O O* CAlONIA 
 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 UNIVfSSTY o 
 
 c Of CAllFONIA 
 
 SANTA 
 
 iO A8VMI1 3M1 
 
 VIN8C1 1VJ) 
 
 
 THE HMIVESITY 
 
 C ClONIA c 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 tO ABY88I1 ihti 
 
 
 O' CAllOSNIA 
 
 <O ABVMI1 JM1 o 
 
 IMl UNIVfJSUl 
 
 
 SAMIA BARBARA 
 
 
 JO AIVB9I1 3H1 
 
 o AilSSJMNn 3m 

 
 Unircrsitv of Cbicago 
 
 THE .CHRLSTOLQGY IN THE 
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 A DISSERTATION 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE DIVINITY 
 
 SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF 
 
 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 (DEPARTMENT or NEW TESTAMENT LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE) 
 
 BY 
 ALONZO ROSECRANS STARK 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
 
 COPYRIGHT 1912 BY 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 Published November 1912 
 
 CompoMd and Printed 67 
 
 Th Unhertity of Chicago PrMi 
 Chicago, Illlnoif, U.S.I.
 
 OUTLINE 
 PREFACE 
 
 The divisions of the thesis, and the method of treatment. 
 
 I. GOD THE FATHER SUPREME AND THE CENTER or INTEREST 
 
 The subordination of Christ most pronounced. 
 
 In this division are the writings of Clement of Rome, the Didache, and the 
 Fragments of Papias. 
 
 II. CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 
 
 Less emphasis upon the idea of subordination. Vast extension of Christ's 
 authority. Conjoined with God in certain important functions on a basis of 
 virtual equality. Prayer offered to Christ. Christ called God. 
 
 In this division are the writings of Ignatius, Polycarp, and Second Clement. 
 
 III. THE APPEARANCE OF THE COSMOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CHRIST 
 
 Christ the Creator and Maintainer of the universe. Universal dominion 
 ascribed to Christ. The idea of subordination recedes. 
 
 In this division belong the writings of Barnabas, Hennas, and the Epistle 
 to Diognetus. 
 
 iii
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 MM 
 
 PREFACE xi 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY zii 
 
 CHATTKX 
 
 I. GOD THE FATHER SUPREME AND THE CENTER OF INTEREST . i 
 
 Introductory I 
 
 A. The Letter of Clement to the Corinthians i 
 The Author i 
 
 (1) The letter bears the name of the church at Rome 
 
 (2) Ancient testimonies to Clement as the author 
 
 (3) Clement a namesake of Flavius Clemens 
 
 (4) Clement, whether a Jew or a Gentile 
 
 The Date 2 
 
 (1) In the reign of Domitian 
 
 (2) In the reign of Nero or Hadrian 
 
 (3) External and internal evidence 
 
 The Object ..'.'.. 2 
 
 (1) A sedition in the church at Corinth. Elders 
 expelled 
 
 (2) Their restoration the aim of the letter 
 
 B. The Didache 2 
 
 The Date 2 
 
 (1) Abundance of primitive material 
 
 (2) Absence of second-century movements 
 
 (3) Ancient testimonies 
 
 (4) Two methods of interpretation 
 
 Place of Origin 3 
 
 (1) First known at Alexandria 
 
 (2) Objection to this origin 
 
 (3) External evidence 
 
 C. The Fragments of Papias 3 
 
 (1) The author 
 
 (2) His five books and the Fragments 
 
 (3) Christological material 
 
 I. The Christology in the First Epistle of Clement .... 4 
 i. The Relation of Christ to God 4 
 
 (1) Distinction between Christ and God by use of titles 
 
 (2) The rank given to Christ by titles and ascriptions 
 (a) Power of Christ . 
 
 (6) The pre-existence of Christ 
 (c) The holiness of Christ 
 (</) The knowledge of Christ
 
 VI CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 (3) The conjoining of Christ with God 
 
 (4) Subordination of Christ to God 
 
 2. The Human Nature of Christ 10 
 
 (1) Little emphasis upon this aspect of Christ 
 
 (2) His human descent, body, and soul 
 
 3. The Function of Christ's Death 10 
 
 (1) Passages in which the function of his death is treated 
 
 (2) Interpretation of the passages 
 
 4. The Constructive Aspect of Christ's Soteriological Work . 12 
 
 (1) The whole work of salvation belongs to Christ 
 
 (2) The place of the example of Christ 
 
 (3) The work of the heavenly Christ 
 
 (4) The place of faith in salvation 
 
 5. The Resurrection and Eschatology 13 
 
 (1) The resurrection of Christ 
 
 (2) The second coming of Christ 
 
 6. The Christology of Clement Viewed in the Light of the Object 
 of the Letter 13 
 
 (1) The sanction for the order of the church 
 
 (2) Obedience to the divine order 
 
 (3) Lessons from the rebellious and obedient 
 
 II. The Christology in the Didache 14 
 
 1. The Subordination of Christ to God 14 
 
 (1) The emphasis of the document 
 
 (2) The agency of Christ 
 
 (3) The authority of Christ 
 
 (4) The trinitarian formula in baptism 
 
 (5) The Son of God 
 
 2. Eschatology 16 
 
 (1) False prophets 
 
 (2) The cure of the curse 
 
 (3) The coming of Christ 
 
 III. The Christology in the Fragments of Papias 16 
 
 (1) Use of titles the only hint of Christology 
 
 (2) Classified with Clement 
 
 Summary of the Christology in This Group 17 
 
 II. CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 18 
 
 Introductory 18 
 
 A. The letters of Ignatius 18 
 
 The Author 18 
 
 (1) Knowledge gained of him on his journey to Rome 
 
 (2) His Christian life
 
 CONTENTS Vll 
 
 PACE 
 
 (3) His martyrdom 
 
 (4) Bishop at Antioch 
 
 (5) Characteristics 
 
 The Seven Genuine Letters 19 
 
 (1) Place of Writing 
 
 (2) The object of the letters 
 
 The Date 19 
 
 B. The Letter of Polycarp 20 
 
 The Author 20 
 
 (1) Bishop at Smyrna 
 
 (2) Meeting with Ignatius 
 
 (3) Conversion 
 
 (4) Martyrdom 
 
 The Occasion of the Letter 21 
 
 (1) The request of the Philippians 
 
 (2) The reply of Polycarp 
 
 (3) The character of the letter 
 
 The Date 21 
 
 C. Second Clement . 22 
 
 Its Character as a Homily 22 
 
 (1) The abundance of hortatory appeals 
 
 (2) Two decisive expressions 
 
 The Author 22 
 
 (1) Clement of Rome 
 
 (2) Clement of Alexandria 
 
 (3) The author unknown 
 
 The Place of Its Origin. Rome. Corinth . . . . 23 
 The Date 23 
 
 I. The Christology in the Letters of Ignatius 23 
 
 1. The Conception of the Relation of Christ to God ... 23 
 
 (1) Titles given to Christ and their significations 
 
 (2) Ascriptions to Christ. Pre-existence, omniscience, holi- 
 ness. Prayer addressed to Christ 
 
 (3) Christ conjoined with God in important acts and functions 
 
 (4) Subordination of Christ to God 
 
 (5) Summary of Christ's relation to the Father 
 
 2. The Two Natures of Christ 29 
 
 (1) Reality of human nature in opposition to Docetism 
 
 (2) The human in relation to the divine 
 
 (3) Historical proofs of the reality of the human nature 
 
 3. The Death of Christ 30 
 
 (1) The historical fact 
 
 (2) Its function
 
 VU1 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 (3) Effect of the death beginning in eternity 
 
 (4) The moral effects of his death 
 
 4. The Constructive Aspect of Christ's Soteriological Work . 33 
 
 (1) Union with Christ 
 
 (2) The nature of the union 
 
 (3) The Pauline phrase ev xpwrrw 
 
 (4) Plain affirmation of union 
 
 (5) Specific effects of Christ's work 
 
 5. Eschatology 34 
 
 (1) The resurrection of the believer 
 
 (2) The second coming of Christ 
 
 n. The Christology in the Letter of Polycarp 34 
 
 1. The High Rank Which the Author Gives to Christ . . 34 
 
 (1) The extent of Christ's authority 
 
 (2) Christ conjoined with God 
 
 (3) The slight emphasis upon subordination 
 
 2. The Function of Christ's Death 36 
 
 (1) Different from Ignatius 
 
 (2) Christ's death substitutionary 
 
 (3) Christ's death an example 
 
 (4) Sinlessness of Christ 
 
 3. The Constructive Aspect of Christ's Soteriological Work . 37 
 
 (1) The place of faith in salvation 
 
 (2) Union with Christ 
 
 4. Eschatology 38 
 
 (1) Return of Christ 
 
 (2) Resurrection 
 
 (3) Judgment 
 
 III. The Christology in Second Clement 38 
 
 1. The Rank Given to Christ 38 
 
 (1) The title God 
 
 (2) Christ as God 
 
 (3) The pre-existence of Christ 
 
 (4) Slight emphasis upon subordination. 
 
 2. Second Clement Different from Ignatius in Certain Respects 40 
 
 (1) No doctrine of the death of Christ 
 
 (2) Constructive aspect of work lacking 
 
 3. Eschatology 41 
 
 (1) The second coming of Christ 
 
 (2) Christ the judge 
 
 (3) Basis of judgment 
 
 Development of Christology in This Group 42
 
 CONTENTS IX 
 
 MM 
 
 III. THE APPEARANCE OF THE COSMOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CHRIST . 44 
 
 Introductory 44 
 
 A. The Letter of Barnabas 44 
 
 The Author 44 
 
 (1) Ascribed to Barnabas the apostle 
 
 (2) Evidence of authorship from the letter 
 
 The Place of Origin -44 
 
 (1) Its object 
 
 (2) The contents 
 
 (3) Characteristics of the letter 
 
 (4) Probability in favor of Alexandria as place of origin 
 The Date 45 
 
 B. Hermas 45 
 
 The Author 45 
 
 (i) His home. A freedman. A brother of Pius, the 
 bishop 
 
 The Date 46 
 
 The Character of the Work 46 
 
 (1) Visions 
 
 (2) Mandates 
 
 (3) Similitudes 
 
 C. The Letter to Diognetus 46 
 
 The Author 46 
 
 The Date 46 
 
 (1) Great uncertainty about the date 
 
 (2) Similarity of Christology to Barnabas and Hermas 
 The Purpose 47 
 
 (1) Account of Christian worship 
 
 (2) Defense of the Christian life 
 
 I. The Christology of Barnabas 47 
 
 1. The Rank of Christ 47 
 
 (1) Cosmological function of Christ 
 
 (2) Spiritual creation the work of Christ 
 
 (3) Christ's power over death 
 
 (4) Pre-existence 
 
 (5) Authority of Christ 
 
 (6) The place of subordination 
 
 (7) The same work ascribed to both Christ and God the Father 
 
 2. The Function of Christ's Death 49 
 
 (1) Types of his death 
 
 (2) Function of his death 
 
 (3) Primary purpose of the author
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 3. The Constructive Aspect of the Soteriological Work of Christ 50 
 
 (1) Graces of life rather than faith emphasized 
 
 (2) Place of faith 
 
 (3) Christ's dwelling in men 
 
 4. Eschatology 51 
 
 (1) Teaching concerning the Evil One 
 
 (2) Nearness of the end of the world 
 
 (3) Christ the judge 
 
 (4) Order of events 
 
 n. The Christology of Hermas 52 
 
 1. The Rank of Christ . . 52 
 
 (1) The incarnate Christ 
 
 (2) The pre-existent Christ 
 
 (3) The Christ apart from all humiliation 
 
 2. The Constructive Aspect of Soteriological Work of Christ 56 
 
 (1) Baptism a means of salvation 
 
 (2) Salvation by works 
 
 (3) The place of faith 
 
 (4) The Holy Spirit 
 
 3. Eschatology 58 
 
 (1) Judgment 
 
 (2) The coming age 
 
 (3) Nearness of the end of the world 
 
 III. The Christology of Diognetus 58 
 
 1. The Rank of Christ 58 
 
 (1) Cosmological function 
 
 (2) The place of subordination 
 
 (3) Christ's revelation of God 
 
 (4) Pre-existence 
 
 2. The Function of Christ's Death 59 
 
 3. Christ's Revelation of God 59 
 
 The Development of Christology in This Group 60
 
 PREFACE 
 
 From the christological point of view, the writings known as the 
 Apostolic Fathers have been found to fall into three stages of develop- 
 ment. In the first group, God the Father is supreme and is the center 
 of interest. In consequence of this supremacy of the Father, the sub- 
 ordination of Christ is most pronounced. Christ is assigned a high rank, 
 but he is always and pre-eminently the agent of the Father. 
 
 In this division belong the writings of Clement of Rome, the Didache, 
 and the Fragments of Papias. 
 
 In the second group of writings, Christ is the center of interest. 
 Less emphasis is put upon the idea of his subordination. His authority 
 is vastly extended. He is conjoined with God in certain important 
 functions on a basis of virtual equality. Prayer is offered to Christ. 
 He is frequently called God in a limited sense, and finally he is called 
 God in the absolute sense. 
 
 Here belong the writings of Ignatius, Polycarp, and Second Clement. 
 
 In the third group of writings the cosmological function of Christ 
 appears. He is the Creator and Maintainer of the universe. His 
 authority is so extended that now universal dominion is ascribed to him. 
 The idea of subordination has almost disappeared, and the equality of 
 Christ with God is fully recognized. 
 
 The writings of Barnabas and Hennas and the Epistle to Diognetus 
 belong here. 
 
 This dissertation examines in detail the christological teachings of 
 each writer in the group. In the summary at the end of each group, the 
 relation of each writer to the dominant ideas of the group is set forth, 
 and an attempt is made to show just what each writer contributes to 
 these ideas. After examining the writers of each period, an effort is made 
 to show also the precise elements in one group which are in advance, from 
 a christological point of view, over the preceding division.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Lightfoot, J. B. Apostolic Fathers, Ignatius and Polycarp, Vols. I, II, III. 
 
 1885. 
 
 Ribagnac, Adolphe. La ckristologie du Pasteur d'Hermas. 1887. 
 J. Rendel Harris. The Teaching of the Apostles. 1887. 
 Lightfoot, J. B. Apostolic Fathers, Clement of Rome, Vols. I, II. 1890. 
 Schaff, Philip. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. 1800. 
 Dorner, J. A. History of the Development of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ, 
 
 Div. I, Vol. I. 1891. 
 
 Cruttwell, C. T. A Literary History of Early Christianity. 1893. 
 Hort, J. F. A. The ante-Nicene Fathers. 1895. 
 Goltz, Eduard Freihernn von der. Ignatius von Antiochien als Christ und 
 
 Theologe. (Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen 
 
 Litteratur bis Eusebius, B. 12.) 1895. 
 Harnack, A. The History of Dogma, Vol. I. 1896. 
 Fisher, J. P. History of Christian Doctrine. 1896. 
 Kriiger, G. History of Early Christian Literature. 1897. 
 Harnack, A. Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur bis Eusebius, Vol. I. 1897 , 
 
 Vol. H. 1004. 
 
 Scherer, W. Der erste Clemensbrief an die Corinther. 1902. 
 Pfleiderer, Otto. Das Urchristentum, Vol. II. 1902. Eng. Trans., Primitive 
 
 Christianity, Vol. 888. 1910. 
 Swete, H. B. Patristic Study. 1902. 
 
 Wernle, Paul. Die Anfange unserer Religion. Eng. Trans., Vol. II. 1903. 
 Gebhardt, Harnack, and Zahn. Patrum Aposlolicorum Opera. 1906. 
 Goodspeed, E. J. Index Patristicus. 1007. 
 Farrar, F. W. Lives of the Fathers, Vol. I. 1907. 
 Newman, A. H. A Manual of Church History, Vol. I. 1907. 
 Harnack, A. The Mission and Expansion of Christianity, Vol. I. 1908. 
 Burton, E. D., Smith, J. M. P., Smith, G. B. Biblical Ideas of Atonement. 
 
 1909. 
 
 Cranberry, J. C., Outline of New Testament Christology. 1909. 
 Deissmann, G. A. Light from the Ancient East. 1910.
 
 CHAPTER I 
 GOD THE FATHER IS SUPREME AND IS THE CENTER OF INTEREST 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 A. THE LETTER OF CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 The author, The letter bears the name of the church at Rome, and 
 not that of an individual. The opening words are: "The church of 
 God which sojourneth at Rome to the church of God which sojourneth at 
 Corinth." The name of the writer of the letter is nowhere mentioned in 
 the letter. From this it is evident that whoever wrote it, he wrote as the 
 representative of the church at Rome. It is a letter from one church to 
 another church. There are sufficient grounds, however, for assigning 
 the letter to Clement, who is reckoned the third bishop of Rome. Light- 
 foot and Harnack agree in putting his term of office from about 90 to 
 loo A.D. Eusebius (IV. 23) quotes parts of a letter from Dionysius, 
 bishop at Corinth about 170 A.D., in which Dionysius says: "Today we 
 have passed the Lord's holy day, in which we have read your epistle. 
 From it, whenever we read it, we shall always be able to draw advice, 
 as also through the former epistle, which was written to us through 
 Clement." Eusebius says that Hegesippus, who visited at Corinth and 
 Rome about 170 A.D., made some remarks about the letter of Clement 
 to the Corinthians. But he does not state what the remarks were. 
 Harnack quotes Irenaeus, who lived from 130 to 202 A.D., as saying that 
 he had read of a sedition which had arisen in Corinth, and that Clement 
 had written a letter about it. There is much to favor the position of 
 Lightfoot, that Clement, who wrote the letter and was the bishop of 
 Rome, was a freedman and namesake of Flavius Clemens, the consul 
 and cousin of the emperor Domitian. Some have sought to identify the 
 consul and the bishop. The weight of scholarship, however, is on the 
 side of Lightfoot's conclusions. There is more difference of opinion 
 about whether Clement was a Jew or a Gentile. Lightfoot and Lemme 
 claim that he was a Jew, while Harnack and Wrede claim that he was a 
 Gentile* Both opinions rest upon the internal proofs furnished by the 
 letter itself. His knowledge of the Septuagint furnishes a strong argu- 
 ment for his Jewish nationality. He not merely quotes the Septuagint 
 freely, but he is permeated with its style and ideas. On the other hand, 
 he shows no familiarity with Greek and Roman literature, such as would 
 be expected of a man holding his position if he had been a Gentile.
 
 2 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 The dale. It is the generally received opinion that the document 
 belongs at about the close of Domitian's reign, or soon after (95 or 96 
 A.D).' A few scholars assign the letter to the close of Nero's reign, and 
 others take the extreme position of assigning it to the reign of Hadrian. 
 In addition to the external testimonies quoted above, the internal evi- 
 dence points to the reign of Domitian rather than the reign of Nero. 
 The view of the Corinthian church as ancient moves the letter away from 
 the earlier date, and the reference to Paul and Peter as belonging to our 
 generation forbids giving the letter the extreme date suggested by 
 Volkmar and others. 
 
 The object. A sedition has arisen in the church at Corinth. Elders 
 who were appointed by the apostles have been thrust out. This letter 
 aims to secure the restoration of these elders to their office, and to lead 
 the rebellious to repentance and to submission to the properly consti- 
 tuted officers of the church. All christological teaching is aside from the 
 main purpose of the letter, and such Christology as the letter contains 
 is presented by way of illustration of his theme, and for the purpose of 
 enforcing the duty of subjection upon the elders. 
 
 B. THE DIDACHE 
 
 The date. The Didache abounds in primitive material. The 
 picture of church life given here is that of a very early period. Prophets 
 are the chief teachers and are not yet superseded by bishops. The 
 Agape and Eucharist are observed as one feast. The Christology is 
 very closely allied to First Clement. In keeping with these positive 
 marks of its early origin is the absence of any trace in it of the move- 
 ment which agitated the church in the second century. There is no 
 sign of Ebionism, nor of Gnosticism, which were felt early in the second 
 century. There is the recognition of false teachers, but no such opposi- 
 tion to Judaism as Barnabas shows. The ancient testimonies to the 
 work are not numerous. Eusebius knows the work, and calls it the 
 "so-called teachings of apostles." 3 Clement of Alexandria quotes from 
 it as Scripture. It is possible that Irenaeus makes a reference to it. 
 Some have tried to see some connection with First Clement through the 
 use of Christemporos. 3 Schlecht's Latin probably represents a Greek 
 original which is shorter than the Greek document which we have. 
 
