,
Very few scholars, since the work of Waddington, have defended the traditional Eusebian date: see J. Chapman, "La Chronologie des prémières listes épiscopales de Rome," Revue Bénédictine, 19 (1902), pp. 145–149 ("La Date de la mort de S. Polycarpe"); and Daniel Völter, Polykarp und Ignatius und die ihnen zugeschriebenen Briefe (Die apostolischen Väter neu untersucht, Vol. II, 2), Leiden, 1910. For the date February 23, 155, established by Waddington, Lightfoot's discussion is fundamental, The Apostolic Fathers, Part 2, Vol. I, pp. 646–722. Also for this date see T. Randall, "The Date of St. Polycarp's Martyrdom," Studia Biblica, By Members of the University of Oxford, I (1885), pp. 175–207; Peter Corssen, "Das Todesjahr Polykarps," Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 3 (1902), pp. 61–82; Matthew Power, "The Date of Polycarp's Martyrdom in the Jewish Calendar," The Expository Times, 15 (1904), pp. 330, 331; W. M. Ramsay, "The Date of Polycarp's Martyrdom," The Expository Times, 15 (1904) pp. 221–222, "New Evidence on the Date of Polycarp's Martyrdom," ibid., 18 (1908), pp. 188, 189, and "The Date of St. Polycarp's Martyrdom," Jahreshefte des österreichischen archäologischen Institutes in Wien, 27 (1932), pp. 245–258; and Bernhard Sepp, "Das Datum des Todes des hl. Polykarps," Der Katholik (94, Vierte Folge, XIII, 1914), pp. 135–142. For the date of February 22, 156, the basic studies are those of C. H. Turner, "The Day and Year of St. Polycarp's Martyrdom," Studia Biblica et Ecclesiastica, By Members of the University of Oxford, II (1890), pp. 105–155; and E. Schwartz, Christliche und jüdische Ostertafeln (Abhandlungen der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Phil.-hist. Klasse, Neue Folge, VIII, p. 6), "Die jüdische Pascharechnung und das Martyrium Polykarps," pp. 125–138, Berlin, 1905. For very recent attempts to defend a later dating see Henri Grégoire and Paul Orgel in Analecta Bollandiana, 69 (1951), pp. 1–38; and W. Telfer in The Journal of Theological Studies, New Series, 3 (1952), pp. 79–83.
Its liturgical character was first studied by J. Armitage Robinson, "Liturgical Echoes in Polycarp's Prayer," The Expositor, Fifth Series, IX (1899), pp. 63–72, and later by Hans Lietzmann, "Ein liturgisches Bruckstück des zweiten Jahrhunderts," Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie, 54 (N.F., 19; 1912), pp. 56–61. Robinson returned to the subject in "The 'Apostolic Anaphora' and the Prayer of St. Polycarp," The Journal of Theological Studies, 21 (1920), pp. 97–105, to which reply was made by J. W. Tyrer, "The Prayer of St. Polycarp and Its Concluding Doxology," ibid., 23 (1922), pp. 390–392; Robinson made further answer in "The Doxology in the Prayer of St. Polycarp," ibid., 24 (1923), pp. 141–144. See also the comments of Reuning, op. cit., pp. 31–43; and Massey H. Shepherd, Jr., "Smyrna in the Ignatian Letters: A Study in Church Order," The Journal of Religion, 20 (1940), pp. 150, 151.
The Martyrdom of Saint Polycarp,
Bishop of Smyrna,
as Told in the Letter
of the Church of Smyrna
to the Church of Philomelium
The church of God that sojourns at Smyrna to the church
of God that sojourns at Philomelium, and to all those of the
holy and Catholic Church who sojourn in every place: may
mercy, peace, and love be multiplied from God the Father and
our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 We write you, brethren, the things concerning those who
suffered martyrdom, especially the blessed Polycarp, who put
an end to the persecution by sealing it, so to speak, through his
own witness. For almost everything that led up to it happened
in order that the Lord might show once again a martyrdom
conformable to the gospel.
2 Blessed and noble, indeed, are all the martyrdoms that have
taken place according to God's will; for we ought to be very reverent in ascribing to God power over all things.
2For who would not admire their nobility and patient endurance and love
of their Master? Some of them, so torn by scourging that the
anatomy of their flesh was visible as far as the inner veins and
arteries, endured with such patience that even the bystanders
took pity and wept; others achieved such heroism that not one
of them uttered a cry or a groan, thus showing all of us that
at the very hour of their tortures the most noble martyrs of
3 Many, indeed, were the machinations of the devil against
them. But, thanks be to God, he did not prevail against them
all. For the most noble
4 But a Phrygian,
5 The most admirable
6 And while those who were searching for him continued their
quest, he moved to another farm, and forthwith those searching
for him arrived. And when they did not find him, they seized
two young slaves, one of whom confessed under torture.
2For it was really impossible to conceal him, since the very ones
who betrayed him were of his own household.
7 Taking, therefore, the young slave on Friday about
suppertime, the police, mounted and with their customary arms, set
out as though "hasting after a robber."
8 When at last he had finished his prayer, in which he remembered
all who had met with him at any time, both small and
great, both those with and those without renown, and the
whole
At first he did not answer them.
3Then when they failed to persuade him, they uttered dire
threats and made him get out with such speed that in dismounting from the carriage he bruised his shin. But without
turning around, as though nothing had happened, he proceeded
swiftly, and was led into the arena, there being such a
tumult in the arena that no one could be heard.
9 But as Polycarp was entering the arena, a voice from heaven
And when finally he was brought up, there was a great
tumult on hearing that Polycarp had been arrested.
2Therefore, when he was brought before him, the proconsul asked him if he
were Polycarp. And when he confessed that he was, he tried
to persuade him to deny [the faith], saying, "Have respect to
your age"—and other things that customarily follow this, such
as, "Swear by the fortune of
But Polycarp looked with earnest face at the whole crowd of lawless heathen in the arena, and motioned to them with his hand. Then, groaning and looking up to heaven, he said, "Away with the atheists!"
3But the proconsul was insistent and said: "Take the oath, and I shall release you. Curse Christ."
Polycarp said: "Eighty-six years I have served him, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"
10 And upon his persisting still and saying, "Swear by the
fortune of Caesar," he answered, "If you vainly suppose that I
shall swear by the fortune of Caesar, as you say, and pretend
that you do not know who I am, listen plainly: I am a
2The proconsul said, "Try to persuade the people."
But Polycarp said, "You, I should deem worthy of an
account; for we have been taught to render honor, as is
befitting, to rulers and authorities appointed by God
11 But the proconsul said: "I have wild beasts. I shall throw you to them, if you do not change your mind."
But he said: "Call them. For repentance from the better to the worse is not permitted us; but it is noble to change from what is evil to what is righteous."
2And again [he said] to him, "I shall have you consumed with fire, if you despise the wild beasts, unless you change your mind."
But Polycarp said: "The fire you threaten burns but an hour and is quenched after a little; for you do not know the fire of the coming judgment and everlasting punishment that is laid up for the impious. But why do you delay? Come, do what you will."
12 And when he had said these things and many more besides he was inspired with courage and joy, and his face was full of grace, so that not only did it not fall with dismay at the things said to him, but on the contrary, the proconsul was astonished, and sent his own herald into the midst of the arena to proclaim three times: "Polycarp has confessed himself to be a Christian."
2When this was said by the herald, the entire crowd of heathen
and
Such things they shouted and asked the Asiarch
13 Then these things happened with such dispatch, quicker than
can be told—the crowds in so great a hurry to gather wood
and faggots from the workshops and the baths, the
14 So they did not nail him, but tied him. And with his hands put behind him and tied, like a noble ram out of a great flock ready for sacrifice, a burnt offering ready and acceptable to God, he looked up to heaven and said:
"Lord God Almighty,
15 And when he had concluded the Amen and finished his
prayer, the men attending to the fire lighted it. And when the
16 At length, when the lawless men saw that his body could not
be consumed by the fire, they commanded an executioner to
go to him and stab him with a dagger. And when he did this
[a dove and]
17 But the jealous and malicious evil one, the adversary of the
race of the righteous, seeing the greatness of his martyrdom
and his blameless life from the beginning, and how he was
crowned with the wreath of immortality and had borne away
an incontestable reward, so contrived it that his corpse should
not be taken away by us, although many desired to do this and to have fellowship with his holy flesh.
2He instigated Nicetas, the
father of Herod and brother of Alce,
18 The captain of the Jews, when he saw their contentiousness, set it [i.e., his body] in the midst and burned it, as was their custom. 2So we later took up his bones, more precious than costly stones and more valuable than gold, and laid them away in a suitable place. 3There the Lord will permit us, so far as possible, to gather together in joy and gladness to celebrate the day of his martyrdom as a birthday, in memory of those athletes who have gone before, and to train and make ready those who are to come hereafter.
19 Such are the things concerning the blessed Polycarp, who,
martyred at Smyrna along with twelve others from Philadelphia,
is alone remembered so much the more by everyone, that he
is even spoken of by the heathen in every place. He was not
only a noble teacher, but also a distinguished martyr, whose
martyrdom all desire to imitate as one according to the gospel of Christ.
2By his patient endurance he overcame the wicked
magistrate and so received the crown of immortality; and he
rejoices with the apostles and all the righteous to glorify God
the Father Almighty and to bless our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Saviour of our souls and Helmsman of our bodies and Shepherd
20 You requested, indeed, that these things be related to you
more fully, but for the present we have briefly reported them
through our brother Marcion. When you have informed
yourselves of these things, send this letter to the brethren
elsewhere, in order that they too might glorify the Lord, who makes his choices from his own servants.
2To him who is able
21 The blessed Polycarp was martyred on the second day of the
first part of the month Xanthicus, the seventh day before the
kalends of March, a great Sabbath, at two o'clock P.M.
22 We bid you farewell, brethren, as you live by the word of Jesus Christ according to the gospel, with whom be glory to God the Father and Holy Spirit, unto the salvation of his holy elect; just as the blessed Polycarp suffered martyrdom, in whose footsteps may it be our lot to be found in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
2These things Gaius
3I, Pionius,
23 These things Gaius copied from the papers of Irenaeus. He
also lived with Irenaeus, who had been a disciple of the holy Polycarp.
2For this Irenaeus, at the time of the martyrdom of
Bishop Polycarp, was in Rome and taught many; and many of
his excellent and orthodox writings are in circulation, in which
he mentions Polycarp, for he was taught by him.
5From these papers of Irenaeus, then, as was said above, Gaius made a copy, and from Gaius’ copy Isocrates made another in Corinth. And I, Pionius, again from the copies of Isocrates wrote according to the revelation of holy Polycarp, when I searched for it, and gathered it together when it was almost worn out with age, in order that the Lord Jesus Christ might bring me with his elect unto his heavenly Kingdom. To whom be glory with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,
Commonly Called the Didache
No document of the early church has proved so bewildering to scholars as this apparently innocent tract which was discovered by Philotheos Byrennios in 1873. The Didache or Teaching (for that is what the Greek word means) falls into two parts. The first is a code of Christian morals, presented as a choice between the way of life and the way of death. The second part is a manual of Church Order which, in a well-arranged manner, lays down some simple, at times even naïve, rules for the conduct of a rural congregation. It deals with such topics as baptism, fasting, the Lord's Supper, itinerant prophets, and the local ministry of bishops and deacons. It concludes with a warning paragraph on the approaching end of the world.
At one time this tract was viewed as a very ancient product—as early as A.D. 70 or 90. Recent study, however, has conclusively shown that, in the form we have it, it belongs to the second century. There is, nevertheless, no unanimity among scholars about its exact date or purpose. It has appropriately been called the "spoiled child of criticism"; and it will probably need a good deal more spoiling before its riddle is finally solved.
The literary problem of the Didache is extremely complex
and only the bare outlines can be sketched here. As it stands,
the document bears a close relationship to several other early
Christian writings. The moral catechism or "Two Ways" of
its opening chapters (chs. 1 to 5) appears in a rather different
version at the end of the Letter of Barnabas (between A.D.
The "Two Ways" was an independent catechism current in
several versions,
The first five chapters of the Teaching, then, represent a late
form of an original catechism into which the Didachist has
That the Didache comes from Alexandria
The second part of the Teaching (chs. 6 to 15) is a manual
of Church Order. It has generally been held that the Didachist
himself wrote this section of the work, adding it to the "Two
Ways." It poses, however, very difficult problems, and three
main views are current about it. Some
The claim that the Didache is a Montanist tract has more to
be said for it. Yet this view, too, is hardly tenable. The most
characteristic Montanist features are lacking from the Teaching.
It reflects nothing of Montanus and his prophetesses, of
the ascetic rigor of that movement, of the high place accorded
women, of the lively eschatology in connection with Pepuza, or
of the opposition to second marriages and second repentance.
On all these questions the Didache is silent. This disturbing
fact has to be met by the further assumption that all clear
traces of the New Prophecy were purposely suppressed in the
interests of showing "how respectable and apostolic Montanism
could be." This is, in short, an admission that the Teaching
is not really Montanist.
It is, then, to the first view that we are driven. While it is
not without difficulties, it is less unlikely than the others. Some
of these difficulties, moreover, can be removed if we do not
follow the general assumption that the Didachist wrote this
section of the tract himself. It is much more plausible to
suppose that he was a compiler, rather than an author; and
that, just as he made use of the "Two Ways" at the beginning,
so in the second part of his work he utilized an early source
for his Church Order. That would explain why his tract has
such a curious appearance. Onto the catechism he has sewn
some genuinely primitive regulations about Church life. The
effect is very odd, for he implies that the moral catechism
sufficed for baptismal instruction (ch. 7:1), which is, of course,
We should assume, then, that some scribe in
The Didache, thus, is the first of those fictitious Church
Orders which edit ancient material and claim apostolic authorship. As in many such instances (e.g., the
To compile such a document must have been a congenial
task for an Alexandrine scribe who adhered to the small
That the source of the Didache's Church Order (chs. 6:3 to 15)
belongs to
Only one Greek text of the Didache has survived. It is the Jerusalem Codex discovered by Byrennios in 1873, and published by him in Constantinople ten years later. It was written by a scribe, Leo, in 1056. A photographic facsimile was published by J. Rendel Harris in 1887.
Two papyrus fragments of the Didache in Greek (chs. 1:3, 4 and 2:7 to 3:2) were edited by A. S. Hunt in Oxyrhynchus Papyri, 15, London, 1922, pp. 12–15.
The Greek texts of the Epistle of Barnabas (chs. 18 to 20) and of the Apostolic Church Order (chs. 1 to 13) contain the "Two Ways" material in different forms. In the latter case there are many additions, and dependence on the "Two Ways" breaks off at the equivalent of Did. 4:8. The Greek text of the Apostolic Constitutions (ch. 7:1–32) contains almost the whole of the Didache with a number of changes and many insertions.
In Syriac there are citations from the Didache in the Didascalia, edited by R. H. Connolly, Oxford University Press, London, 1929.
In Latin there is a third century translation of the "Two Ways." A fragment was published by B. Pez in 1723. The complete text was edited from an eleventh century manuscript by J. Schlecht, Doctrina XII Apostolorum, Freiburg, 1900.
In Coptic there is a fifth century papyrus fragment of chs. 10:3b to 12:2a, edited by G. Horner in The Journal of Theological Studies, 25, 1924, pp. 225–231. (It is notable for adding after the Eucharistic prayer a thanksgiving for myron, holy oil for confirmation.)
In Arabic the "Two Ways" material is found in the fifth
century Life of Schnudi. A German rendering is given by L. E.
In Ethiopic the following parts of the Didache have been preserved in the Ecclesiastical Canons: chs. II:3–5, 7–11, 12; 12:1–5; 13:1, 3–7; 8:1, 2a, in that order. They are edited by G. Horner, Statutes of the Apostles, pp. 193, 194, London, 1904.
In Georgian there is a complete translation made in the fifth century by a scribe, Jeremias of Orhai. The variant readings were published by G. Peradze in Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, pp. 111–116, 1932, from a copy of an eleventh century manuscript in Constantinople.
The best Greek text, making use of all the available witnesses, is by Theodorus Klauser, Doctrina Duodecim Apostolorum: Barnabae Epistula, "Florilegium Patristicum," I, Bonn, 1940. It has been used for this translation. Also of importance are the texts in K. Bihlmeyer, Die apostolischen Väter, Tübingen, 1924 (note his treatment of the Coptic evidence pp. xviii–xx), in K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers, London, 1912, and in H. Hemmer, G. Oger, and A. Lamont, Les Pères apostoliques, Vol. I, Paris, 1907 (based on the text of F. X. Funk, Patres apostolici, Tübingen, 1901).
Older editions of the Didache, which contain a number of the related documents along with the text of Byrennios, are by A. Harnack, Die Lehre der Zwölf Apostel, Texte und Untersuchungen, II, Leipzig, 1884 (a pioneer and monumental work which includes the Greek text of the A. C. O. and the relevant parts of A. C. 7); and by Philip Schaff, The Oldest Church Manual Called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, New York, 1885 (includes the pertinent sections from Barnabas, Hermas, A. C. O., and A. C. 7).
In addition to the works of Schaff and Lake mentioned above, the following translations in English may be noted: C. Bigg, The Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles (revised by A. J. Maclean), London, 1922; F. X. Glimm, The Apostolic Fathers, in the series The Fathers of the Church, Cima Publishing Company, New York, 1947; J. A. Kleist, The Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, etc., in the series Ancient Christian Writers, Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1948; and E. Goodspeed, The Apostolic Fathers: An American Translation, New York, 1950.
In German there are renderings by F. Zeller, Die apostolischen Väter, Munich, 1918, in the 2d series of the Bibliothek der Kirchenväter; by R. Knopf, Die Lehre der Zwölf Apostel: Die zwei Clemensbriefe, Tübingen, 1920, in Handbuch zum N. T.; and by E. Hennecke, Neutestamentliche Apocryphen, 2d edition, Tübingen, 1924.
In French there is the translation by Hemmer, Oger, and Lamont already mentioned.
In Italian there are renderings by M. dal Pra, La Didache, Venice, 1938; and by G. Bosio, I Padri apostolici, Part I, Turin, 1940, in the series Corona Patrum Salesiana.
All these editions have introductions and notes. The most significant are by Harnack, Schaff, Hemmer, Bigg, Kleist, and Knopf. While Klauser's introduction and notes (in Latin) are most concise, they are no less important.
Studies in the Didache are extremely numerous. Of special importance are the following books: C. Taylor, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles with Illustrations from the Talmud, Cambridge, 1886; J. A. Robinson, Barnabas, Hermas, and the Didache, London, 1920 (a revision of chs. 1 and 3 was published posthumously with a preface by R. H. Connolly in The Journal of Theological Studies, 1934, pp. 113–146, 225–248); J. Muilenburg, The Literary Relations of the Epistle of Barnabas and the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, Ph.D. thesis, Marburg, 1929; F. E. Vokes, The Riddle of the Didache, S.P.C.K., London, 1938.
For many years debate about the Didache has been carried
on in The Journal of Theological Studies. The following articles
are noteworthy: J. V. Bartlet, "The Didache Reconsidered,"
1921, pp. 239–249; R. H. Connolly, "The Use of the Didache
in the Didascalia," 1923, pp. 147–157; F. R. M. Hitchcock,
"Did Clement of Alexandria Know the Didache?" ibid., pp.
397–401; R. H. Connolly, "New Fragments of the Didache,"
1924, pp. 151–153; F. C. Burkitt, "Barnabas and the Didache,"
1932, pp. 25–27; R. H. Connolly, "The Didache in Relation
to the Epistle of Barnabas," ibid., pp. 237–253; C. T. Dix,
"Didache and Diatessaron," 1933, pp. 242–250, with Connolly's
reply, ibid., pp. 346, 347; A. L. Williams, "The Date of
the Epistle of Barnabas," ibid., pp. 337–346; R. D. Middleton,
"The Eucharistic Prayers of the Didache," 1935, pp. 259–267;
H. G. Gibbins, "The Problem of the Liturgical Section
of the Didache," ibid., pp. 373–386; B. H. Streeter, "The
Much-belaboured Didache," 1936, pp. 369–374; R. H.
Connolly, "Barnabas and the Didache," 1937, pp. 165–167;
To these studies should be added K. Kohler's article "Didache" in the Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. IV, 1903, pp. 585–588; Louis Finkelstein, "The Birkat Ha-Mazon," in Jewish Quarterly Review, 1928, pp. 211–262; C. H. Turner, "The Early Christian Ministry and the Didache" in his Studies in Early Church History, Oxford, 1912, pp. 1–32; B. H. Streeter's summary of his view in The Primitive Church (Appendix C), New York, 1929; R. H. Connolly, "The Didache and Montanism," and "Agape and Eucharist in the Didache," both in the Downside Review, 1937, pp. 339–347, 477–489; the treatment by H. Lietzmann in The Beginnings of the Christian Church, New York, 1937, pp. 270–274; and the important study by E. Goodspeed, "The Didache, Barnabas, and the Doctrina," in the Anglican Theological Review, 1945, pp. 228–247, reprinted in his Apostolic Fathers: An American Translation, New York, 1950, pp. 285–310.
Of German and French studies we may mention A. Harnack, Die Apostellehre und die jüdischen zwei Wege, Leipzig, 1886, 2d edition, 1896 (an expanded reprint of his article "Apostellehre" in Realencyclopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche); F. X. Funk, "Die Didache, Zeit und Verh ltnis zu den verwandten Schriften," and "Zur Didache, der Frage nach der Grundschrift und ihren Rezensionen," in Kirchengeschichtliche Abhandlungen und Untersuchungen, 2, Paderborn, 1907, pp. 108–141, 218–229; L. Wohleb, Die lateinische Übersetzung der Didache kritisch und sprachlich untersucht, Paderborn, 1913; M. Dibelius, "Die Mahlgebete der Didache," in Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 1938, pp. 32–41; and H. Leclercq, "Didache," in Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, Vol. IV. I, Paris, 1920, cols. 772–798. For further notices of the literature see Leclercq; also A. Harnack, Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, Leipzig, 1893, Vol. I, pp. 86–92; O. Bardenhewer, Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur, Freiburg, 1913, Vol. I, pp. 90–103; B. Altaner, Patrologie, 2d edition, Freiburg, 1950, pp. 39, 40; and J. Quasten, Patrology, Vol. I, pp. 38, 39, Utrecht, 1950.
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,
Commonly Called the Didache
The Lord's Teaching to the Heathen by the Twelve Apostles:
1 There are two ways, one of life and one of death; and between the two ways there is a great difference.
2Now, this is the way of life: "First, you must love God who
made you, and second, your neighbor as yourself."
3What these maxims teach is this: "Bless those who curse you,"
and "pray for your enemies." Moreover, fast "for those who
persecute you." For "what credit is it to you if you love those
who love you? Is that not the way the heathen act?" But "you
must love those who hate you,"
2 The second commandment of the Teaching:
2"Do not
murder; do not commit adultery"; do not corrupt boys; do
not fornicate; "do not steal"; do not practice magic; do not go
in for sorcery; do not murder a child by abortion or kill a new-born
infant. "Do not covet your neighbor's property;
3do not commit perjury; do not bear false witness";
3 My child, flee from all wickedness and from everything of that sort. 2Do not be irritable, for anger leads to murder. Do not be jealous or contentious or impetuous, for all this breeds murder.
3My child, do not be lustful, for lust leads to fornication. Do not use foul language or leer, for all this breeds adultery.
4My child, do not be a diviner, for that leads to idolatry. Do not be an enchanter or an astrologer or a magician. Moreover, have no wish to observe or heed such practices, for all this breeds idolatry.
5My child, do not be a liar, for lying leads to theft. Do not be avaricious or vain, for all this breeds thievery.
6My child, do not be a grumbler, for grumbling leads to blasphemy. Do not be stubborn or evil-minded, for all this breeds blasphemy.
7But be humble since "the humble will inherit the earth."
4 My child, day and night "you should remember him who
preaches God's word to you,"
5Do not be one who holds his hand out to take, but shuts it when it comes to giving. 6If your labor has brought you earnings, pay a ransom for your sins. 7Do not hesitate to give and do not give with a bad grace; for you will discover who He is that pays you back a reward with a good grace. 8Do not turn your back on the needy, but share everything with your brother and call nothing your own. For if you have what is eternal in common, how much more should you have what is transient!
9Do not neglect your responsibility
12You must hate all hypocrisy and everything which fails to please the Lord.
13You must not forsake "the Lord's commandments,"
but "observe" the ones you have been given, "neither
adding nor subtracting anything."
5 But the way of death is this: First of all, it is wicked and
thoroughly blasphemous: murders, adulteries, lusts, fornications,
thefts, idolatries, magic arts, sorceries, robberies, false
witness, hypocrisies, duplicity, deceit, arrogance, malice,
stubbornness, greediness, filthy talk, jealousy, audacity,
haughtiness, boastfulness.
2Those who persecute good people, who hate truth, who love
6 See "that no one leads you astray"
2If you can bear the Lord's full yoke, you will be perfect. But if you cannot, then do what you can.
3Now about food: undertake what you can. But keep strictly away from what is offered to idols, for that implies worshiping dead gods.
