Water, Faith and Wood - Christopher Smith (Excerpt)
Transcript of Water, Faith and Wood - Christopher Smith (Excerpt)
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Water, Faithand Wood
Stories of the
Early Churchs Witness
for Today
C. Christopher Smith
With a Foreword by
Kevin Rains
Doulos Christou PressIndianapolis
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WATER, FAITH AND WOOD:
Stories of the Early Churchs Witness for Today
Copyright 2003, Doulos Christou Press. All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN: 0-9744796-9-1
LCC No.: 2003096464
FIRST EDITION.
Chapters 15-20 of the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus were
tran slated by Kevin Ed gecom b. These chap ters and th eir
introduction have been used by perm ission of the translator. A
full translation of this work is available online at:http:/ / ww w.bombaxo.com/
Scriptural passages are the authors paraphrase of the KJV unless
otherwise marked .
Some passages, marked NRSV, were used from theNew Revised
Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division ofChristian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Doulos Christou Press is an independent, ecumenical press
committed to publishing works related to radical Christian
discipleship.
Doulos Christou Press1629 E. Lexington Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46203
www.douloschristou.com
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments.............................................................. iv
Foreword ........................................................................... vii
Introduction ......................................................................... 9
Chapter 1 Water ............................................................... 20
Chapter 2 Faith ................................................................ 44
Chapter 3 Wood................................................................ 73
Chapter 4 Introduction to the Texts ............................... 98
Chapter 5 Water: Writings from the Early Church ..... 104
Chapter 6 Faith: Writings from the Early Church ..... 125
Chapter 7 Wood: Writings from the Early Church .... 155
Conclusion ....................................................................... 193
Notes................................................................................. 197
Bibliography..................................................................... 202
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Foreword vii
Foreword
This book deeply troubled me. For several days after my initial
reading I went from being slightly irritated to bordering on
desperation. It literally kept me up at night. It crawled und er my
skin and burrowed into my mind. A nagging frust ra t iondeve loped. A soul sp l in te r was lodged and i r r i t a ted me
constantly. After a couple of days of this frustration I began to
come to an und erstanding of why this might be. There are likely
several reasons, bu t the most basic and prevailing one is this: the
gulf between the practices of Christ followers in the first few
centuries and my own practices was enormous. Then to my
horror, I started to actually believe that they were right and I
was wrong! How far we have drifted from our original coursefaithfully set for us by the Apostles, martyrs and faithful ones of
the ear ly centu ries! My experience and practice of baptism, faith,
and suffering bear almost no resemblance at all to theirs. So, if
they are ind eed right and I am indeed wrong, then I have mu ch
work to do, much grou nd to cover. This book has propelled me
on a journey to close that gulf by leaving my comfortable but
shaky notions of discipleship and starting to walk toward the
much r icher theology and practice of those earliest followers. Inthis regard , this book is both a compass and map.
It is a compass because it contains large sections of the
actual w ritings of the m ost recognized and respected teachers of
those early centu ries. These writings can help u s get our bearings
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Water, Faith
and Woodviii
and find True North. But its not enough to just know the
coordinates of where we need to be. At some point we must
step out and start walking. It is a map because Chris has givenus practical, useable concepts for following the compass to a
better p lace.
So, this book is desperately needed in a day when
discipleship has often been trivialized to fill in the blank
curriculum. These notions while well intentioned to get as
many in as fast as possible are misguided. We need more
than a course correction. We need to get back to the starting
place. To do that we must submit ourselves to the wisdom ofearlier generations whose faith was forged in deep suffering
and patient endurance.
Chris has stayed in my hom e on many occasions. I have
had the opportun ity to live for many m onths in close proximity
with him and his wife. I have observed his life and ministry
closely and been the recipient of his gifts of teaching and
hospitality. We have broken bread and shed tears together. Iam convinced after all that time of two things: he is a man of
the deepest character and profound intellect. Rarely, if ever,
have I observed those two qualities co-existing so natu rally and
so fully in one person. What he writes he d eeply believes, and
what he believes he puts into p ractice.
With that, I can w holeheartedly comm end this book and
its author to you. They can be trusted and relied upon to lead
us to a p lace of more fully, more faithfully following the Way.May you experience the fullest frustration and then the
accurate gu idance of which th is book is capable.
Kevin Rains
Cincinnati, Ohio
29 June 2003
The Feast of
St. Peter and St. Paul
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Chapter 2
Faith
Before launching into a d iscussion of the faith of the Early Chu rch, it
would serve us well to consider the meaning of the word faith.