 These facts admit of two interpretations. First, the primitive 
 material may have come from some out-of-the-way district where it 
 
 1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Clement, I, 346. 
 
 1 B.E. III. 3 1 Clement i : 10; Dis. 13 : 5.
 
 GOD THE FATHER SUPREME AND THE CENTER OF INTEREST 3 
 
 has been unaffected by the movements of the age. In this way Harnack 
 thinks that it is possible to make the date as late as 160 A.D., though 
 he says that the material fits better in the period 80-120 than 120-60. 
 Still, because of the fixed form of fasts and prayers, the established order 
 of the prophets, and the corruption that has grown up among them, 
 the improbability that it would have been composed until some time after 
 the death of the apostles, and the priority of Barnabas to the Didache, 
 he thinks that this originated shortly after 131 A.D. Secondly, more 
 weight may be given to the primitive nature of the material and con- 
 sequently an earlier date assigned to it, say from 80-120. So Schaff, 
 Lightfoot, and others. 
 
 The use of Matthew furnishes a means for determining the earliest 
 limits of its origin, as the Didache in chap. VIII quotes Matthew's 
 version of the Lord's Prayer. Still this is not a certain guaranty of 
 its earliest date, as the sources of Matthew's Gospel might have been 
 used in the Didache. If it be granted that the quotation is from the 
 Gospel of Matthew, this makes it necessary to put the Didache some 
 time in the second century as the time of its earliest origin, as the present 
 tendency is to give a late date to the Gospel of Matthew, Burkitt placing 
 it from 90-100. 
 
 Place of origin. The Didache came into the stream of history at 
 Alexandria. But for one statement there would probably be no one to 
 question that some out-of-the-way district in Egypt was the place of its 
 origin. In the eucharistic thanksgiving IX. 4, are the words: "As this 
 broken bread was scattered upon the mountains, and being gathered 
 together became one." Schaff regards these words as an insuperable 
 objection to its Egyptian origin. They may, however, be understood 
 as an Old Testament allusion. The first appearance of the Didache in 
 Egypt, its use there as witnessed by Athanasius, and the origin of 
 Barnabas' letter in Alexandria give the weight of the argument in favor 
 of its origin in Egypt. 
 
 C. THE FRAGMENTS OF PAPIAS 
 
 The fragments furnish no material for a Christology and merely need 
 to be mentioned. Papias was bishop of Hierapolis, and flourished about 
 140 A.D. Harnack puts the date of his birth at about 80 A.D. ; Lightfoot 
 puts it ten years earlier. Irenaeus says that he was a companion of 
 Poly carp and a hearer of John. Ancient testimony agrees that he wrote 
 five books on the teachings of Christ. Jerome gives as the title of his 
 work, Expositions of the Discourses of the Lord.
 
 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 I. THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE FIRST EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 I. THE RELATION OF CHRIST TO GOD 
 
 (i) The author maintains a careful distinction between 
 Christ and God by his use of titles 
 
 Three titles are applied to God exclusively: 0os, Seo-Tron/s, and 
 Kipio? is applied to both God and Christ. It is used of 
 Christ often, of God only sparingly. In the quotations of Scripture the 
 author follows the Septuagint, and so retains both mjjpios and o KU/MOS 
 as designations of God. And even this small number must be reduced 
 in importance by the consideration that in four instances in which he 
 uses KV/XOS of God, he may have been influenced by the Septuagint. 
 Chap. 53:3 furnishes a clear example of such an influence where the 
 short statement rev K^JIOS irpbs avrov is set in the midst of a quotation 
 from the Septuagint. This leaves only five times that he independently 
 applies Kvpios to God. This manifest preference for the word 
 to designate God is significant. The old distinction between 
 and Kvpio? does not continue in the time of our author. Of this dis- 
 tinction Archbishop Trench, New Testament Synonyms, p. 53, says: 
 "There lies in Kvpio* the sense of authority owning limitations moral 
 limitations it may be; while the SCO-JTOTT;? exercises a more unrestricted 
 power and absolute domination, confessing no such limitations or 
 restraints. The Greeks refused the title of Sto-Tron;? to any but their 
 gods." While this early distinction has been lost, Philo seeks to make 
 something out of it, and says as quoted by Trench in the reference above: 
 "8(nrdn7s is not xvpios but <t>o/3epb<: KV/JIOS, and implies on the part 
 of him who uses it a more entire prostration of self before the might and 
 majesty of God than Ktptos would have done." The fact cannot be 
 questioned that Clement shows a decided preference for SevwoTrp over 
 Kvpios as a name for God, and applies the latter to him sparingly. The 
 significance of this use permits of more than one interpretation. In his 
 desire to avoid confusion and keep the distinction clear between Christ 
 and God, he may have chosen for God the term WH-OTT/S with the 
 feeling that something of the old dignity still clung to the word, and he 
 wished to express by it his sense of the higher exaltation of God. Or 
 the use may signify nothing more than the desire to avoid confusion. 
 But the whole attitude of Clement toward the unique majesty of God 
 lends support to the view that he sought to indicate this majesty in some 
 measure by the use of the word
 
 GOD THE FATHER SUPREME AND THE CENTER OF INTEREST 5 
 
 (2) The author assigns to Christ a unique relation to God by the titles which 
 he gives to him, and the ascriptions which he makes to him. 
 
 a) The power of Christ. His conception of the power of Christ is 
 indicated by the titles "Lord," "Son," "High Priest," "Savior," 
 "Helper," and "Patron." The dignity conveyed by these titles cannot 
 be determined from the words themselves, but must be learned from the 
 force which the author gives them. Christ has power and authority 
 over the spiritual life of believers. He calls them, protects them, sancti- 
 fies them; he is their high priest, savior, helper; they are, his elect, 
 his flock; and they must obey him. This spiritual work exhausts the 
 work that is denoted by any of his titles. He is Lord, but only over the 
 spiritual life of believers. He is the Son seated at the right hand of 
 God. The author uses " son " not to denote moral likeness on the ground 
 of which he may be called son. Rather by this term he means akin to 
 God in nature; he is using "son" in the metaphysical sense. The 
 ascription to him of a place at the right hand of God denotes his parti- 
 cipation in the administration with God, his Father. But when we 
 seek the nature and extent of his administration, the answer is clear: 
 he deals with the spiritual life of believers. In 36: 2, he declares Christ 
 is "the reflection of the majesty of God." Here Clement is following 
 Heb. 1:3. But he has confused the meaning somewhat by substituting 
 /tcyaAuxrwjTs for 8067$. The passage in Hebrews declares that Christ 
 is the reflection of the absolute perfection of the Deity. Clement, by 
 the word which he uses, calls attention to the governing power of the 
 Deity. But Clement has made a mistake in his use of the word, for the 
 idea which he wishes to express, as the context shows, is the moral per- 
 fection of God as reflected in Christ. In 16:2, by the use of the phrase 
 "the scepter of his majesty," he calls attention to the governing power 
 of God. The scepter is the symbol of power. The application of the 
 figure to Christ signifies that royal majesty has been transferred to him. 
 The majesty of God is represented in him. 1 But in what field, and to 
 what extent, does he represent the imperial majesty? His work is 
 limited to the spiritual life of believers. This limitation of the power 
 of Christ is made still more sharp by the consideration of two negative 
 aspects of his work. He is not said to have dominion over all men, or 
 over the whole life of believers. Universality of dominion is assigned 
 to God alone, and he alone creates and preserves men. This leads to the 
 
 1 Dorner, Doctrine of the Person of Christ, Div. I, Vol. I, p. 101.
 
 6 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 second negative aspect of Christ's work. No cosmological function is 
 assigned to him. And the failure to assign such a function to Christ 
 is not because Clement omits this subject. He has much to say of pre- 
 servation and creation, but God is alone in this work. See 19:2: "the 
 Father and maker of the whole world"; 26:1: "the Creator of the 
 universe"; 27:4: "by the word of his majesty He compacted the 
 universe." Many other passages might be cited. 
 
 From three passages attempts have been made to identify Christ 
 as the agent of God in creation. The passage quoted above (27:4) is 
 thus interpreted by Dorner. 1 He says that the "word of his majesty" 
 is the pre-existent Christ. He gives as the reason of this identification 
 that Clement frequently applies /AeyoAowui; to Christ; that he was 
 familiar with Paul's cosmological teaching and also with the teaching 
 of the author to the Hebrews. As a matter of fact, Clement uses the 
 word only eight times, and in five of these instances it refers without the 
 possibility of a doubt to God. This leaves only two instances in which 
 the word is used in reference to Christ, outside of the passage under 
 discussion. Clement's usage, therefore, affords no presumption in favor 
 of the application of the term to Christ, but rather the contrary. It can 
 be so applied, but only on the basis of an argument from the context. 
 The connection, however, in which the phrase occurs, "by the word of 
 his majesty," gives no hint that it means Christ, and such an interpre- 
 tation is in conflict with the whole letter of Clement, which assigns crea- 
 tion to God. W. Scherer also attempts to make Christ the creator. 8 
 In 59'3 Scherer identifies "Lord" with Christ in the prayer: "Grant 
 unto us Lord." Lightfoot brackets these words in this place, and 
 Gebhardt, Harnack, and Zahn omit them altogether. But even if 
 they are retained, they would clearly refer to God as the primal source 
 of all creation, and add but one more to the small number of passages in 
 which he calls God Kupios. In the immediately preceding context God 
 the creator is expressly distinguished from "his beloved son Jesus 
 Christ." And immediately following, the primal source of creation 
 is called God "who alone art the benefactor of spirits and the God of 
 all flesh." Our author, moreover, in no other place calls Christ 0'os. 
 In 2:1, Clement says: "And ye were all lowly in mind and free from 
 arrogance, yielding rather than claiming submission, more glad to give 
 than to receive, and content with the provisions which Christ supplieth. 
 And giving heed unto his words, ye laid them up diligently in your 
 
 1 Doctrine of the Person of Christ, pp. 356, 357. 
 
 1 Scherer, Der erste Clemensbrief an die Corinther, S. 159-61.
 
 GOD THE FATHER SUPREME AND THE CENTER OF INTEREST f 
 
 hearts, and his sufferings were before your eyes." Here Scherer identifies 
 Christ with God, and then reasons that Christ is the creator of all things, 
 "and consequently uncreated and therefore God." While the reading 
 here is in dispute, Gebhardt, Harnack, and Zahn read TOV Xpurrov, the 
 reading for which Scherer contends. But in vs. 3 the subject changes to 
 "Almighty God" as the object of the Christians' prayer, and there is 
 little justification for thinking that Clement intends to apply 0<>s to 
 Christ. The two persons are constantly kept clearly distinct. 
 
 b) The pre-existence of Christ. The author shows his belief in Christ's 
 pre-existence in three different ways. In 16:2 his declaration involves 
 pre-existence. He says: "The scepter of the majesty of God, even 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, came not in the pomp or arrogance of pride, though 
 he might have done so." He declares that Christ spoke parts of the 
 Old Testament through the Holy Spirit. In 22:1, he says: "Now all 
 these things the faith which is in Christ confirmeth; for he himself 
 through the Holy Spirit inviteth us." Then he follows this statement 
 with a quotation from the Septuagint of Ps. 53:1-12. In the passage 
 from Isaiah concerning the suffering servant (53:1-12), he represents 
 Christ himself as speaking a part of this chapter. In 15:16, he says: 
 "And again he himself says." He identifies Christ with this speaker. 
 
 c) The holiness of Christ. In 23:5, he identifies Christ with the 
 "Holy One." In two instances the work of Christ suggests the infer- 
 ence that he is holy, if it does not positively involve such an inference, 
 as Scherer maintains. 1 In chap. 36, men look up to heaven and taste 
 immortal knowledge through fixing the eyes upon Jesus. By calling 
 Christ (36:2) "the reflection of the majesty of God," and from the 
 connection of this passage with Heb. 1:3, he presents Christ as the one 
 who reveals the perfection of the Deity. In 7:4, Christ wins for the 
 whole world the grace of repentance. Whatever interpretation may be 
 put upon this passage, he who takes away sin, either by bearing the 
 penalty of sin or by his marvelous exhibition of love in death winning 
 men away from sin, must himself be a holy being. 
 
 d) The knowledge of Christ. The author gives no reliable hint of 
 his thought about Christ's knowledge. Whatever opinion he may have 
 held regarding the omniscience of Christ, he has not made it known to us. 
 Violence is done to the simple statement of the writer if one attempts to 
 construe 4:41 into a declaration of the omniscience of Christ. Here 
 he says: "And our apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that 
 there would be strife over the name of the bishop's office." From this 
 
 1 Der erste Clcmensbrief an die Corinthcr, S. 181.
 
 8 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 statement Scherer concludes that in Christ lay concealed all the treasures 
 of science and of wisdom, and that before his eyes the veil of the future 
 was lifted.' But such a statement implies no more knowledge than in 
 the case of the apostle Paul when he tells the Ephesian elders that they 
 may expect trouble in the church. In Acts 20:29, he says: "I know 
 that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not 
 sparing the flock." Such a statement rests upon an understanding of the 
 situation, and implies only human foresight. Nothing more than this 
 can be gained from Clement's statement regarding the knowledge of 
 Christ. In 23:5, he barely refers to a day of judgment. Here Christ is 
 the ' 'Holy One," who will suddenly come to his temple. 
 
 (3) The conjoining of Christ with God 
 
 The author conjoins Christ with God in such a way that he shows the 
 exaltation of Christ. Most important are two trinitarian passages. 
 We read in 46 : 6: " Have we not one God, and one Christ, and one spirit 
 of grace that was shed upon us ?" Still more significant is 58 : 2 : "For 
 as God liveth, and the Lord Jesus Christ liveth, and the Holy Spirit, 
 who are the faith and hope of the elect." Dorner and Scherer have called 
 attention to the fact that this statement is the form of the oath employed 
 in the Old Testament (Deut. 6:13), "as God liveth." Lightfoot also 
 points out the similarity of this statement to the baptismal formula 
 in Matt. 28:3. It has been contended that great significance belongs 
 to the fact that these three names are joined together in the form of the 
 oath. However, the names of men were joined with God in the form of 
 an oath, as in I Sam. 25 :36: "Now therefore, my lord, as Jehovah liveth, 
 and as thy soul liveth"; also the same form is seen in II Sam. 15:21: 
 "As Jehovah liveth, and as my lord the king liveth." Still further it is 
 maintained that it is significant that three persons are made conjointly 
 the foundation of the faith and hope of the elect. From this Scherer 
 concludes (p. 146): "It is the essential Deity which the author assigns 
 to the persons." Dorner also maintains that the work of salvation 
 involves Deity even more clearly than the work of creation. 8 In fact, 
 however, what Clement ascribes to Christ in union with the Father and 
 Spirit is not deity, but only the work which he has already ascribed to 
 Christ alone in other places, that is, the work of salvation. The new 
 element here is that the three are put together on an equality so far as this 
 work is concerned. By virtue of this implied equality in the work 
 
 1 Der ersle Clemensbrief an die Corinthcr, S. 168. 
 1 Dorner, op. cit., I, zoo.
 
 GOD THE FATHER SUPREME AND THE CENTER OF INTEREST 9 
 
 of salvation, the language certainly conveys an exalted conception of 
 Christ. 
 
 In two instances the same doxology is used in respect to Christ 
 which in other places is used of God. In 20:12, he says: "Our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the majesty forever and ever." 
 And in 59:7 glory is ascribed to Christ. Outside of these doxologies, 
 Clement has declared that majesty and glory belong to Christ without 
 implying his deity. To throw this declaration into the form of a doxol- 
 ogy does not essentially change the meaning. Clement undoubtedly 
 holds a very exalted conception of Jesus. 
 
 (4) The subordination of Christ to God 
 
 This subordination appears when Christ takes the position of God's 
 agent. The whole of Christ's work is done as the agent of God. God 
 gives grace and peace through Christ; he shows mercy through Christ. 
 He calls and instructs men through Christ. In the agent, Clement does 
 not lose sight of God back of the agent. Christ works not only in har- 
 mony with the will of God, but in obedience to it. God sent Christ 
 as Christ sent the apostles. Christ is governed in his work by the will 
 of God. However, there is no suggestion of force in the rule of God over 
 Christ. By love and compassion, Christ was moved to his work of 
 salvation. 1 
 
 In his resurrection is seen Christ's subordination to God. In 24:1, 
 it is said: " whereof he made the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruit, when he 
 raised him from the dead." 
 
 The author shows a distinctly different attitude toward God from 
 that which he takes toward Christ in many particulars. He emphasizes 
 repeatedly the supremacy of God. He is almighty, omniscient, all- 
 holy; he created and preserves all things; men offer prayer to him; men 
 worship God; and they must fear him. The resurrection offers an oppor- 
 tunity for Clement to enlarge upon the power of God as seen in nature. 
 He says in 24: 5: "The sower goeth forth and casteth into the earth each 
 of the seeds; and these falling into the earth dry and bare decay; then 
 out of their decay the mightiness of the Master's [TOT) WTTOTOU] provi- 
 dence raiseth them up, and from being one they increase manifold and 
 bear fruit." And again in 26: i, he says: "Do we think it to be a great 
 and marvellous thing, if the creator of the universe shall bring about 
 the resurrection of them that have served him?" Omnipotence is 
 ascribed so repeatedly to God alone that the writer makes a wide separa- 
 
 'Int. 32:4; 42:12; 49:6.
 
 10 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 tion between God and all other beings. All the universe is under sub- 
 jection to God. Nature renews itself in obedience to his laws; and the 
 breath of men is from Almighty God. Christ forms no exception to the 
 universal supremacy of God. God works through Christ. But back 
 of the agent, the supreme author of the work stands transcendent in 
 power and authority. The authority of God is consequently unique 
 and absolute. The love of Christ, which is the foundation of mercy, is 
 plainly declared. But God alone has authority to exercise mercy. It 
 is not a question in regard to the spirit of either Christ or God. It is 
 entirely a matter of authority. And here the supremacy of God is made 
 emphatic. To him prayer is offered; to him thanksgiving is rendered 
 for all benefits. The whole attitude of dependence upon the power 
 and mercy of God and of prayer to him differs widely from the attitude 
 taken toward Christ. Omnipotence, omniscience, creation, preserva- 
 tion, universal dominion are ascribed to God, but never to Christ. 
 
 2. THE HUMAN NATURE OF CHRIST 
 
 Clement constantly assumes and clearly recognizes the human 
 nature of Christ, though he gives but little attention to this aspect of 
 his nature. In 32:2, his descent is traced to Abraham according to 
 the flesh. The phrase "according to the flesh" shows clearly that this 
 account of Christ does not exhaust Clement's conception of him. Christ 
 was more than human. In 49:6, he speaks of his body and soul. In 
 other places he represents Christ as sharing the nature common to 
 men when he speaks of Christ as enduring hardships and suffering, 
 physical death. 
 
 3. THE FUNCTION OF CHRIST'S DEATH 
 
 Clement speaks of the function of Christ's death in the following 
 
 five passages: 7:4; 12:7; 16:3-16; 21:6; 49:6. There is one other 
 
 reference which has some value for this subject in 20: n, where he says: 
 
 'have taken refuge in his compassionate mercy through our Lord 
 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 It forms no part of the author's purpose to set forth any doctrine 
 concerning the atonement. His use of the death of Christ has for its 
 object the practical purpose of leading the faction in the church to repent- 
 ance, to reinstatement of the elders, and to submission to the rule of 
 the divinely appointed officers. 
 