7 Now about baptism: this is how to baptize. Give public
instruction on all these points, and then "baptize" in running
water, "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
8 Your fasts must not be identical with those of the hypocrites.
2You must not pray like the hypocrites,
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name; your Kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us today our bread for the morrow; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but save us from the evil one, for yours is the power and the glory forever."
3You should pray in this way three times a day.
9 Now about the Eucharist:
"We thank you, our Father, for the holy vine
3Then in connection with the piece
"We thank you, our Father, for the life and knowledge which you have revealed through Jesus, your child. To you be glory forever.
4"As this piece [of bread] was scattered over the hills
5You must not let anyone eat or drink of your Eucharist
except those baptized in the Lord's name. For in reference to
this the Lord said, "Do not give what is sacred to dogs."
10 After you have finished your meal, say grace
2"We thank you, holy Father, for your sacred name which
you have lodged
3"Almighty Master, 'you have created everything'
4"Above all, we thank you that you are mighty. To you be glory forever.
5"Remember, Lord, your Church, to save it from all evil and
to make it perfect by your love. Make it holy, 'and gather'
it 'together from the four winds'
6"Let Grace
"Hosanna to the God of David!"
"If anyone is holy, let him come. If not, let him repent."
"Our Lord, come!"
"Amen."
7In the case of prophets, however, you should let them give
thanks in their own way.
11 Now, you should welcome anyone who comes your way and teaches you all we have been saying. 2 But if the teacher proves himself a renegade and by teaching otherwise contradicts all this, pay no attention to him. But if his teaching furthers the Lord's righteousness and knowledge, welcome him as the Lord.
3Now about the apostles and prophets: Act in line with the
gospel precept.
7While a prophet is making ecstatic utterances,
12 Everyone "who comes" to you "in the name of the Lord"
13 Every genuine prophet who wants to settle with you "has a right to his support."
2Similarly, a genuine teacher himself, just
like a "workman, has a right to his support."
14 On every Lord's Day—his special day
15 You must, then, elect for yourselves bishops and deacons who are a credit to the Lord, men who are gentle, generous, faithful, and well tried. For their ministry to you is identical with that of the prophets and teachers. 2You must not, therefore, despise them, for along with the prophets and teachers they enjoy a place of honor among you.
3Furthermore, do not reprove each other angrily, but quietly, as you find it in the gospel. Moreover, if anyone has wronged his neighbor, nobody must speak to him, and he must not hear a word from you, until he repents. 4Say your prayers, give your charity, and do everything just as you find it in the gospel of our Lord.
16 "Watch" over your life: do not let "your lamps" go out, and
do not keep "your loins ungirded"; but "be ready," for "you
do not know the hour when our Lord is coming."
An Anonymous Sermon,
Commonly Called Clement's Second
Letter to the Corinthians
The document that goes under this misleading name is neither a letter nor a genuine work of Clement of Rome. It is an anonymous Christian sermon—the earliest that has come down to us. It was written at some time before the middle of the second century; and while scholars differ widely on its place of origin, there are a number of indications that it stems from Egypt. Its importance lies in the picture it gives us of early Christian preaching.
Here is a homily that some presbyter
How this homily ever came to be associated with Clement's
name and dubbed his Second Letter is something of a riddle.
This had, however, occurred as early as Eusebius’ time, for
he mentions the fact that a second letter is ascribed to Clement,
though he rejects it as unauthentic on the grounds that it is
not cited by early writers.
Somehow or other our sermon became attached to Clement's
genuine Letter. This must have happened by the middle of
the second century, for by A.D. 180 the New Testament canon
was sufficiently settled not to have admitted such an intruder.
Indeed, it is not impossible that Irenaeus
Various attempts have been made to explain this situation.
It is sometimes argued that the confusion could have originated
only in Corinth. It was that church which possessed Clement's
genuine Letter, and from time to time read it at worship on
Against this view two objections can be raised. For one thing,
Corinth was not the only place where Clement's genuine Letter
was prized or read in worship. Alexandria was another; for
Clement of Alexandria several times cites it as Scripture,
Another theory, originally put forward by Hilgenfeld,
The difficulties, however, of this thesis are insuperable. A
sermon is not a letter; and there could be nothing more foreign
to Roman Christianity of A.D. 170 than the tone of our homily.
Its semi-Gnostic phrases, despite its attack on Gnostic ideas;
its speculative spirit; its lack of mention of the monepiscopate,
The only situation that really fits the temper and tone of our
sermon is Alexandria. This was perceived and worked out by
Vernon Bartlet as early as 1906;
As we have already indicated, the purpose of this homily is
to call the congregation to repentance (chs. 8:2; 9:7, 8; etc.),
to urge them to steadfastness in persecution (chs. 3:1–4; 5;
19:3, 4), and to challenge some basic Gnostic ideas. There is a
stress upon the divinity of Christ (ch. 1:1) and the resurrection
of the flesh (ch. 9). Much is said about Christian purity, about
the need to keep the seal of baptism free from defilement
(chs. 6:9; 7:6), to confess Christ by our actions, and to engage
in acts of charity (ch. 16:4). Such acts, it is pointed out, lighten
the load of sin. This is a characteristic emphasis of the second
The urgent note of the old eschatology is still present (chs. 12:1; 17:4–7), and the day of judgment is already on its way (ch. 16:3).
The most notable theological idea, however, in the sermon is the doctrine of the Church. In a difficult passage (ch. 14), dependent on the Platonic conception of the phenomenal world as a copy of the immaterial forms, the author works out a view of the Church as the continuity of the incarnation, and connects it with the need for Christian purity. The Church, he claims, is a pre-existent, spiritual reality which took visible form in the flesh of Christ, and is similarly manifested in the flesh of Christians. To abuse the flesh, therefore, is to abuse the spiritual reality of the Church, the flesh being the copy of the "spirit." On the other hand, to keep the flesh pure is to preserve the Church from defilement. As a result, the Christian shares in the spiritual reality of the Church, and in return for giving up his lustful passions, he "gets back," as it were, a reward by sharing in "spirit." The line of thought is not altogether clear; but the underlying conviction is that the Church is a spiritual reality manifested in the incarnation and also in the bodies of true Christians.
Finally, the references to Scripture may be mentioned. This
sermon is remarkable for distinguishing between the two classes
of writings in the Church—the "Bible" and the "Apostles"
(ch. 14:2). The "Bible" (literally, the "books") refers to the
Septuagint; the "Apostles" are the apostolic writings. Both were
read from in Christian worship, as Justin tells us (Apol. I, ch.
67); and these lections were immediately followed by the
sermon, as our preacher himself indicates (ch. 19:1). By his
time the apostolic writings had been elevated to the status
of "Scripture" beside the Septuagint; for in one place (ch.
2:4) he introduces a Gospel saying (
To summarize: We have in this document the earliest Christian sermon that has been preserved. It is likely a product of the Alexandrine church before the middle of the second century. It is interesting as indicating the use of an apocryphal gospel, as evidencing certain Gnostic influences while combating basically Gnostic ideas, and as developing the view of the Church as the continuity of the incarnation.
The Greek text of our homily was first known only in a defective form. The fifth century N. T. Codex Alexandrinus includes it after Clement's genuine Letter, but the manuscript breaks off at ch. 12:5a. The sermon has no heading, but in a table of contents prefixed by the scribe, it is called "Clement's Second Letter." Patrick Young (Junius) edited the first edition from this Codex in 1633.
While seventeenth century scholars, such as Henry Dodwell and J. E. Grabe, had already guessed that our work was a sermon and not a letter, it was not until 1875 that this was made plain beyond dispute. In that year Philotheos Byrennios published the eleventh century Jerusalem Codex. This contained the whole text of the sermon whose concluding chapters (chs. 18; 19) make its nature abundantly clear. A few months later the Syriac version came to light in a twelfth century manuscript of the New Testament. These are our only authorities for the text. They are described at length in Lightfoot's Apostolic Fathers, Part I, Vol. I, pp. 116 ff.
The Greek text will be found in the standard editions of the Apostolic Fathers. The one used for this translation is by K. Bihlmeyer, Die apostolischen Väter, Part I, Tübingen, 1924. Others are by J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, Part I, "S. Clement of Rome," Vol. II, pp. 211–268, revised edition, London, 1890; and by K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (Loeb Classics), Vol. I, London, 1912. The text by H. Hemmer in Hemmer and Lejay's Les Pères apostoliques, Part 2, Paris, 1909, is based on F. X. Funk, Patres apostolici of 1901.
Modern English translations will be found in the editions by
Lightfoot (with introduction and copious notes) and by Lake.
There is a translation into French (with introduction and notes) in the edition by Hemmer already mentioned. In German there are renderings by R. Knopf, Die apostolischen Väter, Tübingen, 1920, in Handbuch zum N. T. (with full notes, many philological), and by H. von Schubert in E. Hennecke, Neutestamentliche Apokryphen, 2d ed., Tübingen, 1924.
Basic introductory material will be found in the standard Patrologies by Harnack, Bardenhewer, Altaner, and Quasten. Of special importance are the following studies: Harnack's chapter in his Die Chronologie der altchristlichen Literatur bis Eusebius, Vol. I, pp. 438–450 (Roman thesis), Leipzig, 1897, and his further article in Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 6, pp. 67–71, 1905, "Zum Ursprung des sog. zweiten Klemensbriefes"; Vernon Bartlet, "The Origin and Date of 2 Clement," in the same journal, 7, pp. 123–135 (Alexandrine thesis), 1906; and B. H. Streeter, The Primitive Church, pp. 244–253 (Alexandrine thesis), New York, 1929.
There are a number of studies on the religious views of
II Clement: H. Windisch, "Das Christentum des zweiten
Klemensbriefes" in Harnack-Ehrung, Beiträge zur Kirchengeschichte,
pp. 119–134 (he finds in it a shallow Christianity reflecting
late Judaism), Leipzig, 1921; G. Kr ger, "Bemerkungen zum
zweiten Klemensbrief," in Studies in Early Christianity, ed. S. J.
Case, pp. 419–439, New York, 1928; W. Praetorius, "Die
Bedeutung der beiden Klemensbriefe für die älteste Geschichte
der kirchlichen Praxis," in Zeitschrift für die Kirchengeschichte, 33,
pp. 347–363, 501–528, 1912. See also D. Völter, Die apostolischen
Väter neu untersucht, II. I, "Die älteste Predigt aus
Rom," Leiden, 1908, where with more ingenuity than success
he tries to recover an original document behind II Clement.
Another attempt to dispute the literary unity of our homily
will be found in W. Schüssler's "Ist der zweite Klemensbrief
ein einheitliches Ganzes?" in Zeitschrift für die Kirchengeschichte,
28, pp. 1–13, 1907. Some interesting material has been
gathered by C. Taylor in his article "The Homily of Pseudo-Clement," in The Journal of Philology, 28, pp. 195–208, 1901. Reference to the doctrine of penance in II Clement will be
Some other articles in the Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche
Wissenschaft may be noted: R. Knopf, "Die Anagnose zum
zweiten Klemensbriefe," 3, pp. 266–279, 1902 (the lection is
An Anonymous Sermon,
Commonly Called Clement's Second
Letter to the Corinthians
1 Brothers, we ought to think of Jesus Christ as we do of God—as
the "judge of the living and the dead."
2 "Rejoice, you who are barren and childless; cry out and
shout, you who were never in labor; for the desolate woman
has many more children than the one with the husband."
3 Seeing, then, that he has had such pity on us, firstly, in that
we who are alive do not sacrifice to dead gods or worship them,
but through him have come to know the Father of truth—what
is knowledge in reference to him, save refusing to deny him
through whom we came to know the Father? 2He himself says,
"He who acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge
before my Father."
4 Let us not merely call him Lord, for that will not save us.
2For he says, "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will
be saved, but he who does what is right."
5 Therefore, brothers, ceasing to tarry in this world, let us do the will of Him who called us, and let us not be afraid to leave this world.
2For the Lord said, "You will be like lambs among wolves."
6 The Lord says, "No servant can serve two masters."
7 So, my brothers, let us enter the contest, recognizing that it is at hand and that, while many come by sea to corruptible
8 So while we are on earth, let us repent. For we are like clay in
a workman's hands. 2If a potter makes a vessel and it gets out
of shape or breaks in his hands, he molds it over again; but if
he has once thrown it into the flames of the furnace, he can do
nothing more with it. Similarly, while we are in this world,
let us too repent with our whole heart of the evil we have done in
the flesh, so that we may be saved by the Lord while we have a
chance to repent. 3For once we have departed this world we
can no longer confess there or repent any more. 4Thus, brothers,
by doing the Father's will and by keeping the flesh pure and by
abiding by the Lord's commands, we shall obtain eternal life.
5For the Lord says in the Gospel: "If you fail to guard what is
small, who will give you what is great? For I tell you that he
who is faithful in a very little, is faithful also in much."
9 Moreover, let none of you say that this flesh will not be
judged or rise again. 2Consider this: In what state were you
saved? In what state did you regain your sight, if it was not
while you were in this flesh? 3Therefore we should guard the
flesh as God's temple. 4For just as you were called in the flesh,
you will come in the flesh. 5If Christ the Lord who saved us was
made flesh though he was at first spirit, and called us in this
way, in the same way we too in this very flesh will receive our
reward. 6Let us, then, love one another, so that we may all come
to God's Kingdom. 7While we have an opportunity to be healed,
let us give ourselves over to God, the physician, and pay him
in return. 8How? By repenting with a sincere heart. 9For he
10 So, my brothers, let us do the will of the Father who called us,
so that we may have life; and let our preference be the pursuit
of virtue. Let us give up vice as the forerunner of our sins, and
let us flee impiety, lest evils overtake us. 2For if we are eager to
do good, peace will pursue us. 3This is the reason men cannot
find peace.
11 Let us therefore serve God with a pure heart and we shall be
upright. But if, by not believing in God's promises; we do not
serve him, we shall be wretched. 2For the word of the prophet
says, "Wretched are the double-minded, those who doubt in
their soul and say, `We have heard these things long ago, even
in our fathers’ times, and day after day we have waited and
have seen none of them.' 3You fools! Compare yourselves to a
tree. Take a vine: first it sheds its leaves, then comes a bud,
and after this a sour grape, then a ripe bunch. 4So my people
too has had turmoils and troubles; but after that it will receive
good things."
12 Loving and doing what is right, we must be on the watch for
God's Kingdom hour by hour, since we do not know the day
13 Right now, my brothers, we must repent, and be alert for
the good, for we are full of much stupidity and wickedness. We
must wipe off from us our former sins and by heartfelt repentance
be saved. And we must not seek to please men or desire
to please only ourselves, but by doing what is right to please
even outsiders, so that the Name
14 So, my brothers, by doing the will of God our Father we shall
belong to the first Church, the spiritual one, which was created
15 The advice I have given about continence is not, I think,
unimportant; and if a man acts on it, he will not regret it,
but will save himself as well as me who advised him. For no
small reward attaches to converting an errant and perishing
soul, so that it may be saved. 2For this is how we can pay back
God who created us, if the one who speaks and the one who
16 So, brothers, since we have been given no small opportunity
to repent, let us take the occasion to turn to God who
has called us, while we still have One to accept us. 2For if we
renounce these pleasures and master our souls by avoiding
their evil lusts, we shall share in Jesus’ mercy. 3Understand that
"the day" of judgment is already "on its way like a furnace ablaze,"
17 Let us, then, repent with our whole heart, so that none of us will be lost. For if we have been commanded to do this too—to draw men away from idols and instruct them—how much more is it wrong for the soul which already knows God to perish? 2Consequently we must help one another and bring back those weak in goodness, so that we may all be saved; and convert and admonish one another.
3Not only at this moment, while the presbyters are preaching
to us, should we appear believing and attentive. But when we
have gone home, we should bear in mind the Lord's commands
and not be diverted by worldly passions. Rather should we
strive to come here more often and advance in the Lord's
commands, so that "with a common mind"
18 Consequently we too must be of the number of those who give thanks and have served God, and not of the ungodly who are sentenced. 2For myself, I too am a grave sinner, and have not yet escaped temptation. I am still surrounded by the devil's devices, though I am anxious to pursue righteousness. My aim is to manage at least to approach it, for I am afraid of the judgment to come.
19 So, my brothers and sisters, after God's truth
20 But you must not be troubled in mind by the fact that we see
the wicked in affluence while God's slaves are in straitened
circumstances. 2Brothers and sisters, we must have faith. We are
engaged in the contest of the living God and are being trained
by the present life in order to win laurels in the life to come.
3None of the upright has obtained his reward quickly, but he
waits for it. 4For were God to give the righteous their reward
at once, our training would straightway be in commerce and
not in piety, since we would give an appearance of uprightness,
when pursuing, not religion, but gain. That is why the divine
judgment punishes
5"To the only invisible God,"
The So-called Letter to Diognetus
The so-called Epistula ad Diognetum
is one of
the most puzzling of ancient documents. While Lightfoot's
description of it as "the noblest of early Christian writings"
The unique MS. of the Epistle, Codex Argentoratensis Graecus 9, containing five treatises ascribed to Justin Martyr, with our Epistle in fifth place, followed by other contemporary material, was written in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. Its history is obscure, although it is known, from his annotation on the back of the codex, that it belonged to the Hebraist Reuchlin (d. 1522), who had brought it from the charterhouse of his native town. Apart from a brief appearance about 1560 at the monastery of Maursmünster in Alsace, it vanishes from sight until 1793–1795. At that time it came to the municipal library of Strasbourg (whose ancient name, Argentoratum, gave its title to the MS.), and remained there until August 24, 1870, when it was burned during the German attack on the city.
Our knowledge of the MS. comes largely from three sixteenth
century transcripts. The first, which was made by H.
Some critics have been led by the Epistle's peculiar history to regard it as a brilliant forgery, while others have looked on it as a mere showpiece, without any real relation to the experience of the Early Church. The real beauty, however, of its picture of the Christian life, the freshness of its language, and the undeveloped character of its theology all combine to suggest a date in the second or the early third century, and to guarantee the authenticity of the Epistle as an expression of early Christian piety.
To place it more precisely is another matter. Justin, to whom the MS. attributes the Epistle, is impossible. It does share with Justin's writings certain commonplaces of early apologetic, but some striking differences must be noted, such as our Epistle's disregard of Hebrew prophecy and contempt for Greek philosophy. Furthermore, the style of the work is far superior to Justin's.
A stronger candidate, whose claims have recently been
revived by Dom P. Andriessen, is Quadratus of Asia Minor,
who (in 123–124 or 129) addressed an "Apology" to the emperor
Andriessen, "The Authorship of the Epistula ad Diognetum," Vigiliae
Christianae, I (April, 1947), pp. 129 f. Eusebius, Hist. eccl. IV. 3:1, 2. Jerome, De Vir. Ill. 19; Epistula 70: 4.
Before making use of this evidence, however, we must deal with the prior problem of the integrity of the Epistle and the related question of the possible common authorship of the two sections into which the lacuna at ch. 10:8 seems to divide it. It may be briefly stated that, on grounds of style alone, the critic is justified in doubting the unity of the Epistle as it stands, while differences of outlook between chs. 1 to 10 and 11; 12 (e.g., with respect to the Old Testament) decide the matter conclusively. Moreover, while the bulk of the differences might be explained by the assumption that the same author produced the two distinct sections at different times and for different purposes, the unresolved differences make the hypothesis of a common authorship untenable. At the same time, since the community of fundamental outlook is obvious enough, we can hardly doubt that the two documents stem from closely related circles. An examination of this common viewpoint may help us to place the two authors more exactly.
The Epistle as a whole is classical in style, with definite
Biblical overtones. The Pauline influence is often perceptible,
while the Johannine outlook dominates the work.
Diognetus
Johannine Writings
Diognetus
Johannine Writings
ch. 6:3
ch. 7:2
ch. 8:5
ch. 10:4
ch. 11:4
(as read by Codex Sinaiticus and some other MSS.)
ch. 11:4
ch. 12:1
Among post-Biblical influences that have been detected, a
number are of secondary importance for our understanding of
Diognetus. J. Armitage Robinson, for example, has shown that
The Preaching of Peter (c. 100–130) underlies both the Epistle
and the Apology of Aristides, but some of his evidence is too
general to be relevant, and none of it outweighs the divergence
of outlook between the Epistle and the passages from the
Preaching preserved by Clement of Alexandria, although it
remains clear that our author (of Diog., chs. 1 to 10) was
familiar with the latter in some form. Clement of Alexandria, Strom., I. 29: 182; VI. 5: 39 ff.; etc. O. Pfleiderer, Primitive Christianity (E.T., 1911), IV, p. 482. E. Molland, "Die literatur- und dogmengeschichtliche Stellung des
Diognetbriefes," Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 33 (1934),
pp. 289–312, gives a careful account of the relationship of the two works.
The resemblances between the Epistle and the Protrepticus
of Clement of Alexandria (d.c. 215) are even more general, and
certainly do not justify the suggestion, contrary to the indications
A. Harnack, Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, I, p. 758; II, p. 514. J. Geffcken, Der Brief an Diognetos. Carl Winter, Heidelberg, 1928. The relation of Diognetus to the work of Theophilus of Antioch is
discussed by F. Ogara, "Aristidis et Epistolae ad Diognetum cum Theophilo
Antiocheno cognatio," Gregorianum, 25 (1944), pp. 74–102.
The most significant literary parallels, however, go beyond
this to establish without question the association of both
sections of our Epistle with that theology of Asia Minor which
so ably represented the central tradition of primitive Catholicism.
The work of R. H. Connolly puts the connection
between Diog., chs. 1 to 10, and both Irenaeus and Hippolytus
(particularly the latter's anti-Gnostic work, the so-called
Philosophumena) beyond any reasonable doubt. As for chs.
11 and 12, Connolly has shown that they strikingly resemble
certain of the acknowledged writings of Hippolytus of Rome
(d. 235), while Campbell Bonner has pointed out certain
interesting stylistic parallels between these chapters and the
surviving fragments of the homilies of Melito of Sardis, who is
known to have exerted a strong influence on Hippolytus. C. C. J. Bunsen, Hippolytus and His Age, E.T., I, pp. 185 ff., 193 ff.,
claimed Diog., chs. 11; 12 as the conclusion of the Philosophumena. Before
Connolly, this position was also argued by J. Dr seke, in Zeitschrift für
wissenschaftliche Theologie, 46 (1902), pp. 263 ff., and A. Di Pauli, Theologische
Quartalschrift, 88 (1906). E. Schwartz, Zwei Predigten Hippolyts, Munich (1936), argues that
the same chapters belong to one of the Paschal tractates of Hippolytus. Campbell Bonner, Studies and Documents,12 (1940), The Homily on the
Passion by Melito.
In the light of the evidence thus summarily presented, it is
possible to offer a tentative answer to the question of date and
authorship. Our answer assumes that chs. 1 to 10 were written
by Quadratus in Asia Minor, as Andriessen argues, and
As far as chs. 11 and 12 are concerned, the argument for Hippolytean authorship, as summed up by R. H. Connolly, seems convincing enough, although the case for the identification of the fragment as the lost tenth book of the Philosophumena may well be thought less persuasive, and we may prefer to regard it as a festal homily. At any rate, this over-all theory, with its ascription of chs. 1 to 10 to a predecessor of Irenaeus, and its attribution of chs. 11; 12 to one of his successors, offers a more comprehensive treatment of the evidence than any alternatives that have so far been presented.
The bulk of the Epistle (chs. 1 to 10) constitutes an apology for Christianity, based on the unique part played by Christians in society. This argument is set in the context of a "theology of history," which emphasizes the divine initiative as decisive for history, and contrasts Christianity as a supernatural factor in human relationships with the man-made religion of Gentiles and Jews alike. The attack on non-Christian religions is sometimes unfair and superficial, and must have had a very mixed effect on pagan readers, but the description of Christian life in the world comes to us across eighteen centuries with an astounding force and fragrance. To this moving statement someone possessed of a remarkable sense of fitness has added the passage from Hippolytus (chs. 11; 12), with its announcement of God's gifts of grace and truth in Christ's Church, where at this very moment Christians can renew their life at that divine source from which its unique power flows.
This vivid symbolic expression of the supernatural character of Christian life points up the fundamental theological theme of the body of the Epistle, which is concerned to present Christianity as a supernatural mystery. The writer deals with the first of Diognetus’ supposed questions by affirming that the God whom Christians worship, to the contempt of all so-called gods, is the transcendent Lord of all things, who in his "Child" has revealed himself to men, destroying the divinities of human imagination. He goes on to argue that the nature of Christian life is itself a primary piece of evidence for the intrinsically supernatural basis of the Christian religion. Christians are different and mysterious, because they live by a superhuman power. The reader should note the numerous references to Christianity as a "mystery," and the realistic doctrine of sanctifying grace with which this emphasis is allied, as again and again the Christian doctrine of God and the glowing portrayal of Christian life are brought together.
The very novelty of Christianity shows its transcendent origin. The description of Christians as the "New Race" reflects, in language widely used in the Early Church, the Biblical expression of the supernatural in terms of the "New Age, Covenant, Creation." In other words, the Epistle manifests the strong historical sense characteristic of the Bible itself, and sees in the supernatural mystery of Christianity the fulfillment of the divine purpose in the creation of nature, worked out in history in accordance with the possibilities of historical situations. In the exposition of the divine oikonomia in history, this apprehension of the truth that the divine wisdom acts in accordance with the historical kairos is more effectively expressed than in any other writing before Irenaeus’ magnificent picture of the workings of Providence. Some appreciation of this profound understanding of Christianity that underlies both the Epistle proper and the Hippolytean epilogue is necessary, if we are not to be led by the Epistle's tightly controlled use of its dogmatic material into overlooking its deepest roots; and the reader should always be on the watch for these fundamental theological motifs.