Accord ing to the au thor of Hebrews, faith is the substance of things
hop ed for, the evidence of things not seen (11:1). The writer then
proceeds to illustrate th is definition by telling the stories of faithful
Israelites. The actions of these stories main characters are drivennot by the characters prowess or by the w isdom of the world, but
rather by a d ivinely given vision of future reality. For instance, Noah
saw no evidence of the coming flood, yet he obediently followed
Gods instru ctions to build the ark. Likewise Abraham , seeing no
evidence that God would protect his son, faithfully laid him on the
altar and p repared to sacrifice him. The Early Church also can be
characterized by its faith, its choosing to act accord ing to the reality
of Christs resurrection, instead of the fallen reality of the presentworld. With the resurrection of Christ as their assurance, they looked
forward to the end of the Scriptural story, the future reconciliation of
God and humanity. However, just like Israels ancient heroes, they
did not passively bide their time until Gods promises were fulfilled ,
bu t instead they acted in accord ance with those prom ises. The Early
Churchs trust in Gods faithfulness and pow er energized them to be
obedient to Christ, even in the midst of worldly opposition. While
the world parad ed its opulent pride, the Christians remained hum ble
and meek. While the world put u p its walls of deceit, the Christians
reveled in truth and r ighteousness. While the world clung greedily
to every penny, the Christians delighted in generosity and mercy.
While the world was quick to avenge a wrong, the Christians made
peace with their enemies by returning good for evil. While the world
persecuted the Church, the Christians remembered that their Lord
had also been persecuted , and they patiently end ured w ith their eyes
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Faith 45
fixed on the resurrection. It is little wond er that the Apostle Pau l
was led to conclud e that the Gospel was foolishness to the p erishing
world (I Cor. 1:18). Similarly, Cyprian p roclaims that The Kingdom
of God is not in the w isdom of the world, nor in eloquence, but in thefaith of the cross and in the virtue of d ialogue (Third Treatise #69).
Cypr ians words underscore the impor tance of the fa i thful
comm un ity in the Early Church, for d ialogue w as the prod uct of the
interaction of the Holy Spirits gifts manifested in the community.
Indeed, Paul instructed the Church in Corinth that when they
gathered together each one was to bring something to share according
to his or her gifts a song, a prayer, a story, a lesson, a prophecy (I
Cor. 14:26-33). Thus, the gathering of the Chu rch w as to be definedby this interaction, or d ialogue of all the gifts in the community. The
New Testament Greek word for Church is ekklesia, a term w hich w as
also used in secular Greek culture to describe a political gathering, a
forum . Ju st as a p olitical forum w ould d issolve without the
par ticipation of its members, the health of the Chu rch hinged up on
the participation of its members and the utilization of their Spirit-
given gifts. Faith for the Early Church was not an ind ividualized
product that was consumed once a week in the gathering of believers,but rather was an adventure for the community of believers to
par ticipate in, a task to be und ertaken by them. In the following
paragrap hs, we will examine how the Early Churchs faith was made
man ifest in its comm unities, or in other w ords, we will name some
practices that emerged as a result of the Churchs focus on the ultimate
reconciliation of God and humanity and their understanding that
they p layed a crucial role in bringing forth that reconciliation.
Jesus Christ, the ExampleAll of the faithful practices of the Early Chu rch can be summarized
by the example that Jesus put forth in his life and teaching. Cyprian
drives this point home: The example of living is given to us in Christ
(Third Treatise#39). The Apostle Paul also emphasizes the same point
in his description of the Chu rch as a Body (I Cor. 12): the Church is
not just any body bu t it is the body of Christ, his embodiment in the
present age. Earlier in the same epistle to the Corinthians, Paul urgedthe Chu rch in Corinth to imitate him, as he in turn imitated Christ
(11:1). Thus, the pu rpose of the Church, at its most basic level, is to
follow and imitate Jesus. Indeed, Christ left his disciples with a single
charge before he ascended into the heavens: make disciples (i.e.,
students or followers) of all nations (Matt. 28:19). This mission of
the Chu rch has not changed over the past 2000 years; despite all our
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Tertullian, On PrayerChapter IV.
The Third Clause [of the Lords Prayer].
