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THE CHURCH FATHERS Dr THE CHURCH FATHERS Dr. Paul Chung (Chicago UBF) When I told some people, “I am going to write about the church fathers,” one person said, “You mean that you are writing about the Roman Catholic Fathers?” Another person said, “Would that be someone like Jonathan Edwards, the colonial American theologian?” I explained to them that the church fathers I am writing about were people like St. Augustine and Polycarp from the Roman Empire. They nodded their heads. I believe that the church fathers are the first generation of believers who continue to guide their spiritual descendants in the Christian church today. Like a family tree, these people I will write about are the ancestors and we are their descendants. I felt that we would be missing some real treasures if we do not explore our Christian origins. I have included a timeline so that we may know the chronological order of events in order to understand the context in which they took place. Although the origin of the church fathers start in the second century right after the death of Apostle John, I would like to describe the events surrounding the twelve apostles to the best of my knowledge first. Before Christ (BC) 800 Founding of Carthage 753 Founding of Rome 347 Death of Plato 332 Alexander the Great’s conquests; founding of Alexandria 322 Death of Aristotle 300 Founding of Antioch 52 Julius Caesar conquers Gaul 43 Founding of Lugdunum (Lyons); Roman Empire makes all Roman coins in Lyons. 27 Caesar Augustus becomes the first Roman emperor Anno Domini (AD) 30 Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ 30s-60s Events of the Book of Acts 64 Nero—first persecution by Roman Emperor 70 Fall of Jerusalem 95 Domitianus (Domitian)—second persecution by Roman Emperor 100-165 Life of Justin Martyr 100+ Gnostic heresy widely preached 115 Ignatius of Antioch travels to his martyrdom 130-202 Life of Irenaeus of Lyons 140 Marcion begins preaching heresy in Rome 156 Polycarp of Smyrna martyred 170-215 Life of Tertullian of Carthage 177 Blandina, Sanctus, and companions martyred at Lyons and Vienne 180 Martyrdom of the Martyrs of Sicily 186-251 Life of Origen of Alexandria 203 Perpetua, Falicity and companions martyred; Origen’s father Leonides martyred 250 Emperor Decius decrees severe persecution of Christians 251-356 Life of the monk Anthony of Egypt 260-339 Life of Eusebius of Caesarea 299-373 Life of Athanasius of Alexandria 303 Emperor Diocletian initiates the Great Persecution 312 Emperor Constantine victorious at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge: Donaist schism erupts in North Africa 313 Emperor Constantine issues the Edit of Milan 318 Arius begins preaching heresy 1 325 Council of Nicaea defined the Trinity 337 Death of Constantine 345-420 Life of Jerome 349-407 Life of John Chrysostom 350-428 Life of Theodore of Mopsuestia 354-430 Life of Augustine of Hippo 367 Easter Letter of Athanasius lists the biblical cannon 378-444 Life of Cyril of Alexandria 381 Council of Constantinople supports the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity 387 Baptism of Augustine 390 Death of Diodore of Tarsus 410 Alaric the Goth invades and ransacks Rome Nestorius becomes bishop of Constantinople 431 Council of Ephesus condemns the doctrines of Pelagius and Nestorius 440-461 Papacy of Leo the Great 451 Council of Chalcedon defines orthodox Christology 476 Last Roman emperor in the West deposed by a barbarian lord 500 End of the Roman Empire and the Ancient Period; beginning of the Medieval Period 1. The Church in Jerusalem When we read the book of Acts, there was a very strong church presence in Jerusalem. When Apostle Peter addressed the crowd after Pentecost, 3,000 people repented and were baptized in one day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching1 and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. But not everything went smoothly. There was a conflict between the Hellenistic Jews and the Hebraic Jews.2 So the Twelve called an assembly that appointed seven men “to serve tables” (Acts 6). Then there was the life of Stephen and his martyrdom. Soon persecution against the Christians grew fierce and more general from Jews. Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod ordered the death of James the brother of John. When this move was well received by his subjects, Agrippa had Peter arrested, but he escaped. After the books of Acts, James the brother of Jesus who was the first overseer (bishop) of the church in Jerusalem was killed by orders of the high priest in AD 62, even against the desire and advice of some of the Pharisees. Thereafter, the leaders of the Christian community in Jerusalem decided to move to Pella, a city beyond the Jordon.3 In AD 66, a rebellion broke out that would lead, four years later, to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies. The problem arose when the Roman governor, Florus took 17 talents from the Jerusalem Temple treasury since the Jewish leaders did not pay their taxes.4 The issue was not the amount of money, but that it was from God’s temple. Agrippa II tried to talk to Jewish leaders, but it was to no avail and a riot broke out. Nero, who was traveling in Greece at that time, heard the news and sent the commander Vespasian to Jerusalem to suppress the riot. This Vespasian would later become the 9th emperor of Rome after Nero in AD 69. His son, Titus put down the rebellion in AD 70. During this period, Simeon, the brother of Jesus was also killed by the Romans. After this, many Jewish Christians moved out of Pella and Jerusalem to other cities. Wherever they went, they became gospel workers before St. Paul. 1 This is very important description. The most authentic words of God in the first and second century was the apostles’ teaching and Paul’s letters to early Christians. The first 50 Bibles were copied by Constantine. 2 Here Acts makes clear that there were still no Gentiles in the church. It was rather a conflict between two groups of Jews. 3 Juston L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (New York, NY: HarperSanFrancisco, A Division of HarperCollins Publisher, 1984), 21-22. 4 Nanami Shiono, Translated by Kim Suk-hee, Res Gestae Populi Romani VIII (Seoul, Korea: Hangila Publishing Co., Ltd.,), 207. 2 The missionary task itself was undertaken not only by Paul and others whose names are well known such as Barnabas, Mark, Apollos to name a few, but also by countless other Christians who went from place to place taking with them their faith and their testimony. Many of these unknown Christians were merchants, slaves and others who traveled for various reasons but whose travel provided the opportunity for the expansion of the gospel. The Epistle to the Romans shows that there was already a church in the imperial capital of Rome before Paul’s arrival. They say there was about 200-300 Christians living among 10,000 Jews, in sections 13 and 14 in Rome.5 During the reign of Nero, a fire began accidently in an oil warehouse on the night of June 18, AD 64. It lasted six days and seven nights, and then flared up for three more days. Afterwards, a rumor began circulating that Nero had gone mad and had ordered the city destroyed so he could rebuild it according to his fancy. In order to allay such suspicions, he used the Christians as a scapegoat. Although most of the city had been burned, two areas of Rome that were relatively undamaged had a very high proportion of Jewish and Christian populations living in them. Therefore, Nero could have the 200-300 Christians executed without any opposition. Apostle Peter and Paul were martyred around AD 67 or 68 in Rome. As an aside, I will very briefly talk about the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus and Luke, the Gentile. According to tradition, Apostle John took Mary to Pella and then Palestine. After Jerusalem fell, there was a severe famine that struck Jerusalem and Palestine. Therefore, Apostle John took Mary to Ephesus. They say that Mary’s house and tomb were found in between 1882-1884 by Nun Catherine Emmerich.6 We have learned and talked much about Matthew, Mark and John but not much is known about Luke, even though he was one of the four gospel writers and St. Paul’s best companion on his mission journeys (2 Tim 4:11). According to tradition, Luke was born in Antioch to a Greek family (Col. 4:4). His father’s name was Aeneas and his mother was Iris. Originally, they had been slaves of the Roman Tribune, Priscus in Rome. When Priscus’ son, Diodorus Cyrinus was appointed as a Roman judge in Antioch, Aeneas and Iris were sent with Cyrinus’s family. But because of their faithfulness and diligence, Priscus already freed them in Rome. With their freedom, however, Aeneas and Iris decided to continue to live with Cyrinus’ family. Luke’s childhood was not easy due to three major events. First his father, Aeneas died trying to put out a fire that was engulfing his master’s home. Second, Cyrinus’ wife, Aurelia who was like a second mother for Luke, died delivering a child. Third, and most significantly, Cyrinus’ daughter and his best friend, Rubria, became ill and died at the age of 14. When Cyrinus received a new position in Rome, he married Iris and adopted Luke as his step-son before moving to Rome.
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