CHURCH HISTORY: THE 2ND CENTURY, The Age of the Apostolic Fathers and The Early Christian Apologists

The Apostolic Fathers

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SECOND CENTURY:

THE ERA OF APOSTOLIC FATHERS & EARLY CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS

1. PERSECUTION CONTINUES

The reign of Trajan (98-117 A.D.) ushered in the third persecution of the Church. Among the illustrious martyrs who died during it were Pope St. Clement of Rome, St Simeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, and St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch. The latter we have met before. He has ever been a glorious witness to the conquering power of Christ’s love.

In the midst of this persecution, the Church waxed strong and flourished mighty; while, on the contrary, a Roman governor in Asia Minor wrote to the Emperor Trajan, as early as 112, that the pagan temples were almost abandoned.

Before the first three centuries were finished, the Church was to run the gauntlet of such bloody trials ten times. But these ten dated periods represent the high points of a long campaign against the Church which was almost always being fought somewhere in the vast Empire. The fatal cry, “The Christians to the lions!” rose again and again. In answer, Christ’s followers were hunted down and subjected to every torment cruelty could devise. As the persecution became more systematic they fled or went into hiding, especially in Rome, where they sought the protection of those underground cemeteries, the catacombs. There are Sacred Mysteries were celebrated, catechumens instructed, and the sacraments administered. The corridors of these catacombs are a precious witness to the unchanging integrity of our Faith, for engraved and painted on the walls of the tombs are symbols and inscriptions which prove that the Church teaches today what she taught then.

Apostolic Fathers during the Persecutions

2. THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS AND THE APOLOGISTS

Besides the martyrs, a group of illustrious men took up the cause of the persecuted Church. They fought for the faith in the arena of the mind. Some, called the Fathers, presented, explained, and clarified the teaching of the Church. Others, called the Apologists, defended it against attack.

a. The Apostolic Fathers

Among the Fathers there is a special group composed of those writers who either knew the Apostles or were instructed by persons closely associated with them. These are called the Apostolic Fathers. Four of them are better known. Two we have just met among martyrs under Trojan. The first is St. Clement, our fourth pope, whose letter to the rebellious Corinthians defends the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. The second is St. Ignatius of Antioch. He wrote seven epistles or letters while enroute to Rome and to martyrdom. In them he explained the marks that distinguished the true Church and also gave a compendium of Christian doctrine. The third, St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, and a disciple of St. John, wrote a book called “The Shepherd,” in which he set down the rules for Christian living. The fourth was St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons in southern France, and “the last pupil of the actual disciples of the apostles.” He is the first Catholic theologian.

b. The Apologists

St. Irenaeus, however, was not only one of the Apostolic Fathers, he was also one of the apologist. He combated the Gnostic heresy which attacked the divinity of Christ. He wrote an entire work entitled Against Heresies. A second apologist is St. Justin Martyr, surnamed the philosopher. He wrote two “ apologies” or defenses of the Faith. The second was addressed to the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who rewarded him for it with martyrdom. Tertullian, the son of pagan centurion, was another brilliant and courageous apologist at the end of this second century, as was Origen whom we will meet in the next century.

St. Polycarp miraculously extinguished the fire through ardent prayer to God

3. THE FOURTH PERSECUTION

After the death of Trajan the Church enjoyed comparative peace for more then forty years. Then the fourth great persecution broke out under Marcus Aurelius, 161-180. it was centered chiefly in the city of Lyons. Besides St. Polycarp and St. Justin, whom we have already mentioned, it is believed that St. Cecilia, the noble Roman virgin and martyr, gave her life for the Faith at this time.

After 180 A.D. another period of relative peace descended and we find the Church flourishing everywhere, in Asia, in northern Africa, especially at Alexandria and Carthage, in Europe- Rome and Gaul- and in the East. Tertullian, writing at the close of this country, says to the Romans: “We are but of yesterday and we fill your towns, your islands, even your camps and your palaces, and the senate and the forum; we have left you only your temples.” Then he adds: “We become more numerous the more you hack us down: the seed of the faith is the blood of Christians.”