Category Archives: Ante-Nicene Fathers

Christians Must Not Deny Jesus When Persecuted (Apostolic Constitutions)

The quotations below from the Apostolic Constitutions (375 AD) give historical perspective on the attitude of Christians regarding martyrdom and the eternal importance of never denying Jesus. As you can read below, it was taught that those Christians that were unfaithful to their confession risked losing their salvation. The memories of persecution were still relatively fresh for the church at this point, which makes these quotes all the more impactful.

I’ve made the particularly relevant portions below bold, although it’s all worth the read.

But he that denies himself to be a Christian, that he may not be hated of men, and so loves his own life more than he does the Lord, in whose hand his breath is, is wretched and miserable, as being detestable and abominable, who desires to be the friend of men, but is the enemy of God, having no longer his portion with the saints, but with those that are accursed; choosing instead of the kingdom of the blessed, that eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels: not being any longer hated by men, but rejected by God, and cast out from His presence.

For of such a one our Lord declared, saying: “Whosoever shall deny me before men, and shall be ashamed of my name, I also will deny and be ashamed of him before my Father which is in heaven.” And again He speaks thus to us ourselves, His disciples: “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life, shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake, shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” And afterwards: “Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (5.1.4)

And a little later:

Let us therefore renounce our parents, and kinsmen, and friends, and wife, and children, and possessions, and all the enjoyments of life, when any of these things become an impediment to piety. For we ought to pray that we may not enter into temptation; but if we be called to martyrdom, with constancy to confess His precious name, and if on this account we be punished, let us rejoice, as hastening to immortality. When we are persecuted, let us not think it strange; let us not love the present world, nor the praises which come from men, nor the glory and honour of rulers, according as some of the Jews wondered at the mighty works of our Lord, yet did not believe on Him, for fear of the high priests and the rest of the rulers: “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

But now, by confessing a good confession, we not only save ourselves, but we confirm those who are newly illuminated, and strengthen the faith of the catechumens. But if we remit any part of our confession, and deny godliness by the faintness of our persuasion, and the fear of a very short punishment, we not only deprive ourselves of everlasting glory, but we shall also become the causes of the perdition of others; and shall suffer double punishment, as affording suspicion, by our denial that that truth which we gloried in so much before is an erroneous doctrine.

Wherefore neither let us be rash and hasty to thrust ourselves into dangers, for the Lord says: “Pray that ye fall not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Nor let us, when we do fall into dangers, be fearful or ashamed of our profession. Nor let us, when we do fall into dangers, be fearful or ashamed of our profession. For if a person, by the denial of his own hope, which is Jesus the Son of God, should be delivered from a temporary death, and the next day should fall dangerously sick upon his bed, with a distemper in his bowels, his stomach, or his head, or any of the incurable diseases, as a consumption, or gangrene, or looseness, or iliac passion, or dropsy, or colic, and has a sudden catastrophe, and departs this life; is not he deprived of the things present, and loses those eternal? Or rather, he is within the verge of eternal punishment, “and goes into outer darkness, where is weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (5.1.6)

The quotes speak for themselves. Let’s not deny Christ, fearing the temporary, and thus lose the eternal.

If you want to read more from the Apostolic Constitutions, check out my post on the early church teaching that continued obedience after baptism is necessary for salvation.

Necessity of Continued Obedience for Salvation (Apostolic Constitutions)

I want to share a series of quotations from the so-named Apostolic Constitutions, compiled and written in the 4th century. The quotations below are based upon an earlier work, the Didascalia Apostolorum from sometime around 230 AD. (Read more at the Wikipedia page and at the Catholic Encyclopedia.)

All of these excepts deal with the importance of continued obedience after conversion.

Much of my early church reading has recently been limited to the Apostolic Fathers, which reflect the earliest Christian sources we have outside scripture. There is clear and compelling evidence in these writings that the earliest Christians believed and taught that believers have to persevere in faith and holy living in order to inherit eternal life. In other words, the early church (in agreement with scripture) didn’t hold to the modern teaching of “eternal security.” Although a slightly later document, the Apostolic Constitutions confirms that the early church continued to confirm the necessity of perseverance for salvation.

This first quotation comes from the opening paragraphs of the first book. The writer makes it clear that those Christians, “ye children of God,” who live disobediently will be considered as “heathen” by God—clearly a stark warning.

Take care, ye children of God, to do all things in obedience to God; and in all things please Christ our Lord. For if any man follows unrighteousness, and does those things that are contrary to the will of God, such a one will be esteemed by God as the disobedient heathen. (1.1.0)

It goes on to list specific moral instructions, paired with warnings for the unrepentant Christian. Specifically those living in immorality are “condemned by our Lord Jesus Christ” and that “eternal death will overtake thee from God.” This is not the typical language from a Sunday sermon, but good guidance nonetheless.

For he that covets his neighbour’s wife, or his man-servant, or his maid-servant, is already in his mind an adulterer and a thief; and if he does not repent, is condemned by our Lord Jesus Christ (1.1.1)

For if thou art overcome by her, and sinnest with her, eternal death will overtake thee from God; and thou wilt be punished with sensible and bitter torments. (1.2.0)

Baptism was held in very high regard in the early church—much more seriously than in most churches today. After receiving baptism, any Christian obstinately sinning and refusing to repent was considered eternally lost.