Since this edition is intended as a simple introduction to
the Epistle by way of notes on its background and central
themes, accompanying a free English translation, the reader
who is attracted to the study of Diognetus must go on to more
Among the standard English editions, which the student will want to consult, the place of honor belongs to Lightfoot's Apostolic Fathers (5 vols., 1886–1890, on which all subsequent study of all these writings has in some measure depended), despite the fact that the English translations are less readable than most. Kirsopp Lake's well-known Loeb Classical Library edition (The Apostolic Fathers, II, 1913, reprinted, Putnam, 1930) offers a very literal (although not uniformly accurate) translation, founded on Otto's text, which is printed in parallel, and prefaced by a slight introduction. James Kleist, in Ancient Christian Writers, No. 6 (1948), gives us a useful introduction, followed by a free-flowing translation—the best in English. The Epistle to Diognetus, by H. G. Meecham, with its critical text, founded on that of Funk, and its exhaustive introduction and notes, is an indispensable tool for the scholarly study of the Epistle. Its (very pedestrian) translation is always reliable, while its introductory material is a mine of accurate references to other editions and to secondary material, as well as to illustrative passages from classical literature.
Reference should also be made to the standard general histories of patristic literature and thought, among which B. Altaner's Patrologie (2d edition, 1950) gives the most up-to-date account of the subject, with very full references to contemporary studies, both in German and in other languages. A. Harnack's Mission and Expansion of Christianity (E.T., 2 vols., 1908), contains the richest account of the life of the Church in the age of Diognetus, and should most certainly be read, provided that one is aware of its learned author's occasional weakness for substituting "liberal" intuitions for scholarship.
Apart from items otherwise mentioned in the introduction and notes, attention should be called to three useful discussions of the outlook of the Apologists: J. Rivière, St. Justin et les apologistes du second siècle (1907); P. Carrington, Christian Apologetics of the Second Century (1921); and A. Puech, Les Apoligistes grecs du II e siècle de notre ère (1912: the best comprehensive treatment of the Apologists). With the help of these works, the reader should acquire a fuller appreciation of the enterprise undertaken by the Apologists, and a better understanding of the peculiar contribution made by tile Epistle to Diognetus.
The So-called Letter to Diognetus
1 To His Excellency, Diognetus:
I understand, sir, that you are really interested in learning
about the religion of the Christians, and that you are making
an accurate and careful investigation of the subject. You want
to know, for instance, what God they believe in and how they
worship him, while at the same time they disregard the world
and look down on death, and how it is that they do not treat
the divinities of the Greeks as gods at all, although on the other
hand they do not follow the superstition of the Jews. You would
also like to know the source of the loving
affection that they
have for each other. You wonder, too, why this new race or
way of life has appeared on earth now and not earlier.
Look at the things that you proclaim and think of as gods. See with your outward eyes and with your mind what material they are made of and what form they happen to have. 2Is not one a stone, like the stones we walk on, and another bronze, no better than the utensils that have been forged for our use? Here is a wooden one, already rotting away, and one made of silver, that needs a watchman to protect it from being stolen. Yet another one is made of iron, eaten by rust, and another of pottery, no more attractive than something provided for the most ignoble purpose. 3Were not all these things made out of perishable material? Were they not forged by iron and fire? Surely the stonemason made one of them, and the blacksmith another, the silversmith a third, and the potter a fourth! These things have been molded into their present shapes by the arts of these craftsmen. Before they were shaped, they could just as easily have been given a different form—and would this not be possible even now? Could not vessels like them be made out of the same material, if the same craftsmen happened to be available? 4Moreover, could not these things that you worship now be made by men into vessels like any others? They are all dumb, after all, and blind. They are without life or feeling or power of movement, all rotting away and decaying. 5These are the things you call gods, the things you serve. You Gentiles adore these things, and in the end you become like them. 6That is why you hate the Christians, because they do not believe that these objects are gods. 7But is it not you yourselves who, when in your own thoughts you suppose that you are praising the gods, are in reality despising them? Surely it is mockery and insult to worship your stone and earthenware gods without bothering to guard them, while you lock up your gods of silver and gold at night, and set guards over them during the day, to keep them from being stolen.
8Moreover, if they are not lacking in sensation, you punish
them by the very honors you try to pay them, while, if they are
senseless, you show them up by the mere act of worshiping
them with blood and sacrificial fat. 9Just picture one of yourselves enduring this kind of thing, or allowing it to be done to
him! There is not one man who would willingly tolerate this
3 Next, I gather that you are particularly anxious to hear why
Christians do not worship in the same way as Jews. 2It is true
that the Jews refrain from the kind of worship that I have been
describing, and on this score they are right in thinking that
they adore the one God of all things and honor him as Lord;
but since they offer this worship more or less in the same manner
as those already mentioned, they are completely mistaken. 3While the Greeks provide a proof of their own lack of
understanding, by making offerings to senseless and deaf objects,
the Jews themselves might perhaps consider it folly rather than
piety if they only recognized that they were offering gifts to
God just as if he needed them. 4For "he who made the heaven
and the earth and all that is in them,"
4 As for Jewish taboos with respect to food, along with their superstition about the Sabbath, their bragging about circumcision, and their hypocrisy about fast days and new moons, I hardly think that you need to be told by me that all these things are ridiculous, and not worth arguing about. 2How can it be anything but godlessness that makes men accept some of the things made by God for man's use as created good, and reject other things as useless and superfluous? 3And is it not impious to pretend that God forbids a good deed on the Sabbath Day? 4And are they not asking for ridicule when they boast of the mutilation of the flesh as a sign of their choice by God, as if for this reason they were especially beloved by him? 5Again, when they constantly gaze at the stars and watch the moon, in order to observe months and days with scrupulous care and to distinguish the changes of the seasons which God has ordained, in order to cater to their own whims, making some into festivals, and others into times of mourning, who could call this evidence of devotion rather than of folly? 6All this being so, I think that you have learned enough to see that Christians are right in holding themselves aloof from the aimlessness and trickery of Greeks and Jews alike, and from the officiousness and noisy conceit of the Jews. But as far as the mystery of the Christians’ own religion is concerned, you cannot expect to learn that from man.
5 For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the
human race by country or language or customs. 2They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of
speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life. 3This doctrine of theirs has not been discovered by the ingenuity or
deep thought of inquisitive men, nor do they put forward a
6 To put it simply: What the soul is in the body, that Christians are in the world. 2The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. 3The soul dwells in the body, but does not belong to the body, and Christians dwell in the world, but do not belong to the world. 4The soul, which is invisible, is kept under guard in the visible body; in the same way, Christians are recognised when they are in the world, but their religion remains unseen. 5The flesh hates the soul and treats it as an enemy, even though it has suffered no wrong, because it is prevented from enjoying its pleasures; so too the world hates Christians, even though it suffers no wrong at their hands, because they range themselves against its pleasures. 6The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and its members; in the same way, Christians love those who hate them. 7The soul is shut up in the body, and yet itself holds the body together; while Christians are restrained in the world as in a prison, and yet themselves hold the world together. 8The soul, which is immortal, is housed in a mortal dwelling; while Christians are settled among corruptible things, to wait for the incorruptibility that will be theirs in heaven. 9The soul, when faring badly as to food and drink, grows better; so too Christians, when punished, day by day increase more and more. 10It is to no less a post than this that God has ordered them, and they must not try to evade it.
7 As I have indicated, it is not an earthly discovery that was
committed to them; it is not a mortal thought that they think
of as worth guarding with such care, nor have they been entrusted with the stewardship of merely human mysteries. 2On the contrary, it was really the Ruler of all, the Creator of all,
the invisible God himself, who from heaven established the
truth and the holy, incomprehensible word among men, and
fixed it firmly in their hearts. Nor, as one might suppose, did
he do this by sending to men some subordinate—an angel, or
principality, or one of those who administer earthly affairs, or
perhaps one of those to whom the government of things in
heaven is entrusted. Rather, he sent the Designer and Maker
of the universe himself, by whom he created the heavens and
confined the sea within its own bounds—him whose hidden
purposes all the elements of the world faithfully carry out,
him from whom the sun has received the measure of the daily
3Now, did he send him, as a human mind might assume, to
rule by tyranny, fear, and terror? 4Far from it! He sent him out
of kindness and gentleness, like a king sending his son who is
himself a king. He sent him as God; he sent him as man to men.
He willed to save man by persuasion, not by compulsion, for
compulsion is not God's way of working. 5In sending him, God
called men, but did not pursue them; he sent him in love, not
in judgment. 6Yet he will indeed send him someday as our
Judge, and who shall stand when he appears?
7Do you not see how they are thrown to wild animals to make them deny the Lord, and how they are not vanquished? 8Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the more do others increase? 9These things do not seem to come from a human power; they are a mighty act of God; they are proofs of his presence.
8 As a matter of fact, before he came, what man had any knowledge of God at all? 2Or do you really accept the idle nonsense talked by those plausible philosophers, some of whom asserted that God was fire—the very thing that they are on the point of going to, they call God!—while others claimed that he was water, and others said that he was yet another one of the elements created by God? 3And yet, if any one Of these lines of argument is acceptable, then each and every one of the other creatures could in the same way be shown to be God. 4No, this is just quackery and deceit practiced by wizards. 5No man has ever seen God or made him known, but he has manifested himself. 6And he manifested himself through faith, by which alone it has been made possible for us to see God.
7For God, the Master and Maker of the universe, who made all things and determined the proper place of each, showed himself to be long-suffering, as well as a true friend of man. 8But in fact he always was and is and will be just this—kind and good and slow to anger and true; indeed, he alone is good. 9And when he had planned a great and unutterable design, he communicated it to his Child alone. 10Now, as long as he kept back his own wise counsel as a well-guarded mystery, he seemed to be neglecting us and to take no interest in us; 11but when he revealed it through his beloved Child and made known the things that had been prepared from the beginning, he granted us all things at once. He made us both to share in his blessings and to see and understand things that none of us could ever have looked for.
9 And so, when he had planned everything by himself in union
with his Child, he still allowed us, through the former time, to
be carried away by undisciplined impulses, captivated by
pleasures and lusts, just as we pleased. That does not mean that
he took any delight in our sins, but only that he showed
patience. He did not approve at all of that season of wickedness, but on the contrary, all the time he was creating the present age of righteousness, so that we, who in the past had by
our own actions been proved unworthy of life, might now be
deemed worthy, thanks to God's goodness. Then, when we had
shown ourselves incapable of entering the Kingdom of God
by our own efforts, we might be made capable of doing so by
the power of God. 2And so, when our unrighteousness had come
to its full term, and it had become perfectly plain that its
recompense of punishment and death had to be expected, then
the season arrived in which God had determined to show at
last his goodness and power. O the overflowing kindness and
love of God toward man! God did not hate us, or drive us
away, or bear us ill will. Rather, he was long-suffering and forbearing. In his mercy, he took up the burden of our sins. He
himself gave up his own Son as a ransom for us—the holy one
for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, the righteous one for
the unrighteous, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the immortal for the mortal.
10 If you too yearn for this faith, then first of all you must acquire full knowledge of the Father. 2For God loved men, and made the world for their sake, and put everything on earth under them. He gave them reason and intelligence, and to them alone he entrusted the capacity for looking upward to him, since he formed them after his own image. It was to them that he sent his only-begotten Son, and to them that he promised the Kingdom in heaven which he will give to those who love him. 3And when you have acquired this knowledge, think with what joy you will be filled! Think how you will love him, who first loved you so! 4And when you love him, you will be an imitator of his goodness. And do not be surprised to hear that a man can become an imitator of God. He can, because God wills it.
5To be happy does not, indeed, consist in lording it over one's
neighbors, or in longing to have some advantage over the
weaker ones, or in being rich and ordering one's inferiors
about. It is not in this way that any man can imitate God, for
such things are alien to his majesty. 6But if a man takes his
neighbor's burden on himself, and is willing to help his inferior
in some respect in which he himself is better off, and, by providing the needy with what he himself possesses because he has
received it from God, becomes a god to those who receive it—then this man is an imitator of God. 7Then, while your lot is
cast on earth, you will realize that God rules in heaven; then
you will begin to talk of the mysteries of God; then you will
love and admire those who are being punished for their refusal
to deny God; then you will condemn the fraud and error of the
world, once you really understand the true life in heaven, once
you look down on the apparent death here below, once you
fear the real death kept for those who are condemned to the
eternal fire, which will punish to the end those that are handed
11 I am not speaking of things that are strange to me, nor is
my undertaking unreasonable, for I have been a disciple of
apostles, and now I am becoming a teacher of the Gentiles.
The things that pertain to the tradition I try to minister fittingly
to those who are becoming disciples of the truth. 2Can any man
who has been properly taught, and has come to love the Logos,
keep from trying to learn precisely what has been shown openly
by the Logos to those to whom he manifestly appeared and
spoke in the plainest terms? He remained, indeed, unrecognized
by unbelievers, but he gave a full explanation to his disciples
who, because he looked upon them as faithful, came to know
the mysteries of the Father. 3For this reason the Father sent the
Logos to appear to the world—the Logos who was slighted by
the chosen people, but preached by apostles and believed in
by the Gentiles. 4This is he who was from the beginning, who
appeared new and was found to be old, and is ever born young
in the hearts of the saints.
12 If you read this, and listen to it earnestly, you will discover
what God has prepared for those who love him as they ought,
and have become a Paradise of delight, cultivating in themselves a flourishing tree, rich with all kinds of fruit, while they
themselves are decked out with a variety of fruits; 2for in this Garden a tree of knowledge and a tree of life have been planted.
7Let your heart be knowledge, and your life the true teaching
that your heart contains. 8If you bear the tree of this teaching and pluck its fruit, you will always be gathering in the things
that are desirable in the sight of God, things that the serpent
cannot touch and deceit cannot defile. Then Eve is not seduced,
but a Virgin is found trustworthy.
The First Apology of Justin, the Martyr
The danger of persecution on the one hand,
and increasing opportunities for the propagation of the
gospel on the other, produced the ancient Christian
writings that are known generally, from the title of some of
them, as Apologies. Eusebius tells us that they began in the
time of Hadrian with the Apology of Quadratus, from which
he preserves only a brief fragment.
By the middle of the second century attacks on Christianity
as well as defenses of it were in circulation. A work by Marcus
Aurelius’ teacher, Fronto, seems to have put the legal and moral
charges in a form calculated to gain the attention of Apologists
connected with Rome. Somewhat later came Celsus’ True
Word, which was to wait two generations for Origin's massive
reply. Under Marcus Aurelius, Athenagoras of Athens produced
his Plea Concerning Christians, the most polished of the
Apologies as a literary work. Athenagoras draws largely on Justin
(though not on his Old Testament quotations), and anticipates
Clement in his skillful use of Greek literary quotations, It
seems fair to say that the Athenian Apologists are
more interested in the religious claims of Christianity, the Roman in its civic
Though apologetics is a permanent part of Christian writing, these writers complete the roll of the classical Apologists of the Greco-Roman world. Still close to them are Origen's Against Celsus and Cyprian's brief practical appeal To Donatus (or Epistle I) in the middle of the third century. Finally ancient apologetic was revived by the return of somewhat similar conditions during the reign of Diocletian and the early years of Constantine. The works of Arnobius and Lactantius in the West belong to this period, and at Alexandria Athanasius' work Against the Nations ends the period of ancient apologetic while the companion piece On the Incarnation opens the classical age of conciliar Christology.
Understanding of the Apologists can be assisted by some
attention to the literary forms that they employed. The first
Christian writers, indeed, clearly had classical literary forms in
mind, since they wrote in some hope of reaching a general
audience. An Apology is by definition a speech for the defense.
The use of the form for philosophic propaganda goes back to
the illustrious example of Plato's Apology of Socrates. It is this
surely that brings Socrates so naturally to Justin's mind in the
First Apology,
Though in form a plea for toleration, the Apology was certainly written even more as an appeal for conversion. Here also
there was a pagan parallel in the protreptic discourse or exhortation, written to commend some philosophical or ethical position. Such discourses were the stock in trade of the wandering
philosophers who were the popular preachers of paganism.
Literary references were specially in place in such writing;
Clement's Address to the Greeks is the fullest example among
the Apologists, though all exhibit some features of the form. A
brief protreptic discourse could be written in the form of an
epistle, such as those that make up the three books of Seneca's
Epistolae Morales—among Christian Apologists there is the
Epistle to Diognetus and Cyprian's Ad Donatum. Perhaps
Justin's Second Apology can best be read as an Epistle to the
Romans. Since the Apologists were conducting an argument,
In spite of a certain lack of polish, perhaps because of it, Justin Martyr is one of the greatest of the Apologists. His writings have the additional interest of being the most specifically Christian of the ancient Apologies. All of them deal in their various ways with the permanent and ever-changing problem of Christian apologetics—how to make contact between the claims of the gospel and the needs and interests of the age, while clearing away misunderstandings and prejudices. Most of the other Apologists lead their reader to the door of the church—Minucius Felix, indeed, does little more than point in its general direction—while Justin opens it and tells a good deal about what goes on inside. Much of the First Apology reads more like a manual for inquirers than a defense for the general public, and this feature gives it its great interest as a record of the faith and practice of the middle of the second century. Since his work was rediscovered in the sixteenth century, Justin has received more attention than at any time since his own generation. Both for the value of his own contribution to Christian thought and for the significance of his evidence as to what was believed and taught by the Christians of his time, he undoubtedly deserves it.
Justin tells us that he was the son of Priscus and grandson
of Bacchius. He was a native of Flavia Neapolis (ancient Shechem and modern Nablus) in Palestine: The family were
Justin certainly ended his career as a Christian teacher at
Rome, but the stages of his journey there are obscure. Our
knowledge of them depends mainly on the evaluation of slight
references in the Dialogue with Trypho. Eusebius tells us that
the dialogue took place at Ephesus, although the only specific
indication in the present text suggests Corinth. Could there
be in Eusebius’ MS. or ours a slip of one Pauline city for another?
In our own time the identification of the Apostolic Tradition
of Hippolytus has provided a welcome complement to Justin's
evidence about the customs of the Roman Church. Hippolytus
wrote about A.D. 200, some forty or fifty years later than
Justin. But since he aimed to describe customs that were already
old, the difference in time is not so important as it might seem.
Though freely instructing prospective converts and interested Christians, these teachers did not as such occupy any
official position in the Church. Considered from another point
of view, they belonged to the class of popular teachers or
preachers who presented the religious claims of philosophy to
the common man. So the animosity of Crescens the Cynic for
Justin, which he expected would be the cause of his martyrdom,
The chronology of Justin's life depends mainly on the references in his works. The First Apology speaks of a recent episode
at Alexandria in the prefecture of Felix, who held office between
A.D. 151 and 154;
The detailed study of Justin's ideas belongs elsewhere, but some suggestions regarding his thought are in place in this introduction.
Modern readers tend to concentrate on what seems to be
unique, or what is of particular interest to us—for instance,
Justin's use of the Logos concept, his attitude to philosophy,
and his evidence for worship and the sacraments. But his own
approach is primarily pastoral, Biblical, and traditionalist. He
writes everything with a pastoral or evangelistic purpose like
that of the Fourth Evangelist, "that ye might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have
life through his name."
The First Apology and Dialogue with Trypho together
would serve as a convert's shorter Bible, and such was doubtless
one of the purposes of Justin's writing. His prospective readers
were, I suspect, not the noble or learned, but intelligent members
of what we may call the lower middle class. They were people who
were prepared to be impressed by mysterious words of Oriental
sages and who, if Justin had not taught them orthodox Christianity, would perhaps have been Marcionites or Mithraists.
His references to these sects suggest that these were immediate
rivals. Much of Justin's history and exegesis no longer appeals.
But Christians can never renounce his central aim—to assert
their claim to be legitimate heirs of "the hope of Israel."
Justin wore the philosopher's cloak, and later tradition
speaks of him as "philosopher and martyr," yet his speculative
interests were really secondary. All the more significant,
therefore, are his striking contributions to the intellectual
tradition of Christian thought. The idea of God's Logos could
be found in a variety of sources. It was floating in the air of
popular Greek philosophy and Hellenistic Judaism, and had
become naturalized in Christian circles by the Prologue of the
Fourth Gospel. (The chief thing to remember about the word
"logos" is that it means everything except a single word—speech, design, argument, reason—therefore God's thought,
plan, utterance, and so on.) Justin's use of it is partly Biblical
and partly apologetic. The Logos being divine, and yet not the
Father himself, accounts both for the divinity which Christians
have found in Jesus, and by retrospect for the divine
appearances in the Old Testament. The Reason incarnate in Christ
is also the diffused reason that speaks in every man (Justin is not
deeply interested in the cosmic action of the Logos). Hence
everything good and true really is ours by right; in the Second
Apology this thought is developed more explicitly, adopting
the term, familiar to Stoics, of the "spermatic word," the divine
force which, as it were, impregnated the universe.
A topic in which he was more interested than his modern
readers was the nature and activity of demons. In Later Platonism and popular Greek thought the daimōnes were intermediate
beings. They were more than man but far beneath the supreme
deity, and were often thought of as occupying the changeable
heavens between the earth and the moon. The word "demon"
itself was morally neutral; Justin regularly adds a qualifying
adjective when he uses it in a bad sense. He shared the Jewish
position that any such beings could only be fallen angels. In
the Second Apology he amplifies the references in the First
Justin the philosopher was also, and more deeply, Justin the
churchman. His description of baptism and the Eucharist
is the best-known section of his work, though it is introduced
"We give thanks to God for having created the world with all that is in it for the sake of man, and for having freed us from the vice in which we lived, and for having completely brought to naught the principalities and powers, through Him who became subject to suffering according to his will."
Justin's religion was certainly deeper and richer than some of his formal arguments for it. The Apologist is always in danger of conceding too much for the sake of argument. Justin at times seems to say that Christ was merely on the same level as the sons of Zeus, an impression that he corrects elsewhere.
Justin's technique is, like his theology, practical. He could pay attention to literary form, but was much more interested in what he had to say than in just how he said it. He knew how to write an oration, a dialogue, or an epistle, but did not let
attention to those details stand in the way of the exposition of his message. His Greek is good, though not purist; he seems to apologize for an occasional colloquialism, even slightly for the straightforward Greek of the Gospels.
A Plea for a Fair Hearing, chs. 1 to 8
B The Faith and Life of Christians, chs. 9 to 20
C Superiority of Christianity to Paganism, chs 21 to 29
D The Argument from Prophecy, chs. 30 to 53.
E Paganism an Imitation of Christianity, chs. 54 to 60.
F Christian Worship, chs. 61 to 67.
G Conclusion, ch. 68
There are hints of the general scheme in chs. 12 and 23; the first announces that there will be not only defense, as in the opening (and closing) sections, but attack, and the three points announced in ch. 23 are approximately those of C, D, and E. The closing sections interlock with the previous ones, with a number of cross references. Several of the transitions are prepared with some care. Chapter 20, for instance, looks forward to the topic taken up in ch. 21. Chapter 53 similarly looks forward to ch. 54. As is suitable for a work in the form of. a forensic speech, the Conclusion is a brief summary and plea, followed by citation of a supporting document.
The careful reader of Justin cannot call him a genius, but comes to enjoy the company of the man who appears through his writings, and to welcome his occasional moments of brilliant insight. To the history of Christian thought he made a great contribution. To him as much as to any other we may owe it that the gospel has remained rooted in the religion of the Old Testament, and on one basis or another has not been unfriendly to human thought. His influence is clear in Athenagoras and Irenaeus, as well as in his rather unworthy disciple Tatian.
Eusebius seems to have had a MS. that presented the same
problems as ours,
Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. XII, The Imperial Crisis and Recovery (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1939), especially Ch. 13, F. C. Burkitt, "Pagan Philosophy and the Christian Church"; Ch. 14, F. C. Burkitt, "The Christian Church in the East"; Ch. 15, H. Lietzmann, "The Christian Church in the West"; and bibliographies.
Dill, S., Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, 2d ed. London, 1905.
Dix, G., The Shape of the Liturgy, 2d ed., London, 1905, especially Chs. 3 and 5, "The Classical Shape of the Liturgy"; Ch. 6, "The Pre-Nicene Background of the Liturgy."
Glover, T. R., The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire. London, 1909.
Nock, A. D., Conversion. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1933.
Puech, A., Les Apologistes grecs. Paris, 1912.
All Church histories and histories of doctrine deal with the Apologists. See especially the histories of doctrine by Harnack, McGiffert, and Tixeront, and
Harnack, A., The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries, tr. J. Moffatt, 2 vols. 2d ed., Edinburgh, 1908 (from 2d German ed., Berlin, 1905).
Lietzmann, H., The Founding of the Church Universal (The Beginnings of the Christian Church, Vol. II), tr. B. L. Woolf. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1938 (from German, Berlin, 1932).