According to this model [prayer],we continue, Your will bedone in the heavens and on the earth; not that there is someother power to prevent Gods will being done, and we prayfor the successful achievement of his will; but we pray for hiswill to be done in all. For, by figurative interpretation of flesh
and spirit, we are heaven and earth even if it is to beunderstood simply, still the sense of the petition is the same,that in us Gods will be done on earth, to make it possible,for it to be done also in the heavens. What, moreover, doesGod will, except that we should walk according to his disci-pline? We pray, then, that he would supply us with the sub-stance of his will, and the capacity to do it, that we may besaved both in the heavens and on earth; because the sum of
his will is the salvation of the people whom he has adopted.There is, too, that will of God which the Lord accomplishedin preaching, in working, and in enduring, for if he himselfproclaimed that he did not his own, but the Fathers will,undoubtedly those things which he used to do were theFathers will (John 6:38) unto which things, as unto exem-plars, we are now spurred: to preach, to work, to endureeven unto death. And we need the will of God, that we may
be able to fulfill these duties. Again, in saying, Your will bedone, we are even wishing well to ourselves, in that there isnothing evil in the will of God; even if things that do notseem good are imposed on us. So, in praying this prayer, weprepare ourselves for patience. The Lord also, when he hadwished to demonstrate to us, even in his own flesh, the fleshsinfirmity, by the reality of suffering, said, Father, remove
this your cup; and remembering himself, added, but notmy will, but yours be done (Lk. 22:42). He himself was theWill and the Power of the Father: and yet, for the demon-stration of the patience that was due, he gave himself up tothe Fathers Will.
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Water, Faith
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Origen, Against Celsus,
Book VIII,
Chapter 73.Celsus next urges us to help the king with all our might, and to
labor with him in the maintenance of justice, to fight for him; and
if he requires it, to fight under him, or lead an army along with
him. To this our answer is, that we do, when the occasion arises,
give help to kings, and indeed we offer a divine help, putting on
the whole armor of God (Eph 6:11). And we do this in obedience
to the command of the Apostle Paul, I exhort, therefore, that first
of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving, be
made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority (1
Tim. 2:1-2). Additionally, the more any one excels in piety, the
more effective help he renders to kings, and he renders even more
assistance than is given by soldiers, who go forth to fight and slay as
many of the enemy as they can. And to those enemies of our faith
who require us to bear arms for the commonwealth, and to slay
men, we reply: Do not those who are priests at certain shrines,and those who wait upon certain ones of your gods, keep their
hands free from blood, that they may with unstained hands offer
the appointed sacrifices to your gods; and even when war is upon
you, you never enlist the priests in the army. If that, then, is a noble
custom, how much more so, that while others are engaged in battle,
the Christians too should intercede as the priests and ministers of
God, keeping their hands pure, and wrestling in prayers to God on
behalf of those who are fighting for true justice, and for the kingwho reigns righteously, that whatever is opposed to justice may be
destroyed!And as we by our prayers vanquish all the de-
mons that stir up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and
disturb the peace, we in this service are much more helpful to
the kings than those who go into the field to fight for them.
And we do take our part in public affairs, when along with
righteous prayers we practice self-denying disciplines andmeditations, which teach us to despise pleasures, and not to be
led astray by them. And none fight better for the king [and his
role of preserving justice] than we do. We do not indeed fight
under him, although he demands it; but we fight on his behalf,
forming a special army of piety by offering our prayers to God.
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Faith 49
In p raying that Gods Kingdom would come, the Churchs
focus is turned outward, away from the selfish desires of the
individu al. Prayer then, as Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church
und erstood it is decidedly not a tool for self-improvement, for thebui ld ing of a mul t i tude of se l f i sh , ind iv idua l k ingdoms .
Understanding humanitys tendency to selfishly abuse prayer,
Ignatius clarifies the instru ction of the Apostle Paul, saying: pray
withou t ceasing on behalf of other men (Letter to the Ephesians X).
Origen likewise emphasizes that our p rayerful obedience to God s
will brings abou t the fru its of the Kingd om in the wor ld (see excerpt
on pr evious pa ge, especially the italicized por tion). Origen s
depiction of prayer in this passage is striking because it illustratesprayer as an attitude, which begins on bended knees in the act of
prayer but continues to permeate all corners of life through the
practice of self-denying d isciplines and meditations.
The fru it of our p rayerful obedience, as Origen d escribes it,
is the [vanquishing of] all the demons that stir up war and lead to
the violation of oaths and disturb the peace ( Against Celsus
VIII.LXXIII). Thus, the Kingdom or the Reign of God is pow erfully
made manifest in our midst. Tertullian also ham mers this pointhom e:Prayer alone is that w hich u nleashes God. ... [I]t washes away
faults, repels temptations, extinguishes persecutions, consoles the
faint-spirited, cheers the high-spirited, escorts travelers, calms w aves,
makes robbers stand aghast, nourishes the poor, governs the rich,
raises up the fallen, arrests the falling, confirms the stand ing. (On
PrayerXXIX). These word s remind us of Jesus proclamation at the
outset of his ministry: The Spirit of the Lord is upon m e, because he
has anointed m e to preach the good new s to the poor; he has sent me
to heal the brokenhearted , to preach d eliverance to the cap tives, and
recovery of sight to the blind, to set the opp ressed at liberty, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk. 4:18-19). Thus, in prayerful
submission to Gods will we are participants in the work of Jesus,
servants and ambassadors of Gods Kingd om of reconciliation, who
bring healing and liberty to the world .