Beloved, be it known to you that those who are baptized into the death of our Lord Jesus are obliged to go on no longer in sin; for as those who are dead cannot work wickedness any longer, so those who are dead with Christ cannot practice wickedness. We do not therefore believe, brethren, that anyone who has received the washing of life continues in the practice of the licentious acts of transgressors. Now he who sins after his baptism, unless he repent and forsake his sins, shall be condemned to hell-fire. (2.3.7)

This last quotation considers the spiritual dangers for a previously pure Christian now experimenting with sin. The danger, according to the excerpt below, is that we don’t know when we will die. If we decide to slide a bit and live in sin, who knows if today is our last day? Once we die, there is no more room for repentance. We will be like the five foolish virgins who were not ready for the bridegroom’s return and were “shut-out of the bride-chamber.” If we are living in sin when Jesus returns or when we die, there is no room for confession and consequently forgiveness of sins.

Yet it is very necessary that those who are yet innocent should continue so, and not make an experiment what sin is, that they may not have occasion for trouble, sorrow, and those lamentations which are in order to forgiveness. For how dost thou know, O man, when thou sinnest, whether thou shalt live any number of days in this present state, that thou mayest have time to repent? For the time of thy departure out of this world is uncertain; and if thou diest in sin, there will remain no repentance for thee; as God says by David, “In the grave who will confess to Thee?”

It behoves us, therefore, to be ready in the doing of our duty, that so we may await our passage into another world without sorrow. Wherefore also the Divine Word exhorts, speaking to thee by the wise Solomon, “Prepare thy works against thy exit, and provide all beforehand in the field,” lest some of the things necessary to thy journey be wanting; as the oil of piety was deficient in the five foolish virgins mentioned in the Gospel, when they, on account of their having extinguished their lamps of divine knowledge, were shut out of the bride-chamber.

Wherefore he who values the security of his soul will take care to be out of danger, by keeping free from sin, that so he may preserve the advantage of his former good works to himself. (2.3.13)

The last sentence of the above excerpt (at least in this English translation) does mention the security of the believer. However, in this instance, the soul’s security is contingent on “keeping free from sin.” Otherwise the past life of obedience through faith is of no benefit.

There are several more quotes from the Apostolic Constitution that I may post later, dealing with martyrdom and the importance of confessing Christ, rather than denying Him.

The sheer amount of quotes that speak to this subject of obedience and perseverance is too much to convey in a single post, or several for that matter. Having an historically informed understanding of Christian teaching can only deepen our analysis of scripture and understanding of how modern doctrines have developed over time.

A Typical Church Service in the Second Century

Several weeks ago I published a series of posts on the biblical understanding of tithing and giving. (You can read them here: Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3). I discussed how the early Christian church collected funds specifically for the purpose of redistributing back to those in need. We read about this in Acts 2:44-45 and Acts 4:32-35.

This practice continued to go on well into the second century, as evidenced by the writings of Justin Martyr, a major Christian apologist during the second century. The following is an except from his First Apology, and in it Justin describes a typical church service.

And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things.

Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons.

And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours [uses it to help] the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I, Justin Martyr’s First Apology, Chapter LXVII.)

The typical meeting consisted of (1) the reading of scripture, (2) a teaching/exhortation related to what was just read, (3) communal prayers, (4) the partaking of communion, (5) and the giving of donations by well-off members as they saw fit. These donations were then given to orphans, widows, prisoners, foreigners, and anyone else in need.

This was written around 155 AD, showing the continued practice of giving collected funds to the needy. It did not cease to be practiced for more than one hundred years after Jesus ascended into heaven, which shows remarkable consistency.

I’ve said it before. Churches should show more serious intention to follow scripture and the example demonstrated by the early church. Love for money inhibits the church from fully functioning as the body of Christ. When financial abuses occur by churches and church leaders (and they do occur), this blasphemes the name of God. As Jesus said, “you cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24) As our country contracts economically and people struggle to make ends meet, this will become increasingly important.

The other aspects of corporate worship may sound familiar. Some Christian denominations still have a public reading from scripture, although it seems to be conspicuously absent from your typical evangelical service. To be fair, public reading had even greater need then, as access to scripture was much more limited than today. Illiteracy was common among the poor, and the cost to copy manuscripts was much more prohibitive.

The rest mentioned by Justin—the teachings, prayer, and communion—still occur in churches today, with variation in the particulars. He does not mention musical worship in this excerpt, although we know that “hymns and spiritual songs” are mentioned by Paul in scripture (Ephesians 5:19). Obviously, the concert style of worship music now would be altogether foreign to these early Christians.

Of course, this description is not scripture. There is no command that a church needs to be conducted in this particular way. However, if we understand where the church came from, it can free us from traditional expectations that aren’t found in scripture. It can free us to worship in ways that spiritually edify the church and bring glory to Jesus.