Lebreton, J., and Zeiller, J., The History of the Primitive Church, tr. E. C. Messenger. 2 vols. (from French, Paris, 1934–1935).
Critical Editions of the Text:
Thirlby, S., London, 1722.
Maran, P., Paris, 1742 (the Benedictine edition, reprinted in Migne, Patrologia Graeca, Vol. VI. Paris, 1857).
Otto, J. C., Jena, 1842 (3d ed., 1876–1881).
Krüger, G., Leipzig, 1896 (3d ed., Tübingen, 1915).
Goodspeed, E. J., Göttingen, 1914 (in Die ältesten Apologeten).
Editions with Commentary:
Blunt, A. W. F., The Apologies of Justin Martyr (in Cambridge Patristic Texts). Cambridge, 1911.
Pfättisch, J. M., Justinus des Philosophen und Märtyrers Apologien. Munich, 1912.
Gildersleeve, B. L., The Apologies of Justin Martyr. New York, 1877.
The present translation is based on Krüger's text in Blunt's edition.
English:
Reeves, W., The Apologies of Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Minucius Felix. London, 1709.
Dods, M., and Others, The Writings of Justin Martyr and Athenagoras (in Ante-Nicene Christian Library) (genuine and spurious works, and Acts). Edinburgh, 1867.
Williams, A. L., The Dialogue with Trypho. S.P.C.K., London, 1930.
Falls, T. B., Saint Justin Martyr (in The Fathers of the Church). Fathers of the Church Press, New York, 1948.
French:
Pautigny, L., Justin, Apologies (with Greek text). Paris, 1904.
Archambault, G., Austin, Dialogue avec Tryphon (with Greek text and commentary), 2 vols. Paris, 1909.
German:
Veil, H., Justins des Philosophs und Märtyrers Rechtfertigung des Christentums. Strassburg, 1904.
Rauschen, G., Die beiden Apologien Justins des Märtyrers (in Bibliothek der Kirchenväter). Kempten, 1913.
Goodenough, E. R., The Theology of Justin Martyr (with an elaborate bibliography). Jena, 1923.
Kaye, John, Some Account of the Writings and Opinions of Justin Martyr, London, 1829 (reprinted under various titles; as The First Apology of Justin Martyr, with Reeves's translation, Edinburgh, 1912).
Martindale, C. C., St. Justin the Martyr. London and New York, 1921.
Pellegrino, M., Studi su l’antica Apologetica. Edizioni di "Storia e letteratura," Rome, 1947.
Lagrange, M. J., Saint Justin, 3d ed. Paris, 1914.
Seeberg, E., Die Geschichtstheologie Justins des Märtyrers. Ph. D. thesis, Kiel, 1939.
Hubik, K., Die Apologien des hl. Justinus des Philosophen und Märtyrers. Vienna, 1912.
Pfättisch, J. M., Der Einfluss Platos auf die Theologie Justins des Märtyrers (in Forschungen zur christl. Literatur- und Dogmengeschichte 10. 1). Paderborn, 1910.
The First Apology of Justin, the Martyr
1. To the Emperor Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius Augustus Caesar, and to Verissimus his son, the Philosopher, and to Lucius the Philosopher, son of Caesar by nature and of Augustus
2. Reason requires that those who are truly pious and philosophers should honor and cherish the truth alone, scorning merely to follow the opinions of the ancients, if they are worthless. Nor does sound reason only require that one should not follow those who do or teach what is unjust; the lover of truth ought to choose in every way, even at the cost of his own life, to speak and do what is right, though death should take him away. So do you, since you are called pious and philosophers
and guardians of justice and lovers of culture, at least give us a hearing—and it will appear if you are really such.
3. But so that no one may think that this is an unreasonable and presumptuous utterance, we ask that the charges against us be investigated. If they are shown to be true, [let us] be punished as is proper.
4. The mere ascription of a name means nothing, good or bad, except for the actions connected with the name. Indeed as far as the name charged against us goes, we are very gracious people.
5. What can all this mean? You do not make judicial
inquiries in our case, though we are bound neither to commit
crimes nor to hold such godless ideas. Instead, you punish us
injudicially without deliberation, driven by unreasoning
passion and the whips of evil demons. The truth must be told.
In old times evil demons manifested themselves, seducing
women, corrupting boys, and showing terrifying sights to men—so
that those who did not judge these occurrences rationally
were filled with awe. Taken capture by fear and not understanding
that these were evil demons, they called them gods and
gave each of them the name which each of the demons had
chosen for himself. When Socrates tried by true reason and with
due inquiry to make these things clear and to draw men away
from the demons, they, working through men who delighted
in wickedness, managed to have him put to death as godless
and impious, saying that he was bringing in new divinities.
6. So, then, we are called godless. We certainly confess that we are godless with reference to beings like these who are commonly thought of as gods, but not with reference to the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, who is untouched by evil. Him, and the Son who came from him, and taught us these things, and the army of the other good angels who follow him and are made like him, and the prophetic Spirit we worship and adore,
7. But someone will say, "Some [Christians], have been arrested and convicted as criminals." Many at various times, perhaps, if you examine in each case the conduct of those who are accused; but do not condemn [all] because of those previously convicted. We admit in general that just as among the Greeks those who teach what seems best to them are all listed under the name of philosophy, even though their teachings are contradictory, so the name which is now being attacked is common to those among the barbarians who are and those who appear to be wise. They are all listed as Christians. So we ask that the actions of those who are denounced to you be investigated, in order that whoever is convicted may be punished as a criminal, but not as a Christian, and that whoever is shown to be innocent may be freed, committing no crime by being a Christian. We shall not ask you, however, to punish our accusers, for they suffer enough from their own wickedness and their ignorance of the good.
8. Consider that we have said these things for your sake,
9. Certainly we do not honor with many sacrifices and floral garlands the objects that men have fashioned, set up in temples, and called gods. We know that they are lifeless and dead and do not represent the form of God—for we do not think of God as having the kind of form which some claim that they imitate to be honored—but rather exhibit the names and shapes of the evil demons who have manifested themselves [to men]. You know well enough without our mentioning it how the craftsmen prepare their material, scraping and cutting and molding and beating. And often they make what they call gods out of vessels used for vile purposes, changing and transforming by art merely their appearance. We consider it not only irrational but an insult to God, whose glory and form are ineffable, to give his name to corruptible things which themselves need care. You are well aware that craftsmen in these [things] are impure and—not to go into details—given to all kinds of vice; they even corrupt their own slave girls who work along with them. What an absurdity, that dissolute men should be spoken of as fashioning or remaking gods for public veneration, and that you should appoint such people as guardians of the temples where they are set up—not considering that it is unlawful to think or speak of men as guardians of gods.
10. But we have learned
11. When you hear that we look for a kingdom, you rashly suppose that we mean something merely human. But we speak of a Kingdom with God, as is clear from our confessing Christ when you bring us to trial, though we know that death is the penalty for this confession. For if we looked for a human kingdom we would deny it in order to save our lives, and would try to remain in hiding in order to obtain the thing we look for. But since we do not place our hopes on the present [order], we are not troubled by being put to death, since we will have to die somehow in any case.
12. We are in fact of all men your best helpers and allies in securing good order,
13. What sound-minded man will not admit that we are not godless, since we worship the Fashioner of the universe, declaring him, as we have been taught, to have no need of blood and libations and incense, but praising him by the word
of prayer and thanksgiving for all that he has given us? We have learned that the only honor worthy of him is, not to consume by fire the things he has made for our nourishment, but to devote them to our use and those in need, in thankfulness to
him sending up solemn prayers and hymns for our creation and all the means of health, for the variety of creatures and the changes of the seasons, and sending up our petitions that we may live again in incorruption through our faith in him.
14. We warn you in advance to be careful, lest the demons whom we have attacked should deceive you and prevent your completely grasping and understanding what we say. For they struggle to have you as their slaves and servants, and now by manifestations in dreams, now by magic tricks, they get hold of all who do not struggle to their utmost for their own salvation—as we do who, after being persuaded by the Word, renounced them
15. About continence he said this: "Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery in his heart before God."
And so those who make second marriages according to
human law are sinners in the sight of our Teacher,
This is what he taught on affection for all men: "If you love those who love you, what new thing do you do? for even the harlots do this. But I say to you, Pray for your enemies and love those who hate you and bless those who curse you and pray for
those who treat you despitefully."
That we should share with those in need and do nothing for [our] glory he said these things: "Give to everyone who asks and turn not away him who wishes to borrow. For if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what new thing do
you do? Even the publicans do this.
16. About being long-suffering and servants to all and free from anger, this is what he said: "To him that smites you on one cheek turn the other also, and to him that takes away your cloak do not deny your tunic either.
For we ought not to quarrel; he has not wished us to imitate the wicked, but rather by our patience and meekness to draw all men from shame and evil desires. This we can show in the case of many who were once on your side but have turned from the ways of violence and tyranny, overcome by observing the consistent lives of their neighbors, or noting the strange patience of their injured acquaintances, or experiencing the way they did business with them.
About not swearing at all, but always speaking the truth, this is what he commanded: "Swear not at all; but let your yea be yea and your nay nay. What is more than these is from the evil one."
That God only should be worshiped he showed us when he said: "The greatest commandment is: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve with all thy heart and all thy strength, the Lord who made thee."
Those who are found not living as he taught should know that they are not really Christians, even if his teachings are on their lips, for he said that not those who merely profess but those who also do the works will be saved. For he said this: "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. For whoever hears me and does what I say hears him who sent me. Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not eat
in your name and drink and do mighty works? And then I will say to them, Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.
So we ask that you too should punish those who do not live
17. More even than others we try to pay the taxes and assessments to those whom you appoint, as we have been taught by him. For once in his time some came to him and asked whether it were right to pay taxes to Caesar. And he answered, "Tell me, whose image is on the coin." They said, "Caesar's." And he answered them again, "Then give what is Caesar's to Caesar and what is God's to God."
18. Look at the end of each of the former emperors, how they died the common death of all; and if this were merely a departure into unconsciousness, that would be a piece of luck for the wicked. But since consciousness continues for all who have
lived, and eternal punishment awaits, do not fail to be convinced and believe that these things are true. For the oracles of the dead and the revelations of innocent children, the invoking of [departed] human souls, the dream senders and guardians of the magi, and what is done by those who know about such things—all this should convince you that souls are still conscious after death. Then there are the men who are seized and torn by the spirits of the dead, whom everyone calls demon-possessed and maniacs, and the oracles so well-known among you, of Amphilochus and Dodona and Pytho, and any others of that kind, and the teaching of writers, Empedocles and Pythagoras, Plato and Socrates, and the ditch in Homer
and the descent of Odysseus to visit the dead,
19. Indeed, what would seem more incredible to an observer than if we were not in the body and someone should say that from a single drop of human seed it were possible for the form that we see to come into being, with bones and nerves and
flesh? Consider this hypothesis; if you were not such as you are, born of such parents, and someone were to show you the human seed and a picture of a man, and assure you that the one could grow into the other, would you believe it before you saw it happening? No one would dare to deny [that you wouldn't].
In the same way unbelief prevails about the resurrection of the dead because you have never seen an instance of it. But as you at first would not have believed that from a little drop such beings [as men] could develop, yet you see it happening, so
consider that it is possible for human bodies, dissolved and scattered in the earth like seeds, to rise again in due time by God's decree and be clothed with incorruption.
20. Both Sybil and Hystaspes declared that there will be a destruction of corruptible things by fire.
21. In saying that the Word, who is the first offspring of God, was born for us without sexual union, as Jesus Christ our Teacher, and that he was crucified and died and after rising again ascended into heaven we introduce nothing new beyond [what you say of] those whom you call sons of Zeus. You know how many sons of Zeus the writers whom you honor speak of—Hermes, the hermeneutic Word and teacher of all
22. Now if God's Son, who is called Jesus, were only an
ordinary man, he would be worthy because of his wisdom to be
called Son of God, for all authors call God father of men and
gods. When we say, as before, that he was begotten by God
as the Word of God in a unique manner beyond ordinary birth,
this should be no strange thing for you who speak of Hermes
as the announcing word from God. If somebody objects that
he was crucified, this is in common with the sons of Zeus, as
you call them, who suffered, as previously listed. Since their
fatal sufferings are narrated as not similar but different, so his
unique passion should not seem to be any worse—indeed I
will, as I have undertaken, show, as the argument proceeds,
that he was better; for he is shown to be better by his actions.
If we declare that he was born of a virgin, you should consider
this something in common with Perseus. When we say that he
healed the lame, the paralytic, and those born blind,
23. In order to make this clear to you I will present the
evidence that the things we say, as disciples of Christ and of the
prophets who came before him, are the only truths and older
than all the writers who have lived, and we ask to be accepted,
24. The first point is that though we say the same as do the
Greeks, we only are hated, because of the name of Christ. We
do no wrong but are put to death as offenders [because of our
worship, though] others everywhere worship trees and rivers,
mice and cats and crocodiles and many kinds of irrational
animals,
25. Secondly, out of every race of men we who once worshiped Dionysus the son of Semele and Apollo the son of Leto,
who in their passion for men did things which it is disgraceful
even to speak of, or who worshiped Persephone and Aphrodite,
who were driven mad by [love of] Adonis and whose mysteries
you celebrate, or Asclepius or some other of those who are
called gods, now through Jesus Christ despise them, even at the
cost of death, and have dedicated ourselves to the unbegotten
and impassible God. We do not believe that he ever descended
in mad passion on Antiope or others, nor on Ganymede, nor
was he, receiving help through Thetis, delivered by that
hundred-handed monster, nor was he, because of this, anxious
26. A third point is that after Christ's ascent into heaven the
demons put forward various men who said that they were gods,
and you not only did not persecute them, but thought them
worthy of honors. One was a certain Simon, a Samaritan from
the village of Gitta, who in the time of Claudius Caesar,
through the arts of the demons who worked in him, did mighty
works of magic in your imperial city of Rome and was thought
to be a god. He has been honored among you as a god by a
statue, which was set up on the River Tiber, between the two
bridges, with this inscription in Latin, SIMONI DEO
SANCTO.
27. That we may avoid all injustice
28. Among us the chief of the evil demons is called the serpent and Satan and the devil, as you can learn by examining our writings. Christ has foretold that he will be cast into fire with his host and the men who follow him, [all] to be punished
for endless ages. God delays doing this for the sake of the human race, for he foreknows that there are some yet to be saved by repentance, even perhaps some not yet born. In the beginning he made the race of men endowed with intelligence, able to choose the truth and do right, so that all men are without excuse before God, for they were made with the powers of reason and observation. Anyone who does not believe that God cares for these things either manages to profess that he does not
29. And again [we do not expose children] lest some of them, not being picked up, should die and we thus be murderers. But to begin with, we do not marry except in order to bring up children, or else, renouncing marriage, we live in perfect continence.
30. But lest someone should argue against us, What excludes [the supposition] that this person whom you call Christ was a man, of human origin, and did these miracles you speak of by magic arts, and so appeared to be God's Son?—we will bring forward our demonstration. We do not trust in mere hearsay, but are forced to believe those who prophesied [these things] before they happened, because we actually see things that have happened and are happening as was predicted. This will, as we think, be the greatest and surest demonstration for you too.
31. There were among the Jews certain men who were prophets of God, through whom the prophetic Spirit announced in advance events that were to occur. The successive rulers of the Jews carefully preserved their prophecies, as they were
spoken when they prophesied, in their own Hebrew language,
32. Thus Moses, who was the first of the prophets, said in these very words: "The ruler shall not depart from Judah, nor the governor from his thighs, until he come for whom it is reserved; and he shall be the expectation of the nations, binding his colt to the vine, washing his robe in the blood of the grape."
33. And again, hear how it was literally prophesied by Isaiah that he would be born of a virgin. He said, "Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name, God with us."
34. Hear also in what part of the earth he was to be born, as
another prophet, Micah, foretold. He said, "And you Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means the least among the rulers
of Judah; for out of you will come a Ruler who will shepherd
my people."
35. How the Christ after his birth was to live hidden from other men until he grew to manhood, as also happened—hear the predictions that refer to this. There is this: "A child is born to us, and a young man is given to us, and the government will be upon his shoulders—"
36. When you hear the words of the prophets spoken as in a particular character, do not think of them as spoken by the inspired men themselves, but by the divine Word that moved them. For sometimes he speaks as predicting the things that are to happen, sometimes he speaks as in the character of God the Master and Father of all, sometimes as in the character of Christ, sometimes in the character of the people answering the Lord or his Father. You can see the same thing in your own writers, where one man is the author of the whole work but introduces different characters in dialogue. Not understanding this, the Jews who are in possession of the books of the prophets did not recognize Christ even when he came, and they hate us who declare that he has come and show that he was crucified by them as had been predicted.
37. So that you may see this clearly, here is the kind of words spoken in the character of the Father through the above-mentioned prophet Isaiah: "The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel knows me not and my
people does not understand. Woe, sinful nation, people full of sins, wicked seed, lawless children, you have forsaken the Lord."
Again in another place, where the same prophet speaks similarly for the Father: "What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool."
38. When the prophetic Spirit speaks in the character of the Christ, he says, "I stretched out my hands over a disobedient and contradicting people, over those who walk in a way that is not good."
39. When the prophetic Spirit speaks as prophesying things to come, he says: "For the law will go forth from Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he shall judge in the midst of the nations and rebuke much people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war any more."
40. Hear now how predictions were made about those who were to proclaim his teaching and testify to his manifestation; for the above-mentioned prophet and king said this through the prophetic Spirit: "Day to day utters speech, and night to
night shows forth knowledge. There is no language or speech where their words are not heard. Their sound went out into all the earth, and their words to the end of the inhabited world. He set his tabernacle in the sun, and he himself, as a bridegroom
coming out of his chamber, will rejoice like a giant to run his course."
"Blessed is the man who has not walked in the council of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor taken his seat upon the seat of pestilence, but his will is in the law of the Lord, and in his law will he meditate day and night. And he shall be like the tree which is planted by the watercourses, which will give its fruit in its season, and his leaf will not wither, and whatever he does will be prospered. Not so are the ungodly, not so, but rather like the chaff which the wind blows away from the face of the earth. Therefore the ungodly will not arise in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the righteous, because the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly will be destroyed.
"Why have the nations raged and the peoples imagined new things?
41. And again in another prophecy the prophetic Spirit,
testifying through the same David that after being crucified
Christ would reign, said: "O sing to the Lord, all the earth,
and proclaim his salvation from day to day; for great is the
Lord and highly to be praised, terrible beyond all the gods.
For all the gods of the nations are images of demons, but God
made the heavens. Glory and praise are before him, and
strength and pride in the place of his sanctification. Give glory
to the Lord, the Father of the ages. Receive favor and go in
before his face and worship in his holy courts. Let all the earth
fear before him, and be set upright and not shaken. Let them
exult among the nations; the Lord has reigned from the tree."
42. Now when the prophetic Spirit speaks of things to come
as already having happened, as is illustrated in the passages
quoted—I will explain this too so that those who come on it
will have no excuse [for not understanding]. Things he fully
knows are to happen he speaks of in advance as if they had
already occurred. Give careful attention to the passages
43. So that none may infer from what we have said that the
events we speak of, because they were foreknown and predicted,
took place according to inevitable destiny—I can explain this
too. We have learned from the prophets, and declare as the
truth, that penalties and punishments and good rewards are
given according to the quality of each man's actions. If this
were not so, but all things happened in accordance with
destiny, nothing at all would be left up to us. For if it is destined
that one man should be good and another wicked, then neither
is the one acceptable nor the other blameworthy. And if the
human race does not have the power by free choice to avoid
what is shameful and to choose what is right, then there is
no responsibility for actions of any kind. But that [man] walks
upright or falls by free choice we may thus demonstrate. We
[often] observe the same man in pursuit of opposite things. If
he were destined to be either wicked or virtuous, he would not
be thus capable of opposites, and often change his mind. Nor
would some be virtuous and others wicked, for then we would
have to declare fate to be the cause of evils and [at the same
time] to act in opposition to itself
44. The holy prophetic Spirit taught us these things, saying
through Moses that God said to the first-formed man, "Behold
I have set before you good and evil, choose the good."
So when Plato said, "The blame belongs to him who chooses,
and God is free from blame,"
So when we say that things yet to happen have been prophesied, we do not say that they take place by inevitable destiny,
but since God foreknows what all men are to do, and it is his
decree that each will be rewarded according to the quality of his
actions, he foretells by the prophetic Spirit what he will do in
accordance with the quality of what they do. So he is ever leading the human race to reflection and remembrance, showing
45. Now hear how it was said through David the prophet,
that God the Father of all would take up Christ into heaven
after raising him from the dead, and then wait to smite the
demons who are his enemies, until the number be completed
of those whom he foreknows will be good and virtuous,
46. Lest some should unreasonably object, in order to turn
men away from what we teach, that we say that Christ was born
a hundred and fifty years ago under Quirinius, and taught
what we say he taught still later, under Pontius Pilate, and
47. Hear how the prophetic Spirit said that the land of the
Jews would be ravaged. The words are spoken as in the
character of the people, wondering at what had happened, as
follows: "Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem has become
like a wilderness, the house of our sanctuary [is made] a curse,
and the glory which our fathers praised is burned with fire,
and all its glorious things are fallen. And you abide these things,
and have kept silence, and have humbled us greatly."
48. How it was prophesied that our Christ would heal all
49. Here again is how it was said through the same Isaiah, that the peoples of the Gentiles who were not looking for him would worship him, and the Jews who were constantly looking for him would not recognize him when he came. These words
are spoken as in the character of the Christ himself, as follows: "I became manifest to those who asked not after me, I was found by those who sought me not. I said, Here am I, to a nation who did not call upon my name. I stretched out my hands over a disobedient and contradicting people, over those who walked in a way that was not good, but after their sins, a people who rouse me to anger."
50. How, being made man for us, he endured suffering and dishonor, and will come again with glory—hear the prophecies which were spoken to this effect, as follows:
"Because they delivered his soul to death, and he was counted with the wicked, he has borne the sins of many, and
51. In order to testify to us that he who suffered these things is of ineffable origin and reigns over his enemies, the prophetic Spirit spoke thus:
"Who will declare his generation? For his life was taken away
from the earth; on account of their wickednesses he goes to
death. And I will give the wicked for his burial and the rich
for his death, for he did no wickedness nor was guilt found
in his mouth. And the Lord wills to cleanse him from the
blow. If you give an offering for sin, your soul will see a long-lived
Hear how he was to go up to heaven, as it was prophesied.
This was spoken: "Lift up the gates of heaven, be opened, that
the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of might and the Lord of power."
52. Since we have shown that all these things that have
already happened were proclaimed in advance through the
prophets before they happened, it must similarly be believed
that those things which were similarly prophesied and are yet
to happen will certainly take place. Just as these things which
have already happened came true, proclaimed in advance and
[yet] unrecognized, so in the same way the remainder, even if
unacknowledged and disbelieved, will come to pass. For the
prophets foretold two comings of Christ—one, which has
already happened, as that of a dishonored and passible man,
and the second, when as has been foretold he will come from
heaven in glory with his angelic host, when he will raise the
bodies of all the men who have ever lived, and will clothe the
worthy with incorruption, but send those of the wicked, eternally conscious, into eternal fire with the evil demons. How it
was predicted that these things will happen we will show. This
was spoken through the prophet Ezekiel: "Joint will come together with joint and bone with bone, and flesh will grow again. And every knee will bow to the Lord and every tongue will confess him."
"I will command the four winds to bring together the scattered children; I will command the north wind to carry them, and the south wind not to keep them back.
53. I could cite many other prophecies too, but pause, thinking that these are sufficient to convince those who have ears to hear and understand, and considering that such people can understand that we do not, like those who tell the mythical
stories about the so-called sons of Zeus, merely talk, without having proofs. For why should we believe a crucified man that he is First-begotten of the Unbegotten God, and that he will pass judgment on the whole human race, unless we found testimonies proclaimed about him before he came, and was made man, and see that things have thus happened? For we have seen the desolation of the land of the Jews, and the men of every nation who have been persuaded by the teaching that comes from his apostles, and have turned away from the old customs in which they lived, wandering astray—that is ourselves, since we know that the Gentile Christians are more numerous and truer than those from among the Jews and Samaritans. For all the other nations of mankind are called Gentiles by the prophetic Spirit, while the Jewish and Samaritan tribes are called Israel and House of Jacob. How it was prophesied that more of the Gentiles would be believers than of the Jews and Samaritans—I will cite what was prophesied. It was spoken thus: "Rejoice, O barren and bearing not, break forth and shout, you who did not travail, for the children of
the desolate are more than those of her who had a husband."