 In 7:4 Clement makes three statements concerning the blood of 
 Christ: (i) The blood of Christ is precious unto the Father; (2) it was 
 shed for the salvation of men; (3) and it has brought the grace of
 
 GOD THE FATHER SUPREME AND THE CENTER OF INTEREST II 
 
 repentance to the whole world. Clement in this passage, and in all the 
 others relating to this subject, is treating of the death of Christ, and not 
 of his life. The value of the death of Christ is related in some way to 
 God. It may mean that the kind of conduct which is displayed in the 
 death of Christ is that upon which God places a high estimate. Ch- 
 it may mean that the death of Christ has great value in its influence upon 
 God. The on clause assigns the reason for the preceding statement of 
 the value of the blood of Christ. The act itself and the work which it 
 accomplished are the grounds for its high estimation. It was shed for 
 the benefit of men. But in what way did his blood benefit men ? The 
 answer to this question depends upon the interpretation of the state- 
 ment "won the grace of repentance." The word x< t5 has great 
 significance in the interpretation of the passage. Its usual meaning, 
 in the New Testament at least, is favor, a gracious, favorable attitude 
 of one toward another. There is no reason to depart from that usage 
 here. In vss. 5-7 of this chapter, he says: "The Master has given a 
 place for repentance to those that desire to return to him. Noah 
 preached repentance, and they that obeyed were saved. Jonah preached 
 destruction to them of Nineveh ; but they, repenting of their sins, obtained 
 pardon of God by their supplications and received salvation, albeit they 
 were aliens from God." So the readers are exhorted to fix their eyes 
 upon the blood of Christ as that which "brought to all the world the 
 grace of repentance"; the graciously granted opportunity to repent, 
 implying also the guaranty of pardon. The connection implies dearly 
 enough that it is God who confers this favor of repentance. This shows 
 then that the value of Christ's blood consists in its influence upon 
 God. The author's meaning is as follows: Christ's death has so influ- 
 enced God that on account of his death God has given the opportunity 
 of repentance to the whole world. 
 
 The other passages confirm this representation as the author's way 
 of thinking. In 16:3-16, he quotes Isaiah 53:1-12. His purpose in 
 introducing this quotation is to give an example of lowliness as exhibited 
 in the life of Christ. The lowliness of Christ consists in his enduring 
 suffering for men and bearing the penalty of their sins, since Clement 
 identifies Christ with the suffering servant. The Isaiah passage teaches 
 that the suffering servant bears the penalty of the sins of others. He is, 
 repeatedly spoken of in this chapter as the substitute of the wicked. 1 
 
 1 So this passage is interpreted by Dr. J. M. P. Smith, Atonement, pp. 35-37: 
 "The penalty due their sins has been borne by Israel. He has suffered in their place. 
 No thought appears so frequently in this passage as this of the righteous servant's
 
 12 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 In 49:6, he says: "Jesus Christ our Lord has given his blood for us by 
 the will of God, and his flesh for our flesh and his life for our lives." 
 While this passage may receive two different interpretations, it is in 
 harmony with the preceding passage to treat it as meaning that his 
 death takes the place of our death. In 12:7, the passage in regard 
 to Rahab, the author introduces the word Avrpoxris. Her scarlet 
 thread is a prophecy "that through the blood of the Lord there shall be 
 redemption unto all them that believe and hope on God." Clement 
 uses the word \vrpwa with two significations. In 59:4 there is no 
 thought of the price paid. The word is used to express "deliverance." 
 But in 55:2, he speaks of deliverance through the payment of a price. 
 He adduces examples who have made sacrifices for others, and then says: 
 "We know that many among ourselves have delivered themselves to 
 bondage that they might ransom others." In 12:7, since the blood of 
 Christ is mentioned, it is most natural to regard it as the price paid to 
 deliver men from the penalty of sin. Scherer, likewise, in his treatment 
 of this passage, takes the view that if repentance were sufficient the author 
 would say nothing about redemption. 1 Chap. 21:6 should be inter- 
 preted in harmony with the other passages. "The blood given for us" 
 is that which is given in the place of us. 
 
 4. THE CONSTRUCTIVE ASPECT OF CHRIST'S SOTERIOLOGICAL WORK 
 
 The whole work of salvation is assigned to Christ. Election, calling, 
 sanctification, illumination, grace, peace, forgiveness of sins, salvation 
 in its totality, all are the work of Christ. 2 
 
 This work may be viewed as accomplished in part through the 
 example of the earthly Christ. Thus in the calling of men the earthly 
 Christ is an important factor. He is the reflection of the glory of the 
 Father, and as such makes an appeal to men. In his introduction, he 
 greets those who "are called and sanctified through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." Christ accomplishes this calling, in one way at least, by reflect- 
 ing the glory of God. So in the illumination of men, the glory of God, 
 
 substitution for the wicked (vss. 4, 5, 6, 8, 19, n, 12). The thought is that of the 
 
 vicarious satisfaction of demands made by the divine righteousness He is 
 
 bearing the penalty of others' sins." For a different interpretation, see Professor 
 E. D. Burton, Atonement, pp. 104, 105. Domer says of this chapter in Clement, 
 Doctrine of the Person of Christ, I, 98: "Every interpretation of this passage is forced 
 which does not recognize in it the idea of substitution." 
 
 1 Der erste Clemensbrief an die Corinther, S. 179. 
 
 * Chaps, i, 20, 36 , 42, 50, 59, and in many instances this work is presented.
 
 GOD THE FATHER SUPREME AND THE CENTER OF INTEREST 1$ 
 
 reflected in the life of Christ on earth, transformed men. 1 This passage 
 in chap. 36 reflects very strikingly II Cor. 3: 18, except that Clement says 
 nothing of the activity of the Lord in connection with beholding. The 
 vision of Christ illuminates the moral understanding. "Through him 
 the eyes of our heart were opened." The vision of Christ quickens 
 holy desires and gives strength to the will. "Through him our foolish 
 and darkened mind springeth up unto his marvellous light." The 
 vision of Christ gives a taste of immortal knowledge. The part achieved 
 by the earthly Christ in the work of salvation must not be overlooked. 
 But this does not exhaust the content of Christ's work. The heavenly 
 Christ also saves men. The believer is in union with him. Clement 
 uses also Paul's figure of the body to denote the relation of the believer 
 to Christ. Thus the activity of the heavenly Christ accomplishes the 
 work of salvation. Believers must regard the living Christ, together 
 with God and the Holy Spirit, as the foundation of their hope of salva- 
 tion.* 
 
 Faith is required of men in order to secure their salvation. In 32 : 4, 
 he speaks of faith very much as Paul considers it. He says: "And so 
 we having been called through his will in Christ Jesus are not justified 
 through ourselves or through our own wisdom or understanding or 
 piety or works which we wrought in holiness of heart, but through faith, 
 whereby the Almighty God has justified all men that have been from the 
 beginning." 
 
 5. THE RESURRECTION AND ESCHATOLOGY 
 
 Clement mentions the resurrection of Christ but twice. In 24: i, he 
 says that God raised Christ from the dead and made him the first- 
 fruit. And in 42:3, he says that the resurrection of the Lord gave 
 assurance to the faith of the apostles. He mentions the second coming 
 of Christ in only two passages. In 23: 5, to warn them against sinning, 
 he reminds the readers of the second coming of Christ. He speaks 
 in 59:4 of the visitation of the kingdom of Christ, and in connection 
 with it of the reward of the righteous, and their resurrection from the 
 tombs. 
 
 6. THE CHRISTOLOGY OF CLEMENT VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF THE OBJECT 
 
 OF THE LETTER 
 
 The object of the letter is stated above. It is necessary here only 
 to call attention to the method by which Clement seeks to attain his 
 object. 
 
 'Chap. 36. . * Chap. 58:2.
 
 14 THE CKRJSTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 The sanction for the order of the church is received from God. God 
 sent Christ; Christ sent the apostles; the apostles appointed bishops 
 and deacons. 1 The order of the church is thus divine, and conformity 
 to it is submission not to men but to God. Obedience to the divine 
 order is essential to the welfare of men. Such conformity to the divine 
 arrangement is the condition of welfare in all relations. In the Temple 
 services each one had his place, and the offering must be presented in the 
 prescribed manner. 2 There is harmony in nature and obedience to the 
 laws of God. 3 The author says here: "The heavens are moved by his 
 direction and obey him in peace. Day and night accomplish the course 
 assigned to them by him, without hindrance one to another. The sun 
 and the mood and the dancing stars according to his appointment circle 
 in harmony within the bounds assigned to them without any swerving 
 aside." This whole chapter is an eloquent description of nature in 
 harmony with the behests of God. There must be obedience to author- 
 ity in an army, for only thus can the life of the army be maintained. 
 The welfare of the body is dependent upon the same harmony. 4 He 
 also seeks to overcome rebellion by a long list of examples which show 
 the dire consequences of envy, jealousy, and rebellion in the past. The 
 character itself of the seditious is despicable. The author displays no 
 little warmth of feeling as he characterizes the leaders of this sedition. 
 Over against the picture of evil are placed the results of obedience and 
 the nobility of self-denial for the good of others. Thus the author seeks 
 to restore order in the Corinthian church by showing that God has 
 established the order in the church, and that to his supreme will all owe 
 allegiance; by showing from a long list of examples the evil consequences 
 of sedition; and also by a great number of examples, he shows the benefit 
 of obedience. Such an object led the writer to state and illustrate one 
 main thought supremacy. 
 
 To attain this object of supremacy he exalts God. But this purpose 
 need not lead Clement to lower his Christology. Another man writing 
 later would have accomplished the same object by exalting Christ. 
 
 II. THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE DIDACHE 
 
 I. THE SUBORDINATION OF CHRIST TO GOD 
 
 A marked feature of the Christology that shows the affinity of the 
 Didache with First Clement is the emphasis upon the subordination 
 of Christ to God. The Son is the agent of salvation , but God is made 
 
 1 Chap. 42. i Chap. 20. 
 
 'Ibid. Chaps. 37, 38.
 
 GOD THE FATHER SUPREME AND THE CENTER OF INTEREST 15 
 
 very prominent as the power back of the Son. God made known knowl- 
 edge, faith, and immortality through the Son. In the prayers and thanks- 
 givings, the supremacy of God is made very prominent. To Him all 
 glory is ascribed; to Him thanksgiving is offered and prayer is made. 
 "We give thee thanks, O our Father; thine is the glory and power 
 through Jesus Christ for ever and ever." 1 The use of weus <rov, which is 
 equivalent to wals rov Qeov, to designate Christ is not without signi- 
 ficance. In this matter also the Didache shows its kinship to First 
 Clement.* The word vi<* is used of Christ only twice, and both times 
 in the baptismal formula. But mu is used five times. 1 And these 
 uses are in connection with the agency of Christ in securing salvation. 
 The use of the less exalted word marks more distinctly the subordinate 
 position of Christ and the supremacy of God. It has been maintained 
 that in X. 6, Jesus is called the "God of David," and in XVI. 7, tlje 
 Jehovah of the Old Testament. 4 In X. 6, it is said: "May grace come 
 and may this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David. If any 
 man is holy, let him come; if any man is not, let him repent. Maran 
 Atha. Amen." And XVI. 8 is as follows: "The Lord shall come and all 
 his saints with him. Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon 
 the clouds of heaven." The designation of Christ as wo and irats and 
 6 Kvpux, and the sharp distinction kept between Christ and i 0eds, 
 the Father, in other places, make it highly improbable that the 
 author would, in these two places under discussion, ascribe deity 
 to Christ. Moreover, in X. 6, the context is strongly against referring 
 0e<k to Christ. In this chapter, thanksgiving is offered to the Holy 
 Father, vs. 2; to the Father is assigned the work of creation; to him is 
 ascribed glory and all power; the church belongs to him. No ascriptions 
 are made to Christ throughout the chapter; he is assigned a subordinate 
 place as an agent. It is, therefore, entirely unnatural and without 
 any warrant in the context to interpret *O<rawo TU> 6t<$ Aa/3tS as an 
 ascription of praise to Christ. It must rather refer to the Father. In 
 XVI. 7, the author reflects Matt. 25:31, and there is no reason to think 
 that he connected 6 xvpto? here with the Jehovah of the Old Testament. 
 This expression is constantly used in the New Testament both of the 
 Father and of Christ, and there is nothing here indicating a connection 
 with the Old Testament Jehovah. He is one with Clement in the extent 
 
 'Chaps. DC, X. "59:4. 
 
 17:1,3; 9:2,3; 10:2, 3. 
 
 Schaff, Teaching of the Twelve A pasties, p. 25; Harnack, Geschichte der altckrist- 
 lichen Littcratur bis Eusebius, II, 428.
 
 1 6 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 of the authority which he assigns to Christ. The author recognizes 
 Christ as Lord over their spiritual lives. He is the agent of God. The 
 Christian secures through him salvation that is, knowledge, faith, spirit- 
 ual food, eternal life and in turn they call him Lord. It uses the 
 trinitarian formula in baptism. 1 The Christians baptize in the name of 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In this there is doubtless to be seen 
 the influence of Matthew's Gospel, not an independent development of 
 Christology, and no direct affirmation concerning the nature of the Lord. 
 The Didache calls Christ the son of God. The title is used, not to indi- 
 cate his official position, or the moral nature of Christ, but rather it 
 indicates the metaphysical relation of Christ to God. 
 
 2. ESCHATOLOGY 
 
 Chap, xvi contains a brief but clear statement of the last things. 
 False prophets shall appear; iniquity shall increase; the sheep shall be 
 turned into wolves, and love into hate. Then the world-deceiver shall 
 appear as a son of God, work signs and wonders, and the earth shall be 
 delivered into his hands. This temporary reign of the world-deceiver 
 suggests the triumph of Satan, Rev. 20:7. A peculiar feature of the 
 eschatology is the "cure of the curse." All created mankind shall come 
 to the fire of testing, and many shall be offended and perish, but they 
 that endure in their faith shall be saved by the curse himself. 2 The 
 intention is probably to express the well-known truth that those who 
 do not fall under a great temptation will be purified and strengthened by 
 it. It is not permissible to push the meaning of the words "all created 
 mankind" to their literal signification. For in vs. 7 below, it is said 
 that not all will be raised from the dead. Rather, the words signify that 
 all people living will be tested by this great trial. At its close Christ 
 will come. There will be " a rift in the heaven, then a sign of a voice of a 
 trumpet, and thirdly a resurrection of the dead" who are righteous. 
 
 III. THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE FRAGMENTS OF PAPIAS 
 
 The only hint of the christological position of the Fragments of 
 Papias is the use of the titles "Lord" and "Christ." In the short 
 fragments which Eusebius professes to quote, he uses the title "Lord" 
 eleven times and "Christ" twice. Eusebius quotes a narrative in 
 which he says that Papias speaks of the ascension of Christ, but he gives 
 
 Chap. 7. 
 
 * For an interpretation of this obscure passage, see J. Rendel Harris, The Teaching 
 of the Apostles, p. 62, interesting because of its uniqueness.
 
 GOD THE FATHER SUPREME AND THE CENTER OF INTEREST 17 
 
 no quotation of such a passage. The title "Lord" is used to denote the 
 authority of Christ over the Christians and the Christian community. 
 So far as it contains any indication of the author's position, it shows that 
 he belongs to the First Clement group. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THIS GROUP 
 A. CLEMENT 
 
 The highest point of the author's Christology is reached in the 
 function which he assigns to Christ as Lord of the Christian community, 
 and, in conjunction with the Father and Spirit, as the ground of the 
 believer's hope of salvation. In harmony with this conception is the 
 representation that he was pre-existent, and that he is the scepter of the 
 divine majesty. 
 
 But the marked characteristic of Clement's Christology is the sub- 
 ordination which he assigns to Christ. This subordination he makes 
 emphatic in several ways: (i) He applies three titles exclusively to God, 
 namely, 0os, &t<nroTrp, and 8i;/uov/jyos. Thus he separates God from 
 Christ. (2) He places limitation upon the power of Christ in that 
 Christ's power extends only to the spiritual lives of believers. (3) He 
 sets forth certain negative aspects of Christ's work: his dominion is 
 not affirmed to be over all men; no cosmological function is ascribed to 
 him, though the author has much to say of creation and the main- 
 tenance of the universe; he is not associated with God as the source of 
 grace and mercy, in the manner in which Paul so constantly conjoins the 
 Father and son; prayer is never offered to Christ; omnipotence, omni- 
 science, creation, preservation, and universal dominion are ascribed to 
 God but never to Christ. (4) He represents Christ as an agent acting 
 under the direction of God. This is the conception which dominates 
 the whole letter. (5) He says that God raised Christ from the dead. 
 (6) And finally he assumes a distinctly different attitude toward God 
 from that which he takes toward Christ. 
 
 B. THE DIDACHE AND THE FRAGMENTS OF PAPIAS 
 
 The Didache is one with Clement in recognizing Christ as Lord over 
 the lives of believers; in representing Christ as an agent of God; and 
 in presenting him as the mediator of salvation. Though much less 
 fully and definitely expressed, the Christology of the Didache is of the 
 same type as that of Clement. 
 
 The Fragments of Papias indicate only that Christ is Lord over the 
 believer.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 CHRIST IS THE CENTER OF INTEREST 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 A. THE LETTERS OF IGNATIUS 
 
 The author. The chief knowledge which we have of Ignatius is 
 the account of his journey from Antioch to Rome when he had been con- 
 demned to suffer death at Rome from the wild beasts. From a few 
 references in the letters which he wrote on this journey, it is concluded 
 that he was converted rather late in life. In Rom. 9:2, he says: "But 
 for myself I am ashamed to be called one of them; for neither am I 
 worthy, being the very last of them, an untimely birth; but I have 
 found mercy that I should be some one." The expression "an untimely 
 birth" indicates in this connection that he was converted after he had 
 reached maturity at least. The expression " being the very last of them " 
 occurs in three other places in his letters, namely, Ephes. 21:2; Trail. 
 13:1, Smyr. 11:1. In itself it might indicate only his deep sense of 
 humility. But in two places it is used to explain his unworthiness. 
 Thus it is used in Trail. 13:1 and in Smyr. 11:1. He is unworthy 
 because he is the last of the faithful. It thus lends support to the view 
 of his late conversion. He is "one of those broken natures out of which, 
 as Zahn has truly said, God's heroes are truly made." 1 His condemna- 
 tion to die from the wild beasts shows that he was not a Roman citizen. 
 The circumstances of his trial and condemnation at Antioch are unknown. 
 Nor is it known why he was sent to Rome to die. 3 The one thing which 
 is certain is that the sentence of condemnation had already been passed 
 when he was on his journey. He says to the churches at Ephesus and 
 Tralles, "I am a convict"; and to the church at Rome, "Let me be given 
 to the wild beasts, for through them I can attain unto God." 3 He 
 made the journey from Antioch to Rome under a guard of ten soldiers. 
 He calls them leopards, and says that the more kind he was to them the 
 more cruel they became. 4 But liberty to meet churches and confer with 
 delegates from different places was granted to him, and at Smyrna he 
 met with representatives from a number of churches. 
 
 1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Ignatius, I, 28. 
 
 1 For a conjecture concerning his condemnation and death, see F. W. Farrar, 
 Lives of the Fathers, I, 31, 73. 
 
 Ephes. 12; Trail. 3; Rom. 4. Rom. 5:1. 
 
 18
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 19 
 
 He was reckoned the second bishop of the church at Antioch, not 
 counting the apostles. The exact date of either the beginning or the end 
 of his episcopate is unknown. The date assigned to his letters fixes 
 the close of his episcopate at approximately no A.D. 
 
 The seven genuine letters. His letters reveal intense devotion and 
 eagerness for martyrdom. By his death he says that he will attain unto 
 God, and become a word of God. This bold and unselfish spirit made 
 a deep impression on his age, and finally, under the desire to imitate 
 his example, undue importance is attached to martyrdom. 1 The seven 
 letters known to Eusebius, and now generally accepted as genuine, were 
 written while he was on the journey from Antioch to Rome. From 
 Smyrna he wrote the letters to the churches at Ephesus, Magnesia, 
 Tralles, and Rome. And from Troas he wrote the letters to the churches 
 at Philadelphia, Smyrna, and the letter to Polycarp. 
 