Patientia
Thus, as the early Christians prayerfully submitted to the
will of God, they w ere prepared to carry ou t their roles in the divine
story. However, in order to d iscern and carry ou t these roles, their
minds had to be guided by a second fundam ental attitud e, which
they referred to as patientia. Patientia is indeed the Latin word
that is the source of our English word patience. However, I have
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Cyprian,On the Advantage of Patience, Chapter IV.
But what and how great is the patience in God, that, most patientlyenduring the profane temples and the images of earth, and thesacrilegious rites instituted by men, in contempt of his majesty andhonour, he makes the day to begin and the light of the sun to ariseupon the good and the evil alike. Furthermore, while he waters theearth with showers, no one is excluded from his benefits, but he
bestows his undiscriminating rains equally upon the righteous and
the unrighteous . We see that with undistinguishing equality ofpatience, at Gods behest, the seasons minister to the guilty and theguiltless, the religious and the impious those who give thanks andthe ungrateful. The elements wait on them; the winds blow, thefountains flow, the abundance of the harvest increases, the fruits ofthe vineyard ripen, the trees are loaded with apples, the groves puton their leaves, the meadows their greenness; and while God isprovoked with frequent, and indeed, with continual offences, hesoftens his indignation, and in patience waits for the day ofretribution, once for all determined; and although he has revengein his power, he prefers to keep patience for a long while, bearing,that is to say, mercifully, and putting off, so that, if it might bepossible, the long protracted mischief may at some time be changed,and man, involved in the contagion of errors and crimes, may eventhough late be converted to God, as he himself warns and says, Ido not will the death of him that dies, so much as that he mayreturn and live (Ezek. 18:32). And again, Return unto me, says
the Lord (Mal. 3:7). And again: Return to the Lord your God;for he is merciful, and gracious, and patient, and of great pity, andwho inclines his judgment towards the evils inflicted (Joel 2:13).Which, moreover, the blessed Apostle referring to, and recallingthe sinner to repentance, sets forward, and says: Do you despisethe riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, notknowing that the patience and goodness of God leads you torepentance? But in accordance with your hardened and impenitent
heart you treasure up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and ofrevelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render toeveryone according to his works (Rom. 2:4-6). He says that Gods
judgment is just, because it is tardy, because it is long and greatlydeferred so that by the long patience of God humankind may be
benefited for life eternal.
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Faith 51
chosen to retain the Latin term , as a reminder that th is attitud e was
much broader in meaning in the Early Church than the practices
that come to our m ind s when we think of patience. Above all,
patientia was understood as an essential part of Gods nature. Today,
we would be qu ick to affirm that God is love (I Jn. 4:8, 16), bu t w e
have a tendency to forget the Apostle Pauls definition of love in
which it is described as first and foremost patient (I Cor. 13:4).
Similarly, the Early Church also und erstood Jesus as p roviding u s
with a model of patience. Tertu llian spends a chapter of his treatise
On Patience describing the connection between the beatitud es and
patience. He says, for instance,
When [Jesus] marks the peacemakers (Matt. 5:9) withthe [title] of blessedness, and nam es them as children
of God, do the impatient have any affinity with
peace? Even a fool may perceive the answ er to that
question. When, however, he says, Rejoice and be
glad, when they curse and persecute you; for very great
is your rew ard in heaven , (Matt. 5:11-12) of course it
is not to the impatience of exultation that he makes that
promise; because no one will exult in adversitiesunless he has first learned to endu re them, and no one
will endure them unless he has learned to practice
patience (XI).
This passage reminds us that the attitud e of patientia, in the early
Christian communities, was largely comprised of endurance.
Cyprian likewise describes Gods endurance through the sins of
hu man ity (see excerpt on previous page).