54. But those who hand on the myths invented by the poets offer no demonstration to the youngsters who learn them—indeed I [am prepared to] show that they were told at the instigation of the wicked demons to deceive and lead astray the human race. For when they heard it predicted through the prophets that Christ was to come, and that impious men would be punished by fire, they put forward a number of so-called sons of Zeus, thinking that they could thus make men suppose that what was said about Christ was a mere tale of wonders like the stories told by the poets. These stories were spread among the Greeks and all the Gentiles, where, as they heard the prophets proclaiming, Christ would especially be believed in. But, as I will make clear, though they heard the words of the prophets they did not understand them accurately, but made mistakes in imitating what was told about our Christ. The prophet Moses was, as I said before, older than all [Greek] writers, and this prophecy was made through him, as previously cited: "The ruler shall not depart from Judah, nor the governor from his thighs, until he come for whom it is reserved; and he
shall be the expectation of the nations, binding his colt to the
55. But never was the crucifixion imitated in the case of any of the so-called sons of Zeus; for they did not understand it since, as has been explained, everything said about it was expressed symbolically. Yet, as the prophet predicted, it [the cross] is the greatest symbol of his power and authority, as [can be] shown from things you can see. Reflect on all things in the universe [and consider] whether they could be governed or held together in fellowship without this figure. For the sea cannot be traversed unless the sign of victory, which is called a sail,
56. The wicked demons were not satisfied with saying before the appearance of Christ that there had been the so-called sons of Zeus. After he had appeared and lived among men, when they learned how he had been predicted by the prophets, and saw how he was believed on and looked for in every race, they again, as we showed before, put forward others, Simon and Menander of Samaria, who by doing mighty works of magic deceived and are still deceiving many. For as I said before, Simon lived in your own imperial city of Rome under Claudius Caesar, and so impressed the Sacred Senate and the Roman people that he was thought to be a god and was honored with a statue like the other gods whom you honor. We ask you therefore to join the Sacred Senate and your people as joint judges of this petition of ours, so that if any are ensnared by his teachings they may be able to learn the truth and flee from this error. And, if you will, destroy the statue.
57. Nor can the wicked demons persuade men that there
will be no burning for the punishment of the impious, just as
they were not able to keep Christ hidden when he came. All
they can do is to make men who live contrary to reason, having
been brought up in bad habits of passion and prejudice, kill
and hate us. Yet we do not hate them, but, as is evident, pity
them and try to persuade them to reform. For we are not afraid
of death, admitting that we are certainly going to die, and
[since] there is nothing new [for unbelievers], but things continue the same in this dispensation—if boredom seizes those
who share in such things even for a year,
58. As I said before, the wicked demons have also put forward Marcion of Pontus, who is even now teaching men to
deny that God is the Maker of all things in heaven and earth
and that the Christ predicted by the prophets is his Son. He
preaches another God besides the Fashioner of the universe,
and likewise another Son. Many are persuaded by him, as if
he alone knew the truth, and make fun of us, though they have
no proof of the things they say, but are irrationally snatched
away, like lambs by a wolf,
59. So that you may learn that Plato borrowed from our
teachers, I mean from the Word [speaking] through the prophets, when he said that God made the universe by changing
formless matter, hear the precise words of Moses, who as declared above was the first of the prophets and older than the
Greek writers. The prophetic Spirit testified through him how
in the beginning God fashioned the universe, and out of what,
saying: "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was invisible and unfurnished, and darkness
[was] over the abyss; and the Spirit of God was borne over
the waters. And God said, Let there be light. And it
was so."
60. In the discussion of the nature of the Son of God in
Plato's
Timaeus,
when he says, "He placed him like an X in
the universe,"
61. How we dedicated ourselves to God when we were made new through Christ I will explain, since it might seem to be unfair if I left this out from my exposition. Those who are persuaded and believe that the things we teach and say are true, and promise that they can live accordingly, are instructed to pray and beseech God with fasting for the remission of their past sins, while we pray and fast along with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are reborn by the same manner of rebirth by which we ourselves were reborn; for they are then washed in the water in the name of God the Father and Master of all, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. For Christ said, "Unless you are born again you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven."
62. When the demons heard this washing proclaimed through the prophets, they arranged that those who go into their temples and are about to approach them to offer libations and burnt offerings should sprinkle themselves—and further they have them wash themselves completely as they pass on into the sanctuaries where they are enshrined. The order given by the priests to devotees to remove their shoes as they enter the temples and approach them
63. Even now the Jews all teach that the unnamed God himself spoke to Moses. Wherefore the prophetic Spirit said in condemnation of them through Isaiah the above-mentioned prophet, as was quoted before: "The ox knows his owner and
64. From what has been said you can understand why the
demons contrived to have the image of the so-called Kore
erected at the springs of waters, saying that she was a daughter
of Zeus, imitating what was said through Moses. For Moses
said, as I have quoted: "In the beginning God made the heaven
and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unfurnished,
and the Spirit of God was borne over the waters."
65. We, however, after thus washing the one who has been
convinced and signified his assent, lead him to those who are
called brethren, where they are assembled. They then earnestly
offer common prayers for themselves and the one who has been
illuminated and all others everywhere, that we may be made
worthy, having learned the truth, to be found in deed good
citizens and keepers of what is commanded, so that we may
be saved with eternal salvation. On finishing the prayers we
66. This food we call Eucharist, of which no one is allowed
to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are
true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and
for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we
do not receive these things as common bread or common
drink; but as Jesus Christ our Saviour being incarnate by God's
word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have
been taught that the food consecrated by the word of prayer
which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are
nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that
incarnate Jesus.
67. After these [services] we constantly remind each other
of these things. Those who have more come to the aid of those
who lack, and we are constantly together. Over all that we
receive we bless the Maker of all things through his Son Jesus
Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
68. If what we say seems to you reasonable and true, treat it
with respect—if it seems foolish to you, then despise us as
foolish creatures and do not decree the death penalty, as against
enemies, for those who do no wrong. I have said before that you
will not escape the future judgment of God if you continue
unjust, while we will cry out, What God desires, let that be
done.
Hadrian to Minucius Fundanus. I have received the letter
addressed to me by your predecessor the Honorable Serenius
Granianus, and it does not seem right to me to pass over this
report in silence, lest innocent people should be molested and
false accusers given the opportunity of doing harm. So if the
people of your province can formally support their petition
against the Christians by accusing them of something before
[your] tribunal, I do not forbid their following this course;
but I do not permit them to make use of mere requests and
clamorous demands in this matter. It is much more proper, if
anyone wishes to bring an accusation, for you to take cognizance of the matters brought forward. Therefore if anyone
brings an accusation and proves that the men referred to have
A Plea Regarding Christians
by Athenagoras,
the Philosopher
It is an odd fact that the author of what in
many ways is the ablest of the Greek Apologies remained
almost unknown in Christian antiquity. Apart from a
citation in a third century writer, Methodius of Tyre,
Of these but two have survived: his Plea Regarding Christians and his Treatise on the Resurrection. From their titles we
The date of the Plea can be determined with reasonable
certainty. It is addressed to the emperors Marcus Aurelius and
Lucius Aurelius Commodus. The latter is doubtless Marcus
Aurelius’ son, who was raised to the purple in A.D. 176. Later on in the Plea, Athenagoras refers directly to the relationship
of father and son which existed between the two emperors
(chs. 18 and 37). Another indication of date is the mention of
the profound peace which the Empire is enjoying (ch. 1).
The only period between A.D. 176 and the date of Marcus Aurelius'
death in A.D. 180 that would adequately fit this reference is
176–177. These dates mark the suppression of the insurrection
of Avidus Crassus on the one hand, and the outbreak of the
Marcomannic War on the other. Since, too, Athenagoras makes
no mention of the violent, though local, outbreak of persecution
in Lyons and Vienne,
To these calculations two objections have been raised. It has been questioned whether Marcus Aurelius’ son is intended by the name Lucius Aurelius Commodus, and it has been suggested that the Plea betrays a faint reflection of the persecution of Lyons and Vienne.
To appreciate the discussion of the first objection, the exact
words of Athenagoras’ inscription must be borne in mind. He
writes, "To the Emperors Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and
Lucius Aurelius Commodus, conquerors of Armenia and Sarmatia, and—what is more important—philosophers." Who is
Lucius Aurelius Commodus? The title "conqueror of Armenia"
properly belongs to Marcus Aurelius’ adopted brother, Lucius
Aurelius Verus Commodus, not to his son. But the adopted
brother can scarcely be meant. He dropped the name Commodus on sharing the government with Marcus Aurelius, and
he never bore the title "conqueror of Sarmatia," since this
conquest occurred only after his death in A.D. 169. The fact
The second objection is equally tenuous. It has been urged
Of all the Apologists, Athenagoras is the most eloquent. The
arrangement of his material is clear and his argument moves
with cogency. His rhythmic style, patterned after that of the
Atticists, betrays the self-conscious rhetorician. He has some
notable descriptions, and his detailed references to mythology
and history, which at times seem irrelevant to his central point,
are quite purposeful. They aim to hold the reader's attention
by providing interesting information. On the other hand, his
style suffers from ellipses, parentheses (of which there are
many), and anacolutha. This is partly to be explained by his
intention to give his Apology the air of a speech which was
actually delivered. This fiction underlies the reference in ch. 11
The Plea answers three current charges brought against Christianity—atheism, incest, and cannibalism. It is the first of these with which the large body of the work is concerned (chs. 3 to 30). The others are treated rather summarily at the end (chs. 31 to 36). The case against atheism is the central point, for, with this proved, the moral calumnies are in principle disposed of. This division of material, moreover, reflects the rhetorical skill of Athenagoras. He realized that the attention of his audience would be better held by expanding the first point, while correspondingly contracting the second and third.
The charges themselves were a natural result of the Christian message. To deny the traditional gods, to stand in opposition to the syncretic temper of the age, and above all to claim to practice a religion which dispensed with the most essential mark of ancient religion, viz., sacrifice, could not but have provoked the accusation of atheism. Furthermore, the close association, in the ancient mind, of gods with race and soil must have made it extremely hard for the pagan to take the Christian case seriously. The Christians were not a racial or national group venerating the traditions of their forefathers. The new religion seemed to be undermining every religious sanction of antiquity.
The charges of incest and cannibalism arose from the fact that only the baptized were permitted to attend the Eucharist. What, therefore, was done in secret by such people was quite likely, in the pagan's mind, to be immoral. Moreover, the fragmentary knowledge which the pagan gained by hearsay about the meaning of the Lord's Supper—eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ—quickly led to the suspicion of cannibalism; while the Christian emphasis on love and brotherhood was easily distorted into a cloak for incest.
Athenagoras’ aim in the Plea is to show that Christianity is
a respectable philosophy, distinguished by a peculiarly high
standard of moral conduct. He urges that Christians should
be given the same fair treatment accorded other philosophers (ch. 2, fin.). They should not be persecuted because of a name.
Rather should each be tried on his own merits, and only punished if a real offense is proved. The emphasis laid by Christian
On the question of the imperial cult Athenagoras is shrewdly silent. He has many protestations of loyalty to the emperor, and perhaps hints at his view of the imperial genius in his reference to Antinous (ch. 30) and to the gods’ having originally been kings (ch. 28). But he naturally refrains from making a clear issue of this point, lest he should endanger the strength of his apology. His intention is to gain a hearing for the Christian case for monotheism. Only then could the current manner of showing loyalty to the Empire be successfully challenged.
To answer the charge of atheism Athenagoras shows that the Christians share their conviction of the unity of God with the great Greek philosophers and poets. Here was the point at which Christianity could relate itself to the finest spirit of antiquity, and so win a hearing. Proceeding from this, Athenagoras demonstrates the unique elements in the new faith, viz., the doctrine of the Trinity and the high moral life of the Christians; and he continues by showing the weaknesses in the traditional religion with its sacrifices and mythology.
Neither as a philosopher nor as a theologian did Athenagoras possess a creative mind. Nor can he be said to be a profound scholar. He was a Christian rhetorician, combining a graceful style with some originality and considerable knowledge.
He was well acquainted with the leading ideas of the current
philosophies and his outlook betrays the essential spirit of the
age—eclecticism. Doubtless he had read Homer, Plato, and
Herodotus. But the majority of his many citations come (as
he himself confesses) from florilegia (see chs. 6 and 33). This
was a current practice of rhetoricians. In some cases, where
the context was not clear, it could not fail to lead to misconstruction
Athenagoras shows his originality in several ways. His
rational argument for the unity of God (ch. 8) has no parallel
in ancient literature, and the references sometimes cited from
Cicero and Philo
Philosophically Athenagoras is an eclectic. From Plato he derives his ideas of God's essential goodness (ch. 24) and of the primacy of the immaterial (ch. 36). From the Stoics he takes his emphasis on the harmony and order of the world as a proof of God (chs. 4; 5; 16); his contrast of man's unnatural vice with the natural life of beasts (ch, 3); and his psychological explanation of visions (ch. 27). From the Neo-Pythagoreans comes his view of the cosmos as an enclosed sphere moving in rhythm (ch. 16). He is dependent on the Skeptics for his account of the prolific number and contradictory nature of the cults (chs. 1; 14), and for his conviction that the many conflicting doctrines of philosophy indicate that reason has its limits (ch. 7). In this hospitable attitude toward Greek philosophy and culture Athenagoras shares Justin's view, which stands in marked contrast with that of his Syrian contemporary, Tatian.
Athenagoras owes his theological ideas largely to Justin. >From him come the Logos doctrine, his views of prophetic inspiration, resurrection, demonology, angelology, and so on. Unique with Athenagoras, however, is his clear exposition of the Trinity (ch. 10), his careful avoidance of subordinating the Son, his emphasis on chastity, and his condemnation of second marriages (ch. 33). Regarding this latter, it has been contended that Athenagoras here shows the influence of Montanism. But it must be noted that Athenagoras’ moral attitudes are not so severe as those of the Montanists, and that an increasing veneration of asceticism was characteristic of the second century.
Apart from a vague and passing reference in ch. 21, Athenagoras makes no mention of the incarnation. This may seem strange to us, for whom this doctrine is central. But we must remember that Athenagoras’ purpose is apologetic. He is not writing a systematic theology, but defending the faith against certain calumnies. Hence Athenagoras’ Christianity cannot be completely reconstructed from his Apology. It is a mistake to imagine that, because the fullness of the faith is not apparent in their works, the Apologists attenuated Christianity by accommodating it to Greek culture. Their first aim was the same as that of the modern missionary—to defend monotheism. That was the prerequisite to establishing the truth of Christianity, and the basis upon which the gospel rested. Hence the Apologists narrowed their sights to concentrate on this fundamental issue, and they leaned on Greek philosophy to make a contact with their readers. If one compares Tertullian's apologetic works with those addressed specifically to Christians, one notes the same approach. The apologetic treatises do not give a whole account of Christianity. Thus, in reading Athenagoras, one must not seek for a full exposition of the faith, or imagine that this one tract contains all that he believed. In short, Athenagoras’ Plea should be read for what it claims to be—a defense of practical monotheism. By setting Christianity almost exclusively in this light, the author proved himself a somewhat more astute Apologist than Justin. He sought to show that the new faith corresponded to the best philosophic schools of the day.
The text of Athenagoras’ Plea, like that of other Greek
Apologies, is far from satisfactorily preserved. All the manuscripts, of which there are many, go directly or indirectly back to the famous Aretas Codex (Paris. Graec. 451
From this manuscript there directly derive Codex Mutinensis III D 7 and Codex Parisinus Graec. 174, both of the eleventh century. From the first of these the Strassburg Codex (Argentoratensis 9), destroyed in the fire of 1870, was copied.
The first edition of the Plea was published by C. Gesner in Zurich, 1557. The text reprinted in Migne, P.G. 6, cols. 887–1024, was by P. Maran, Paris, 1742. Critical notes were added by J. H. Nolte. The edition by J. K. Theodor von Otto, in his Corpus Apologetarum Saeculi Secundi, Vol. 7, Jena, 1858, has extensive prolegomena, notes, and indexes.
Modern critical study of the text is dependent on the work of E. Schwartz, "Athenagorae Libellus pro Christianis," in Texte and Untersuchungen, Vol. IV. 2,
Leipzig, 1891. The three most
For the translation offered here, Goodspeed's text has been followed. I have not, however, felt obliged to accept all his emendations. At times I have relied on other texts as well as on suggestions in modern translations.
The Plea has been rendered into English by B. P. Pratten in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library, Vol. II, pp. 123–148, Buffalo, 1885. The first English translation was by D. Humphreys, London, 1714. In German there is a translation by P. A. Eberhard in Frühchristliche Apologeten, in the second series of the Bibliothek der Kirchenväter, Vol. XII, Kempten and Munich, 1913 (with introduction and useful notes). Most recent is the French rendering by Gustave Bardy, Athénagore, supplique au sujet des Chrétiens, Editions du Cerf, Paris, 1943, in the series Sources chrétiennes. This has excellent introductory material and comprehensive notes. In Italian there is the edition by Michele Pellegrino already mentioned.
Invaluable material for the study of Athenagoras will be found in Johannes Geffcken's edition. While far from sympathetic, it is rich and often incisive in its handling of parallel literature, both pagan and Christian. The article "Athenagoras," by Spenser Mansel in the Dictionary of Christian Biography, Vol. I., pp. 204–207, London, 1877, should be consulted, as also the study by G. Bareille in the Dictionnaire de la théologie catholique, Vol. I, cols. 2210–2214, Paris, 1903, and especially the one by P. Keseling in the Reallexikon für Antike and Christentum, Hiersemann Verlag, Leipzig, 1943, cols. 881–888. An earlier but fundamental work is that by L. Arnould, De Apologia Athenagorae, Paris, 1898; while Aim Puech has devoted a lucid chapter to Athenagoras in his Les Apologistes grecs, Paris, 1912. An introductory summary of the general field will be found in Philip Carrington's Christian Apologetics of the Second Century, New York, 1921.
There are several special studies dealing with the theology
and philosophy of Athenagoras: F. Schubring, Die Philosophie des Athenagoras, Berlin, 1882; K. F. Bauer, Die Lehre des Athenagoras von Gottes Einheit und Dreieinigkeit, Bamberg, 1902; L. Richter,
The following briefer essays may be mentioned: G. Losche, "Minucius Felix' Verhältnis zu Athenagoras," in Jahrbücher für protestantische Theologie, Vol. VIII, pp. 168–78, 1882; A. Pommrich, Die Gottes and Logoslehre des Theophilus von Antiocheia and Athenagoras von Athen, pp. 43–61, Leipzig,1904; J. Lortz, "Das Christentum als Monotheismus in den Apologien des zweiten Jahrhunderts," in Beiträge zur Geschichte des christlichen Altertums and der Byzantinischen Literatur, edited by A. M. Koninger, pp. 301–327, Leipzig, 1922; K. von Preysing, "Ehezweck and 2 Ehe bei Athenagoras," in Theologische Quartalschrift, pp. 85-I10, 1929; and the chapter by V. Spence Little in his Christology of the Apologists, pp. 210–228, Duckworth, London, 1934.
A Plea Regarding Christians
by Athenagoras, the Athenian
a Philosopher and a Christian
To the Emperors Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, conquerors of Armenia and Sarmatia, and—what is more important—philosophers:
1. In your Empire, Your Most Excellent Majesties, different peoples observe different laws and customs; and no one is hindered by law or fear of punishment from devotion to his ancestral ways, even if they are ridiculous. A citizen of Troy
calls Hector a god, and worships Helen, taking her for Adrasteia. The Lacedaemonian venerates Agamemnon as Zeus, and Phylonoë, the daughter of Tyndareus, under the name of Enodia. The Athenian sacrifices to Erechtheus as Poseidon. The Athenians also perform religious rites and celebrate
mysteries in honor of Agraulus and Pandrosus, whom they imagine guilty of impiety for opening the box.
Accordingly, while everyone admires your mildness and gentleness and your peaceful and kindly attitude toward all, they enjoy equal rights under the law. The cities, according to their rank, share in equal honor, and the whole Empire through your wisdom enjoys profound peace.
But you have not cared for us who are called Christians in this way. Although we do no wrong, but, as we shall show, are of all men most religiously and rightly disposed toward God and your Empire, you allow us to be harassed, plundered, and persecuted, the mob making war on us only because of our name. We venture, therefore, to state our case before you. From what we have to say you will gather that we suffer unjustly and contrary to all law and reason. Hence we ask you to devise some measures to prevent our being the victims of false accusers.
The injury we suffer from our persecutors does not concern our property or our civil rights or anything of less importance. For we hold these things in contempt, although they appear weighty to the crowd. We have learned not only not to return blow for blow, nor to sue those who plunder and rob us, but to those who smite us on one cheek to offer the other also, and to those who take away our coat to give our overcoat as well. But when we have given up our property, they plot against our bodies and souls, pouring upon us a multitude of accusations which have not the slightest foundation, but which are the stock in trade of gossips and the like.
2. If, indeed, anyone can convict us of wrongdoing, be it trifling or more serious, we do not beg off punishment, but are prepared to pay the penalty however cruel and unpitying.
It does not befit your sense of justice that others, accused of wrongdoing, are not punished before they have been convicted, while with us the mere name is of more weight than legal proof. Our judges, moreover, do not inquire if the accused has committed any wrong, but let loose against the name as if it were a crime. But no name in and of itself is good or bad. It is by reason of the wicked or good actions associated with names that they are bad or good. You know all that better than anyone, seeing you are versed in philosophy and thoroughly cultured.
That is why those who are tried before you, though arraigned on the most serious charges, take courage. For they know that you will examine their life and not be influenced by names if they mean nothing, or by accusations if they are false. Hence they receive a sentence of condemnation on a par with one of acquittal. We claim for ourselves, therefore, the same treatment as others. We should not be hated and punished because we are called Christians, for what has a name to do with our being criminals? Rather should we be tried on charges brought against us, and either acquitted on our disproving them or punished on our being convicted as wicked men, not because of a name (for no Christian is wicked unless he is a hypocrite), but because of a crime.
It is in this way, we know, that philosophers are judged. None of them before the trial is viewed by the judge as good or bad because of his system or profession, but he is punished if he is found guilty. (No stigma attaches to philosophy on that account, for he is a bad man for not being a philosopher lawfully, and philosophy is not responsible.) On the other hand, he is acquitted if he disproves the charges. Let the same procedure be used in our case. Let the life of those who are accused be examined, and let the name be free from all reproach.
I must at the outset of my defense beg you, illustrious Emperors, to hear me impartially. Do not prejudge the case through being influenced by popular and unfounded rumor,
3. Three charges are brought against us: atheism, Thyestean feasts,
But if these charges are inventions and unfounded slanders, they arise from the fact that it is natural for vice to oppose virtue and it is in accord with God's law for contraries to war against each other. You yourselves, moreover, are witness to the fact that we are guilty of none of these things, since it is only the confession of a name that you forbid. It remains for you, then, to examine our lives and teachings, our loyalty and obedience to you, to your house, and to the Empire. By doing so you will concede to us no more than you grant to our persecutors. And we shall triumph over them, giving up our very lives for the truth without any hesitation.
4. We are of course not atheists (I will meet the charges one by one)—and I hope it does not sound too silly to answer such an allegation. Rightly, indeed, did the Athenians accuse Diagoras
If we shared the views of Diagoras when we have so many good reasons to adore God—the order, harmony, greatness, color, form, and arrangement of the world—we should rightly be charged with impiety and there would be due cause to persecute us. But since our teaching affirms one God who made the universe, being himself uncreated (for what exists does not come into being, only what does not exist), and who made all things through his Word, on two scores, then, we are treated unreasonably—by being slandered and by being persecuted.
5. The poets and philosophers have not been viewed as atheists because they speculated about God. In connection with those whom popular opinion ignorantly calls gods, Euripides expresses his embarrassment thus:
But when he gives his view about him who can intelligently be known as God, he says:
In the case of the former gods he recognized no underlying
reality to which the title "god" might be applied. "For who Zeus is, is
only a matter of words."
But the latter God he recognized from his works, understanding that what is seen points to what is invisible. . . . Him, then, who is the source of creation and who governs it by his Spirit, he grasped was God. And Sophocles agrees with him, saying:
Hence, with regard to God's nature, which fills the universe with his beauty, Euripides teaches both the necessity of his existence and his unity.
6. Philolaus too, when he says that everything is enclosed by God as in a prison, teaches his unity and his superiority over matter. Lysis and Opsimus
And now regarding Plato and Aristotle. But first let me note that in going through what the philosophers have said about God, I do not intend to give a full review of their opinions. For I know that as you excel all men in intelligence and imperial power, so you surpass all in your grasp of every branch of learning, mastering them all with more success than those who devote themselves exclusively to one. But as it is impossible without mentioning names to show that we are not alone in limiting the number of the gods to one, I shall rely on collections of maxims.
This is what Plato says: "To discover the creator and father of the universe is difficult, and when you have discovered him it is impossible to tell everybody about him."
Aristotle and his followers introduce a single principle, a sort of compound being, composed of body and soul, and say that he is God. They imagine that his body is the ether, the planets, and the sphere of the fixed stars that are propelled in circles. His soul, on the other hand, is the principle whereby the body is set in motion. Though itself unmoved, the soul becomes the cause of the body's moving.
The Stoics, too, actually think God is one, though they multiply names for the divine by the terms they use for the variations of matter, which they say is permeated by God's spirit. For if God is a creative fire, methodically fashioning the world and embracing in himself all the seminal principles by which each thing is produced in accordance with fate, and if his Spirit pervades the universe, then in their doctrine he is one. He is called Zeus with regard to the fervid part of matter, and Hera with regard to the air; while his other titles similarly refer to each special part of matter which he pervades.
7. All philosophers, then, even if unwillingly, reach complete agreement about the unity of God when they come to inquire into the first principles of the universe. We too affirm that he who arranged this universe is God. Why, therefore, are they allowed to speak and write freely about God as they wish, while against us, who can adduce true proofs and reasons for our idea and right conviction of the unity of God, a law is put in force?