 In six of the letters, all except the letter to the church at Rome, the 
 object is the same. In them all he urges to unity among themselves, 
 to subjection to the bishop, presbyters, and deacons, and warns them 
 against false doctrine, especially docetism. Church unity and subordina- 
 tion to the officers of the church are the safeguard against the entrance 
 of false doctrine. He lays great stress on the reality of the human 
 nature of Christ. This truth which in our day seems so certain was 
 at his time in danger of being obscured, and Ignatius appeared as its 
 defender. 2 But Ignatius maintains also the divine nature of Christ. 
 The letter to the church at Rome has an entirely different object. He 
 is afraid that the love of the Christians at Rome will lead them to seek 
 to avert his death. This intentional kindness he regards as cruelty 
 because it would rob him of the crown of martyrdom for which he is 
 eager. So he writes to them: "I am God's wheat, and I am ground by 
 the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread of Christ. 
 Rather entice the wild beasts that they may become my sepulchre and 
 may leave no part of my body behind." 3 
 
 The date. These seven letters may be accepted as genuine, and the 
 
 1 For a general characterization of Ignatius, see H. B. Swcte, Patristic Study, 
 pp. 14-17- 
 
 * Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Ignatius, I, 39, says: "To deny the truth of Christ's 
 humanity, to question the reality of his birth and life and death in the flesh, is the 
 shadow of smoke, is the dream of a dream to us. Yet all the notices conspire to show 
 that during a considerable pan of the second century, it constituted a real danger to 
 Christianity." 
 
 Rom. 5 : 4.
 
 20 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 date of the writing placed at about 110-17. It may have been a little 
 earlier or a little later. 1 
 
 B. THE LETTER OF POLYCARP 
 
 The author. Polycarp was bishop of the church at Smyrna when 
 Ignatius passed through this place on his way to Rome. Ignatius 
 remained here for some time and received the messengers from near-by 
 churches. Such a meeting gave Ignatius a fine opportunity to gain a 
 true knowledge of the character of Polycarp. The disciple eager for 
 martyrdom found a sympathetic spirit in Polycarp. He speaks of 
 Polycarp in the letter to the Ephesians, saying that he wrote to them 
 "with thanksgiving to the Lord, having love for Polycarp as I have 
 for you also." 2 And in his letter to the church at Smyrna he calls 
 Polycarp "your godly bishop." This character for saintliness is given 
 to Polycarp in the account of his martyrdom which the church at 
 Smyrna furnished the church at Philomelium nearly half a century 
 later. Ignatius in his letter to Polycarp speaks of his godly mind, 
 grounded as it were on an immovable rock, and of his great joy that he 
 had been permitted to see his "blameless face." 3 It is in this same letter 
 that he uttered the prophetic words: "Stand thou firm, as an anvil 
 when it is smitten. It is the part of a great athlete to receive blows 
 and be victorious." 4 These words found fulfilment about forty years 
 later. Polycarp held the position of bishop at Smyrna for about fifty 
 years. Irenaeus says that he "not only had been taught by apostles, 
 and lived in familiar intercourse with many who had seen Christ," but 
 that he also received his appointment from apostles. Tertullian adds 
 definiteness to this statement, and says that John was the apostle who 
 appointed him to his office. 
 
 But to go back from this time when Polycarp is introduced to us in 
 connection with Ignatius, we find that he was probably from Christian 
 parents. He says at his martyrdom that he had served the Lord eighty- 
 six years. This statement can be understood most easily if we suppose 
 that he counts the years of service from his birth. If his conversion 
 should be dated at an early age, ten, twelve, or fifteen years added to 
 eighty-six would make him very old. On the first supposition, and 
 by counting the martyrdom at 155 A.D., he was born 69 A.D. Lightfoot 
 has shown the important relation in which Polycarp stood to Christian 
 
 1 See Harnack, Gcsckickte der altchristiichen Lilt, bis Eusebius, Erster Band, S. 
 381-406. 
 
 'Ephes. 21:1. Pol. 1:1. Pol. 2:3.
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 21 
 
 leaders. He sustained intimate relations to John, Ignatius, and Irenaeus. 1 
 The well-known circumstances of his martyrdom are learned from the 
 letter of the church at Smyrna to the church at Philomelium. Here we 
 are given the circumstances of his burning at the stake in Smyrna. His 
 words to the magistrate are memorable when that officer pressed him 
 hard and said, "Swear the oath, and I will release thee; revile the 
 Christ." Polycarp answered: "Fourscore and six years have I been his 
 servant, and he hath done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme 
 my king who saved me?" 
 
 The occasion of the letter. Ignatius had requested the churches of 
 Asia Minor to write a letter to Syrian Antioch and congratulate the 
 church on the cessation of persecution, and he had asked that his letter 
 should be sent by a trustworthy messenger. On leaving Philippi, he had 
 made the same request of the church there. The church at Philippi wrote 
 to Polycarp and asked that their letter should be borne by the messenger 
 from Smyrna. The Philippians asked also for copies of the letters which 
 Ignatius had written, and invited Polycarp to address them any word 
 of exhortation. In reply to this letter, Polycarp wrote the letter to the 
 Philippians. The letter consists chiefly of a series of exhortations to 
 refrain from evil and live righteously, giving as the sanction of conduct 
 the future judgment, and as the inspiring motive for their life the example 
 of Jesus. 
 
 The date of the letter. The letter was written not long after the visit 
 of Ignatius to Smyrna. At the time of writing, Polycarp has no sure 
 knowledge of the fate of Ignatius, though he expects that Ignatius has 
 suffered martyrdom. He says to the Philippians: "Moreover, concern- 
 ing Ignatius himself and those that were with him, if you have any sure 
 tidings, certify us." J Since Polycarp is recognized as a man having 
 authority, Harnack thinks that no A.D. is the earliest date that can be 
 assigned for the letter. If Ignatius' visit to Smyrna was near no, the 
 date of this letter must have fallen in no or in. It is very well estab- 
 lished that the date is between no and 120. 
 
 In literary characteristics the letter is very different from the letters 
 of Ignatius. It is lacking in the glowing enthusiasm and bold originality 
 so characteristic of Ignatius. The death of Christ occupies a place 
 of far less importance in the letter of Polycarp. But from the point of 
 view of Christology, the letter belongs to the same group as those 
 of Ignatius. The high rank which he gives to Christ, the conjoining of 
 
 'Apostolic Fathers. Ignatius and Polycarp, I, 433. 
 
 J Phil. 13:2.
 
 22 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 Christ and God in important functions, and the slight emphasis upon the 
 subordination of the Son to the Father; all these important features 
 show that he is close to Ignatius. 
 
 C. II CLEMENT 
 
 Its character as homily. This designation, II Clement, is still retained 
 by Gebhardt, Harnack, and Zahn in their Patrum Apostolicorum Opera, 
 though it is generally agreed that it is not a letter, and that it was not 
 written by Clement of Rome who wrote our First Clement. Harnack, 
 however, still maintains that it is a letter. Lightfoot calls it " an ancient 
 homily by an unknown author." The work itself furnishes rather deci- 
 sive evidence that it is a homily. Chapters nineteen and twenty espe- 
 cially have the hortatory' style. Here we find such expressions as the 
 following: "Let us not be displeased and vexed"; "let us therefore 
 practice righteousness"; "let not the godly be grieved"; "let us then 
 have faith, brethren and sisters." This direct appeal is suitable to 
 address. But this is not a decisive element in determining the nature 
 of the work. Paul's letters have such appeals. The letter to the 
 Romans abounds in exhortations more than do the nineteenth and 
 twentieth chapters of this work. The direct address "my brethren" is 
 in Paul's letters as much as "brothers and sisters" cited in this work. 
 There are two expressions, however, which clearly determine that this 
 work is a homily. In XIX. i, he says: "Therefore, brothers and sisters, 
 after the God of truth has been heard, I read to you an exhortation." 
 Here is a plain statement which shows its nature as a homily. He reads 
 or speaks to them. In XVII. 3, he says: "Let us not think to believe 
 and give heed now only, while we are admonished by the presbyters; 
 but likewise when we have departed home let us remember the com- 
 mandments of the Lord." This furnishes an instance of the early church 
 meeting such as Justin describes in his Apology. As the earliest example 
 of the addresses delivered at these meetings, this homily has great 
 interest. 
 
 The author. Three men have been proposed as the author. Bryen- 
 nios thinks that Clement of Rome who wrote the first letter to the Corin- 
 thians is the author. The external testimony is very strong against 
 such a supposition. The correct translation of the words of Dionysius 
 as quoted by Eusebius, H.E. IV. 23. n, shows that the church at Corinth 
 knew only one letter of Clement. Dionysius writes to Soter: "Today 
 we have passed the Lord's holy day, in which we have read your epistle. 
 From it, whenever we read it, we shall always be able to draw advice,
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 23 
 
 as also from the former epistle, which was written to us through Clement." 
 Eusebius, who was the first to mention the second letter of Clement, 
 speaks disparagingly of its authenticity, describing it as the so-called 
 letter of Clement. But the internal evidence is decisive against the 
 authorship of Clement. The author's attitude toward Christ in speak- 
 ing of him twice as God allies him with Ignatius rather than Clement. 
 Hilgenfeld has proposed Clement of Alexandria as the author. But 
 Light foot has shown with convincing clearness that this identification 
 cannot be made. The attitude of the two writers toward a quotation 
 from the Egyptian Gospel is very different, as well as the style of the two 
 writers. Harnack identifies our Second Clement with Soter's letter 
 to the Corinthians. The preservation of Soter's letter by the Corin- 
 thian church is not sufficient to make the identification, and the evi- 
 dence that this work originated at Corinth is opposed to the identifica- 
 tion. 
 
 The place of origin. Because of the document's resemblances to 
 Hermas, Harnack thinks that it originated in Rome. But these resem- 
 blances, as Lightfoot has shown, are artificial, while the differences are 
 great. The reference to the Isthmian games, and the fact that it has 
 borne the name of Clement, make it probable that it originated in 
 Corinth. 
 
 The date. The date is some time between 120 and 140 A.D.' 
 On the basis of its Christology, Second Clement belongs in the group 
 with Ignatius. 
 
 I. THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE LETTERS OF IGNATIUS 
 
 I. THE CONCEPTION OF THE RELATION OF CHRIST TO GOD 
 
 Ignatius uses the name "Jesus Christ" as the usual designation of 
 Christ. Out of about one hundred and thirty-two times that he men- 
 tions Christ, he calls him Jesus Christ one hundred and seven times, 
 leaving only twenty-five times that he applies to him other names. 
 
 (i) The titles given to Christ and their significations 
 
 He applies to Christ all the titles used by Clement, 6 Kvpto?, 6 <r<i>-njp, 
 6 dpxtcpevc, o xpiords, o vJos 0oJ5, and one most significant additional 
 title 6 0eo. He gives also to some of these titles which had already 
 been employed a wider meaning. He uses the title 6 Kvpio? to 
 denote the authority of Christ over men in every relation in which he 
 
 1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Clement of Rome, II, 191-210.
 
 24 THE CHRISTOIOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 considers men. His authority extends over the spiritual life of the 
 believer. He watches over their safety. Men must obey the ordi- 
 nances of the Lord in order that they may prosper in all things. They 
 must be obedient to the bishop as to Jesus Christ, and "live not after 
 men but after Jesus Christ." 1 His power extends over the body as well 
 as the spirit. He uses "flesh and spirit" very frequently to designate 
 the whole man.' Ecclesiastical affairs are under his authority. Christ 
 is the bishop of all. The bishop of the local church is under the authority 
 of Christ. The deacons of the church "have been appointed according 
 to the mind of Jesus Christ, whom after his own will he confirmed and 
 established by his Holy Spirit." 3 The marital relations must be in 
 harmony with the Lord. The award of honor and the acceptance or 
 rejection of men are under the authority of Christ. 4 The extent of 
 God's authority is not greater than Christ's. He recognizes so fully the 
 sway of Christ in every realm that to the mind of Ignatius there seem 
 to be no limits to the authority of Christ. Here is a marked difference 
 between Ignatius and Clement. Christ is presented almost constantly 
 by Clement as acting under the direction of the Father. Clement saw 
 the supreme authority of God back of Christ. In the view of Ignatius 
 the background with God in it fades away, and Christ stands alone 
 as Lord over men. 
 
 The author's use of vwrrfp, opx"pcvs, and 6 xpurros has not much 
 significance in it. He indicates in no way by his use the content of the 
 word o-unrfp. Christ as &p\itp(.v; is the mediator between God and 
 men. He is the door to the Father through whom Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob enter in. The author uses 6 xpurros only once as a title, and 
 there is nothing in the context to show his conception of the Messiah. 
 He uses vlos in the following combinations: TOV vlov aurou, TW via? 
 dv6pwirov, vlov 6eov Kara dc'Aip/ia teal ovvafjuv deov. The title indicates that 
 he is son in the metaphysical sense. Two of these titles are espe- 
 cially significant. TOV fiovov vlov avrov is a reflection of John i : 14 
 and 3:16: oo$av is /ioroyevovs irupa wurpos, and rov vlov TOV fiovoytrr). 
 Such a title separates him from men. vlov deov Kara de'X^/ia cai 
 8vvap.iv $ov stands in contrast to his human nature. His human 
 nature is accounted for by his descent from David. But this fails to 
 exhaust the idea which the author has of him. His existence also pro- 
 
 'Philad. s; Mag. 13; Trail. 2. 
 
 1 Ephes. 10:3; Mag. i; Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Ignatius and Polycarp, 
 H, 160. 
 
 J Philad. Int.; Pol. Int.; Mag. 3:1. < Pol. 5; PhiUd. n.
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 25 
 
 cecds from the divine will and power. But the most significant title 
 which Ignatius gives to Christ is 6 6t6*. Lightfoot maintains that 
 Ignatius never uses 0<* of Christ in an absolute sense. Some adjective 
 or modifying phrase is used or the word is used predicatively. The cor- 
 rectness of this statement can scarcely be maintained. There are some 
 passages which can be explained in no other way than in the absolute 
 sense. At least they are so used in the text as it is given to us. Light- 
 foot recognizes this fact and is compelled to resort to the expedient of a 
 corrupt text. An examination of the instances in which Ignatius uses 
 0eos will confirm the statement that he uses it in an absolute sense. 
 The title is applied to Christ thirteen times in these letters. Seven 
 times it is "our God," as in Ephes. Int. 15:3; 18:2; Rom. Int. 3:3; 
 Pol. 8:3. Once it is "God in men," Ephes. 7:2. Once it is "the God 
 who has bestowed such wisdom upon you," Smyr. 1:1. Three times it 
 is used without any qualification: Ephes. 1:1, "the blood of God" 
 Trail. 7:1, "inseparable from God, Jesus Christ"; Smyr. 10:1, "minis- 
 ters of Christ, God." Thus it is seen that out of the thirteen times that 
 the title is applied to Christ, three times it is applied absolutely. Light- 
 foot thinks that the use of " blood of God " and " blood of Christ " as con- 
 vertible expressions gives no warrant for the conclusion that he would 
 therefore speak of Christ as God absolutely. But it is difficult to see 
 how the equivalence of the two expressions destroys its absolute use in 
 this instance. Moreover, the absolute use cannot be denied to Smyr. 
 10:1, xptorov Otov, except by maintaining that the text is corrupt 
 here. Lightfoot retains xpurrov but brackets it. Gebhardt, Harnack, 
 and Zahn retain xP t < rTO * > without the brackets. There has been some 
 attempt where \purrov is retained to interpret it as if there were a u 
 between ^purrov and Otw, and even Lightfoot shows sympathy with 
 this interpretation and wishes to read it "inseparable from God, and 
 Jesus Christ, and the bishop," although the text is kept as Gebhard 
 Harnack, and Zahn give it. However, Lightfoot acknowledges that 
 such an absence of the connective is contrary to the genius of the Greek 
 language. 1 Goltz has made a careful study of the way in which Ignatius 
 forms compounds with 0eos. The messenger who should carry the 
 letters from Asia Minor to Antioch is called in Pol. 7:2 0eoSpo/xos. 
 Again in Smyr. 11:2, he is called tfeonyMa/Sevn/s. Poly carp is addressed, 
 Pol. 7:2, as foofiaKopio-Tos. In Smyr. 1:2, the passion of Christ is 
 spoken of as dtopaiuiptTrft . The Magnesian Christians, Mag. 1:2, 
 are accounted worthy to bear a name 0oir/xir0TaTov. In Ephes. 2:1, 
 1 Apostolic Fathers, Ignatius and Polycarp, II, 389.
 
 26 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 Crocus is said to be faov a&o?. Goltz concludes from these passages 
 that Ignatius has a tendency to designate the divine character of an 
 act or of a person by 0eos. So he interprets Ignatius' application of 
 0os to Christ in the same way. The divine act of Christ in bringing 
 salvation entitles him to be called Bios. 0eds is the collective denotation 
 of the good of salvation. 1 It must be noted, however, that the word 
 0os is applied to an act or a person, apart from God or Christ, only 
 once. In Ephes. 14:1, he says: apx*) P-* v " ri '' Tl ' rc'Aos Se aydmj, ra 
 &c 8vo, v kvorifn yevo/iem, 0eos eariv. Here he characterizes as 0eos 
 the essential qualities of God which he wishes the Ephesians to 
 possess. This is the only significant use, and the bold application by a 
 figure of speech of 0cds to a thing is very different from calling a his- 
 torical person 0eos. In all of the other instances, the relation to God is 
 clearly indicated from the adjective with which he combines Be 6s. It is 
 a long step from this modified use of 0eos in compound words to its use 
 without any qualification. In this unmodified sense 0ed? is applied to 
 Christ, and for such use there is no analogy furnished by its indirect ap- 
 plication to men, or its evidently boldly figurative application to things. 
 Moreover, the fact that Ignatius calls Christ "our God" seven times 2 and 
 "my God" once 3 prepares the reader for the application in the absolute 
 sense, and these instances in which it occurs come without any suggestion 
 of inappropriateness. 
 
 (2) Ascriptions to Christ 
 
 Pre-existence, eternal existence, omniscience, and holiness are ascribed 
 to Christ, and prayer is addressed to him. Christ was with the Father 
 before the worlds. Christ shared with the Father in the act of fore- 
 ordination 'before the ages," and he appeared at the end of time 
 in the likeness of men. 4 Ignatius declares still more absolutely the 
 eternity of Christ. He is "ingenerate." 5 The parallel clauses show 
 that he means that as God he is "ingenerate" and that as man he is 
 "generate." Lightfoot has shown in an excursus on yewi/ros and 
 dycVi/ros that Ignatius does not use these words with the same accuracy 
 with which they were employed by later theologians. 6 Ignatius has no 
 intention to deny the eternal generation of the Son as it was asserted by 
 
 1 Ed. v. d. Goltz, Ignatius von Antiochien als Christ und Theologe, in Texte und 
 Untersuchungen, B. 12, S. 21-29. 
 
 ' Ephes. Int. 7:2; 15:3; 18:2; Rom. 3:3; Int.; Pol. 8:3. 
 
 i Rom. 6:3. Mag. 6; Ephes. Int. * Ephes. 7. 
 
