The Early Church Fathers
For most of my life, I never gave the importance of Early Church fathers much thought. Due to the resurgence of interest in the Reformation, I was familiar with names such as John Calvin, Martin Luther, or John Wycliffe, but while these men were definitely key figures in the continued preservation of the Church and the Church's realignment with orthodoxy, there is a very large time gap between the apostles and the reformers. What happened between the death of the Apostle John in 100 A.D. and the Reformation?
In school I was the student every teacher couldn’t stand: I was the “why” asker. I wanted to know why I needed to know certain things and how I would apply that specific topic in my life. Why algebra? Why do I need to understand chemistry? Perhaps you wonder, “Why do I need to know about the Early Church fathers?” This is an easy answer: their stories are part of our ancestry and heritage as Christians. Through the power of the Holy Spirit facilitating certain men, the gospel continued to spread and the Church expanded. This has given us the Christianity and we know today.
Another reason why it is good to understand the Early Church fathers and who they are is for personal application and encouragement. Our forefathers of the faith faced issues and problems like those we face in modern times. Much can be said about understanding our history, as history helps shape our future, and it formulates our logic and cognitive faculties as we learn from the experiences of others. While this is by no means an exhaustive list of some of the Early Church fathers, my hope is to introduce you to some key figures.
Polycarp
Engraving by Michael Burghers, ca 1685
After Christ’s ascension into heaven, the disciples branched out and fulfilled the great commission given to them in Matthew 28:19–20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Each of the apostles had gone out throughout Asia, Europe, and even Africa, spreading the gospel message in obedience to the great commission. As the apostles went about their travels, they had disciples of their own that learned under their tutelage. One such disciple was Polycarp. He was born in 69 A.D. and died in 155 A.D. He studied directly under the Apostle John. Polycarp was from Smyrna, which can be found in the modern-day city of Izmir in Turkey. Due to its strategic location on the coast of the Aegean Sea, Smyrna was a popular place for travelers and traders, which made it an ideal place for a church to spread the gospel message throughout the region. A fun fact about this church is that it is one of the two not singled out in Revelation chapter 2.
Before his death, John had formally recognized Polycarp as continuing the legacy of the spreading of the gospel and appointed him to be the head of the church in Smyrna. While Polycarp served as the bishop (from the Greek epískopos, which means overseer or guardian) he wrote many letters to different churches throughout the region. We still have the remnants of his letter to the church in Philippi, which was written 120–140 A.D. In his letter he continued to stress points the apostles had taught: faith is not received based off of works; do not allow money to control you; be humble and forgive believers and non-believers alike. Polycarp lived until the age of 86, when he was burned at the stake for refusing to renounce his faith.
Justin Martyr
As his name suggests, Justin was indeed martyred for his faith and belief in God. Justin was different from other church fathers as he, like Paul in Acts 17, engaged with scholastic minds in defending the Christian faith. Today we call this act apologetics, a term derived from the Greek word apologia, which literally means to give a defense. Justin was born in 100 A.D. in the old Roman city of Flavia Neapolis (modern-day Nablus, in Palestine). Justin engaged in apologetics by focusing his life’s work on coming up with apologies (or defenses) for the Christian faith in obedience to 1 Peter 3:15: “ . . . but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect . . . .”
Justin had been taught by many well-known teachers of the philosophical ideas of stoicism and Platonism. This created the foundation in his mind for his conversion to Christianity and began developing his arguments for the defense of the Christian faith. In his apologies he addressed Roman emperor Antoninus Pius and Roman emperor/philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Justin used the emperors' philosophical ideology to show how insufficient their system of beliefs was and how Christianity answered the hard questions connecting faith and reason as a basis of knowledge. His argument was complex and profound, but the primary takeaway is that God implanted in his creation logos (intellect; word). Since creation is made in God's own image, it grants us to understand the world around us. Using Romans 1:18–22 as a backbone, Justin argued that we can know God and basic truths of morality and life.
Justin was relentless in his pursuit of spreading the knowledge and truth of God. He was arrested multiple times by the local prefect and was eventually beheaded for his faith. Before his execution it is recorded he said, “If we are punished for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hope to be saved.” His execution was carried out in 165 A.D. but his teachings and apologies are still used in modern-day Christian philosophy and apologetics courses throughout the world, and continue to help shape the minds of fellow apologists.
Tertullian
Allegoric wood engraving featuring Tertullian by André Thevet (Lyons, 1584).
Shifting from the Middle East into the region of Northern Africa, we come to the Early Church father Tertullian. Tertullian was born to a Roman centurion in 160 A.D. in Carthage (modern-day Tunisia). His full name was Quintis Septimus Florens Tertullianus, and he was of the educated society. Tertullian came to the Christian faith after witnessing the execution of Christians by the Romans.
Tertullian is well-known throughout theological and church circles for his apologetic letter directed to “Rulers of the Roman Empire.” His ministry focused on defending the Christian faith and purging heresy from the Church, and he gained notoriety for Christianity amongst Romans in the region. In one of his writings, Tertullian argued that religious liberty was an inalienable right of man. The founding fathers of America were so influenced by Tertullian's argument that they later incorporated it into the United States Constitution. Tertullian also addressed many different topics of the Christian faith but is mainly known for his work Against Praxeas. In this he addressed the heresy against the doctrine of the Trinity. He argued that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit exist eternally and that the trinitarian God manifests himself to us in these three persons.
As Tertullian progressed in his studies, however, he began to follow a man named Montanus. Those who agreed with Montanus's teaching (known as montanism) believed in a form of prophecy that was accompanied by convulsions and ecstatic speech. Augustine later declared montanism a heresy due to the lack of biblical norms this form of prophecy took in contrast to biblical prophecy. Tertullian lived a long life and died in 240 A.D. One thing we can learn from Tertullian is that we must be careful to investigate everyone we wish to study as they are human and prone to error. Tertullian contributed greatly to the Early Church, and many of his writings prior to his belief shift are still used in schools today.
Augustine
Portrait of Saint Augustine of Hippo receiving the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, by Philippe de Champaigne, 17th century
Of all the individuals we have discussed so far, this one is more widely known throughout the world. He is commonly referred to as Saint Augustine of Hippo, and he was born in 354 A.D. in Numidia (modern-day Algeria). Augustine was a theologian and philosopher and has been credited with greatly influencing reformers such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Thomas Aquinas. Augustine laid the foundational levels for how we understand salvation and the doctrine of grace.
He began his career as a professor teaching rhetoric in Carthage and Rome and converted to Christianity in 386 at the age of 31. He accredited his conversion to being overwhelmingly convicted reading Romans 13:13–14: “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
His conversion account can be found in his incredible work called Confessions. In this book he outlines the tenants of faith as made applicable to him, and also cases for defending the Christian faith in the pagan Roman culture. Augustine was influential in the progression of what would later become a focal point in Calvinism: original sin and predestination. Augustine was also a firm advocate for Christian philosophy and knowledge (known as epistemology), which was the forerunner for Christian philosophers in continued defense of the faith against skeptics. Many of the writings of Augustine survived the invasion of Northern Africa by the Vandals (Germanic tribe) who destroyed Hippo in 430 A.D. but left Augustine’s library untouched.
There are many others who were instrumental in the Early Church, but these four fathers were fundamental in the formation of how we worship God and understand the hidden treasures found in the Bible. Each of them helped spread the gospel by teaching the truth found in the apostles’ manuscripts that were disseminated around the Early Church. We should not idolize these individuals because they were fallen creatures and, therefore, imperfect. Yet, God used them to preserve and carry forward the gospel. And for that, we can be grateful.