Here as elsewhere the poets and philosophers have proceeded by conjecture. They were driven each by his own soul and through a sympathy with the divine spirit to see if it were possible to find out and to comprehend the truth. They were able, indeed, to get some notions of reality, but not to find it, since they did not deign to learn about God from God, but each one from himself. For this reason they taught conflicting doctrines about God, matter, forms, and the world.
We, on the contrary, as witnesses of what we think and believe, have prophets who have spoken by the divine Spirit
8. To grasp the rational basis of our faith, that from the beginning there was one God who made this universe, look at the matter thus. If there were originally two or more gods, they would share in one and the same being or else each would have an independent being. But for them to share in one and the same being is impossible, since, if they shared the same godhead, they would be alike; but because gods are uncreated they cannot be alike. For it is created things which resemble their patterns, but uncreated things are dissimilar, as they are not created by anyone or for anyone. And if, moreover, it is claimed that, just as hand, eye, and foot are constituent parts of a single body, so God's unity is made up from two or more gods, this is equally false. Socrates, indeed, was compounded and divided into parts, for the very reason that he was created and perishable. But God is uncreated, impassible, and indivisible. He does not, therefore, consist of parts.
But if, on the other hand, each god has an independent being, and the creator of the world is higher than created things and above what he made and arranged, where can a second god or other gods be? For if the world, being made spherical, is confined within the circles of the heaven, and if the creator of the world, though above created things, retains the world in his providence, what place is there for a second god or for others? For such a second god is not in the world since it belongs to another. Nor does he surround the world, since the God who is the creator of the world is above it. If, then, he neither is in the world nor surrounds it, seeing that all space around it is occupied by the creator, where can he be? Is he higher than the world and God: is he in and around another world? If so, then he is no concern of ours, for he does not control this world; nor does he have great power, for he dwells in a limited space. And if he is neither in another world (for all things are filled by the creator), nor around another world (for all space is occupied by the creator), then he does not exist; for there is nowhere where he can be.
What, moreover, would this second god have to do, seeing that another owns the world and that, while he is above the creator of the world, he is neither in the world nor around it? [Is there, then, some other place where he can stand—this god
who has arisen in opposition to the true God? But God and what belongs to God are above him. And what place shall he have, seeing that the creator fills the regions above the world?]
9. Were we satisfied with such reasoning, one would think our doctrine was human. But prophetic voices confirm our arguments. Seeing how learned and well-informed you are, I suppose that you are not unaware of Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the prophets. Under the impulse of the divine Spirit and raised above their own thoughts, they proclaimed the things with which they were inspired. For the Spirit used them just as a flute player blows on a flute. What, then, did they say? "The Lord is our God: no other can be compared with him."
10. I have sufficiently shown that we are not atheists since we acknowledge one God, who is uncreated, eternal, invisible, impassible, incomprehensible, illimitable. He is grasped only by mind and intelligence, and surrounded by light, beauty,
Let no one think it stupid for me to say that God has a Son. For we do not think of God the Father or of the Son in the way of the poets, who weave their myths by showing that gods are no better than men. But the Son of God is his Word in idea and in actuality; for by him and through him all things were made, the Father and the Son being one. And since the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son by the unity and power of the Spirit, the Son of God is the mind and Word of the Father.
But if, owing to your sharp intelligence, it occurs to you to inquire further what is meant by the Son, I shall briefly explain. He is the first offspring of the Father. I do not mean that he was created, for, since God is eternal mind, he had his Word within himself from the beginning, being eternally wise.
Indeed we say that the Holy Spirit himself, who inspires those who utter prophecies, is an effluence from God, flowing from him and returning like a ray of the sun. Who, then, would not be astonished to hear those called atheists who admit God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and who teach their unity in power and their distinction in rank? Nor is our theology confined to these points. We affirm, too, a crowd of angels and ministers, whom God, the maker and creator of the world, appointed to their several tasks through his Word. He gave them charge over the good order of the universe, over the elements, the heavens, the world, and all it contains.
Do not be surprised that I go into detail about our teaching. I give a full report to prevent your being carried away by popular and irrational opinion, and so that you may know the truth. Moreover, by showing that the teachings themselves,
Although what I have said has raised a loud clamor,
12. If we did not think that a God ruled over the human race, would we live in such purity? The idea is impossible. But since we are persuaded that we must give an account of all our life here to God who made us and the world, we adopt a temperate, generous, and despised way of life. For we think that, even if we lose our lives, we shall suffer here no evil to be compared with the reward we shall receive from the great judge for a gentle, generous, and modest life.
Plato, indeed, has said that Minos and Rhadamanthus
Then there are those who think that life is this: "Eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die."
These points, however, are trifles from a great store, a few taken from many, lest we should trouble you further. For those who test honey and whey judge by a taste if the whole is good.
13. Since many of those who charge us with atheism do not have the vaguest idea of God, being unversed in, and ignorant of, physics and theology, they measure religion by the observance of sacrifices, and charge us with not having the same gods as the cities. Heed what I have to say, Your Majesties, on both these counts. And first about our not sacrificing.
The creator and Father of the universe does not need blood or the smell
of burnt offerings or the fragrance of flowers or incense. He himself
is perfect fragrance. He lacks nothing and has need of nothing. But the
greatest sacrifice in his eyes is for us to realize who stretched out
the heavens in a sphere, who set the earth in the center, who gathered
the water into seas and separated the light from darkness, who adorned
the sky with the stars and made the earth bring forth all kinds of seed,
who made the animals and fashioned man. When, therefore, we recognize
God the creator of the universe, who preserves it and watches over it
with the wisdom and skill he does,
What need have I of burnt offerings, when God does
not need them? Rather is it needful to present a bloodless sacrifice,
to offer a "spiritual worship."
14. Regarding their other charge, that we neither accept nor venerate the same gods as the cities, it is quite senseless. The very ones who accuse us of atheism for not acknowledging the same gods that they believe in are not agreed among themselves about the gods. The Athenians have set up Celeus and Metanira as gods; the Lacedaemonians, Menelaus—they sacrifice to him and keep his festival; the Trojans cannot bear his name,
When, then, they fail to agree among themselves about their gods, why do they charge us with disagreeing with them? Take the case of the Egyptians, is it not ridiculous? On their high feasts in the temples they strike their breasts as if lamenting the dead and then sacrifice to them as if they were gods. And it is no wonder. They worship the brutes as gods, shave themselves when they die, bury them in their temples, and appoint days of public mourning. If we are irreligious for not worshiping the same gods as they, then every city and people is irreligious, for they do not all revere the same gods.
15. But grant that they worship the same gods. What then? Since the populace cannot distinguish between matter and God or appreciate the chasm that separates them, they have recourse to idols made of matter. Shall we, then, who can distinguish and differentiate between uncreated and created, between being and nonbeing, between the intelligible and the sensible, and who call these things by their proper names—shall we, just because of the populace, come and worship statues? If matter and God are identical, two names for the same thing, we are surely irreligious for not thinking that stones, wood, gold, and silver are gods. But if there is a vast difference between them, as great as separates the craftsman and his materials, why are we called to account?
It is like the potter and the clay. The clay is matter, the potter is an artist. So is God the creator an artist, while matter is subject to him for the sake of his art. But as clay cannot by itself become pottery without art, so matter, which is altogether pliable, cannot receive distinction, form, or beauty apart from God the creator. We do not, moreover, reckon pottery of more value than the potter, or bowls or vessels of gold than the artisan. If they have artistic merit, we praise the artist. It is he who reaps the renown for making them. So it is with matter and God. It is not matter which justly receives praise and honor for the arrangement and beauty of the world, but its creator, God. If, then, we were to worship material forms as gods, we should seem to be insensitive to the true God, identifying what is eternal with what is subject to dissolution and corruption.
16. Beautiful, indeed, is the world in its all-embracing grandeur, in the arrangement of the stars, both those in the circle of the ecliptic and those at the Septentrion, and in its form as a sphere. Yet it is not the world, but its maker, who should be worshiped.
For when your subjects come to you, they do not fail to pay their homage to you, their lords and masters, from whom they may obtain what they need. They do not have recourse to the magnificence of your palace. When they come upon the royal
residence, they admire it in passing for its beauty and splendor; but it is you whom they honor in every possible way. You emperors, moreover, adorn your palaces for yourselves; but God did not make the world as if he were in need of it. For
If, then, the world is an instrument in tune, moving in rhythm, I will worship not the instrument but him who makes the harmony, strikes the notes, and sings the accompanying melody. For the judges at contests do not disregard the lute
players and crown the lutes. If, as Plato says, the world is God's artistry, I admire its beauty and am directed to the artist. Or if, as the Peripatetics say, the world is a substance and a body, we do not bow down to "the wretched and weak
elements,"
I will not beg of matter what it cannot give; I will not pass God by to worship the elements, which can do no more than they are bidden. For even if they are beautiful to behold as the work of their maker, yet are they by the nature of matter corruptible. Plato too bears witness to this view when he says: "For the being we have called heaven and earth shares in many blessings from the Father, but it still partakes of a body. Hence it cannot possibly be free from change."
17. Hear me briefly on this question. In making my defense I must give more detailed arguments to show that the names of the gods are quite recent, and their statues are, so to say, only of yesterday. You yourselves are thoroughly versed in these things since more than all others and in all details you are familiar with ancient writers.
I say, then, that it was Orpheus, Homer, and Hesiod who gave both genealogies and names to those who are called gods. Herodotus testifies to this: "I think that Hesiod and Homer lived four hundred years before me, no more. It was they who devised a theogony for the Greeks, gave the gods their names, assigned them honors and functions, and described their
These arts came in later with Saurias the Samian, Crato
the Sicyonian, Cleanthes the Corinthian, and a Corinthian
girl. Drawing was invented by Saurias when he sketched a
horse in the sun;
Thus images and statuary are of such recent date that we can name the artist of each god. The image of Artemis in Ephesus, the one of Athena (or rather of Athela,
In a word, there is not one of these statues but has been made by a man. If, then, these are gods, why did they not exist from the beginning? Why are they more recent than those who made them? Why did they need the aid of man and of art to come into existence? They are nothing but earth, stones, matter, and paltry art.
18. Some, however, say that these are only statues, but that the gods, in whose honor they are made, are real. To them the processions to the images and the sacrifices have reference. These actions are directed toward the gods, since there is no other way of approaching them.
"The direct vision of the gods is hard to bear."
As a proof that this is so these people bring forward the powers which some of the images have. Come then, let us look into the power of their names. But before I proceed I would beg Your Most Excellent Majesties to excuse me if I adduce
convincing arguments. It is not my first intention to unmask the idols; rather is it to refute the slanders brought against us. It is for that reason that I set forth the rationale of our principles. Would that you might by yourselves search out the heavenly Kingdom! For to you, father and son, all things are subject, since you have received the kingdom from above. For "the soul of the king is in God's hand," as the, prophetic Spirit says.
This, then, I especially ask you to heed. The gods, as it is generally held, did not exist from the beginning. Each of them was created, just as we were. With this view everyone agrees. Homer, for instance, says,
"Oceanus, the father of the gods and Tethys their mother."
Then take Orpheus.
From water mud was formed; and from these an animal was produced, a dragon that had on it a lion's head and a bull's head, and in between the face of a god. It was called Heracles and Kronos. This Heracles gave birth to an enormous
egg, which through the power of its father got bigger and bigger and by friction was burst into two. The top part came to be the Heaven (Ouranos); the lower became Earth (Gē). Thus there came forth a divine being with two bodies. Ouranos had intercourse with Gē and begat the females, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos,
19. Such is the origin of their gods and of the universe. Now
what are we to make of this? For each of the beings to whom
they attribute divinity has had a beginning.
What I am saying is not at variance with what the philosophers say. "What is that which is eternal and has no origin; or what is that which is created and never truly existed?"
Moreover, suppose we grant their thesis of two principles, one active and governing, which is providence, the other passive and changeable, which is matter. Then the world, even though subject to providence, cannot remain unchanging, because it is created. How, then, can the nature of the gods remain unaltered, when they do not have essential being but are created? And wherein are the gods superior to matter, since they derive their nature from water? But not even water, according to them, is the origin of everything. For what could be constituted from simple and homogeneous elements? Moreover, matter requires an artisan, and an artisan matter. Or how could statues exist without both matter and artisan? On the other hand, it is unreasonable that matter should be older than God: for the efficient cause must necessarily precede what is created.
20. I would pass on to the other charges [our accusers bring against
us], did the absurdity of their theology reach no farther than the
statement that the gods derive their nature from water; for I have
already shown that there is nothing created which is not subject to
dissolution. But they go farther and describe their bodies. They speak of
They have, furthermore, described
their exploits with a wealth of supposed detail. They say that
In the light of these fables, I must say just this: what is so
noble or valuable in these tales as to make us believe that
Or who would admit that Phanes himself, the first-born god who sprang from the egg, had the shape of a dragon or was swallowed by Zeus so that Zeus might be illimitable? If these so-called gods differ in no way from the vilest animals, then they are not gods, for it is obvious that the divine must be distinguished from what is earthly and derived from matter. And how could we pay them homage when they have the same origin as cattle, are shaped like the brutes, and are ugly as well?
21. Were they content to say that flesh, blood, procreation, and the passions of wrath and lust belonged to the gods, even then their opinions would have to be regarded as silly and ridiculous. For wrath, lust, passion, and procreation are not appropriate to God. Let them be corporeal; but they should at least be above rage and anger, so that Athena will not be seen:
or Juno appear thus:
They should surely be above this kind of grief:
For even men who give way to rage and grief I call dense and stupid.
When the father of men and of gods bewails his son thus:
and when he cannot by his lament ward off the danger:
who would not accuse them of ignorance, who by such myths pretend to love God, but are rather atheists?
Or again, let the gods be corporeal; but surely Aphrodite should not be wounded in the body by Diomedes:
"Diomedes, the daring son of Tydeus, has struck me."
[Or again, should Ares whom Diomedes wounded]—he
[should Ares,] fierce in battle, and the ally of Zeus against the Titans, be weaker than Diomedes?
[Or again,]
Hush, Homer! Gods do not rage. You tell me, too, this god is bloodstained and the bane of men:
You describe his adultery and his bonds:
Do they not pour out at length such impious nonsense about the gods? Ouranos is castrated, Kronos is bound and hurled down to Tartarus, the Titans revolt, Styx dies in battle (they even represent the gods as mortal!), they fall in love with each other and with men:
Are they not in love? Do they not suffer? If they were truly gods, desire would not touch them. . . . But even if a god takes
He is a creature. He is corruptible. There is nothing divine about him.
These gods even hire themselves out to men:
They even feed cattle:
Admetus, thus, was superior to the god. O prophet,
Thus Aeschylus ridicules Apollo for being a false prophet:
22. But perhaps this sort of thing is poetic license, and there
is a natural explanation of it, such as this by
If, then,
How can anyone call those things gods which need love in
order to exist and which collapse through discord? According
to
According to the
To the
Then, again, there are those who say that Kronos is time
and Rhea earth. (The myth goes that she became pregnant
by Kronos and gave birth, and so is viewed as the mother of all;
and that he bore children and devoured them.) They explain
the castration [in the myth] as intercourse between male and
female, which cuts off' the sperm and casts it into the womb
and begets a human being who has sexual desire (i.e., Aphrodite)
in himself. They further expound the madness of Kronos
as the change of season, which brings destruction to animate
and inanimate things alike. The bonds [of Kronos] and Tartarus
And concerning Zeus again, if he is the air created by Kronos whose male part is Zeus as Hera is his female part (whence she is both his sister and his wife), then he is subject to change. If he is the seasons, he varies. But the divine never changes or alters.
But why should I trouble you further with such accounts? You are well acquainted with the views of those who adduce these natural explanations. You know what the different writers have thought about the nature of the gods. About Athena, whom they consider to be the wisdom which pervades all things. Or about Isis, who they say is eternal being from which all are derived and through which they continue to exist. Or about Osiris, who was murdered by his brother Typhon, . . . and whose limbs Isis searched for with her son Horus. On finding them, she buried them in a tomb which is still called "Osiriake."
Since these thinkers are forever concentrating on the forms
of matter, they miss the God who is known only by reason.
They make gods out of the elements or parts of them, at different
times giving them different names. Osiris, for instance, is the
sowing of the wheat. For this reason, so they say, when his
members or the ears of wheat are discovered in the course of
the mysteries, Isis is thus addressed: "We have found, we
In fact, those who make real gods out of the myths do everything rather than form a true theology. For they fail to realize that by the very defense they make of their gods, they only confirm the reproaches brought against them. For what have Europa, the Bull, the Swan, and Leda to do with the earth and the air, so that Zeus's foul intercourse with these women should represent the relation of the earth to the air? The greatness of God escapes them and they are incapable of exercising their reason, for they have no sympathy for the heavenly realm. Bound to the forms of matter, they fall so low as to deify the changes of the elements. They resemble a passenger who would take the place of the helmsman and steer the boat in which he sailed. And as a ship without its helmsman is no longer serviceable, no matter how well it is fitted out, so the elements, though set in careful order, are of no avail without God's providence. For a ship does not sail by itself, and the elements are not set in motion apart from the creator.
23. Since you surpass all men in understanding, you may ask, "Why is it that some of the idols have power, if the gods to whom these statues are erected do not exist?" For it is unlikely that lifeless and motionless images should have any power by themselves without someone being responsible.
We do not deny that in different places, cities, and nations; some mighty acts have been done in the name of idols. We do not, however, imagine that they are gods who bring about these effects, whether for the benefit of some or for the harm of others. Rather have we made a careful inquiry why it is that you think the idols have power, and who it is that do these things, masquerading under the names of the gods: In proceeding to show who they are that act in the name of the idols, and that they are not gods, I will have to avail myself of some testimonies from the philosophers.
The first of these is Thales. According to those who have
studied him thoroughly, he distinguishes between God, demons,
and heroes. God he recognizes as the cosmic Intelligence. By
demons he understands beings with living souls. He thinks
Plato, for his part, while not agreeing in other respects, also distinguishes between the uncreated God, the beings created by the uncreated to adorn the heaven (the planets and the fixed stars, that is), and the demons. Concerning the latter he does not himself claim a right to speak, but thinks it proper for us to heed what others have said about them.
"Concerning the other demons," he writes, "to tell and to know their origin
is beyond our capacity. But we should trust those who have spoken about them
before us, and who, they say, are descendants of the gods. For they obviously
must have been well acquainted with their parents. We cannot, therefore,
disbelieve the sons of gods even though they speak without plausible and
convincing proofs. Rather must we, in accordance with custom, believe them, since they profess to speak
about their family affairs. Let us then, hold their view of the
origin of these gods, which we will now propound. Oceanus
and Tethys were the offspring of Gē and Ouranos. From them
came Phorcus, Kronos and Rhea, and the rest. From Kronos
and Rhea came Zeus, Hera, and all those who are said to be
their brothers. From them in turn came other descendants."
Now Plato understood that God was eternal and to be
grasped by intelligence and reason. He declared his attributes,
how he is essential being, how he has a single nature and is the
source of goodness, which is truth. He discoursed about the
primal power, . . . [and said:] "All things encircle the King
of the universe. They exist because of him and he is the cause
of everything." He told further about a second and third cause,
"the second surrounding the second realm, the third surrounding the third."
Would such a man imagine that to learn the truth of those beings which are said to be derived from sensible things, i.e., from the earth and the heaven, was something beyond his capacity? Certainly not. He was unable to admit or to teach that gods were born; and for two reasons he said that it was beyond his capacity to know or express anything about the origin of the other demons. It was impossible for him to imagine that the gods either begat or were begotten, since everything created comes to an end. It was even more impossible to change the opinions of the multitude who accepted the myths uncritically.
Plato makes this further statement: "Zeus, the great sovereign
in heaven, driving his winged chariot, is the first to go forth,
setting all things in order and giving heed to them. There
follows him a host of gods and demons."
24. Since you have looked into all such arguments, why should I mention the poets or review other opinions? But let this suffice. Even if the poets and philosophers had not recognized the unity of God and explained these so-called gods sometimes as demons, sometimes as matter, and sometimes as men who once lived, would there be any good reason for persecuting us, because we distinguish between God and matter and between their essences?
We speak of God, of the Son, his Word, and of the Holy
Spirit; and we say that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are
united in power.
For God made these angels to exercise providence over the things he had set in order. Thus, while he reserved for himself the universal and general providence over everything, the angels exercise a particular providence over the parts entrusted to them.
Just as men have free will to choose good or evil (for you
would not praise the good and punish the wicked, if vice and
virtue were not in their power), and some turn out diligent in
the tasks you give them and others faithless, so it is with the
angels. Some—and God created them with free will—remained
obedient in the tasks for which they were made and appointed.
But others violated their very nature and office. Among them
was this prince of matter and its forms, and others who were
set in the first firmament. (You will note that we say nothing
without authority and speak only of what the prophets have
told).
25. Those angels, then, which fell from the heavens, haunt
the air and the earth and are no longer able to rise to heavenly
things. Along with the souls of the giants, they are the demons
which wander about the world. Of these there are two classes:
the demons proper,
If Euripides is left speechless by the fact that prosperity and adversity are beyond hope or justice, who, then, so runs earthly affairs that a poet can say:
It was this which led Aristotle to deny that the things below heaven are subject to providence. God's eternal providence, however, is equally over us all:
And in fact, not in fancy, God's particular providence is directed toward the deserving, while everything else is subject to God's providential law of reason according to the common nature of things. It is, however, the demonic movements and operations, coming from the opposing spirit, which produce these chaotic onslaughts. They affect men, some in one way, some in another. They influence them within and without, individually and by nations, separately and in common, both according to the principle of matter and to the principle of harmony with the divine.
For this reason some, who have no small reputation, have imagined that
this universe was not constituted in an orderly manner, but is impelled
by blind fate. They failed to recognize that there is nothing in the
constitution of the whole world which is disorderly or neglected. Each
part has its origin in reason, and hence none of them violates its
appointed order. Man too, so far as his Maker goes, is a well-ordered
being. With regard to the way he is born, it is one and the same for
all. With regard to the constitution of his body, it does not overstep
its appointed bounds. With regard to the end of his life, he
26. It is, then, these demons we have been talking about that draw men to idols. They are eager for the blood of sacrifices and lick them up. But the gods in whom the crowd delights and after whom the statues are named were really men, as you can tell from the stories about them. The fact, however, that the demons operate under their names is clear from their individual acts. For some engage in castration, as the devotees of Rhea; others stab and slash, as those of Artemis. (Artemis of Tauris even murders all strangers!) But I will pass over those who lacerate themselves with knives and scourges of bones, and the various kinds of demons.
It does not belong to God to prompt acts contrary to nature. Rather,
God, on the other hand, is perfect goodness and is always doing good.
But the greatest proof that other beings are at work here than those to whom the statues are erected is afforded by Troas and Parium. The former place has statues of Neryllinus; a contemporary of ours. Parium has statues of Alexander and Proteus. Both the tomb and the statue of Alexander are still in the forum. The other statues of Neryllinus are public ornaments, if indeed you can ornament a city in that way: But one of them is thought to utter oracles and to heal the sick. It is for these reasons that the people of Troas make sacrifices to the statue, anoint it, and set a golden crown on it.
Regarding the statues of Alexander and of Proteus; the latter is also said to utter oracles. This Proteus, you know, is the one who threw himself into the fire near Olympia. In honor of the statue of Alexander ("O luckless Paris, so fair of form but
slave of woman!"
27. What then? In the first place, the irrational powers of the soul, which produce fantasies, bring forth all kinds of images. Some they derive from matter. Others they form and project by themselves. The soul experiences this especially when it partakes of the spirit of matter and is mingled with it. It then ceases to fix its eyes on heavenly things and on its creator. It lowers its vision to earthly things. In a word, it becomes just blood and flesh, and is no longer a pure spirit.
These irrational powers and fantasies of the soul produce visions marked by a passion for idols. A tender and susceptible soul which is ignorant of sound teaching and has no experience in it, having neither contemplated the truth nor reflected upon the Father and Maker of the universe, is easily impressed with false notions of itself. Hence the demons which haunt matter, eager for the smell and blood of sacrifices, and ready to lead men astray, avail themselves of these capacities for fantasy in the souls of the multitude. Occupying their minds, they pour visions into them, making it seem as if these came from the idols and statues. Moreover, in whatever ways the soul, because of its immortality, is moved by reason to foretell the future or to heal the present, the demons reap the glory of them all.
28. Perhaps it is necessary, in the light of what we have been saying, to add a word about the names of the gods. Herodotus and Alexander the son of Philip, in his letter to his mother, say that they learned from the Egyptian priests that the gods had once been men. Each of these authors, by the way, is said to have interviewed the priests in Heliopolis, Memphis, and Thebes. This is what Herodotus writes:
"They indicated, then, that those beings whom the statues
represented were of such a nature that they were far from
being gods. But before these men, they said, the Egyptians had
gods for their rulers. They dwelt with men and one of them was
always supreme. The last of these kings was Horus, the son of
Osiris, whom the Greeks call Apollo. He deposed Typhon and
became the last god to rule over Egypt. Osiris is called Dionysus
by the Greeks."