 6 Apostolic Fathers, Ignatius and Polycarp, II, 00-94.
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 2J 
 
 later theologians. The idea of "eternal generation" was not present 
 to his mind, not having yet been developed. The word that was later 
 used to express the fact which Ignatius has in mind was ityivrfros. 
 Christ as God was not only before the ages, but he was "increate." 
 In Pol. 3:2, he writes: "Await him that is above every season, the 
 eternal" rbv a^povw. axpovo? denotes here "transcending the limits 
 of time," "eternal." The declaration of his eternity is made also in 
 Mag. 7:2: "who came forth from the Father, and is with One, and 
 has departed unto One." The expression efe em ovra described the 
 eternal union of the Son with the Father. A similar expression is 
 found in John l8:i: ftovoytv^s Otos 6 lav Js TOV KO\ITOV TOV jrarpos. 1 
 Christianity, in order to evade the charge that it was new, falls back upon 
 the pre-existence of Christ. 2 He was the teacher of Moses and the 
 prophets. He was different from the Father and also pre-existed. This 
 excludes modalism. 3 There is no express declaration of the omni- 
 science of Christ, but it is involved in the functions ascribed to him. 
 God is represented as shepherd. 4 Then in the next line Ignatius says 
 that Jesus alone shall be shepherd. The care of the invisible bishop 
 involves omniscience. When he speaks of the bishop as God, in Mag. 3, 
 he adds that nothing is hid from the eyes of the invisible bishop. Such 
 knowledge on the part of the bishop was used to warn the Christians 
 against sinning. In his letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius informs them 
 that it is his purpose to write a second tract to them if it is the divine 
 will, and if the Lord should reveal aught to him. Here 6 xuptos denotes 
 Christ. Ignatius never uses this title of the Father. Christ is the 
 treasury of knowledge from which Ignatius drew. Jesus Christ is their 
 only teacher. He has bestowed wisdom upon them. 5 But the most 
 direct ascription of omniscience to Christ is in Ephes. Int. There he 
 says that foreordination is by the will of the Father and Jesus Christ. 
 Foreordination involves omniscience. 
 
 Holiness is also involved in the ascriptions made to Christ. He 
 is true life; he is the mind of God; he is the unerring mouth of the 
 Father; he is perfect faithfulness. He can be relied upon with absolute 
 certainty to remember those who have lived righteously. In Ephes. 17, 
 there is a reflection of Mark 14: 1-8, the anointing of Christ. He says 
 that the ointment was poured upon the head of the Lord in order that 
 he might breathe incorruption upon the church. The teaching of the 
 
 1 Ibid., 123. 
 
 1 Dorner, Div. I, Vol. I, p. 112. * Rom., chap. 9. 
 
 1 Goltz, B. 12, S. 15. * Mag. 9:2; Smyr. t: i.
 
 28 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 prince of this world robs men of life, but Christ preserves life. He urges 
 the Magnesians to unity and to obedience to the bishop and then holds 
 up Christ as the example of righteous conduct. He did nothing without 
 the Father and is the pattern "than whom there is nothing better." He 
 is presented constantly as the norm of righteous conduct. Men should 
 run in harmony with the mind of God. Christ is the mind of God. 
 And all conduct in obedience to him is righteous. All such statements 
 rest upon the assumption that Christ is holy. 
 
 The general attitude of dependence finds fullest expression in the 
 address of prayer to Christ. When he writes to the Romans about his 
 anticipated death by the wild beasts, he asks them to supplicate the 
 Lord for him that through these instruments he may be found a sacrifice 
 to God. Gebhardt, Harnack, and Zahn read rbv xpt-arov instead of 
 Kvptov as read by Lightfoot. The kindness of the church at Ephesus in 
 sending delegates to meet him at Smyrna awakens in his heart " thanks- 
 giving to the Lord." Philo and Rhaius Agathopus, who had been treated 
 well by the church at Smyrna, "gave thanks to the Lord for you, because 
 you refreshed them in the way." 1 Ignatius' use of 6 KvpuK to designate 
 Christ, and not God the Father, furnishes the proof that Christ is 
 here the object of prayer. The address of prayer to Christ is a distinct 
 advance over Clement. Men come to God through Christ according 
 to Clement, but Christ is not made the direct object of thanksgiving 
 nor do men supplicate him for the things desired. 
 
 (3) Important acts and functions are ascribed to the Father 
 and Christ conjointly 
 
 Foreordination "before the ages," direction of the action of men at 
 present, and granting mercy are acts which are ascribed to the Father 
 and Son conjointly. The joint action is carried back to eternity, and is 
 brought down to the present. The welfare of men is traced to the joint 
 action of the Father and Son in eternity, and men are at present depend- 
 ent upon both Father and Son. Christians belong to God and Jesus 
 Christ conjointly. This ownership is predicated both of individuals 
 and of the church. God and Jesus Christ are conjointly bishop. He 
 declares that the two are bishop of the church at Antioch, and also are 
 bishop of Polycarp. Fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ 
 is the common basis for sending "greetings" to others. Ignatius is in 
 union with God and Jesus Christ; the Magnesians partake of the same 
 
 1 Ephes. 21 :i; Smyr. 10:1.
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 29 
 
 fellowship; this union forms a bond of connection on the basis of which 
 greetings pass from one to the other. 1 
 
 (4) Jesus is subordinate to God 
 
 However little the subordination of Christ to God is emphasized, 
 it is not altogether absent. Jesus is an agent. He mediates between 
 God and men. He is the unerring mouth of God. The mind of the 
 Father comes to expression through the words of Jesus. Jesus is the 
 revelation of the character of God. As the high priest, Jesus is the door 
 through whom men enter in to the Father. Even Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob must enter through this door. Jesus was under the authority of 
 the Father. God sent him into the world. On earth Jesus was subject 
 to the authority of the Father. Jesus imitated the Father. God 
 raised up the Eucharist, the flesh of Christ. 2 The attitude of Ignatius 
 toward Christ is shown not by his denial of the subordination of Christ 
 to God, but by the emphasis which he puts upon Christ's authority, 
 independence, and association with the Father. We may, therefore, 
 summarize Ignatius' teaching concerning the relation of Christ to the 
 Father as follows: Christ possesses the divine attributes of eternity, 
 omniscience, and holiness. He has the power to give life. He is associ- 
 ated with God in all the functions which are ascribed to God. He 
 possesses divine qualities. He is called God. And very slight emphasis 
 is put upon his subordination to God. 
 
 2. THE TWO NATURES OF CHRIST 
 
 The great ideas upon which Ignatius dwells grow out of the prac- 
 tical needs of his situation. This is true in regard to his teaching con- 
 cerning: (i) the reality of Christ's human nature; (2) the place of 
 Christ's passion in the believer's life; (3) union with Christ. 
 
 The reality of Christ's human nature is maintained in opposition 
 to Docetism. Ephes. 7: 18-20; Trail. 9-11; and Smyr. 1-4 are devoted 
 to this subject. While the purpose of the author is to assert the reality 
 of Christ's human nature, at the same time he is not content to present 
 the human nature alone. So over against the human nature, he con- 
 stantly puts the divine. He is "of the seed of David and of the Holy 
 Ghost " ; he is " both son of man and son of God" ; he is born as man and 
 not born as God; he is born of both "Mary and of God." His divine 
 
 'Ephes. Int.; Mag. Int.; Rom. Int.; Philad. Int. 3:2; Smyr. Int.; Pol. Int.; 
 Trail. 1:1. 
 
 Rom. 8:2; Mag. 7:8; 8:2; 13:2; Smyr. 7:1; 8:1; Trail. 9:2.
 
 30 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 nature is presented to show that the human side does not exhaust Igna- 
 tius, conception of Christ. He speaks of only two events in the life of 
 the historical Christ, and these are the beginning and end of his life. He 
 was born of the Virgin Mary, and he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. 
 The proofs of the reality of his human nature are his birth, suffering, 
 death, and appearance after his resurrection. He came into the world 
 subject to the laws which govern birth, and in his life he was subject to 
 the condition of suffering under which men universally live. Only a 
 real man could suffer as other men suffer. The reality of his resurrection 
 is dwelt upon, and the proof of it is taken from John 20:24-29, the 
 account of Christ's appearance to his disciples. He says to the disciples, 
 according to the quotation of Ignatius: "Lay hold and handle me, and 
 see that I am not a demon without a body." And then Ignatius says 
 "Straightway they touched him, and they believed, being joined to his 
 flesh and blood." 1 And their conviction of his reality inspired them 
 with great courage and lifted them above the fear of death. The bonds 
 of Ignatius are a proof to him of the reality of Christ's suffering. To 
 Ignatius his willingness to suffer and his desire to fight with wild beasts 
 are inexplicable except as the effect upon his heart of the real sufferings 
 of Christ. 1 That which was most fundamental in its effects upon 
 Christian life was not a semblance. Rather, those who deny the reality 
 of the sufferings are themselves mere semblances. 
 
 3. THE DEATH OF CHRIST 
 
 Ignatius' own anticipated martyrdom gave the death of Christ deep 
 significance to his mind. He affirms the historical fact of his death, the 
 reality of his passion, and the function of his death. The first two points 
 have been presented above. So the function of his death must now be 
 considered. 
 
 He dies to deliver men from death, and his death is the ground upon 
 which God forgives sin, and justifies the believer. In Trail. 2:1, he 
 says: "He died for us, in order that you believing might escape dying." 
 The infinitive avoBavflv denotes, not a state of death, but the act of 
 dying. Christ's death relieved men from the necessity to suffer death. 
 Faith is the condition upon which men appropriate the benefits of Christ's 
 death. He says "faith in his death" either because he considered the 
 confession of the reality of his death a test of Christian faith, or because 
 he considered that it was by virtue of his death that faith in him was 
 effective. He employs the word Awpow in Philad. 11:1. He says: 
 
 1 Smyr. 3.
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 3! 
 
 ot S< dTi/iacraTs avrov? \vrfnaB (.irfrav iv ry \aptn rov *Irj(rov ^ptarov. 
 
 He prays that the Lord may receive those who have honored the mes- 
 sengers who ministered to him. In the case of those who have dis- 
 honored the ministers of Ignatius, the inference is that their conduct has 
 made them displeasing to the Lord, and so liable to punishment. He 
 prays that the favor of the Lord may remit the punishment. He is 
 leading them not out of one moral state into another, but out of a state 
 of liability to punishment into a state where there is no such liability. 
 In Philad. 8:2, he says that through their prayers he hopes to be justi- 
 fied by the cross of Christ. He is considering the sins of division and 
 anger. Two ends are held in view : forgiveness of the sin and deliverance 
 from the power of the sin. Two conditions are given upon which these 
 purposes can be attained: repentance and the cross of Christ. These 
 conditions are not joined together formally. He says: "The Lord 
 forgiveth all men when they repent." He also says that he expects to 
 be justified by the cross of Christ, and that men escape death through 
 faith in Christ. 1 Repentance and faith are required of men in order that 
 their sins may be forgiven, and the death of Christ is the ground upon 
 which the favor is exercised. Ignatius is not content to view the effect 
 of Christ's death as beginning at a certain historical moment, the time 
 when he was crucified. The effect of Christ's death began in eternity. 
 They were "united and elect in a true passion by the will of the Father 
 and Jesus Christ our God." a The death of Christ is thus viewed as the 
 ground of the election of men. 3 
 
 The moral effects of Christ's death occupy a far more prominent 
 place in the thought of Ignatius. The passion and the resurrection of 
 Christ are the center around which the thought of Ignatius revolves. 
 Lightfoot has suggested that the incarnation has significance for him 
 only because it leads up to the passion. The whole Christian life springs 
 out of the passion and the resurrection. 4 He says to the Smyrnaeans that 
 they are the fruit of Christ's resurrection. Death is the tree upon which 
 the fruit of Christian life has grown. He warns the Magnesians against 
 Judaism and the observance of Sabbaths, but urges them to fashion 
 "their lives after the Lord's day, on which our life arose through him 
 and through his death." 5 Life out of death is fundamental in the thought 
 of Ignatius. "Repent and return to the passion which is our resurrec- 
 tion." 6 Not only does he make the general statement that the whole 
 
 'Trail. 2:1. 'Ephes. Int. 
 
 * Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Ignatius and Polycarp, II, 25. 
 
 Smyr. 1:2. * Mag. 9:1. *Smyr. 5:3.
 
 32 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 life of the believer comes from the death and resurrection of Christ, but 
 his mind is so filled with this thought that he constantly connects specific 
 Christian graces with the death of Christ. His present sufferings and 
 his anticipated and greatly desired martyrdom would naturally center 
 his thoughts upon the death of Christ. The Trallian's peace felicity 
 in the assurance of salvation comes from the death of Christ. 1 So also 
 the joy of the Philadelphians comes from the death of Christ.* He 
 praises the Ephesians for their well-beloved name to which they are 
 entitled by natural right, but he reminds them that the blood of Christ 
 has kindled their generosity into a flame. 3 Christ's passion inflames the 
 hearts of men with a desire for the most generous deeds. His own 
 experience testifies to the power of the death of Christ to produce the 
 highest devotion in the lives of men. The death of Christ was the 
 pattern for his own martyrdom, and the inspiration to it. He was 
 humbled by the cross, and yet at the same time inspired by it. 4 He says 
 that he longs to imitate the passion of his God. He declares that if 
 anyone has Christ in him, he will understand the intensity of Ignatius' 
 desire. Christ's death is that which fills the heart of Ignatius with love 
 for his Lord. He says: "It is good for me to die for Jesus rather than 
 to reign over the bounds of the earth. Him I seek who died on our 
 behalf." 5 Christ's death is the power which made love firm and strong 
 in the hearts of believers. 6 Christ's death as a principle of love is that 
 power in the world which transforms the lives of men. 7 The death of 
 Christ is a great factor in the building-up of the Christian life. He uses 
 Paul's familiar figure of the building. The individual members are stones 
 in the temple of God. They "are hoisted up to the heights through 
 the engine of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, and using for a rope the 
 Holy Spirit; while your faith is your windlass, and love is the way that 
 leadeth up to God." 8 The passion of Christ furnishes the standard which 
 the believer's conduct must attain, if he would have the life of Christ 
 in him.' In one peculiar passage, he speaks of the relation of Christ's 
 blood to the baptismal waters. Here he says: " He was born and bap- 
 tized that by his passion he might cleanse water." 10 
 
 Trail. Int. Philad. Int. Ephes. i : i. 
 
 Farrar, Lives of the Fathers, I, 62. 
 
 *Rom. 6: i. Smyr. 1:1. 
 
 1 Dorner, Doctrine of the Person of Christ, I, Vol. I, p. 107. 
 
 Ephes. 9:1. Rom. 6:3. 
 
 18 Ephes. 18:2. Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Ignatius and Polycarp, II, 75, 76, 
 says of this passage: "The baptism of Christ might in a certain sense be said, in the 
 language of our liturgy, to sanctify water to the mystical washing away of sins; but 
 it was the death of Christ which gave their purifying effect to the baptismal waters."
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 33 
 
 Ignatius takes a twofold view of the death of Christ. It had vicari- 
 ous value, and moral power over the lives of men. 
 
 4. THE CONSTRUCTIVE ASPECT OF CHRIST'S SOTERIOLOGICAL WORK 
 
 As the prominent doctrines of Ignatius, which have been considered 
 above, grew out of the practical needs of his day, so does this one of union 
 with Christ. Six of these letters are full of exhortations to unity. In 
 the churches of Asia Minor there was a manifest tendency to extreme 
 individualism which was disintegrating the church and giving an oppor- 
 tunity for the entrance of heresy, such as Docetism and Judaism. There 
 were some who were performing the functions of church life apart from 
 the direction of the constituted officers. Ignatius admonishes them 
 to obey the officers as a means of securing unity, and presents unity as 
 a safeguard to their life. This unity which he desired in the church led 
 him to emphasize unity with Christ as the condition of life. Christ as 
 living, leading the church, and molding the life of believers is everywhere 
 present to the thought of Ignatius. Christ is acting upon their lives. 
 Now one of the ways in which Christ's work is accomplished in men is 
 union with him. Two figures set forth the nature of this union with 
 Christ, the body and the building. He says to the Ephesians that they 
 are members of Christ, and urges them to live so that God will acknowl- 
 edge them as members of his son. His use of the common Pauline figure 
 to express the relation of the believer to Christ shows that the relation is 
 one by means of which life is derived. 1 The figure of the building is 
 employed in two different ways. Believers dwell in Christ, and Christ 
 and God dwell in the believer. 2 The latter figure is the one most fully 
 developed. He describes the manner of building the temple in which 
 God dwells. Then, again, each believer bears his shrine. This figure is 
 derived, no doubt, from the prevalent custom at Ephesus at that time. 
 The pagans in their processions carried images of their gods. Now, he 
 says that the Christians bear their shrines, but God and Christ are in 
 them. Thus by these figures he portrays the nature of the intimate 
 relation to Christ by means of which life was derived. He also expresses 
 union with Christ by the Pauline phrase iv xpt<rrp. They are found in 
 Christ Jesus, and this relation leads unto true life. In Christ Jesus men 
 b've forever." 3 In Christ Jesus "is the relation which forms a bond of 
 unity between men. On the basis of this common union with Christ, 
 Ignatius sends greeting to the different churches. Apart from all figures, 
 he declares that believers must have union with Jesus and the Father, 
 
 1 Ephes. 4:2. * Ephes. 10:3; 15:3. * Ephes. 20:2.
 
 34 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 and says that if they continue in this union they will attain unto God. 1 
 This statement in reference to union with Jesus grows out of the exhorta- 
 tion to unity among the disciples. The union of believers he regards as 
 something more, perhaps, than mere harmony. At least, their union was 
 a condition of life. The unity of the membership was the only power 
 which would hold the church together and prevent its dissolution.* 
 The still higher relation which is essential to life is union with Christ. 
 In Ephes. 3:2, he says that Jesus is their inseparable life. He is not 
 content in stating in general terms the effect of union with Christ. 
 Many specific effects of Christ's work are given. Christ strikes off 
 their fetters; he puts the stamp of God upon them; he breathes incor- 
 ruption on the church; he is the physician of the flesh and the spirit; 
 he gives strength for duties; he fills the heart with praise to God; he 
 gives men hope; he furnishes the ground upon which they expect sal- 
 vation. 3 
 
 5. ESCHATOLOGY 
 
 The resurrection of the believer and the second coming of Christ 
 receive but small notice in the writings of Ignatius. In Trail. 9:2, he 
 says that the Father who raised up Jesus will raise up the Christians also. 
 And in the inscription to the Trallians he speaks of the Christians' 
 resurrection. 
 
 In Rom. 10:3, he speaks of the "patient waiting for the coming of 
 Christ." The expectation of the speedy return of Christ has given 
 place to the patient waiting for him. If Ignatius had "a settled convic- 
 tion that the present state of things would not last long," 4 he gives but 
 little expression to such a conviction. 
 
 II. THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE LETTER OF POLYCARP TO THE 
 
 PHILIPPIANS 
 
 I. THE HIGH RANK WHICH THE AUTHOR GIVES TO CHRIST 
 (i ) The extent of Christ's authority. Christ is Lord over the Christian 
 community and the lives of believers. "Our Lord" and "the Lord" 
 are the usual designations for Christ. These two titles occur in this 
 short letter about twenty-five times, while all other titles occur only 
 1 Mag. i : 2. 
 
 Starbuck, "The Ignatian Question," Andover Review, September, 1892, says: 
 "Without this every church will go to pieces; a heresy dissolving the very historic 
 forms of Christianity will have free entrance; and the regenerate life which is essen- 
 tially a corporate life will soon be lost in a mist of discordant atoms." 
 
 Philad. 8:1; Mag. 5:2; 7:1; Ephes. 17:8; 7:2; 4:2; Smyr. 4:2. 
 
 Cruttwell, A Literary History of Early Christianity, I, 68.
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 3$ 
 
 about seventeen times. We can scarcely admit with Deissmann that 
 the title "Lord" is itself a predication of divinity, unless we take 
 divinity in so attenuated a sense that it will itself call for definition. 1 
 Such definition can be best made by considering the ascription of 
 authority to Christ. Polycarp says that the will of Christ is the 
 law for their conduct individually and collectively. The number of 
 times that the title "Lord" is used shows how this thought permeates 
 the letter. For examples of this use consider the following passages: 
 II. 2 : " If we do his will and walk in his commandments " ; IV. i : " Walk 
 in the commandment of the Lord"; VI. 3: "Serve him with fear and 
 reverence as he gave commandment"; V. 3: "Submitting yourselves 
 to the presbyters and deacons as to God and Christ"; VI. 2: "We are 
 before the eyes of our Lord and God." He recognizes clearly the 
 dependence of men upon Christ for salvation. Here Christ is Lord. In 
 the introduction he gives Christ the title "Savior." By this title he 
 expresses the thought of salvation in its totality. Throughout the 
 letter some more definite details of this salvation are given. Christ 
 conjointly with God the Father chooses men; Christ grants forgiveness; 
 he builds men up in the faith; and his work ceases not until the future 
 destiny of men is settled and he acts as judge of the living and the dead 
 and grants a lot and portion among the saints. 2 His authority passes 
 beyond the limits of the Christian community. Polycarp declares that 
 Christ participates with God in the government of the world. In II. i, 
 he says that Christ has a position at the right hand of God. Harnack 
 traces the development of this power. He says that from being the 
 author of spiritual life his power extended to all life. 
 