Tertu llian also remind s his readers of their calling to end urethrough violence, grief, and indeed through all circumstances until
the coming resurrection. While we tend to think of patience as a
mind set, Tertullian notes that although patience begins in the mind,
it also serves as a guide for all our being. In particular, he refers to
endurance through torture as bodily patience. He says: But when
the Lord pronounces the flesh weak, he show s what need there is
of strengthening it through patience to meet every preparation
for subverting or p unishing faith; that it may bear with all constancystripes, fire, cross, beasts, sword; all of which the prophets and
apostles, by endu ring, conqu ered! Tertullian proceeds to name
Isaiah, Stephen and above all Job, as examples of bodily patience
(On PatienceXIV). Cyprian also find s Job to be a paragon of patientia:
Thu s Job was searched out and proved, and was raised
up to the very highest pinnacle of praise by the virtue
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of patience. What darts of the devil were sent forth
against h im! What tortu res were pu t in use! The loss of
his estate is inflicted, and the privation of numerous
offspr ing is ordained for h im. The master, rich in estate,
and the father, richer in children, is suddenly neither
master nor father! The w asting of wounds is added; and
moreover an eat ing pest of worms consumes his
festering and wasting limbs. And yet Job is not broken
down by his severe and repeated conflicts, nor the
blessing of God withheld from being declared in the
midst of those difficulties and trials of his, by the victory
of patience. (On the Advantage of Patience XVIII)
Indeed Job provides us w ith a stellar example of patientia: patience
und er material loss, patience und er grief, patience und er illness and
patience und er the mockery of his wife and friend s. Although Jobs
story stands as a stellar mod el of end urance, patientia for the Early
Church consisted of more than mere end urance.
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of patientia was the
mindset that the disciple of Jesus w as to let God be his avenger, and
was not to take revenge upon his enemies. Tertullian spends a chap ter
describing how w e are to leave vengeance to God . In this chap ter, heargu es that w hen God proclaims Vengeance is mine (Rom. 12:19,
Heb. 10:30), we are to understand that it indeed is Gods alone and
not our own (On Patience X). Thus, patientia was a gu ide for the
early Christians w hen they faced persecution; it taught them that it
is better to endure the suffering, as Christ and the Apostles did , than
to return evil for evil, even to the point of not cursing their oppressors
(cf. Tertullian On Patience VIII). Patien tia could ther efore be
summarized as trust in Gods sovereignty and omnipotence in allsituations, even those in which we have to endure physical or
emotional suffering. To have patientia is to proclaim w ith Job, in the
midst of our suffering: Blessed be the name of the Lord (1:21) or I
know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be
thw arted (42:2 NRSV). Thus, the stories of the Early Church show
that the attitudes of prayer and patientia shaped the early Christian
comm un ities and defined the p ractices that w ere essential to their
gathered life.
HolinessThe first such practice was holiness. The Early Church, above
all else, aimed to be a holy community. However, before we examine
this claim any further, we should make sure we have a firm definition
of holiness: to be holy is to be set apart. It is not uncommon for peop le
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Faith 53
to und erstand holiness as synonym ous with righteousness. It is
indeed true that both God and the Church are holy because of
righteousness, but we should not lose sight of the fact that these two
concepts are distinct, and that we are called to live as a people setapart from the sinful ways of the world . However, we must stress
the d istinction here that w hile Gods peop le are called to be set apart
from the ways of the world, we are not called to live in isolation from
the world . Holiness should never be misunderstood as isolationism
Since the earliest days of hu manity, the people of God have
been marked by their holiness. One of the major themes of the Israelite
his tory recorded in the Old Testament , i s I srae l s cycle of
domestication and holiness. Although the stories of the Old TestamentLaw clearly and repeatedly spell out Israels call to holiness , the
Hebrew people had a tendency at some times to be more like the
nations around them and at others to be more obed ient to Gods call
for them to be a holy nation. For instance, the story in I Samuel 8
about Israels rejection of Gods authority in their cry for a human
king can be unders tood as an h i s to r i ca l example o f the i r
domestication. The Church likewise has gone throu gh numerou s
cycles of holiness and d omestication. The earliest centu ries of theChurch tended more toward holiness than dom estication, although
there was a definite trend toward domestication that culminated in
the Emperor Constantines unification of Chu rch and State. There
are tw o specific patterns of holiness ethical holiness and political
holiness that are found repeatedly in the stories of the Early Church
(and there is admittedly a fair amount of overlap between these two
patterns). The Church tend ed toward holiness in its ethics because
its practices were shap ed by Chr ists love and not by the sinful w ays
of the world. It also tend ed tow ard holiness in its politics because it
sought the establishment of the Kingd om of God on Earth, and not
the agenda of any w orldly governm ent or ideology. The holiness of
the early Christian communities is perhaps best expressed in the
passionate w ords of Tatian:
I do not wish to be a king; I am not anxious to be rich; I
decline m ilitary command ; I detest fornication; I am not
impelled by an insatiable greed to go to sea; I do not
contend for the honors of men; I am free from a madthirst for fame; I despise death; I am superior to every
kind of disease; grief does not consume my soul. If I am
a slave, I endure servitude. If I am free, I do not flaunt
my good birth. Die to the world, repudiating the
madness that is in it. Live to God, and by apprehend ing
him lay aside your old natu re (Address XI).