The others, then, as well as Osiris, were kings of Egypt; and
it is from them that the Greeks got the names of their gods.
Apollo is the son of Dionysus and Isis. The same Herodotus
writes, "They say that Apollo and Artemis were the children
of Dionysus and Isis, and that Leto became their nurse and
savior."
These heavenly beings they had for their first kings. Partly
because they were ignorant of true piety toward the divine, and
partly in gratitude for their rule, they took them, along with
their wives, for gods. "All the Egyptians sacrifice the steers
if they are without blemish and the male calves. But they are
not allowed to sacrifice the cows, as they are sacred to Isis.
The statue of Isis is that of a woman with the horns of a cow,
similar to the way the Greeks depict Io."
Who could be more worthy of credence when they make
such statements than those in the family succession? For they
received, son from father, not only the priesthood but the
history of it. It is not likely that the very priests who reverence
the idols would be lying when they say the gods were originally
men. Herodotus, indeed, might perhaps be put down as a
romancer where he tells us that the Egyptians record their
gods were once men, since he also said, "I do not intend to
relate all that I heard of their sacred history, but only the names
of the gods."
That the gods were originally men the most learned of the
Egyptians indicate. While they regard the air, the earth, the
sun, and the moon as gods, they consider the rest of the gods
to have been mortal men and think of the temples as their
tombs. Apollodorus takes this view in his work entitled On the
This same Herodotus further remarks: "In Sais, in the temple
of Athena, there is a tomb erected in honor of the god whose
name religious scruples forbid me to mention in this connection.
It stands behind the sanctuary and extends the whole length
of its wall. There is a lake there, which is beautifully encircled
with a stone edging. Its size, I imagine, is that of the lake in
Delos which we call The Circle. It is in this lake that the Egyptians at night perform representations of his passion, which they
refer to as mysteries."
29. The Greek poets and historians have this to say about Heracles:
i.e., Iphitus. Such a person deserved to go mad, and appropriately lighted a funeral pyre and burned himself to death.
Of Asclepius, Hesiod writes:
And Pindar:
Had they been gods, they would not have hankered after gold:
for the divine is in need of nothing and is above desire. Nor would they have died.
But if they are not gods, then they were originally men—and
bad ones at that, being ignorant and slaves of money. Why
should
I speak at length recalling Castor or Pollux or Amphiaraus? They are
thought to be gods; yet they were men, born
of men, so to say, only the
other day. Why should I mention
them when Ino, despite her madness and
the sufferings consequent upon it, is taken for a goddess?
30. These people, then, detestable as
they were and hating
God, nonetheless got the reputation of being
gods. The
daughter
of Derceto,
What wonder, too, that others, such as Heracles and Perseus, should be called gods on the ground of their strength? and yet others, as Asclepius, on the ground of their skill?
Either
their subjects accorded them this honor or else the
rulers themselves
seized it. Some got the title from fear, others
from reverence. Thus
Antinoüs
While you, Callimachus, believe in the birth of Zeus, you disbelieve in his tomb. While you imagine you are hiding the truth, you actually proclaim, even to those who do not realize it, that Zeus is dead. If you see the cave, you call to mind the childbirth of Rhea; while if you see the coffin, you try to obscure the truth that he is dead. For you will not recognize that the only eternal God is uncreated.
Thus, if the myths about the gods, which the populace and
the poets repeat, are false, to reverence them is superfluous.
For these gods do not exist if the tales about them are untrue.
That, therefore, we are not atheists, since we worship God the creator of this universe, and his Word, I have proved as best I can, even if I have not done the subject justice.
31. Our accusers have made up the further charges against us of impious feasts and intercourse. They do this to convince themselves that they have grounds for hating us. They imagine, moreover, that by fear they will either draw us away from our present mode of life or else, by the enormity of the accusations, render our princes harsh and implacable. But this is a foolish approach toward those who realize that of old, and not merely in our time, wickedness has a habit of warring against virtue, in obedience to some divine law and principle. Thus, for instance, Pythagoras with three hundred companions was put to the flames. Heraclitus and Democritus were banished, the one from the city of Ephesus, the other, charged with insanity, from Abdera. Finally, the Athenians condemned Socrates to death. And just as the virtue of these men suffered no whit from the opinions of the mob, so our uprightness of life is in no way obscured by the reckless calumnies of some persons. For we are in good standing with God.
Nonetheless, I will meet these charges too, although I am very
confident that I have made my case by what I have already
said. You, who are more intelligent than others, know that those
who faithfully regulate their lives by reference to God, so that
each of us stands before him blameless and irreproachable,
will not entertain even the thought of the slightest sin. Were we
convinced that this life is the only one, then we might be
suspected of sinning, by being enslaved to flesh and blood and
by becoming subject to gain and lust. But since we realize
that God is a witness day and night of our thoughts and our
speech, and that by being pure light he can see into our very
32. It is nothing surprising that our accusers should invent the same tales about us that they tell of their gods. They present their sufferings as mysteries; and, had they wanted to judge shameless and indiscriminate intercourse as a frightful thing, they should have hated Zeus. For he had children from his mother, Rhea, and his daughter Kore, and married his own sister. Or else, they should have detested Orpheus, who invented these tales, because he made Zeus even more unholy and wicked than Thyestes. For the latter had intercourse with his daughter in pursuance of an oracle, and because he wanted to gain a throne and avenge himself.
But we, on the contrary, are so far from viewing such crimes with indifference
We do not have to reckon with human laws, which a wicked man may evade. (At the outset I assured you, Your Majesties, that our teaching came from God.) Rather do we have a law which requires us to have right relations with ourselves and with our neighbors.
33. Having, therefore, the hope of eternal life, we despise the enjoyments of the present, even the pleasures of the soul. According to our laws, each of us thinks of the woman he has married as his wife only for the purpose of bearing children. For as the farmer casts his seed on the soil and awaits the harvest without sowing over it, so we limit the pleasure of intercourse to bearing children.
You would, indeed, find many among us, both men and women, who have grown to old age unmarried, in the hope of being closer to God. If, then, to remain virgins and eunuchs brings us closer to God, while to indulge in wrong thoughts and passions drives us from him, we have all the more reason to avoid those acts, the very thought of which we flee from. For we center our attention not on the skill of making speeches but on the proof and lessons of actions. We hold that a man should either remain as he is born or else marry only once. For a second marriage is a veiled adultery. The Scripture says, "Whoever puts away his wife and marries another, commits adultery."
34. Since we are such (and why should I speak of such degrading things?), our situation resembles that of the proverb, "The harlot reproves the chaste." Our accusers have set up a market for fornication, have established infamous houses of
every sort of shameful pleasure for the young, and do not even spare the males, "males committing shocking acts with
35. Since this is our character, what man of sound judgment would say that we are murderers? For you cannot eat human flesh until you have killed someone. If their first charge against us is a fiction, so is the second. For if anyone were to ask them if they had seen what they affirm, none of them would be so shameless as to say he had.
Moreover, we have slaves: some of us more, some fewer. We
cannot hide anything from them; yet not one of them has made
up such tall stories against us. Since they know that we cannot
endure to see a man being put to death even justly, who of
them would charge us with murder or cannibalism? Who
among our accusers
36. What man, moreoever, who is convinced of the resurrection would make himself into a tomb for bodies that will rise again? The same persons would surely not believe that our bodies will rise again and then eat them as if there were no resurrection. They would not think that the earth will give back its dead and then imagine that it will fail to demand those entombed in them.
On the contrary, those who deny they will have to give account of the present life, be it wicked or good, who reject the resurrection and who count on the soul's perishing along with the body and, so to say, flickering out, are likely to stop at no outrage. But those who are convinced that God will look into everything and that the body which has aided the soul in its unreasonable lusts and passions will be punished along with it, they have no good reason to commit even the slightest sin.
But suppose someone thinks it sheer nonsense that the body which has rotted, decomposed, and been reduced to nothing, should again be put together. Those who do not believe this would be wrong in accusing us of wickedness. They should rather accuse us of folly. For we do not harm anyone by having mistaken opinions.
It would be out of place here to show that we are not alone
in believing bodies will rise again. Many of the philosophers
have taught this. But we do not want to seem to introduce
matters beyond the scope of our present task. We will not discuss
the intelligible and the sensible and their natures. Nor the
fact that the incorporeal is prior to the corporeal, and the
intelligible precedes the sensible. It is true, of course, that we
first experience the sensible; but the corporeal owes its origin
to the incorporeal by being combined with the intelligible.
The sensible similarly owes its origin to the intelligible.
37. But we must defer our discussion of the resurrection. Now that I have disposed of the charges brought against us and shown that we are religious, kindly, and gentle in spirit, I beg you, grant your royal approval to my request. For in every possible way, by nature as well as education, you are kind, temperate, generous, and worthy of the imperium. And who, indeed, are more justified in getting what they ask than
we? For we pray for your authority, asking that you may, as is most just, continue the royal succession, son from father, and receive such increase and extension of your realm that all men will eventually be your subjects. This is to our interest too, "so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life,"
Selections from the Work Against Heresies
by Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons:
"The Refutation and Overthrow of the
Knowledge Falsely So Called"
Irenaeus of lyons occupies a paradoxical position in the modern study of the Fathers of the Church. Since his great work was first published by Erasmus in
1526, no Christian writer of the age before Augustine has been so frequently called to enter directly into our modern controversies. The result is that his ideas are discussed as ideas and not simply as historical relics of early Christian teaching. This is partly due to his significant, though not wholly clear, references to topics of Church order and New Testament history, and his statements about the authority of Scripture and tradition, matters that have been of current interest ever since the
sixteenth century. His evidence for the Eucharistic devotion and liturgical practice of his time is so valuable, and yet so tantalizing, that an eighteenth century scholar was led to amplify this source of information by publishing a few fragments of Irenaeus which he seems to have constructed himself.
Yet when the student first turns from modern citations of Irenaeus to the actual writings of the bishop of Lyons he is likely to be puzzled and even repelled. Weird systems of fantastic speculation, almost as difficult to understand as to sympathize with, are given careful if not favorable exposition. Moreover, they are refuted by arguments which, when they get beyond general principles, seem often to be based on eccentric interpretations of the Bible, or on attempts at reasoning in which rhetoric is stronger than logic. The profound insights which commentators have found in Irenaeus appear as islands of brilliance in a work which pursues its turgid way, following a general outline to be sure, but often seeming to lose sight of it when the author descends to details.
The greatness of Irenaeus appears all the more clearly when one realizes how fully it was by concentration on the problems of his own day that he made his permanent contribution to Christian thought. The title under which he wrote his great work, The Refutation and Overthrow of the Knowledge Falsely So Called, is both more impressive and a truer reflection of his approach than the prosaic label Five Books Against the Heresies, by which the manuscripts generally describe it. Irenaeus may be considered as the first great systematic theologian of the Church, but he did not write a systematic theology. As his preface indicates, he wrote as a pastor and teacher of the Church, and addressed himself to other pastors to assist them in protecting their flocks from teachings that seriously perverted the gospel or replaced it by a jumble of speculations and encouraged either laxity of conduct or serious misbehavior.
"The invisible Christ was incorporeal, whereas Jesus was a corporeal or bodily existence. The dual personality, of the seen and the unseen, the spiritual and material, the Christ and Jesus, continued until the Master's ascension, when the human, the corporeal concept, or Jesus, disappeared, while his invisible self, or Christ, continued to exist in the eternal order of Divine Science,"
To Irenaeus the refutation of Gnosticism was primarily a practical and pastoral matter. The background of his writings is the rivalry between sound religion and the vagaries of the esoteric and the occult for the souls of men and also of women.
The latter are represented by the good ladies of Irenaeus’ own congregation on the banks of the Rhone, who were attracted by the impressive if meaningless ceremonies of a Gnostic conventicle, in which when grace was called down upon the
water it visibly turned pink—by some chemical trick, as Irenaeus was sure.
Only a few episodes from the life of Irenaeus are recorded. He first appears as the bearer of a letter from the confessors of Lyons to the church of Rome at the time of the persecution of A.D. 177. He was then already a respected leader of the
Second century Lyons was a lesser Rome. A commercial
city at the head of navigation on the Rhone, center of the
Roman road system for Gaul, it was the seat of a garrison, and the
capital of one of the Gallic provinces. Through the concilium
Galliarum it was the headquarters of the imperial cult for three
provinces, and a metropolis in its own right as well as a gateway
between the Mediterranean world and the provinces north
of the Alps. Like Rome, it had a large Greek-speaking element
in its population, and among this element Christianity was
first established. The martyrs of Lyons included several of
Asiatic origin, and the account of their martyrdom notes as
On return from his visit to Rome, Irenaeus succeeded the
martyr Pothinus as bishop at Lyons, and Eusebius speaks of
him as leader of Christians in Gaul. Certainly his interest,
perhaps also his missionary responsibility, extended to such
congregations as existed in northern parts of Gaul and in Germany (that is, in the Roman provinces along the Rhine).
In the Refutation and Overthrow, Irenaeus continues the list
of Roman bishops down to Eleutherus, who was succeeded
by Victor about 189 or 190. He thus dates approximately the
composition of that work. His other preserved work, The
Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, refers to the Refutation and is therefore later. Irenaeus last appears in history when
he addresses a respectful but firm letter of protest to Pope
Victor for his threatened excommunication of the Asiatic
churches on account of their loyalty to the observance of the
paschal feast on the Jewish date, the fourteenth of Nisan, instead of the following Sunday. Eusebius takes leave of him with
the note that he was indeed a promoter of the peace of the
Church, as his name suggested, both in this and in his other
letters on the subject.
In general the Refutation and Overthrow follows a logical
order, although it is not always clear in detail. Book I describes
the heresies in question, sometimes sarcastically, and Book II
shows their absurdity. In Book III the basis of Christian doctrine
in Scripture and tradition is laid down, and its essential points,
the unity of God and redemption through Christ, are enlarged
on in detail. Book IV defends against Marcion the unity of
the two covenants, and Book V resumes the discussion of redemption and passes on to the last things and the hope of the
world to come. The Demonstration, which seems to represent
Irenaeus’ teaching to catechumens, follows the order of the
baptismal formula, adducing Scripture proof for belief in
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It avoids the literal millenarianism of the Refutation, which suggests that Irenaeus had either
changed his views on the subject or thought best to pass over
the matter more lightly.
Irenaeus was profoundly a churchman and a pastor, and
he writes as such. He was not desirous of originality, and had
no more hesitation than the Biblical writers in reproducing
material derived from different sources. From this there perhaps
derive the slightly confusing shift in numbering the list of
bishops at Rome, in which the apostles are sometimes counted
and sometimes not, and some repetition with variations in his
treatment of particular heresies. The latter is doubtless due
to notes taken from different sources, and does not simplify
the already complex problem of what Gnosticism really was.
One important source is certainly the work of Justin Martyr
on the history of heresies, whether the collection of material
on that subject referred to in Justin's First Apology should be
thought of as a published Work or as a collection of notes available for people like Irenaeus who were interested in the subject.
But though Irenaeus was dependent on a variety of sources,
it is a great mistake to think of him merely as a compiler.
Even on that level we have to ask why he compiled precisely
this collection of facts and arguments. He did not aim at
originality, but this did not prevent his achieving a considerable
amount of it. He was, to be sure, a man of tradition,
paradosis. To him, however, what was handed down was not a collection
of formal beliefs, but a means of living contact with the sources
of life, indeed with the Life himself. He felt to the full what a
modern writer has called "the thrill of tradition."
Irenaeus’ view of redemption is rich, and indeed may have
gained something from his dealing with Gnostic thought.
Vague as was the basis of Gnostic mythology, it certainly
described the moral and metaphysical structure of the universe
Irenaeus did not want to speculate, but he could not help
it. He was a practical theologian and not a formal philosopher.
After all, he was a missionary and pastor in
The great interest of the study of Irenaeus’ sources for his
knowledge of Christian truth is that they are also ours. In other
words, he is the first Christian writer who worked with the
Irenaeus could already look back to an early Church and even to a middle period, the age of men like
Irenaeus has suffered the strange fate that none of his works are preserved complete in the language in which they were written. This is partly because he wrote so definitely for the problems of his own age, partly because the hints he offered
for Greek theology were so completely taken up by later writers as to make reference to him superfluous. Doubtless also local situations contributed.
Happily a Latin translation of the Refutation and Overthrow
was produced, probably not very long after Irenaeus’ time,
and as further fragments of the Greek are identified they can
be checked into their proper place in it. Where the original
is available, the translation seems to be almost woodenly
literal, and on the whole the student of Irenaeus is grateful
for this, since it gives him reasonable confidence in depending
on the general sense of the translation elsewhere. A point on
which the translator gives us comfort rather than help is the
question of those Gnostic terms that are also Greek words. Are
they to be treated as personal names or personifications, and so
in English should it be Bythos or Depth, Sophia or Wisdom,
Monogenes or Only-begotten, and so on? The Latin translator
evidently felt that they were sometimes one and sometimes the
other, and used his discretion as to whether to translate or
transliterate, not always consistently; the English translator
seems justified in following his example without always being
bound by his authority. The first printed edition was edited by
A. Refutation and Overthrow of the Knowledge Falsely So Called (Adversus Haereses)
Latin:
Latin and Greek:
Armenian:
Irenaeus gegen die Häretiker . . . Buch IV und V in armenischer
Version, entdeckt von
Modern Translations—English:
Roberts, Alexander, and Rambaut, W. H., The Writings of Irenaeus (Ante-Nicene Christian Library, Vols. V and IX) (careful and literal). Edinburgh, 1868–1869.
Hitchcock, F. R. Montgomery, The Treatise of Irenaeus of Lugdunum Against the Heresies, 2 vols. (extracts and summaries). London, 1912.
French:
Saint Irénée (Pensée chrétienne) (extracts and summaries). Paris, 1905.
German:
Klebba, E., Der hl. lrenaeus (in Bibliothek der Kirchenväter), 2 vols. Kempten, 1912.
B. The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching
Armenian:
Ter-Mekerttschian, K., and Ter-Minassiantz, E., Des heiligen Irenaeus Schrift zum Erweise der apostolischen Verkündigung, Texte und Untersuchungen, Vol. XXXI. 1 (with German translation). Leipzig, 1907.
Modern Translations:
Faldati, U., Esposizione della predicazione apostolica (Scrittori cristiani antichi 6). Rome, 1923.
Robinson, J. Armitage, St. Irenaeus, The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching (an unpretentious but outstanding piece of scholarship, with an introduction valuable for some easily neglected aspects of Irenaeus such as his doctrine of the Holy Spirit). London, 1920.
Weber, S., Sancti Irenaei demonstratio apostolicae praedicationis. Freiburg, 1917.
Beuzart, P., Essai sur la théologie d’Irénée. Paris, 1908.
Bonwetsch, N., Die Theologie des Irenaeus. Gütersloh, 1925.
Dodwell, Henry, Dissertationes in Irenaeum (still valuable, especially for the life of Irenaeus). Oxford, 1689.
Dufourcq, A., St. Irénée (Les Saints) (a helpful brief introduction). Paris, 4th ed., 1926.
Hitchcock, F. R. Montgomery, Irenaeus of Lugdunum, A Study of His Teaching (a careful if somewhat pedestrian account). Cambridge, 1914.
Klebba, E., Die Anthropologie des hl. Irenaeus. Mülnster, 1894.
Lawson, J., The Biblical Theology of Saint Irenaeus, Epworth, London, 1948.
Loofs, Friedrich, Theophilus v. Antiochien Adversus Marcionem und die anderen theologischen Quellen bei Irenaeus, Texte und Untersuchungen, Vol. XLVI. 2. Leipzig, 1930.
Lundström, Sven, Neue Studien zur Lateintschen Irenäusübersetzung, Lund Universitets Arsskrift, XLIV. 8, Lund, 1948.
Aulén, G., Christus Victor, tr. A. G. Hebert. S.P.C.K., London, 1931.
Burkitt, F. C., Church and Gnosis, A Study of Christian Thought and Speculation in the Second Century. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1932.
More, Paul Elmer, Christ the Word (The Greek Tradition, Vol. IV) (Ch. II, "The Setting of Gnosticism"). Princeton, 1927.
Thornton, L. S., Revelation and the Modern World. Black, London, 1950.
See general references in bibliography for Justin Martyr, and Bardenhewer, O., Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur, Vol. I, 3d ed., Freiburg, 1913 (Irenaeus, pp. 399–430), and Quasten, J., Patrology, Vol. I, pp. 287–313.
Selections from the Work Against Heresies
by Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons:
"The Refutation and Overthrow of the
Knowledge Falsely So Called"
1 Certain men, rejecting the truth, are introducing among us false stories and vain genealogies, which serve rather to controversies, as the apostle said,
2 For their error is not displayed as what it is, lest it should be
stripped naked and shown up; it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, and made to seem truer than the truth itself to the inexperienced because of the outer appearance. As one better than I am has said about these matters, a precious stone
like emerald, which many value greatly, can be put to shame by a clever imitation in glass, unless there is someone on hand who can test it, and show what was done deceptively by art; and when brass is mixed with silver, what untrained person
can easily prove it? So then, lest some should be made prey of through my fault, like sheep by wolves, not recognizing them because of their outwardly wearing sheep's clothing—whom
the Lord warned us to guard against
3 You will not expect from me, a resident among the
10 Now the Church, although scattered over the whole civilized world to the end of the earth, received from the apostles and their disciples its faith in one God, the Father Almighty, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the seas, and all
that is in them, and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation, and in the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets proclaimed the dispensations of God—the comings, the birth of a virgin, the suffering, the resurrection
from the dead, and the bodily reception into the heavens of the beloved, Christ Jesus our Lord, and his coming from the heavens in the glory of the Father to restore all things, and to raise up all flesh, that is, the whole human race, so that every
knee may bow, of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth, to Christ Jesus our Lord and God and Saviour and King, according to the pleasure of the invisible Father, and every tongue may confess him,
2Having received this preaching and this faith, as I have said,
the Church, although scattered in the whole world, carefully preserves it, as if living in one house. She believes these things [everywhere] alike, as if she had but one heart and one soul, and preaches them harmoniously, teaches them, and hands them down, as if she had but one mouth. For the languages of the world are different, but the meaning of the [Christian] tradition is one and the same. Neither do the churches that have been established in
3This matter of having more or less understanding does not mean that men change the basic idea, and imagine another God above the Demiurge and Maker and Nourisher of this universe, as if he were not enough for us, or another Christ or another Only-begotten. But it consists in working out the things that have been said in parables, and building them into the foundation of the faith: in expounding the activity and dispensation of God for the sake of mankind; in showing clearly how God was long-suffering over the apostasy of the angels who transgressed, and over the disobedience of men; in declaring why one and the same God made some things subject to time, others eternal, some heavenly, and some earthly; in understanding why God, being invisible, appeared to the prophets, not in one form, but differently to different ones; in showing why there were a number of covenants with mankind, and in teaching what is the character of each of the covenants; in searching out why God shut up all in disobedience that he might have mercy on all; in giving thanks that the Word of God was made flesh, and suffered; in declaring why the coming of the Son of God [was] at the last times, that is, the
Beginning was made manifest at the end; in unfolding what is found in the prophets about the end and the things to come; in not being silent that God has made the despaired-of
11 Let us now look at the inconsistent views of these men, since there are two or three of them anyway, how they do not even agree on the same topics, but vary from each other both about things and about names. The first of these,
2
4Iu, iu, and pheu, pheu! Truly we may utter these exclamations from tragedy at such bold invention of ridiculous nomenclature, and at the audacity that made up these names without blushing. For when he says, "There is a certain Proarche before all things, above all thought, which I call Monotes," and again, "With this Monotes there reigns a Power, which I call Henotes," it is obvious that he admits that he is talking about his own inventions, and that he has given names to his inventions which no one else had given them before. It is clear also that he himself dared to make up these names, and unless he had been on hand the Truth would have had no name. There is no reason why someone else shouldn't assign names like these on the same basis: There is a royal Proarche above all thought, a Power above all substance, indefinitely extended. Since this is the Power which I call the
5Others again have called their first and self-begotten
21 Their [i.e., the
3For some of them prepare a nuptial couch and perform a sacred rite for those who are "perfected," with certain invocations, saying that they have performed a spiritual marriage, according to the likeness of the conjunctions above. Some bring [the candidates] to the water, and baptize them with these
words: "In the Name of the unknowable Father of all things—in Truth the mother of all—in him who came down upon
4Some of them say that it is superfluous to lead men to the water, but mixing oil and water together, with utterances like those which I have quoted, they pour it on the head of those being initiated; and this they make out to be the redemption. They also anoint them with balsam. Others omit all these things, and say that the mystery of the ineffable and invisible should not be performed by means of visible and corruptible things, and [that of] the inconceivable and incorporeal, by sensible and bodily; but the perfect redemption is the knowledge of the ineffable Greatness itself. For weakness and suffering were brought about by ignorance, and everything that has come from ignorance is destroyed by knowledge, and knowledge is the redemption of the inner man. This is not bodily, since the body is corruptible; nor is it psychic, since the soul came from deficiency, and is as it were a mere dwelling place of the spirit—therefore redemption must be spiritual. So the inner spiritual man is redeemed by knowledge, and they need nothing more than the knowledge of all things—and this is true redemption.