 A still wider reach is given to his authority in two noteworthy state- 
 ments. In II. i, he says: " Unto whom all were made subject that are 
 in heaven and that are on the earth;" and also: "He is judge of quick 
 and dead." Lightfoot thinks that although he does not use the title 
 " God" as Ignatius does, he assigns to him an even higher function. 
 
 (2) The author's habit of conjoining Christ with God in important 
 functions and prerogatives indicates the rank of Christ. This mode 
 of thought allies him closely with Ignatius and as clearly marks him off 
 from Clement. The attitude toward Christ represented by the two 
 groups is entirely different. Clement's greeting is mercy and peace 
 
 ' Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 354, says: "It may be said with 
 certainty that at the time when Christianity originated, ' Lord ' was a divine predicate 
 intelligible to the whole Eastern world." 
 
 Pol. I. i; VI. 2; XII. 2; II. i.
 
 36 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 from God the Father through Christ. But Polycarp says: " May mercy 
 and peace be multiplied from Almighty God and Jesus Christ our 
 Savior." This expression is very close to that found in Paul's saluta- 
 tions, "grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 1 
 Polycarp conjoins Christ with the Father in the following functions: 
 as the source of mercy and peace; in the election of men to salvation; 
 in the government of the world; in beholding the conduct of men; in 
 building men up in faith; and as the object of love. a 
 
 (3) The slight emphasis placed upon the subordination of Christ to 
 God indicates the high rank of Christ in the mind of the author. The 
 idea of subordination is expressed in the following statements: God 
 raised Christ from the dead; God saves men through Jesus Christ; 
 God gave Christ glory and a throne; and to Christ all things were 
 subjected. 3 In this last passage, the power was clearly conferred by God. 
 Universal dominion is not exercised by Christ alone. He shares it with 
 the Father, as all those passages in which the Father and Son are con- 
 joined in authority show. The thought of subordination, which occupies 
 so large a place in Clement, has almost entirely disappeared in Polycarp. 
 Only once does he say that God saves men through Christ, while the 
 dominant thought of his letter is that God and Christ are in a position 
 of virtual equality in the work of salvation. The subordination implied 
 in God's raising Christ applies only to his state of humiliation, and it 
 is doubtful if Polycarp has any intention of expressing subordination 
 by it. He gives the simple historical statement in the language of 
 Scripture without any thought of its bearing upon the rank of Christ. 
 And it is certain that in the passage which represents God as giving a 
 throne to Christ that the subordination involved in "giving" is not 
 at all in the author's mind. He has his mind fixed upon the "glory" 
 and the " throne" the exaltation of Christ. 
 
 2. THE FUNCTION OF CHRIST'S DEATH 
 
 Polycarp is far removed from Ignatius in the emphasis which he 
 places upon the death of Christ. In Ignatius the death of Christ occupies 
 a central place. Men are exhorted to believe on the death of Christ. 
 The death of Christ is a source of life. The attention of Polycarp is 
 only slightly fixed on the death of Christ. Lightfoot calls attention to 
 the fact that in Ignatius the blood of Christ is presented as a center of 
 
 1 Rom. 1:7;! Cor. 1:3; II Cor. 1:2; Phil, i : 2. 
 
 Int. I. i; II. i; III. i; V. 23; VI. 2; XII. 2. 
 
 I. 2,3; H. i, 2; EX. 2; XII. 2.
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 37 
 
 unity, while in Polycarp it is presented as a crime demanding vengeance. 1 
 Christ's death is mentioned three times, in the following places: II. i; 
 VIII. i ; and IX. 2. These passages have already been noticed. There 
 is the simple statement in IX. 2 that he died in behalf of us and in itself 
 the statement gives no clue to the author's conception of the function of 
 Christ's death. The idea is implied in the context, as Dorner had sug- 
 gested, 3 that his death begot love in the hearts of the disciples. They 
 loved him who died for them. The function of his death is more clearly 
 stated in VIII. i. He bore our sins on the tree that we through union 
 with him might live. This passage reflects I Pet. 2 121-25, which in turn 
 is founded upon Isa., chap. 53. On the assumption that I Peter reflects 
 the idea of Isaiah, that the suffering servant bears the penalty of others' 
 sins, and that Polycarp reflects the thought of I Peter, this passage means 
 that Christ bore the penalty of sins for others. He endured death for 
 sins which were not his own in order that men might live, that is, need 
 not endure the death on account of sin which fell upon him. 
 
 The purpose that the author has in view is entirely practical, and his 
 main point is that Christ's endurance of death furnishes an example to be 
 imitated. In chapters six and seven he has spoken of false brethren, 
 who deny the testimony of the cross, who pervert the oracles of the 
 Lord, and who say that there is no resurrection nor judgment. Against 
 all this current of evil and error, the Philippian Christians must stand 
 firm. The great example of endurance is Christ on the cross. It may 
 be doubted if the thought of Polycarp goes beyond Christ as an example. 
 At least it is certain that the main use that he makes of this Scripture 
 is that he gains here an example of endurance for the imitation of the 
 Philippians. In connection with the death of Christ, he speaks of his 
 holiness, an idea that is implied, however, in his work of salvation. 
 
 3. THE CONSTRUCTIVE ASPECT OF CHRIST'S SOTERIOLOGICAL WORK 
 
 Faith in Christ is the condition of salvation. He commends the 
 Philippians for the steadfast root of their faith, famed from primitive 
 times, which abides yet and bears fruit unto the Lord. Again he 
 says that a portion of the future world of bliss is dependent on faith. 
 Christ and God build men up in faith as a comprehensive grace. 1 While 
 faith is thus recognized as the source of the Christian's life, the emphasis 
 of the letter as a whole is upon works worthy of a Christian rather than 
 
 1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Ignatius and Polycarp, I, 579, 580. 
 Dorner, Doctrine of the Person of Christ, Div. I, Vol. I. 
 
 i. 3; xn. 2.
 
 38 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 upon the inner source of good works. They must forsake evil prac- 
 tices, follow righteousness, walk blamelessly, be compassionate, endure, 
 and they shall receive the future world. He has the Pauline idea of 
 union with Christ. His use of the phrase <v avr<3 shows this. He 
 suffered that men might live "in him." He exhorts the Christians to 
 be perfect "hi him." Union with Christ is the source of their life. Such 
 union furnishes the means for them to attain strength and perfection of 
 character, and it forms the bond of Christian fellowship. 
 
 4. ESCHATOLOGY 
 
 He has no detailed treatment of the last things. He expects Christ 
 to come again, to raise the dead, and to judge men. 1 His statement 
 that the covetous and idolatrous will be judged as the Gentiles who are 
 ignorant of the judgment of the Lord is the only statement that implies 
 a resurrection of the wicked. The other statements about the resurrec- 
 tion apply only to the righteous. His statement in VI, 2, that at the 
 judgment seat of Christ each must give an account of himself, conveys 
 the impression that the judgment will be made on the basis of deeds, 
 though he does not expressly make this affirmation. 
 
 III. THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE HOMILY OF SECOND CLEMENT 
 
 I. THE HIGH RANK WHICH THE AUTHOR GIVES TO CHRIST 
 
 (1) He calls Christ God. In XIII. 4, he says: "God saith." And 
 then the quotation of Christ's words makes it certain that by " God" he 
 means Christ. For he gives the well-known words of Christ: "It is 
 no thank unto you, if ye love them that love you, but this is thank unto 
 you, if you love your enemies and them that hate you." When he 
 speaks of the future kingdom of God, he says that no one knows the day 
 of God's appearing. 2 And then by the following context he leaves no 
 doubt that he refers to Christ's appearing. For he goes on to say 
 that in a certain conversation the Lord himself, being asked when his 
 kingdom would come, said: "When the two shall be one, and the outside 
 as the inside, and the male with the female, neither male nor female." 3 
 In the opening words of this homily the author urges the Christians to 
 think of Christ as they think of God, as judge of the living and dead. 
 
 (2) Second Clement gives to Christ the same rank as to God. 
 Calling him " God" is not something which may be regarded as a lapse, 
 or due to carelessness, or really out of harmony with the fundamental 
 
 'V. 2; H. i; VI. 2; XI. 2. 
 
 n Clement XII. i. J H Clement XII. 2.
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 39 
 
 thought of the author. On the contrary, this designation of Christ is 
 in accord with the author's fundamental conception of Christ. In 
 common with all this group of writings, he regards Christ as Lord over 
 the Christians. They must obey his commandments. His authority 
 extends to the future judgment day. He will confess or deny men before 
 his Father according as they have been loyal or disloyal to him. He has 
 power to cast men into Gehenna. Christ's boundless power to give 
 life leads the author to call him the "Prince of immortality." It is not 
 the mere assignment of this power to Christ which is so significant, but 
 the author has shown that he has his own interpretation of this work of 
 Christ. His saving work gives to Christ the same rank as to God. 
 When he urges them to think of Christ as God, he intends to put the 
 Creator of the spiritual life on the same level with the Creator of the 
 world. Other writers in this period will carry the thought still further 
 and make Christ the Creator of all things. But Second Clement has not 
 advanced so far as that. His distinct contribution toward such develop- 
 ment is the emphasis which he puts on spiritual creation as on a par 
 with universal creation. He thinks of the spiritual life in terms of crea- 
 tion. He says in I. 8: "For he called us, when we were not, and from 
 not being he willed us to be." The reference in this verse can scarcely 
 be to their creation in the absolute sense. For in vs. 7, he is considering 
 their hopeless condition spiritually apart from Christ. When they had 
 no hope Christ called them, and when they had no spiritual life he willed 
 them to be. To the mind of the homilist, salvation was a wonderful work. 
 The Christians must not think mean things of this salvation. He who 
 had the boundless power to dispel the darkness of the cloud wherein they 
 were wrapped, who could give unto them light, and who was the Prince 
 of immortality, who by the power of his will called them from not being 
 to be of him they must think as God. 
 
 (3) Second Clement gives a clear statement of the pre-existence of 
 Christ. It is said in IX. 5: "If Christ the Lord who saved us, being 
 first spirit, then became flesh, and so called us in like manner, we shall in 
 this flesh receive our reward." Dorner has pointed out that this doc- 
 trine is stated because of the author's desire to emphasize the dignity of 
 the body. Christ became flesh, and so the body has dignity. But for 
 christological purposes this passage has especial value because of the 
 distinct separation which the author makes between the pre-existent and 
 the incarnate Christ. He was spirit: he became flesh. This expression 
 resembles the declaration in John 1:14: "And the Word became flesh, 
 and dwelt among Us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only
 
 40 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 begotten from the Father) full of grace and truth." His life was not 
 merely the manifestation of a being who had been hidden with God; he 
 became something different. Harnack finds in this passage, which is 
 typical of the teaching of the Apostolic Fathers concerning pre-existence, 
 "the root of the orthodox system of dogmatics," the fundamental 
 theological and philosophical creed on which the whole trinitarian and 
 christological speculations of the church of the succeeding centuries 
 are built." 1 
 
 (4) His slight emphasis upon any idea of subordination also indicates 
 the high rank which he gives to Christ. There are only a few passages 
 from which the idea of subordination can be gained, and they do not all 
 represent the main thought of the author. He says: "Through him we 
 know the Father; God made known to us the heavenly life through 
 Jesus; God sent forth Jesus." 2 It must be remembered, however, that 
 the homilist calls Jesus God, and that though this term is not expressly 
 applied to him in this pre-existent state, yet it is used of the incarnation, 
 which is not a process of exaltation but of humiliation. So that Harnack 
 is, perhaps, very nearly correct when he says: " Even in his pre-existent 
 state, Christ is an independent power, existing side by side with God." 
 And again : "This doctrine threatens the monarchy of God." 3 
 
 This doctrine of the high rank of Christ clearly puts this work in 
 the group with Ignatius, in which group we find the first stage in the 
 development of Christology after Clement. 
 
 2. SECOND CLEMENT DIFFERENT FROM IGNATIUS IN CERTAIN 
 
 RESPECTS 
 
 Second Clement speaks of the death of Christ only once. He says 
 in I. 2: "He endureth to suffer for our sake." This statement gives no 
 indication of the author's conception of the function of Christ's death, 
 nor does he make the death a center of unity, nor a source of life and ac- 
 tivities. Second Clement is also destitute of any constructive aspect 
 of Christ's work of salvation. He doubtless assumes faith and union 
 with Christ, but he says nothing about them. He lays the stress upon 
 the externalities of the Christian life. The conduct must be in harmony 
 with the will of Christ, and the sanction of conduct is the power of Christ 
 to cast the disobedient into Gehenna. 4 
 
 1 History of Dogma, I. 328. J History of Dogma, I, 33. 
 
 III. i, 2; XX. 5. < VI. 7; VIII. 4.
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 41 
 
 3. ESCHATOLOGY 
 
 Second Clement has a clear plan of the last things. In this respect 
 it is more explicit than Ignatius. The following details of the plan are 
 given: 
 
 (1) Jesus will come, though there is no certainty about the time of 
 his coming. He attempts to indicate the time by saying that the Lord 
 himself had explained that he would come when his disciples had attained 
 a certain high standard of conduct. "When the two shall be one, and 
 the outside as the inside, and the male with the female, neither male 
 nor female." 1 This condition of the Lord's second coming has the 
 happy effect of not binding Second Clement to any definite tune when 
 the Lord would come. The author had probably seen enough dis- 
 appointment in this matter to make him rather wary in his statement. 
 But, as the Scriptures before him, he turns this uncertainty to good 
 advantage, and he makes the certainty that he will come and the uncer- 
 tainty when he will come the basis for exhortation to righteous conduct. 
 " Await the kingdom of God betimes in love and righteousness, since we 
 know not the day of God's appearing." 1 And when Christ comes, he 
 appears as God. 3 
 
 (2) Christ will judge all men. 4 The unrighteous as well as the 
 righteous are under his dominion. It is affirmed: "The unbelievers 
 shall see his glory and his might." When he appears the kingdom 
 of the world shall be given to him. He will then proceed to exercise 
 judgment. 
 
 (3) The basis of the judgment is "works." For it is said: "He shall 
 come and redeem us, each man according to his works." The things 
 which are enumerated that lead to condemnation are ungodly lives, 
 false dealing with the commands of Christ, doing amiss, and the denial 
 of Jesus. The deeds of the righteous for which they are commended 
 are the following: having done good, a phrase comprehensive enough 
 to include everything; having endured torments; and having hated the 
 pleasures of the soul. The Christians were subject to persecution at 
 that time. The date 120 A.D. puts this homily near the martyrdom of 
 Ignatius, and the later date, 140 A.D., is only fifteen years before the 
 martyrdom of Polycarp. So the endurance of torment was very natur- 
 ally one of the virtues which called for especial regard. Those rewarded 
 have also hated the pleasures of the soul. The punishment of the wicked 
 will be grievous torments in unquenchable fire. But all that is said of 
 
 ' XII. a. XII. i. XII. 3, 4. XVII. 4-7.
 
 42 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 the righteous is that there will be hope for him that has served God with 
 his whole heart. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTOLOGY IN THIS GROUP 
 
 (1) The writers of this group show a new attitude toward Christ 
 as compared with those of the preceding division. Christ and his work 
 occupy a much larger place than in the first group. Clement treated of 
 Christ only indirectly. Christ is the center of thought here. Ignatius, 
 for example, conceives of the work of Christ in a variety of ways. Christ 
 is an example. Christ has died for men. Christ is the giver of life, 
 the Prince of immortality. Christ is the source of blessings. Christ 
 is an object of prayer. In a great number of ways, a central place is 
 given to Christ in these writings. 
 
 (2) In these writings there is a change in emphasis upon the sub- 
 ordination of Christ. In Clement the subordination of Christ is so 
 emphasized that it holds the prominent place. In these writings, on 
 the contrary, subordination though still present notably recedes. Igna- 
 tius does not make subordination emphatic. Polycarp gives still less 
 attention to it, saying only that God raised Christ from the dead, 
 God saves men through Christ, and God gave Christ a throne. And 
 Second Clement has only a few passages from which the idea of subordi- 
 nation can be gained. 
 
 (3) These writings give a wide extension to the authority of Christ. 
 In Clement the authority of Christ reaches only to the spiritual lives of 
 men. Here Christ is Lord over the whole man, spirit and body. In 
 Clement the authority of Christ is over believers. Here he is Lord over 
 all men. This is the representation of all three of these writers. 
 
 (4) A greater significance is attached to Christ's work of salvation. 
 Second Clement especially thinks of Christ's saving work in terms of 
 creation. This conception furnishes an anticipation of creation in the 
 absolute sense which is assigned to Christ by the next group of these 
 writings. 
 
 (5) The ascription of eternal pre-existence to Christ is another 
 advance over the first group. 
 
 (6) The function of judge at the great judgment day is assigned to 
 Christ by all of these writings. 
 
 (7) Christ is conjoined with the Father much more boldly and 
 thoroughly than in the first group of writings. The Father and Son 
 are conjointly the hope of salvation in Clement. But the thought is 
 expressed only once, and it is not the prevailing mode of Clement's
 
 CHRIST THE CENTER OF INTEREST 43 
 
 thought. In Clement's salutation, grace and peace come from the 
 Father through the Son. In these writings the Father and Son are 
 together the source of grace and peace. They are conjoined in election 
 and foreordination ; together they grant mercy to men; together they 
 direct the actions of men. Men belong to Christ and God. Christ 
 is conjoined with God in authority over Christians, in the government 
 of the world, in beholding the conduct of men, in building men up in 
 faith, and as the object of the believer's love. This is true, however, of 
 Ignatius only. 
 
 (8) Christ is called God. Ignatius addresses Christ as our God, or 
 calls him God in a modified sense a number of times. Three times he 
 calls him God in the absolute sense. Second Clement calls Christ 
 God twice without any limitations.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 THE COSMOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CHRIST APPEARS 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 A. THE LETTER OF BARNABAS 
 
 The author. The earliest witness to this letter, Clement of Alexan- 
 dria, attributes it to Barnabas the apostle. There is no indication why 
 he ascribed the letter to the apostle. Lightfoot has suggested that the 
 author may have been a namesake of the apostle. In this case the con- 
 fusion could be understood. The only foundation for the suggestion is 
 the early ascription of the letter. This does not carry us beyond con- 
 jecture in regard to the author. The letter itself makes it perfectly 
 clear that it could not have been written by the apostle. In V. 9, he 
 refers to the apostles in such a way that he seems to exclude the possibility 
 that the writer belonged to this group. He says: " And when he chose 
 his own apostles who were to proclaim his gospel, men who were sinners 
 above every sin, in order that he might show that he came not to call the 
 righteous but sinners, at that time he manifested that he was the Son of 
 God." More decisive against the authorship of the apostle is the treat- 
 ment of the Law. Such an allegorical interpretation is not possible in 
 the case of an apostle who was a Levite. The allegorism and style of 
 the letter point toward an author living in Alexandria. 
 
 The place of origin. The contents and character of the letter help 
 to fix the place of its origin, if not the name of its author. In its negative 
 aspect the letter is a polemic against Judaism, at least in its ceremonial 
 requirements. He seeks to give a spiritual interpretation to all the com- 
 mands of the Law. 1 But in addition to the anti-Judaistic purpose, 
 the author has the positive aim to build up Christian life. Life, right- 
 eousness, and love, he says, are the three ordinances of the Lord. In 
 opposition to Judaism, he shows that the way to attain the goal of the 
 Christian faith is by means of an inner life, rather than by the observance 
 of external forms, though he comes perilously near formalism in his 
 attitude toward baptism. A new creation, the indwelling of Christ, cir- 
 cumcision of the heart, patience, fear, and self-restraint are aids to faith 
 
 1 Cruttwell, A Literary History of Early Christianity, I, 52, says: "The general 
 argument of the treatise is to prove that Judaism, at any rate in its ceremonial aspect, 
 is not an expression of the mind of God, but a carnal misinterpretation of command- 
 ments that were from the first intended to be wholly spiritual." 
 