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These patterns of holiness in the Early Chu rch were forged
above all by its attitudes of prayer and patientia. The holiness of Gods
people was an extension of p rayer; in comm itting themselves to the
unfolding story of Gods Kingd om, the early Christians intentionallydistingu ished themselves from the world around them. TheDidache
begins with the proclamation that There are two paths, one of life
and one of death, and the d ifference is great between the tw o paths.
Thus, the attitude of prayer w as the basis for holiness, as it served as
both an identification with Christs way of life and a pointed
separation from the worlds way of death. Tertullian, comm enting
on the second clause of the Lords prayer, illuminates the connection
between prayer and holiness: When we say, Hallowed (i.e., holy)be Thy name, we pray this; that it may be hallowed in us who are in
him (On PrayerIII). Patientia likewise prepared the early Christians
for holiness; their trust in the sovereignty of God freed them from
the worldly practices of the culture around them. For instance, they
no longer had to return evil for evil; they trusted that God would
avenge any evil done to them. Similarly, their patient trust freed
them from the fear of illness or death. Jesus instru cted the crow ds in
the Sermon on the Mount: Therefore take no thought for tomorrow ,
saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or with what
shall we be clothed? For the pagans strive after all these things (Matt.
6:31-32). Why is it that the pagans are worr ied abou t these things?
They do so because they are afraid of sickness and death. Thu s, the
Churchs pa t ient ia , i t s pa t ient t rus t in Gods sovere ignty ,
distingu ished it from the cultures of the world.
The ethics of the Early Church therefore were set apart from
the ways of the culture in which they were immersed. Their practices
were shaped at a fund amental level by their refusal to serve any idol.In an age in which the pagan Greeks were consumed by their worship
of a multitude of gods, the Christians served one God only, and that
God was not one fashioned by human hand s. Mathetes writes in his
letter to Diognetus:
Are all these [pagan ] gods not deaf? Are they not blind ?
Are they not without life? Are they not destitute of
feeling? Are they not incapable of motion? Are they not
all liable to rot? Are they not all corru ptible? These thingsyou call gods; these you serve; these you worship; and
you become altogether like them. For this reason, you
hate the Christians, because they do not d eem these to be
gods. But do not you yourselves, who now think and
suppose such to be gods, much m ore cast contempt u pon
them than they do up on you? Do you not mock and insult
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them more, when you worship gods made of stone and
earthenware, without ap pointing any p ersons to guard
them; but those made of silver and gold you shu t up by
night, and app oint watchm en to look after them by day,
lest they be stolen? (II)
It was not enough however for the Christians to avoid the
idols of the Greeks, their obedience to Jesus left no room for any
idols at all. Gluttony, the idolatry of food, and drunkenness, the
idolatry of alcohol both of wh ich ran ram pan t in the pagan culture
of the Greeks and Romans were rejected by the Christians. Cyprian,
in describing the Church, tells his readers that the believer ought
not to live like the Gentiles, (Third Treatise #34) and that too great
a lust of food is not to be desired (#60). Jesus likewise taught that
his followers shou ld not only avoid excesses of diet, bu t even that
they should not w orry about what they were to eat, as the pagans
were wont to do (Matt. 6:31-33). In contrast to the Greeks, Jesus w as
energized by his obedience, saying: My food is to do the will of
him that sent m e, and to finish h is work (John 4:34).
Money and material possessions were another area in which
the early Christians w ere set apart from the p ractices of the w orld.They were not consumed with greed and those who had an
abundance of wealth were expected to share liberally with those
who d id not . They lived as aliens and strangers on Earth, and thus
handled the things of the Earth loosely. Hermas writes in his first
parable: You know that you , who are the servants of God, dw ell in
a strange land ; for your city is far aw ay from this one. If, then,
you know the city in which you are to dwell, why d o you acquire
lands here, and make expensive decorations, and accumulatedwellings and useless build ings? He who makes such preparations
for this city cann ot return again to his own. Jesus taught that
hu man ity easily makes idols of their money and possessions, and
he had as little to do w ith such things as possible. When he sent ou t
his disciples (Luke 10), he sent them out withou t money, and warned
them in his teaching that if they were not careful, money would
sup plant God as their master: No man can serve two m asters: for
either he w ill hate the one, and love the other; or else he will cling tothe one, and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
mammon (Matt. 6:24).