5There are others who keep on "redeeming" the dying up
to the moment of death, pouring oil and water on their heads,
or the ointment mentioned above mixed with water, and with
the invocations mentioned above, that they may not be grasped
or seen by the principalities and powers, and that their inner
man may ascend even above the invisible things, while their
body is left among the things of the world and the soul abandoned to the
27
2After him came
3Only the souls [he says] of those who have learned his teaching will come to salvation; the body, since it is taken from the
earth, cannot be saved. To his blasphemy against God he adds
this, speaking diabolically indeed and in direct opposition to
the truth: that
4But since this man alone has dared publicly to mutilate the
Scriptures, and more than any others to malign God shamelessly, I will refute him separately, convicting him from his
own writings, and from the words of the Lord and the apostles
which he preserves and uses I will overthrow him, with the
help of the Lord.
It was your command, my dear friend, that I should bring
out into the open the teachings of the
1 For we learned the plan of our salvation from no others than
from those through whom the gospel came to us. They first
preached it abroad, and then later by the will of God handed
it down to us in Writings,
2 But when they are refuted from the Writings they turn
around and attack the Writings themselves, saying that they are
not correct, or authoritative, and that the truth cannot be
found from them by those who are not acquainted with the
tradition. For this [they say] was not handed down in writing,
but orally, which is why
2But when we appeal again to that tradition which has come
down from the apostles and is guarded by the successions of
elders
3 The tradition of the apostles, made clear in all the world,
can be clearly seen in every church by those who wish to behold
the truth. We can enumerate those who were established by
the apostles as bishops in the churches, and their successors
down to our time, none of whom taught or thought of anything
like their mad ideas. Even if the apostles had known of hidden
mysteries, which they taught to the perfect secretly and apart
3When the blessed apostles had founded and built up the
Church, they handed over the ministry of the episcopate to
Linus. Paul mentions this Linus in his Epistles to Timothy.
Anencletus succeeded him. After him Clement received the
lot of the episcopate in the third place from the apostles: He
4Similarly Polycarp, who not only was taught by apostles,
and associated with many who had seen Christ, but was installed by apostles for Asia, as bishop in the church in Smyrna—I
saw him myself in my early youth—survived for a long
time, and departed this life in a ripe old age by a glorious
and magnificent martyrdom. He always taught what he learned
from the apostles, which the Church continues to hand on, and
4 Since there are so many clear testimonies, we should not seek
from others for the truth which can easily be received from the
Church. There the apostles, like a rich man making a deposit;
fully bestowed upon her all that belongs to the truth, so that
whoever wishes may receive from her the water of life. She is
the entrance to life; all the others are thieves and robbers.
Nor do they have any proper congregation or established
teaching. 3For there were no Valentinians before Valentinus, or
Marcionites before Marcion; nor were there any of these
perverse thinkers whom I have listed above before the founders
and inventors of their perversity. For Valentinus came to
Rome under Hyginus; he flourished under Pius and remained
until [the time of] Anicetus. Cerdon, who was Marcion's
predecessor, used to come into the Church under Hyginus
and make his confession,
5 So the apostolic tradition is preserved in the Church and has
come down to us. Let us turn, then, to the demonstration from
the Writings of those apostles who recorded the gospel, in which
they recorded their conviction about God, showing that our
Lord Jesus Christ is the Truth, and in him is no lie—as also
David said when he prophesied his birth of a virgin and the
resurrection of the dead, "Truth has come forth from the
earth."
3This can be shown by the words of the Lord. He displayed
the Son of God to those of the circumcision, the Christ who was
predicted by the prophets—that is, he showed himself, who
restored freedom to men and gave them the heritage of incorruption. Then the apostles taught the Gentiles that they
should leave the vain sticks and stones which they thought of
as gods, and worship the true God, who had established and
made the whole human race, and by his ordinance nourished,
increased, and preserved them, and gave them their being; and
that they should look for his Son Jesus Christ—who redeemed
us from the apostasy by his blood, that we also might be made
a holy people—who is to come down from heaven in the
power of the Father, and who is to execute judgment upon all,
and give the good things that come from God to those who have
kept his commandments. He appeared in these last times and
gathered and united into one those who were far off and those
who were near, enlarging Japheth and establishing him
in the dwelling of Shem.
11 John, the disciple of the Lord, proclaimed this faith and
wished by the proclamation of the gospel to destroy the error
which had been planted among men by Cerinthus, and much
earlier by those who are called Nicolaitans, who are an offshoot
of the knowledge which is falsely so called, [writing] to confound
them and show that there is one God who made all things by
his Word. It is not true, as they say, that the Fashioner is one
and the Father of the Lord another, and the Son of the Fashioner one being, the Christ from on high another, who remained free from suffering, descending on Jesus the Son of the
Fashioner and returning again to his Pleroma; [they allege]
that the Beginning was the Only-begotten, and Logos the
true Son of the Only-begotten,
The disciple of the Lord wished to cut off all such ideas and
to establish the rule of truth in the Church, that there is one
God Almighty who made all things by his Word, both visible
and invisible, and also to indicate that through the same Word
through whom God made this world order he also bestowed
salvation on the men who belong to this order. So he starts off
with the teaching according to the Gospel, thus: "In the
beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the
Word was God; this was in the beginning with God. All things
were made through him, and without him nothing was made.
What was made was life in him, and the life was the light of
men, and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness
has not seized hold of it."
3Now according to them neither was the Word made flesh,
nor Christ, nor the Saviour who was made out of all [the
Aeons]. For they allege that the Word and Christ never came
into this world, and that the Saviour was neither incarnate nor
suffered, but that he descended as a dove upon that Jesus
who was made by [higher] dispensation, and when he had
proclaimed the unknown Father, ascended again into the
Pleroma. Some of them indeed say that this Jesus who was by
dispensation was incarnate and suffered, and that he had passed
through Mary like water through a tube; others say that it
was the son of the Demiurge, on whom the Jesus who was by
dispensation descended; others again say that Jesus indeed
was born of Joseph and Mary, and that Christ who came from
above descended on him, being without flesh and free from
suffering. But according to none of the views of the heretics
was the Word of God made flesh. If one should read over all,
their credal statements, he would find that they always bring
in the Word of God and the Christ who is from above as without
flesh and free from suffering. Some think that he was manifested as a transfigured man, but say that he was neither born
nor incarnate. Others say that he did not even take the form of
a man, but descended like a dove on that Jesus who was
born of Mary. So the disciple of the Lord shows them all to be
false witnesses when he says, "And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us." 4And so that we should not query what
5It was a good thing which was made by God's creation in the
vineyard, and was first drunk as wine.
7These, then, are the principles of the gospel. They declare
one God, the maker of this universe, who was proclaimed by
the Prophets, and who through Moses established the dispensation of the Law, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and besides
him they know no other God, nor any other Father. So firmly
established is this position in the Gospels that the heretics
themselves bear witness to them, and starting from them each
one of them tries to establish his teaching. So the Ebionites;
who use only the Gospel According to Matthew, are shown
by that very document not to have right views about the Lord.
8The Gospels could not possibly be either more or less in
number than they are. Since there are four zones of the world
in which we live, and four principal winds, while the Church
is spread over all the earth, and the pillar and foundation of
the Church is the gospel, and the Spirit of life, it fittingly has four
pillars, everywhere breathing out incorruption and revivifying
men. From this it is clear that the Word, the artificer of all
things, he who sits upon the cherubim and sustains all things,
being manifested to men gave us the gospel, fourfold in form
but held together by one Spirit. As David said, when asking
for his coming, "O sitter upon the cherubim, show yourself."
9Since this is the case, they are foolish and uninstructed, even
audacious, who destroy the pattern of the gospel, and present
either more or less than four forms of the gospel—the former,
because they claim to have found more than the truth, the
latter because they annul the dispensations of God. So Marcion,
rejecting the whole gospel, rather indeed cutting himself off
from the gospel, still boasts of having a share in the gospel.
Others frustrate the gift of the Spirit, which in these last
times has been poured out on the human race according to the
Father's decree, refusing to admit that aspect [of the gospel]
which is according to John's Gospel, in which the Lord promised that he would send the Paraclete; but they reject together
both the gospel and the prophetic Spirit. Unhappy men, who
want to be some kind of false prophets, but deny the gift of
prophecy to the Church, suffering what those do who, because
of those who come in insincerity, separate themselves from the
1 We could in no other way have learned the things of God unless our Teacher, being the Word, had been made man. For none could declare to us the things of the Father, except his own Word. For who else has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become his counselor?
So, then, since the Lord redeemed us by his own blood, and
gave his soul for our souls, and his flesh for our bodies, and
poured out the Spirit of the Father to bring about the union
and communion of God and man—bringing God down to
men by [the working of] the Spirit, and again raising man to
God by his incarnation—and by his coming firmly and truly
giving us incorruption, by our communion with God, all the
teachings of the heretics are destroyed. 2Vain are those who say
that his appearance [on earth] was a mere fiction. These things
did not take place fictitiously but in reality. If he had appeared
as man when he was not really human, the Spirit of God could
not have rested on him, as was the case, since the Spirit is
invisible,
3Vain also are the Ebionites, who do not accept in their souls
by faith the union of God and man; but remain in the old
leaven of [merely] human birth—not wishing to understand
that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and the power of the
Most High overshadowed her, and so what was born [of her]
is holy and the Son of God Most High, the Father of all who
thus brought about his incarnation and displayed the new
birth, so that as we by the former birth were heirs of death, by
this birth we should be heirs of life. They reject the mixture
2 Vain indeed are they who say that God [the Son] came to
things not his own, as if covetous of things belonging to another,
in order to hand over the man who was made by another to
the God who neither made nor created him, who indeed from
the beginning had nothing to do with the true fashioning of
man.
2Vain above all are they who despise the whole dispensation
of God, and deny the salvation of the flesh and reject its rebirth,
saying that it is not capable of incorruption. For if this [mortal
flesh] is not saved, then neither did the Lord redeem us by his
And just as the wooden branch of the vine, placed in the earth, bears fruit in
its own time—and as the grain of wheat, falling into the ground and there
dissolved, rises with great increase by the Spirit of God, who sustains all
things, and then by the wisdom of God serves for the use of men, and when it
receives the Word of God becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of
Christ—so also our bodies which are nourished by it, and then fall into the
earth and are dissolved therein, shall rise at the proper time, the Word of God
bestowing on them this rising again, to the glory of God the Father. It is he
who indeed grants to this mortal immortality, and gives
19 So the Lord now manifestly came to his own, and, born by
his own created order which he himself bears, he by his obedience on the tree renewed [and reversed] what was done by
disobedience in [connection with] a tree; and [the power of]
that seduction by which the virgin Eve, already betrothed to
a man, had been wickedly seduced was broken when the
angel in truth brought good tidings to the Virgin Mary, who
already [by her betrothal] belonged to a man.
20 2Therefore he renews these things in himself, uniting man
to the Spirit; and placing the Spirit in man, he himself
is made the head of the Spirit, and gives the Spirit to be
the head of man, for by him we see and hear and speak.
21 He therefore completely renewed all things, both taking up
the battle against our enemy, and crushing him who at the
beginning had led us captive in Adam, trampling on his
head, as you find in Genesis that God said to the serpent,
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your seed and her seed; he will be on the watch for
your head, and you will be on the watch for his heel."
32 Since the opinions of some have been affected by the discourses of the heretics, and they are ignorant of the dispensations of God, and the mystery of the resurrection of the just
and the Kingdom which is the beginning of incorruption, by
which Kingdom those who are worthy will gradually be accustomed to receive [the fullness of] God, it is necessary to speak
about these things. For the righteous must first rise again at
the appearance of God to receive in this created order, then
made new, the promise of the inheritance which God promised
to the Fathers, and will reign in this order. After this will
come the judgment. It is just that in the same order in which
they labored and were afflicted, and tried by all kinds of suffering, they should receive the fruits of [their suffering]—that in
the same order in which they were put to death for the love of
God they should again be made alive—and that in the same
order in which they suffered bondage they should reign. For
God is rich in all things, and all things are his.
2So, then, God’s promise which he promised to Abraham
remains firm. For he said, "Lift up your eyes, and look from the
place where you now are, to the north and south and east and
west; for all this land which you see I will give to you and to
your seed forever." And again he says, "Arise and go through
the land in its length and its breadth, for I will give it to you.
33 Because of this, when he came to his Passion, that he might
declare to Abraham and those with him the glad tidings of the
opening of the inheritance, after he had given thanks as he
held the cup, and had drunk of it, and given to the disciples,
he said to them: "Drink of this, all of you. For this is my blood
of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission
of sins. For I say to you, that I will not drink of the produce of
this vine, until that day when I shall drink it with you new
in the Kingdom of my Father."
3This is also the sense of the blessing of Isaac, with which he
blessed Jacob, his younger son, saying, "Behold the smell of
my son is as the smell of a rich field, which God has blessed."
The field [here referred to] is the world—and therefore he
added: "God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fertility
of the earth, abundance of grain and of wine. And the nations
will serve you, and princes will worship you, and you will be
Lord over your brother, and the sons of your father will worship
you. He who curses you will be accursed, and he who blesses
you will be blessed."
4Papias, who was a hearer of John and an associate of Polycarp, a fine old man, bore witness to these things in writing,
in his fourth book, for there were five books that he compiled.
And he went on and said, "These things are credible to believers, and when Judas, the traitor, did not believe, and asked,
`How can such kinds of production be accomplished [even]
by the Lord?,' the Lord answered, 'Those who come to these
things will see them.'" Isaiah, prophesying about these times,
said: "And the wolf will feed with the lamb and the leopard
will lie down with the kid, and the calf and bull and lion will
feed together, and a little boy will lead them. The ox and the
bear will feed together, and their young ones will be together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox. A little child will put his
hand in the den of the asps, and into the nest of the young of
the asps, and they shall do no harm, nor will they be able to
injure anyone in my holy mountain." And again, summarizing,
he says, "The wolves and sheep will feed together, and the
lion will eat straw like the ox, and the serpent earth like bread;
and they will not injure nor disturb in my holy mountain,
says the Lord."
36 Since men are real, they must have a real existence, not passing away into things which are not, but advancing [to a new stage] among things that are. Neither the substance nor the essence of the created order vanishes away, for he is true and faithful who established it, but the pattern of this world passes away,
3John therefore predicted precisely the first resurrection of the just, and [their] inheritance of the earth in the Kingdom,
Genesis
1:1 1:1-3 1:2 1:26 1:27 1:27 1:28 2:7 2:8 2:9 2:17 2:23 3 3 3:15 4:3-8 6:1-4 6:2 6:5 9:27 12:1-3 13:14 13:14-16 13:15 13:17 15:5 15:5 15:6 15:18 18:27 22:17 23 26:4 27:27-29 37:9 49:10 49:10 49:11 49:11 50:20
Exodus
2:14 3 3:11 3:14 3:14 3:15 3:15 4:10 6:1 14:23 20:2 20:3 20:13-17 32:7 32:8 32:9 32:10 32:31 32:32
Leviticus
Numbers
6:2 6:25 12:7 12:7 16:22 16:33 18:27 21:6-9 24:17 27:16 27:16
Deuteronomy
1:16 1:17 4:2 4:34 4:34 5:15 9:12 9:13 9:14 12:25 12:25 12:28 12:28 12:32 13:18 13:18 14:2 14:2 18:3-5 21:9 27:18 30:15 31:7 31:23 32:8 32:9 32:15 32:22 32:39
Joshua
1 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Nehemiah
Job
1:1 1:21 4:16-18 4:19-5:5 5:11 5:17-26 11:2 11:3 14:4 14:5 15:15 19:26 38:11
Psalms
1 1:3 2 2:7 2:8 2:11 2:11 3:5 3:5 4:2 4:5 12:3-5 18:26 18:27 19:1-3 19:2-5 19:5 21:16 21:18 22 22:6-8 22:16 22:16 22:18 22:18 24:1 24:7 24:8 27:14 28:7 31:18 31:24 32:1 32:2 32:10 33:9 34:11-17 37:9 37:11 37:11 37:35-37 37:38 40:2 49:14 50:7-15 50:14 50:15 50:16-23 51:1-17 51:17 58:6 62:4 67:1 69:30-32 78:36 78:37 79:13 80:1 80:3 80:7 80:8 80:19 85:11 89:20 95 95:7 96:1 96:2 96:4-10 100:3 104:4 104:30 110:1 110:1-3 115:4-8 118:18 118:19 118:20 118:26 119:114 119:133 139:7 139:8 141:5 145:18 150:6
Proverbs
1:23-33 2:21 2:22 3:4 3:12 3:28 3:34 3:34 7:3 8:22 10:12 10:12 18:17 20:27 21:1 21:6 24:12 31:9
Isaiah
1:3 1:3 1:4 1:7 1:9 1:11-15 1:16-20 1:16-20 1:16-20 1:23 2:3 2:4 3:5 5:20 5:26 6:3 7:14 9:6 9:6 11:1 11:1 11:6-9 11:12 13:11 22:13 26:20 29:13 29:13 34:4 35:5 35:6 40:10 40:18-21 42:1-3 43:5 43:6 43:10 43:11 44:6 44:9-10 45:23 50:6-8 51:5 52:5 52:5 52:5 53:1-12 53:12 53:12 54 54:1 54:1 54:1 54:1 57:1 57:2 57:15 57:16 58:2 58:6 58:6 58:7 58:9 59:14 60:17 62:11 63:17 64:4 64:4 64:10-12 64:11 65:1-3 65:2 65:2 65:16 65:25 66:1 66:1 66:2 66:2 66:18 66:18 66:22 66:24 66:24 66:24
Jeremiah
4:4 5:4 7:11 9:23 9:24 9:26 10:1-16 19 21:10 24:6 32:21 32:21 50:3
Lamentations
Ezekiel
1 3:18 14:14-20 20:33 20:34 20:34 33:11-27 36:23 37 37:12 48:12
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Micah
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
1:21 1:23 2:2 2:6 3:9 3:12 3:15 4:10 5:3 5:5 5:5 5:7 5:10 5:16 5:22 5:26 5:28 5:28 5:29 5:32 5:33 5:34 5:37 5:39 5:39 5:40 5:40 5:41 5:41 5:42 5:44 5:44 5:44 5:45 5:45 5:46 5:46 5:47 5:48 6:1 6:5 6:9-13 6:10 6:12 6:13 6:14 6:14 6:15 6:15 6:16 6:19 6:20 6:21 6:24 6:25 6:26 6:33 7:1 7:1 7:2 7:2 7:6 7:12 7:12 7:15 7:15 7:16 7:19 7:21 7:21-23 8:17 9:12 9:13 9:13 9:13 9:13 10:10 10:16 10:16 10:22 10:23 10:24 10:26 10:27 10:28 10:32 10:36 10:40 10:40 10:41 11:5 11:9 11:27 11:27 12:14 12:18-20 12:30 12:31 12:31 12:31 12:33 12:33-37 12:50 13:3 13:8 13:42 13:43 15:8 15:13 15:13 15:19 16:26 16:26 19 19:9 19:11 19:12 19:12 19:12 19:18 19:26 19:29 20:22 20:23 21:5 21:9 21:9 21:13 21:15 21:33-41 22:2-10 22:20 22:21 22:37 22:37-39 22:38 23:27 24 24:4 24:10 24:13 24:24 24:30 24:30 24:30 24:31 24:31 25:14-23 26:24 26:27-29 26:39 26:41 26:55 26:64 27:52 28:19 42 44
Mark
1:23 2:17 2:17 2:17 3:28 3:35 4:8 7:6 7:6 7:21 7:22 8:36 9:35 9:43 9:44 9:47 9:48 10:11 10:27 10:38 10:38 10:39 10:45 12:14-17 12:26 12:27 12:30 12:30 14:22 14:22-24 14:23 14:38 14:61 14:62 15:18 15:29-32
Luke
1 1:17 1:31 1:32 1:38 1:53 1:75 2:2 3:8 4:8 5:31 5:32 5:32 5:32 6 6:20 6:27 6:27 6:27 6:27 6:28 6:28 6:28 6:29 6:29 6:30 6:32 6:32 6:32 6:32 6:33 6:34 6:34 6:35 6:35 6:35 6:36 6:36-38 6:40 7:26 8:21 9:25 9:25 10:16 10:16 10:22 10:22 10:22 11:23 11:50 11:51 12:2 12:4 12:4 12:5 12:5 12:8 12:10 12:22 12:24 12:31 12:34 12:35 12:48 12:50 14:12-14 15:23 16:10-12 16:13 16:18 17:1 17:2 18:18 18:19 18:27 18:29 18:30 20:22-35 24:39 31 36
John
1:1 1:1-3 1:1-5 1:6-8 1:9 1:11 1:13 1:14 1:18 1:18 1:19-37 1:47 1:49 2:9 3:3 3:3 3:4 3:5 3:8 3:14 4:10 5:19 5:21 5:29 5:30 5:43 6:11 6:33 6:33 6:39 6:44 6:54 7:1 7:30 8:19 8:19 8:28 8:59 10:7 10:7 10:7 10:8 10:9 10:12 10:39 12:27 12:28 14:2 14:24 15:1 15:5 15:24-16:3 15:25 16:3 16:3 16:19 17:13-19 17:14-16 18:36 18:36 18:37 18:37 19:9 19:10 19:31 19:37 20:31
Acts
1:25 2:24 4:27 7:52 8:21 9:7 10:41 10:42 10:42 13:1 13:22 13:51 14:15 15:3 15:7 16:12 16:13 16:20 16:21 17:14 17:22-31 19:30 19:31 19:31 20:35 21:11 21:14 22:20 26:18 28:20
Romans
1:2 1:3 1:3 1:3 1:3 1:5 1:27 1:29-31 1:29-32 2:2 3:27 4 4:3 4:4 4:7-9 5 5:1 5:1 5:2 5:2 5:3 6:1 6:2 6:3 6:4 7:2 7:2 7:3 8:4 8:5 8:8 8:11 8:19-21 8:32 9:25 10:12 10:12 10:18 11:33 11:34 12:1 12:9 12:10 12:10 12:16 12:27 13:1 13:7 14:10 14:12 15:24
1 Corinthians
1:7 1:20 1:22-24 1:31 2:6 2:9 2:9 2:9 2:9 2:9 2:10 2:11 3:1 3:2 3:16 4:1 4:4 4:8 5:7 6:2 6:9 6:9 6:9 6:10 6:10 6:10 6:14 7:22 7:31 7:36 8:1 9:15 9:27 10:20 10:32 11 11:23 11:23-25 12:21 12:22 12:28 12:28 14:25 15:1 15:8 15:20 15:23 15:23 15:27 15:28 15:28 15:35-50 15:36 15:45 15:53 15:54 15:58 16:22
2 Corinthians
1:22 3:2 4:14 5:5 5:10 5:15 5:16 6:4-10 6:7 6:10 6:14 8:21 10:1 10:3 10:17 12:9
Galatians
1:1 2:2 2:9 2:11 3:6-9 3:13 3:16 3:19 4:9 4:26 4:27 4:27 4:28 5:17 5:19-21 6:7 6:12
Ephesians
1:1 1:10 1:13 1:14 1:18 1:22 1:23 2:5 2:8 2:9 2:13 2:16 2:17 2:19 2:19-22 2:19-22 4:2 4:11 4:18 4:26 5:3-6 5:5 5:25 5:29 5:30 6:11-17 6:12 6:12 6:14 6:18 8:2 9:2 10:3 14:1 16:2 20:1 20:2 20:2
Philippians
1:1 1:27 2:4 2:10 2:10 2:11 2:16 2:16 2:17 3:15 3:18 3:20 3:20 3:20 3:21 4:3 4:10 4:13 4:15 4:15 4:22 7:1 8:2 9:1 12:3
Colossians
1:4 1:5 1:6 1:10 1:14 1:16 1:23 1:23 1:23 1:27 2:10 2:12 3:5
1 Thessalonians
1:4 2:4 3:13 5:10 5:11 5:17 5:17 5:22
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
1:1 1:1 1:3 1:4 1:4 1:5 1:6 1:16 1:17 1:17 2:1 2:2 2:2 2:6 2:7 3:5 3:8-13 4:4 4:5 4:15 5:5 5:9 5:19 6:2 6:3 6:7 6:10
2 Timothy
Titus
Hebrews
1:3 1:4 1:5 1:7 1:13 3:1 3:2 3:5 5:13 10:23 11:9 11:37 12:1 12:6 12:28 13:7
James
1 Peter
1:1 1:1 1:2 1:2 1:8 1:12 1:12 1:13 1:20 1:21 1:21 2:9 2:9-17 2:11 2:11 2:11 2:12 2:13 2:17 2:21 2:22 2:24 2:25 3:8 3:9 3:18 3:21 4:7 4:8 4:8 4:15 4:16 5:5 5:5 5:10
1 John
1:1 1:1-3 1:6 2:7 2:8 2:22 3:8 4:2 4:3 4:11 4:12 4:12 4:16 4:19 5:1 5:2 13:34 13:35
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
1:5 2:9 3:9 3:9 4:7 4:8 4:8 4:11 11:13 11:17 15:3 16:7 20 21:22 22:2 22:12 22:17
Tobit
Judith
Wisdom of Solomon
Prayer of Manasseh
Sirach
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398