 44
 
 APPEARANCE OF COSMOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CHRIST 45 
 
 instead of sacrifices, fasts, and the keeping of Sabbaths. Allegorism 
 is a marked characteristic of the work and finds expression, for example, 
 in his interpretation of the command not to eat swine. It means, he 
 says, that they shall not cleave to men who are like unto swine. 1 In 
 the same manner he interprets many other commands. Such allegorism 
 creates a strong probability in favor of Alexandria as the place of its origin. 
 The date. There are some fairly reliable data for determining the 
 earliest and latest limits of its date. The absence of reference to Gnosti- 
 cism fixes the latest limit at about 130 A.D. Harnack regards that as a 
 rather late date for it. The earliest limit is fixed by the use of the Gospel 
 of Matthew, unless we may assume that the author used some of the 
 sources of Matthew. "The many called and few chosen" of IV. 14 
 is a reflection of Matt. 12:14. By giving a late date to Matthew the 
 earliest limit of this book would be in the beginning of the second century. 
 The fact that the book shows no close connection with the apostles tends 
 to put it as far as may be away from the apostolic group. With the late 
 date agrees XVI. 4: "Behold they that pulled down this temple shall 
 build it. So it cometh to pass; for because they went to war it was 
 pulled down by their enemies. Now also the very servants of their 
 enemies shall build it up." It seems best with Harnack to interpret 
 this as a reference to the reign of Hadrian. He was in Syria and Pales- 
 tine in 130, 131 A.D., and gave orders to build the city; and in 132 A.D. 
 came the insurrection and destruction of the city. 1 The present "it 
 cometh to pass" seems to imply that this work of building up the city 
 was going on when this letter was written, and the final destruction of 
 the city had not yet taken place. We may safely take this letter as a 
 monument of Alexandrian Christianity, originating near 130 A.D. 
 
 B. HERMAS 
 
 The author. The author gives us the geographical setting of his 
 work and tells us something about himself. In the first "Vision" he is 
 in Rome by the River Tiber; and in the second "Vision" he is on the 
 way to Cumae. The first sentence gives the information that he was at 
 one time a slave. He says: "The master, who reared me, had sold me 
 to one Rhoda in Rome." The Muratorian Fragment says that he was a 
 brother of Pius, whose episcopate lasted from 140-55 A.D. This relation- 
 ship is very generally accepted now, though Origen says that he is the 
 Hennas saluted by Paul in Rom. 16: 14, and some others have proposed 
 a Hermas who was a contemporary of Clement, 90-100, and who is other- 
 wise unknown. 
 
 1 X. 3. Hamack, Gesckickte, II, S. 257-67.
 
 46 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 The date. The date of the book is about 140 A.D. Hermas knows 
 nothing of the questions that agitated the church soon after this date, 
 or at least he gives no clear hint of the activity of Valentinus. Harnack 
 thinks that parts of the book may have been written as early as 1 10 A.D., 
 but that the final redaction was made about 140 A.D. 1 
 
 The character of the work. The book consists of visions, mandates, 
 and similitudes. Under these various forms it presents a vivid picture 
 of the church at Rome at this time. Hermas inveighs against wealth 
 as one of the sins of the church. In Vision III. 9:6, he says: "Look ye 
 therefore, ye that exult in your wealth, lest they that want shall moan, 
 and their moaning shall go up unto the Lord, and ye with your (abund- 
 ance of) good things be shut outside the door of the tower." In Simili- 
 tude I, he says that for fields they should buy the poor. The possession of 
 enough to eat, and more than enough, by some, whik others are suffering 
 from want, is a condition against which he speaks. Such sins as abuse 
 of wealth, extravagance, adultery, lying, anger, betrayal of parents are 
 spoken against. The warnings concerning false prophets are significant, 
 and indicate one of the conditions existing in the church. The false 
 prophet is denounced severely: "Being empty himself, he giveth empty 
 answers to empty enquirers; for whatsoever enquiry may be made of 
 him, he answereth according to the emptiness of the man." 2 He gives 
 the marks by which the false prophet may be distinguished from the 
 true, and speaks of the havoc that the false prophet is working in the 
 church, leading men astray. The virtues insisted upon are faith, conti- 
 nence, simplicity, guilelessness, reverence, knowledge, love, truthfulness, 
 purity, mutual helpfulness, and such things. 
 
 The object of the book is the reformation of the church at Rome. 
 
 C. THE LETTER TO DIOGNETUS 
 
 The author. The writer is unknown. The letter is addressed to 
 Diognetus, and Lightfoot thinks that it is possible that he is the one who 
 was the teacher of Marcus Aurelius. 
 
 The date. The greatest uncertainty still prevails concerning the 
 date of this letter. Lightfoot thinks that no certainty is possible. On 
 the whole he thinks that it belongs about the middle of the second cen- 
 tury. Harnack dates it much later. He quotes Donaldson who puts 
 it in the time of the Renaissance. But he himself thinks that it belongs 
 in the third century, or at the end of the second. The theology of chaps. 
 VII-X he regards as coming after the gnostic fight and built on the 
 
 'Harnack, Geschichte, II, S. 257-67. 
 Mandate XI.
 
 APPEARANCE OF COSMOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CHRIST 47 
 
 results of this conflict. 1 But the statements of these chapters concern- 
 ing the nature of the one who came to earth are a little too precise and 
 careful to indicate that the gnostic conflict is entirely over. The writer 
 defines Christ negatively as not belonging in the class with subalterns, or 
 angels, or rulers, and then gives the positive characterization of Christ 
 that puts him above all creatures. His conception of the function and 
 rank of Christ is very similar to that of Barnabas and Hermas, and for 
 that reason this letter is included in this study and is put in the group 
 with these two. The last two chapters are the work of a later hand, and 
 therefore are not considered here. 
 
 The purpose. The purpose of the letter is to give an account of the 
 God whom the Christians worship, and to make a defense of the Chris- 
 tian's manner of life a life of kindness and affection toward the brother- 
 hood and of patient endurance of death under persecution. The letter 
 possesses a high literary quality. 2 
 
 I. THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE LETTER OF BARNABAS 
 
 I. THE RANK WHICH HE GIVES TO CHRIST 
 
 The marked feature in the Christology in this letter is the cosmo- 
 logical function assigned to Christ. In V. 10, he says: "For if he had 
 not come in the flesh, neither would men have looked upon him and 
 been saved, forasmuch as when they look upon the sun that shall cease 
 to be, which is the work of his own hands, they cannot face its rays." 
 He goes beyond Hermas here in ascribing creation to Christ, since 
 Hermas only makes Christ the sustaining principle of creation. Barna- 
 bas gives expression to this exaltation of Christ in opposition to the 
 humiliation of his incarnation. He feels the objection which this 
 humiliation raises against the dignity of Christ, and he explains the 
 necessity of the humiliation. Christ must come in the flesh to save 
 men, to destroy death, to show the way of life, and to show the resurrec- 
 tion. He must have the veil of the flesh thrown over his glory or men 
 could not bear the sight of him, just as they cannot look directly upon the 
 sun. But if men could not thus look upon the sun, much less could they 
 look upon him who created the sun. In close connection with the world- 
 creative power of Jesus must be placed his spiritual creation. In XVI. 8, 
 
 1 Harnack, Geschickte, I, S. 513-17. 
 
 * Cruttwell, A Literary History of Early Christianity, I, 305, says: "Even in its 
 mutilated state it conveys the impression of high literary power." Swete, Patristic 
 Study, chap, v: "The paradox of Christian conduct is painted in undying words"; 
 chap, vi: "The love of the atonement and the righteousness of faith are handled in a 
 manner unparalleled in early Christian literature."
 
 48 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 he says: "Hoping in the Name we became new, created afresh from the 
 beginning." This is his allegorical interpretation of building a temple 
 to the Lord. He gives up the material temple to destruction, but he 
 builds a temple in the hearts of men. 
 
 In close connection with the above function must be placed the power 
 of Christ to destroy death and raise the dead. 1 These three statements 
 give a most complete statement of the creative power of Christ: he 
 created the world; he creates men anew; and he raises men from the 
 dead. 
 
 Barnabas and Hermas agree in one particular in the pre-existence 
 of Christ. They put Christ with God before the creation of the world. 
 God says to the Son: "Let us make man in our image." 2 Christ was 
 with God when the Father was planning creation. Barnabas is inter- 
 ested especially to show the priority of Christ to the prophets and the 
 Old Covenant. The prophets received grace from Christ and prophe- 
 sied concerning him. Barnabas takes up the objection urged by men 
 that Christ is the son of David. The idea which he is combating is 
 that Christ is only the son of David. He says: " David himself prophe- 
 sieth being afraid and understanding the error of sinners. The Lord 
 said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand until I set thine enemies 
 for a footstool under thy feet." 3 Then he quotes a saying which he 
 says is from Isaiah: "The Lord said unto my Christ, the Lord, of whose 
 right hand I laid hold, that the nations shall give ear before him, and I 
 will break down the strength of kings." Then he says: "See how 
 David calleth him Lord, and calleth him not son." In this way he shows 
 the superiority of Christ to the Judaic system. The passages which 
 declare his incarnation witness to his pre-existence. He is about to 
 become manifest in the flesh; he appears in person. 4 In one reference 
 to the incarnation he calls Christ God, apparently in the fullest sense of 
 the word. He says: " Lest haply they should cease to fear the God who 
 is over both of you; for he came not to call with respect to persons, but 
 to call those whom the Spirit had prepared." 5 He thinks of Christ as 
 manifest in the flesh. 
 
 He shows the dignity of Christ by the authority which he ascribes 
 to him. Christ is often given the title 6 KU/MOS, which designates his 
 authority over the Christian community. He has authority as judge to 
 determine the final destiny of men. He is Lord and future judge of 
 quick and dead. And then, as Lord of the whole world, he has universal 
 dominion. 6 
 
 'Chap. V. > XII. ii. sXIX. 7. 
 
 V. 5. VI. 7; XIV. 5. 6 VII. 2; V. 15.
 
 APPEARANCE OF COSMOLOGICAL JUNCTION OF CHRIST 49 
 
 The idea of subordination is present, but only in the title "Son," 
 which does not strongly express it, and in a statement made in XIV. 6: 
 "It is written how the Father chargeth him to deliver us from darkness." 
 But almost no place is given to the thought of subordination by this 
 author. 
 
 The same work and function are ascribed both to Christ and to God, 
 but the two names are not conjoined in the same expression. In VI. n, 
 re-creation is ascribed to the Father, and in XVI. 8 and XII. 5, to the 
 Son. In XXI. 5, God is called Lord of the whole world, and in V. 5, 
 Jesus is said to be Lord of the whole world. This attitude toward the 
 Father and the Son suggests the equality of the two, even more perhaps 
 than a conjoined expression. That which is done by the one may be 
 said to be done by the other. According to the representation of Barna- 
 bas, Christ created the world; he was associated with the Father in 
 counsel concerning the creation of the world; he has universal dominion, 
 as also God has; he re-creates men, giving to them eternal life; he is 
 judge of the quick and dead; and once he is called God who is over both 
 master and servant. In all of these relations Christ is put on an equality 
 with God, and is called God. With such a high Christology it is difficult 
 to see how such an author as Cruttwell can say: "There is little doubt 
 the author accepted the divinity of Christ, but the idea is not clearly 
 expanded." 1 It is just in this author that we find the fullest expansion 
 of the idea of the divinity of Christ that is given by any one of the apos- 
 tolic Fathers. 
 
 2. THE FUNCTION OF CHRIST'S DEATH 
 
 In accordance with his allegorical method, Barnabas makes many 
 things that have preceded in the Old Covenant to be types of the death 
 of Jesus. Isaac about to be offered by his father is a type of the death 
 of Jesus. The accursed goat, the scarlet wool twisted on the tree, the 
 heifer that is burned, the brazen serpent, Moses with his hands stretched 
 out in battle, all these are types of the death of Jesus. a But most of 
 these passages are colorless so far as their teaching relates to the function 
 of his death. For example, it is said in V. 5: "if the Lord endured to 
 suffer for our soul" (IT/H T^S i/^x^ 5 fauv). This does not indicate in 
 what way his suffering was for our soul. In V. i, 2, the author's con- 
 ception of Christ's death is made more clear. Here he says: "For 
 this purpose he endured to deliver his flesh to corruption, that by the 
 remission of sins we might be cleansed which is by the blood of his 
 sprinkling." His death had for its purpose our cleansing by the for- 
 
 1 A Literary History of Early Christianity, I, 51. 
 
 VII. s, 71 VIII. i, 2; XII. 2.
 
 50 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 giveness of sins, and it achieved its end. The cleansing and the forgive- 
 ness are the same fact regarded in different aspects. His death is 
 related to the cleansing or forgiveness both purposely and effectively. 
 The relation which the author conceives the death to sustain to the 
 pardon is indicated also by his quotation of a part of Isa., chap. 53. 
 There the servant is a penal substitute for the sins of others, and the 
 application of this passage here to Christ favors the view that the author 
 regarded the death of Christ as substitutionary. The statement in 
 VII. 2 looks in the same direction. Here he says: "If then the son of 
 God, being Lord and future judge of quick and dead, suffered that his 
 wound might give us life, let us believe that the son of God could not 
 suffer except for our sakes." The author is seeking to maintain the 
 majesty of Christ. But the humiliation and suffering are a standing 
 objection to his exaltation. So he declares that there is nothing in 
 Christ which calls for suffering. The ground for the suffering is in the 
 sin of men, and comes from Christ's relation to the sin of men. His 
 wound is intended to give life to men. The designation of the death of 
 Christ by "wound" shows that the thought of the Isaiah passage has per- 
 meated his mind. The idea of substitution seems manifest in VIII. 1,2. 
 When the sins of men are full grown, they take a heifer and slaughter it 
 and burn it and then the people are purified by the sprinkling of the 
 ashes upon them. Jesus is the calf, and he is offered by sinners to 
 purify them. In XI. i, 7, baptism and the cross are joined together to 
 secure the remission of sins. The primary purpose of the author is not 
 to give the function of Christ's death, but rather to show that all the 
 events in the previous Jewish history point to Christ, and have signifi- 
 cance only in relation to him. 
 
 3. THE CONSTRUCTIVE ASPECT OF THE SOTERIOLOGICAL WORK OF CHRIST 
 
 The author emphasizes the graces of the Christian life more than 
 faith as the root of the life. This is true even apart from the "two ways" 
 section. Carefulness, fear, patience, long suffering, self-restraint 
 this is the aspect of the life which he sees and upon which he lays stress. 
 There is, however, the teaching that men must have faith. They believe 
 on God; they rest their hope and fear on Jesus. 1 The clearest statement 
 of faith in Jesus is found in IV. 8: "That the covenant of the beloved 
 Jesus might be sealed unto our hearts in the hope which springeth from 
 faith in him." Here faith is made the source of life. In his opposition 
 to Jewish formalism he dwells upon the spirit rather than the letter as 
 essential to life. 
 
 'XI. ii.
 
 APPEARANCE OF COSMOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CHRIST 51 
 
 Christ carries on his work in the life through dwelling in men. In VI. 
 14, 15, he says: "He himself was to be manifested in the flesh and dwell 
 in us. For a holy temple unto the Lord, my brethren, is the abode of 
 our heart." The fullest development of dwelling in the hearts of men is 
 given in XVI. 7-10. But, according to this passage, the one who dwells 
 in the heart is God, as in VI. 14, 15 it is Christ. 
 
 4. ESCHATOLOGY 
 
 Barnabas has a fully developed doctrine of the last things. He has a 
 number of names for the Evil One. He calls him the "Black One," 
 "the Active One," "the lord of the season of iniquity," "the Lawless 
 One." 1 In XVIII. 2, the person designated by these different names 
 is called "the Lawless One" and is identified with Satan. There is no 
 evidence that he identifies him with any earthly ruler. The nature of 
 the Evil One is sufficiently indicated by his names. Barnabas represents 
 that the Evil One has the authority in this age. He says in II. i : " See- 
 ing then that the days are evil, and that the Active One himself has the 
 authority, we ought to give heed to ourselves and to seek out the ordi- 
 nances of the Lord." There is an order of things in which the Active 
 One has dominion, but Christians do not belong to this order and are 
 not under his rule. They must be on their guard lest he shall effect 
 an entrance into their ranks. His reign shall last six thousand years, 
 until the end of the present world. Barnabas interprets God's com- 
 pletion of creation in six days, and his resting at the end of the period, 
 to mean that the world will come to an end in six thousand years, and then 
 the Active One shall be destroyed along with the earth, and then the 
 Sabbath rest shall begin. He has a number of expressions which show 
 that he conceives the end of the world to be near at the time when he is 
 writing. He urges them to give no relaxation to their souls that they 
 should be at liberty to consort with sinners and wicked men, for the last 
 offense is at hand. Again, he says : " Wherefore let us take heed in these 
 last days." The Beloved is hastening and coming to his inheritance, and 
 to hasten his coming the Master has cut the days short. For he says: 
 "The day is at hand, in which everything shall be destroyed together 
 with the Evil One. The Lord is at hand and his reward." 2 Christ is 
 the judge. As such he is called "Christ," "Son of God," "his son," 
 and "the Lord." 3 The order of events for the last things is, first, the 
 coming of the Lord; then the resurrection, followed by the judgment, 
 the destruction of everything, together with the Evil One; the reward 
 
 'II. i ; IV. 13; XVm. a; XV. 5. 
 
 IV. 3, 9. V. 7; VIII. a; XV. 5 ; XXI. 3.
 
 52 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 of the righteous; and, last, the making of a new earth, when "he shall 
 change the sun and the moon and the stars, and then shall he truly rest." 
 The judgment is made on the basis of conduct and character. "If 
 he be good, his righteousness shall go before him in the way; if he be 
 evil, the recompense of his evil doing is before him." 1 
 
 II. THE CHRISTOLOGY IN HERMAS 
 
 I. THE RANK OF CHRIST 
 
 The two features of Hennas which put him in the rank of the high 
 Christologists of this period are, first, the cosmological function that he 
 assigns to Christ, and, second, the boundless limits of his authority. 
 Christ sustains the whole world and he is Lord of the whole world. But 
 in connection with this rank there is some material that apparently 
 gives to Christ a distinctly lower position, making him not only sub- 
 ordinate to the Father, but under the authority of the Holy Spirit, and 
 subject to the judgment of the heavenly tribunal the Father, the 
 Holy Spirit, and the glorious angels. Hermas himself sees that his 
 parable, in which he represents the Son as a slave, apparently degrades 
 the Son, and he has the speaker answer the objection which he himself 
 makes. He then vigorously repudiates the intention to lower the Son 
 of God, but maintains on the contrary that he exalts Christ. The 
 confusion of thought, or misinterpretation, is only that which is char- 
 acteristic of this kind of writing, consisting of visions and parables. In 
 the case of Hermas the misinterpretation has arisen from a failure to 
 maintain a distinction which he has made with a fair degree of clearness. 
 He treats the person of Christ under three different aspects: (i) the 
 incarnate Christ; (2) the pre-existent Christ; and (3) the Christ apart 
 from any idea of humiliation, whether pre-incarnate or post-incarnate. 
 Naturally the affirmations made concerning one of these phases of 
 Christ's life do not apply to another, and a consistent representation of 
 the person of Christ will be obtained only if the different phases are kept 
 distinct. Furthermore, it is scarcely to be hoped that the author in a 
 book of this character will always take pains to make clear which phase 
 of Christ's life he has in mind, or that he will always be entirely con- 
 sistent. Bearing this in mind, we may examine his conception of 
 Christ as presented under the three forms. 
 