S imi lar ly , the ear ly Chr is t ians avoided the sexual
indulgences of the pagans. Cyprian refers to fornication as grievous
(Third Treatise #63), and remind s his aud ience that carnal idolatry
leads to death (#64). Similarly, Mathetes notes that the early
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Christians shared a comm on table, but not a common bed (Diognetus
V). In regard to sexuality, as in all things, the Early Church set their
sights on Jesus, who thou gh he was temp ted in every way just as we
are, was withou t sin (Hebrew s 4:15).The Early Chu rch, as we have noted, was not only holy in its
ethics; it was also politically holy. Just as the ethical holiness of the
early Christian communities was marked by the rejection of false
gods, its political holiness was marked by the rejection of false
allegiances. Hermas no doubt alluding to Hebrew s 13:14 reminds
his aud ience in h is first parable, that our home is not here on Earth,
but rather that we seek a City that is to come. When Jesus taugh t his
disciples to pray, he taugh t them to pray that Gods Kingdom wouldbe established on Earth, and he m ade it clear that Gods Kingd om
was never to be taken as equivalent to any earthly kingdom (cf. Jn.
18:36, Lk. 17:20-21). Tertu llian reinforces this latter point by observing
that, in op position to earthly kingdoms w hich d esire to control and
prolong the p resent age, the Kingdom of God, wh ich w e pray may
arrive, tends toward the conclusion of the present age (On Prayer
V). Since the p rimary allegiance of the Early Chu rch lay with the
coming Kingdom of God, its members were expected not to be
mindless servan ts of their earthly kingdoms. This political holiness
is sum med up eloquently in the word s of Tertullian:
Since all zeal in the pu rsu it of glory and honor is dead
in us, we have no pressing ind ucement to take part in
your public meetings; nor is there anything more foreign
to us than the affairs of state. We acknowledge one all-
embrac ing commonwea l th the wor ld (Apology
XXXVIII).
As Tertullian emphasizes, the early Christians did not serve in
governmental offices. Neither d id they return evil for evil by fighting
in the Kings army. However, it is important to note that their non-
participation did not equate to passive ind ifference. Origen dr ives
home this point by observing that the Church did serve their earthly
Kingdoms, not by fighting its wars or filling its offices, but rather
through prayer and the p ractice of self-denying d isciplines (Against
Celsus VIII.73-75). Thus, the Chu rch resting firm ly in its belief that
the will of God was more beneficial than the will of the King,maintained that the best possible service that they could do for their
land w as service that was gu ided by p rayer, by lifting the land up to
God and pleading that Gods good and perfect will be done. Prayer,
how ever, as Origen notes is not a comp letely passive activity because
it leads the one praying into selfless acts of service. The w orld is
often quick to action, bu t their actions are often gu ided by selfish
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motives. In contrast, the early Christians, by setting their focus in
prayer on the Kingdom of God, were able to set aside their own
selfish motives and thus genuinely served the best interests of their
neighbors and the world. Mathetes is therefore led to conclude thatthe Christians are the preservers of the world and that God has
assigned them th is illustrious position, which it is unlawful for them
to forsake (Diognetus VI).
Mutual SubmissionA second faithful practice that played a major role in shaping
the Early Chu rch was mutual submission. All the members of these
comm unities, from the most matu re to the most recently baptized,
were expected to subm it to one another in love and to submit to the
guidance of the Holy Spirit within the community. Submission is a
d ifficult concept to grasp in our fiercely ind ependent age, but in the
Early Chu rch it ind icated the Christians commitment to serve each
other. No person w as exempt from the call to follow Christs example
of service. Christs ministry on Earth , his incarnation, was itself an
act of submission. He subm itted himself to the loving w ill of God in
taking on human flesh and demonstrating to us the dep ths of Godslove. The Ap ostle Pau l, in Philippians 2, tells us that Jesus d id not
have to come to Earth, but he chose to do so in ord er that hu man ity
might through him be reconciled to God. He also submitted himself
to humanity, by not just becoming human, but by becoming a servant
of all humanity (cf. Phil. 2:7). His submission and servants heart
were perhaps best captured in the example he set for h is disciples
by w ashing their feet (John 13:3-15), one of the lowliest chores of the
ancient world.Mutual submission, for the early Christians, also was
grounded in the attitudes of prayer and patientia. The attitude of
prayerful obed ience, as we have noted , was defined by su bmission
to the will of God. However, in submitting to Gods Kingdom , the
Early Church understood themselves as also submitting to one
another, for the Church was the vehicle by which the will of God
was carried out on Earth. The Early Church und erstood that as they
submitted to the will of God in p rayer they were to likewise to submitto one another, recognizing the gifts of the Spirit in one another and
allowing the Spirit to work throu gh these gifts toward the build ing
up of the Kingdom . Thus, their practice of mu tual submission would
have been senseless outside the context of prayer i.e., corporate
obedience to Gods Kingdom. The patient tru st of the Early Church
also prepared them to submit to one another. Patientia is the mindset
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of living out of control, of living with the u nd erstanding that God is
in control. When we speak of mutual submission, we must remember
that we are speaking of submission to the gifts of the H oly Spirit in
others. Impatience tempts us to take matters into our own hand s,but mutu al submission flows out of patience, out of the recognition
that God is sovereign and in control. Imp licit in our submission to
one another is a rejection of our selfish desire to imp atiently have to
take control of every situation.
