HISTORY
Second Century: Persecution and Faith
By Father Thomas Hopko
Orthodox Church in America-OCA -
The Apostle Peter’s writes: “
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need
be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of
your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though
it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the
revelation of Jesus Christ.”
The second century Christian
Community was severely attacked and persecuted. This proved
to strengthen faith as well as require the church to defend the truth
that was handed down to them by Christ and the Apostles.
The Persecutions
The second century saw the further development
of the Christian faith and the greater persecution of the Church by
the Roman imperial authorities, for whom Christianity was an “illegal
religion.”
The Christians were criminals in the
eyes of the Romans, not only religiously, but also politically. They
transgressed the laws of the state because they refused to honor the
earthly emperor as king, lord, and god, which was required of them as
members of imperial society. They prayed for the civil authorities and
gave “honor to whom honor is due” (Romans
13:1-7), but they refused to give the earthly king the glory and worship
which was due to God, and to His Christ, alone. Thus the Roman law declared:
It is not lawful to be a Christian.
One of the first witnesses to the Christians
which we have in secular writing, is found in the second century correspondence
between Pliny the Younger and the Emperor Trajan, who
ruled from 98-117. This correspondence reveals that Christianity was
indeed proscribed, and that though Christians should not be sought out
and were innocent of the gross charges against them, such as the sacrifice
of children and the eating of human flesh (a misunderstanding of the
Eucharist which was conducted in “secret meetings”), the
Christians nevertheless were to be executed if, when seized, they refused
to give up their faith.
The persecution of the Christians
in the second century was largely local, conducted according to the
zeal of the local imperial authorities. Nevertheless, the persecutions
were widespread and the Christians were generally hated even by the
most tolerant and openminded of the Roman rulers. They were hated mostly
for what was considered their stubbornness and intolerance due to their
exclusive devotion to Christ as Lord. They were persecuted also for
what was considered to be the political danger which they brought to
the unity of law and order in the imperial reign, particularly because
of the increasing number of persons who were joining the Church.
Among the most famous of the Christian
leaders and martyrs of the second century were the bishops Ignatius
of Antioch (d.c. 110) and Polycarp of Smyrna (d. 156), and
the philosopher Justin (d.c. 165). Each of these men who were
killed for the faith left writings which, together with the Didache,
the Letter to Diognetus, the letters of Clement of Rome, the
Letter of Barnabas, the Shepherd of Hermas and the apologetic writings
of such men as Athenagoras of Athens, Melito of Sardis, Theophilus
of Antioch and the greatest of the second century theologians, Irenaeus
of Lyons, all give a very vivid picture of the faith and life of
the second century of the Church.
Defense of the Faith: Apologists
The most important developments in the
second century, in addition to the persecutions and the growth of Church
membership, were the defenses of the Christian faith against the false
teachings, the so called apologies against the Christian heresies
as well as against Judaism and paganism. There was also the development
of Church doctrine and the beginnings of post apostolic theology; the
establishment of the same basic church order in each local community
led by its bishop, presbyters and deacons; the first foundations of
the Christian liturgy and sacramental life completely separated from
the Jewish synagogue; and the beginnings of the establishment of the
canon of the holy scriptures of the New Testament Church.
At the end of the first century and
at the beginning of the second century, many false writings about Christ
were produced. These were the so called apocryphal writings (not
to be confused with the Old Testament apocrypha), the so called pseudoepigrapha.
These false writings carried the names of the apostles and introduced
into Christian circles many fanciful and legendary stories about the
childhood of Christ, the life of the Virgin Mary and the activities
of the apostles.
Together with the pseudoepigrapha, there
also appeared the false teachings of gnosticism, the Christian
heresy which transformed Christianity into a kind of spiritualistic,
dualistic, intellectualistic philosophy. The genuine Christians of the
Orthodox faith had to contend with these false teachings. The result
of their struggle was the production of the theology of the apologists,
that is, those who defended the true faith and the original gospel
of Christ. The result also was the teaching of apostolic succession
in the Church, the doctrine that the genuine faith and life of Christianity
is passed over from church to church, from generation to generation
and from place to place, through the succession of the Holy Tradition
of the Church in the consecration of bishops, whose teachings and
practice is identical to each other and to that of the apostles of Jesus.
Another result was that the Church began
firmly to establish exactly which writings belong to the holy scripture
of the Church and which do not, their decision being based on the genuine
apostolic testimony contained in the writings, and their use in the
Church at the liturgical gatherings.
Church Order and Liturgy
In the writings of the second century
apologists, martyrs, and saints, it is seen that each local Christian
Church was headed by one bishop who presided over the Church,
which was administered by the presbyters or elders, and served by the
deacons. Thus Saint Ignatius of Antioch writes in his letters:
I exhort you to strive
to do all things in harmony with God: the bishop is to preside in the
place of God, while the presbyters are to function as the council of
the apostles, and the deacons, who are most dear to me, are entrusted
with the ministry (i.e., good works) of Jesus Christ. (Letter to Magnesians
6, 1)
Take care, then, to partake
of one Eucharist; for one is the Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
one the cup to unite us with His Blood, and one altar, just as there
is one bishop assisted by the presbytery and the deacons, my fellow
servants. (Letter to Philadelphians 4)
Where the bishop appears,
there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the
catholic Church. (Letter to Smyrneans 8, 2)
Saint Ignatius was the first to use
the term catholic to describe the Church. It is an adjective
of quality that tells how the Church is, namely, full, perfect, complete,
whole, with nothing lacking in it of the fullness of the grace, truth
and holiness of God.
In the Didache and the Apologies
of Saint Justin and Saint Irenaeus, there are also descriptions
of the Christian sacraments.
Baptize as follows: after
explaining all of these points, baptize in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in running water ... (Didache 7,
1)
Let no one eat and drink
of your Eucharist but those who are baptized in the name of the Lord
. . . (Didache 9)
On the Lord’s own
Day, assemble in common to break bread and give thanks (i.e., the eucharist,
which means thanksgiving); but first confess your sins so that your
sacrifice may be pure.
However, no one quarelling
with his brother may join your assembly until they are reconciled; your
sacrifice must not be defiled. (Didache 14)
Father Thomas Hopko, internationally
recognized Orthodox theologian and scholar is Dean of St. Vladimir’s
Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York. His published
works include The Orthodox Faith: An Elementary Handbook on the Orthodox
Church. The Handbook has been translated into several foreign languages
including Russian, French, Arabic, Serbian, Spanish, Finnish, Swedish,
Dutch and Japanese, and is used as a major resource on the foundations
of the Orthodox faith. Other works include Christian Spirituality: East
and West, The Spirit of God, All the Fulness of God, The Lenten Spring,
Women and the Priesthood, The Winter Pascha, and Speaking of Silence:
Christian and Buddhists on the Contemplative Way.
(St. Vladimir’s Press)
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