 (i) The incarnate Christ. Here it must be noted that he identifies 
 the incarnate Christ with the pre-existent Son of God. This identi- 
 fication is made in Similitude IX. 12:1-3. The "Rock" is the pre- 
 
 'V. 7; XXI. 3; XV. 5; IV. 12.
 
 APPEARANCE OF COSMOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CHRIST 53 
 
 existent Son of God, older than all creation. The " Gate" is the incar- 
 nate Son, and is made "recent" because the pre-existent Son was 
 "made manifest in the last days of the consummation." 
 
 The reality of the human nature is affirmed repeatedly, and there is 
 no evidence of Docetism, such as Ignatius combated. 
 
 The incarnate Son is in a condition of humiliation. This state is 
 set forth most strikingly in Similitude V by the parable of the Estate 
 and Vineyard. The parable is as follows: A householder commits a 
 vineyard to a slave; the slave tends the vineyard exceedingly well; 
 the master returns and is greatly pleased with the servant's work. He 
 then calls his son who is heir, and his friends, and tells them that he has 
 promised the slave freedom on the condition of good and faithful service. 
 Now, because of the especially faithful work of the slave, the master 
 wishes to give to him not only his freedom but to make him joint-heir 
 with his son. Then Hermas gives the following interpretation: The 
 estate is the world; the servant is the Son of God; the vines are the 
 people whom God had planted; the fences are the holy angels; the 
 friends and advisers are the angels which were first created. When the 
 first objection to his parable is raised, that the Son of God is degraded 
 by being made a slave, the author answers by an evident contradiction 
 of himself, and says that he has not made the Son a servant. For he 
 says: "The Son of God is not represented in the guise of a servant, but 
 is represented in great power and lordship." We shall return to this 
 passage later. 
 
 In Similitude V. 6:5, Hermas says: "The Holy Pre-existent Spirit 
 which created the whole creation God made to dwell in flesh that he 
 desired." This statement must refer to the relation of the Holy Spirit 
 to Jesus, the incarnate Christ, not, as some have thought, to an incarna- 
 tion of the Holy Spirit in the person of Jesus. <rdp here designates the 
 whole person of Jesus. The same use is seen in John I. 14: 6 Xoyo? <rdp 
 iytvero. In a similar manner, Jesus is designated <in/p in Similitude 
 IX. 6:8; 12:7, 8; 7:1: & &vrjp v\fnj\os, 6 avrjp .... 6 fv8oos, v8oov KOI 
 /icyuv av8pa. The author has no hesitation in speaking of Christ as 
 a man when Christ is in the condition of humiliation, and he leaves 
 him thus in certain instances without any more precise definition of his 
 nature. In V. 7 below, he designates human nature by o-op and speaks 
 of the Holy Spirit as dwelling in it: " For all flesh which is found undefiled 
 and unspotted, wherein the Holy Spirit dwelt, shall receive a reward." 
 The relation of the Holy Spirit in vs. 5 to <rdp( is just the same as in 
 vs. 7. There is no more reason to interpret it as an incarnation in one 
 case than in the other. The Holy Spirit's holding a relation to the
 
 54 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 incarnate Jesus which is the same in kind, but different only in degree 
 from that which he holds to men, is not an idea which is new to Christian 
 thought, but has been given currency by the gospels, especially by the 
 accounts of the temptation. And, again, <rdp must denote the incarnate 
 Jesus here, for the reason that the reward of the career is pronounced 
 upon the crapt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would scarcely be 
 represented as sitting in judgment upon his own incarnation. More- 
 over, the treatment of the flesh as the incarnate Jesus is consonant with 
 the whole representation which makes so clear a distinction between the 
 pre-existent and the incarnate state of Jesus. In the latter he may be 
 regarded very consistently as under subjection to the Holy Spirit, and 
 may be rewarded for his relation toward the Holy Spirit at this time. 
 The relation represented here as existing between Christ and the Holy 
 Spirit is not the only relation that existed between the two. In his 
 state of humiliation Christ was subject to the Holy Spirit according to 
 Barnabas, but in his pre-existent state an entirely different relation was 
 sustained between them. 1 Some confusion is introduced by Hermas 
 calling the Holy Spirit "Son" in the heavenly tribunal that passes 
 judgment upon the incarnate life of Jesus. But this strange title comes 
 from the exigency of the parable which represents the householder's heir 
 as his son. The author has no intention to confuse the Holy Spirit and 
 Jesus in this manner. It has been thought by some that this reward 
 of Jesus, making him a partner with the Holy Spirit, lends support to 
 the idea of adoption. But the author makes the pre-existence of Christ 
 so essential a part of his conception of Christ that he excludes the possi- 
 bility of adoption. His career here of unfailing obedience and stainless 
 purity won for his earthly career the judgment of the heavenly tribunal 
 that he deserved partnership with the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The subordinate position of the incarnate Christ is seen further by the 
 statement in Similitude .6:3 that he gives the people the law which he 
 receives from the Father. 
 
 The humiliation of his incarnate state is thus shown by the repre- 
 sentation that he is a slave over the vineyard working for his freedom, 
 that he is obedient to the Holy Spirit just as other men ought to be, that 
 he is subordinate to the Father, that he is judged by God, the Holy 
 Spirit, and the glorious angels, and that he is rewarded by being exalted 
 to partnership with the Holy Spirit. 
 
 But this is not the whole representation of his incarnate state. He 
 ascribes to Christ great majesty and glory in this state. It is from 
 this point of view that Hermas denies the "servant guise" to the Son. 
 
 1 Dorner, Doctrine of the Person of Christ, Div. I, Vol. I, p. 386.
 
 APPEARANCE OF COSMOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CHRIST 55 
 
 He has delivered the people over to him. The Son himself controls the 
 angels and places them over the people to keep watch. The Son has 
 cleansed the people of their sins by laboring much and enduring many 
 toils. He has shown them the path of life. The exaltation of the Son 
 which this work indicates can be properly appreciated only in the light 
 of Hennas' view that the world itself was created for the church. To 
 have charge of the church, to redeem it and show it the way of life raises 
 the Son to a most exalted position. Hennas goes so far that he says 
 that Christ himself is "Lord of the people, having received all power 
 from his Father." Hennas cannot view the work of salvation from 
 sin without thinking that such work involves all power. In Mandate 
 IV. i : ii, where he is considering the sin of adultery, he says that there 
 is One who is able to give healing; "it is he who has authority over all 
 things." Here the reference is to Christ. And because of this work of 
 healing, he predicates of Christ all authority. The limitless extent of 
 his power is inconsistent with the "servant guise," but the author is 
 breaking away from his parabolic representation and presenting Christ 
 in harmony with what he considered his real nature. It is possible to 
 abate the representation which Hermas gives of Christ's humiliation. 
 His earthly work manifestly has an aspect of power and majesty. Then 
 whatever there may be of humiliation, such as his sufferings, may be 
 regarded as "the work of his free love, as the means of the taking away 
 of our sins, and as the point of passage to higher perfection." 1 But 
 however great the power and majesty, the picture of the incarnate Christ 
 which he gives is that of subordination and subjection. 
 
 (2) The pre-existent Christ. He was with the Father before all crea- 
 tion, and to this extent, he had part in the creation of all things. 
 
 (3) His conception of Christ apart from all humiliation. He is great 
 and incomprehensible, and sustains the whole world. This cosmological 
 function of Christ is developed here in connection with his power to 
 sustain men who bear his name and walk according to his command- 
 ments. From our point of view, Hermas reaches the highest Christology 
 when he ascribes to Christ a part in creation, and the function to sustain 
 the world. But this is not the author's point of view. He reaches 
 the climax when he ascribes to Christ the founding of the church. In 
 Vision II. 4 : i , he says that the church was created before all things and 
 that the world was created for her sake. Evidently, then, the greatest 
 glory that could be ascribed to any being would be the founding of the 
 church. And this work he ascribes to Christ. In Vision III. 3:5, he 
 says that the "tower" is the church, and that the "tower has been 
 
 '/<*., Div. I, Vol. I, p. 131.
 
 56 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 founded by the word of the Almighty and Glorious Name." The usage 
 of Hernias leaves little doubt that by the " Almighty and Glorious Name " 
 he means to designate Christ. In Vision III. i : 9, when Hernias desired 
 to sit on the right of the "lady" on the couch, he was forbidden, and 
 told that the place on the right was for others, even for those who have 
 been well-pleasing to God, and have suffered for the name's sake. The 
 author makes a distinction here by his statement between God and the 
 "name." But if the language itself need not necessarily indicate two 
 persons, the fact is made certain that he distinguishes between the two, 
 for the reason that the Christians were not suffering on account of the 
 name of God, but on account of the name of Christ. In Vision III. 2 : i, 
 he makes still more unmistakable his meaning: "What did they suffer, 
 say I. Listen, saith she. Stripes, imprisonments, great tribulations, 
 crosses, wild beasts, for the name's sake." In Similitude IX. 13:2, he 
 speaks of some who bear the name of the Son of God and not its power. 
 
 The high rank which Hernias ascribes to Christ is seen also from 
 the slight emphasis he gives to the subordination of Christ to God the 
 Father. All the passages which speak of Christ's subordination are 
 those which treat of his incarnation. This state is of short duration, 
 and does not alter the essential glory which belongs to him. In this 
 state he receives power from the Father and is the agent of the Father. 
 God calls men to be saved through his Son; and God gives command- 
 ment through his Son. 
 
 But however high the rank which Hernias assigns to Christ, and 
 however clear the distinction which he makes and keeps between the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, he still holds to the unity of God, as is seen 
 from Mandate I: "First of all believe that God is one, even he who 
 created all things and set them in order." 1 He makes no attempt to 
 show how he reconciled his Christological positions with the unity of God. 
 
 2. THE CONSTRUCTIVE ASPECT OF CHRIST'S SOTERIOLOGICAL WORK 
 
 Hermas is peculiar among the writers of this period in the unusual 
 place which he gives to baptism and works as means for securing salva- 
 tion. In two passages he assigns a distinctly soteriological power to 
 baptism. In Mandate IV. 3:1, he says: "We went down into the 
 water and obtained remission of former sins." And in Vision III. 3:5, 
 it is said: " Hear then why the tower is builded upon waters; it is because 
 your life is saved, and shall be saved, by water." 
 
 In another passage he ascribes salvation to works, and without 
 indicating the relation of baptism to works. In this instance it is 
 
 1 Dorner, op. cit., Div. I, Vol. I, pp. 129, 135.
 
 APPEARANCE OF COSMOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CHRIST 57 
 
 primarily a question concerning the sins of Hernias. He has been 
 neglectful of his family, and is mixed up with their evil transactions. 
 The writing that the "lady" has given him says: "But herein is thy 
 salvation, in that thou didst not depart from the living God, and in thy 
 simplicity and in thy great continence. These have saved thee if thou 
 abidest therein ; and they save all who do such things, and walk in guile- 
 lessness and simplicity." 1 But these good works belong to those who are 
 already in the " tower," the church. This is clearly true of Hernias, and 
 the same thing may be fairly supposed to be true of the " all who do such 
 things." So the righteous works do not save them apart from baptism. 
 In fact, baptism is given priority to works in the process of salvation. 
 
 The case is not the same, however, in the relation between faith and 
 baptism. Men enter into the "tower" by faith as well as baptism. In 
 Vision III. 8:1-5 * s given the development of the place of faith in salva- 
 tion, and as a means of entrance into the church. Hennas sees the 
 " tower" surrounded and guarded by seven women. Then the names of 
 these women are given. "The first of them, the woman with the strong 
 hands, is called Faith; through her are saved the elect of God." And 
 then follow the names of the others. Then Hermas is told that "who- 
 soever shall serve these women, and shall have strength to master their 
 works, shall have his dwelling in the tower with the saints of God." 
 
 A fourth factor also enters into his conception of salvation. The 
 Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of men who are strong in faith and 
 gives them strength to master evil inclinations. 2 On the basis of the 
 indwelling of the Holy Spirit, he exhorts men to put anger out of their 
 hearts very much after the manner of Paul's appeal to the Corinthians 
 to avoid fornication because their bodies are the temple of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 Although baptism has an essential part in his plan of salvation, and 
 although he gives an emphasis to works that relates him closely to James, 
 it is still evident that faith holds the most fundamental place in his mind 
 and is the root of all the virtues. In Vision III. 8:7, he makes the 
 statement that the virtues are all born from faith. He says: "From 
 faith is born continence, from continence simplicity, from simplicity 
 guilelessness, from guilelessness reverence, from reverence knowledge, 
 from knowledge love." And in Similitude IX. 15, when he is naming "the 
 more powerful virgins, those that are stationed at the corners," he says 
 that the first is faith. Faith as the root of the Christian life thus finds 
 strong emphasis in this work. 
 
 1 Vision II. 3:2. 
 1 Mandate VI. i, a.
 
 $8 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 3. ESCHATOLOGY 1 
 
 In his eschatology he gives a place to judgment with punishment and 
 reward, and there is a coming age, but no judge is named. The end of the 
 world is conceived of as near. The "tower" is still building, but it 
 will soon be built, and the completion of the "tower" comes at the end 
 of the world. The only purpose of the world is to minister to the church, 
 and when the church is completed, the world is very naturally destroyed. 
 The destruction will be by fire. This fact is affirmed in Vision IV. 3:1,2 
 by the color of the beast that Hennas met. He says: "The black 
 is this world in which ye dwell ; and the fire and blood color sheweth that 
 this world must perish by fire." There are two classes that shall be 
 burned the sinners and the " Gentiles." By sinners he seems to desig- 
 nate those who belong in some way to the Christian fold, but have proved 
 to be false. And the Gentiles stand apparently in opposition to the 
 Christians. This whole class shall be burned "because they knew not 
 him that created them." 
 
 III. THE CHRISTOLOGY IN DIOGNETTJS 
 
 I. THE RANK WHICH HE ASSIGNS TO CHRIST 
 
 The position assigned to Christ is shown, in the first place, by his 
 cosmological function. Christ created the world and controls all the 
 natural world. 2 The writer calls Christ the Artificer and Creator of the 
 universe, and in VII. 2 says that all the elements are in subjection to 
 him "the heavens and the things in the heavens, the earth and the 
 things in the earth, the sea and the things that are in the sea, fire, air, 
 abyss, the things that are in the heights, the things that are in the depths, 
 the things that are between the two." The universality of his dominion 
 is thus elaborated. Furthermore, he was with the Father before the 
 creation and had a part in planning the universe. 
 
 In all this presentation, however, the author retains in some measure 
 the idea of the subordination of the Son to the Father. The Son is 
 the agent of the Almighty Creator of the universe, the invisible God. 
 God created the universe by means of the Son. The Son was also sent 
 by the Father. And the "sending" must involve some superiority on 
 the part of the Father. Still, subordination is the idea that is least 
 prominent in the mind of the author. 
 
 1 In all the other writings of the Apostolic Fathers where eschatology is treated, 
 it has a direct bearing on Christology. Here, though eschatology is not expressly 
 related to Christology, it is presented to give completeness to the treatment. 
 
 Chap. VH.
 
 APPEARANCE OF COSKOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CHRIST 59 
 
 The exact revelation that Christ gives of God shows the rank of 
 the Son. It has been suggested that the author loses the distinction 
 between the Father and the Son, and that Christ is God manifested in 
 the flesh. But the names of Christ keep the distinction dear. Christ 
 b the "Son of God," "the Only-Begotten Son," "his Beloved Son," 
 and in all he bears a relation to the invisible God. The character of 
 God, however, finds expression in Christ. The writer calls Christ 
 "the one righteous man," "the holy." 1 The highest conception that 
 Christ reveals to men is love, the love of God in giving his Son a ransom, 
 the holy for the lawless. Power is not the supreme attribute in God, 
 but persuasion and gentleness. And in these respects Christ is a true 
 reflection of God. In one passage, he speaks of Christ as God when he 
 says in VII. 4: "He sent him as sending God." 
 
 The pre-existence of Christ shows his rank. In common with 
 Barnabas and Hernias, the writer carries back the existence of Christ 
 to a time before the creation of the universe and makes him the Father's 
 counselor.* 
 
 2. THE FUNCTION OF CHRIST'S DEATH 
 
 This subject is developed in chap. IX. God has borne with the 
 sins of men. Now the time has come when punishment and death were 
 manifestly expected as a recompense for sins. Instead of visiting 
 punishment upon men, God parted with his own Son as a ransom for 
 them. The thing from which the Son ransomed men was not the power 
 of sin, but the punishment of sin. He accomplished this work by his 
 death, the holy dying for the lawless. The Son of God justified lawless 
 and ungodly men. The author expresses his wonder and amazement at 
 the love of God thus shown in the Son. He exclaims: "O the sweet 
 exchange, O the inscrutable creation, O the unexpected benefits; that 
 the iniquity of the many should be concealed in the righteous man, and 
 the righteousness of One should justify many that are iniquitous." 
 
 3. CHRIST'S REVELATION OF GOD 
 
 The chief function of Christ in relation to the life of men, apart 
 from his atoning work, is the revelation of the Father. When men 
 apprehend the nature of God, they put their faith in him. Then their 
 lives are made strong in righteousness. In themselves they were unable 
 to live righteously, but by faith in God they prevail over sin. God 
 becomes to them " teacher, physician, mind, light, honor, glory, strength 
 and life." 
 
 'DC. 5,9. EX. i.
 
 60 THE CHRISTOLOGY IN THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 
 
 The writer has no program of last things. Only, once he says that 
 gentleness will not continue forever. "For he will send him in judg- 
 ment, and who shall endure his presence?" 1 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTOLOGY IN THIS GROUP 
 
 (i) The cosmological function assigned to Christ is the one marked 
 feature of these writings which places them in advance of the preceding 
 group. In Barnabas and the Epistle to Diognetus, it is affirmed that 
 Christ created the world. All three of these writings declare that 
 Christ sustains the universe. This heightened Christology was pre- 
 pared for by Ignatius in the important function which he assigned to 
 Christ as the bringer of salvation and the giver of life; and Second 
 Clement gives a hint of this higher development in his reference to sal- 
 vation as a work of Christ. But here the final step has been taken, and 
 Christ is affirmed to be the Creator and Maintainer of the universe. 
 (2) There is also an advance over the past in the statement of the uni- 
 versality of Christ's dominion, and in the emphasis which is put upon it. 
 The universality of his dominion is most fully developed in the Epistle to 
 Diognetus VII. 2. The doctrine is stated, however, just as clearly by 
 both Barnabas and Hennas. (3) The existence of Christ is carried 
 back to a time before the creation, and he is presented as associated with 
 God the Father when he was planning the creation of the universe. 
 When God thought of the universe and formed his plan, Christ was with 
 him. (4) Christ is called God. (5) The idea of the subordination of 
 Christ to God almost entirely disappears. 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 The result of this study has been the discovery of a clear line of 
 christological development in the works of the Apostolic Fathers. The 
 development is in the relation which Christ sustains to God. In the 
 first group of writings, in which the letter of Clement of Rome holds 
 the leading place, Christ is represented chiefly as an agent under the 
 authority of the Father. The subordination of Christ is most pro- 
 nounced. 
 
 In the second group of writings, in which Ignatius is the chief writer, 
 Christ attains a position of virtual equality with God in respect to his 
 soteriological work. He is conjoined with God in most important 
 functions on a basis of equality, and is designated God. 
 
 In the remaining group, the final step in the progress is taken and 
 the cosmological function is assigned to Christ. He created the universe 
 and sustains it. 
 
 'VTI.6.
 
 I 13 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 - v MK v. 
 
 I 
 
 TM UNIVtRSiTY o 
 
 SANIA KACBARA 
 
 o Or CAtlfORNIA o 
 
 o VHVflHVfl V1NVS o 
 
 JO A4VS8I1 3Hi 
 
 
 CAltfOMIA o 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 v| 
 
 Series 9482 
 
 o THE URRAeV OF o
 
 ^ 1 >< 
 
 J ! uc some* (waonw. uewwi FAOUTY 
 
 uuuuuiiiiui| 
 
 A 001 004 649 8 
 
 o THC UMAW Of o