The mutual subm ission of the Early Church is perhap s most
clearly seen in Clement of RomesEpistle to the Corinthians (see excerpt
on next page). This passage emp hasizes the role of gifts in the
Churchs practice of mutual submission. Every member of the Churchwas given gifts for the ed ification of the body (cf. Eph. 4:7-11), and
every member of the body w as expected to subm it to gifts that others
had been given. Those who taught were to be learned from; those
who p rophesied were to be listened to; the generosity of the wealthy
was to be accepted w ith gratitud e. These gifts were the catalyst of
the community, the heartbeat that pulsed in its midst, guiding its
members into a deeper experience of Christs love. We mentioned
earlier the importance of d ialogue in the community; such d ialoguewas the result of the Spirits gifts used in mutual submission to one
anoth er. No one person had every possible gift; therefore interaction
was necessary and everyone had to rely upon the community to
provide for their needs, be they spiritual, physical or emotional.
Submission therefore was a necessity for the health of the body. The
Apostle Pau l observes that in ones ph ysical body: The eye cannot
say unto the hand , I have no need of you: nor the head to the feet, I
have no need of you (I Cor. 12:21). Similarly, in the Body of Christ,
each m ember needs the gifts and skills of every other member. The
analogy of the Body is a wond erful picture of submission: to subm it
to another is to recognize ones need of their gifts and to reject
anothers gift is likewise a refusal to submit.
KoinoniaThe centrality of the gifts and of mutual submission in the
Early Church set the stage for a third practice of the faithfulcommunity: koinonia or the fellowship of sharing . The fruit of mutual
subm ission w as sharing; as one p erson subm itted to anothers gift,
the gifted person had a responsibility to share that gift and its fruit
with the person w ho submitted himself. It is not d ifficult to see that
koinonia was a practice that followed from the life of Christ, the One
who became hum an and then gave up his life in ord er that all
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Clement of Rome, Epistle to the Corinthians
Chapter XXXVII. Christ is Our Leader, and We are His Soldiers.Let us then, brothers and sisters, act the part of soldiers with all energy,
in accordance with Christs holy commandments. Let us consider those
who serve under the Roman generals and notice the order, obedience,
and submissiveness with which they perform the things that are
commanded of them. All soldiers are not prefects, nor commanders
of a thousand, nor of a hundred, nor of fifty, nor the like, but each one
in his own rank performs the things commanded by the king and the
generals. The great cannot subsist without the small, nor the small
without the great. There is a kind of mixture in all things, and from
this mixture arises mutual advantage. Let us take our body for an
example (I Cor. 12). The head is nothing without the feet, and the
feet are nothing without the head. Indeed, the very smallest members
of our body are necessary and useful to the whole body. But they all
work harmoniously together, and are under one common rule for the
preservation of the whole body.
Chapter XXXVIII. Let the Members of the Church Submit
Themselves, and No One Exalt Himself Above Another.
Let our whole body, then, be preserved in Christ Jesus; and let everyone
be subject to his neighbor, according to the special gift bestowed upon
him. Let the strong not despise the weak, and let the weak show respect
to the strong. Let the rich man provide for the wants of the poor; and
let the poor man bless God, because he has given him a communitythat can provide his needs. Let the wise man display his wisdom, not
by mere words, but through good deeds. Let the humble man not
bear testimony to himself, but let others bear witness to him (cf.
Proverbs 27:2). Let him that is pure in the flesh not grow proud of it
or boast knowing that it was another who bestowed on him the gift
of purity. Let us consider then, brothers, the matter out of which we
were made, how we came into the world, from utter darkness, as if
emerging from a grave. He who made us and fashioned us, preparedhis bountiful gifts for us before we were born, and introduced us into
His world. Since, therefore, we receive all these things from him, we
ought to give him thanks for everything; to whom be glory forever
and ever. Amen.
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hu manity might share in the glorious benefits of eternal life. In
particular, koinonia emerged from the Christ-like attitudes of prayer
and patientia. In submitting ourselves to the will of God in p rayer,
we also subm it ourselves to follow th e examp le of Jesus. Just asJesus gave everything to share his life with us, so we likewise are
called to participate in the sharing fellowship of Gods people.
Patientia also prep ared the Early Church for koinonia, particularly
the sharing of material things. One learns through patientia not to
be pained by loss of material possessions. Tertu llian elaborates on
this point at length , and he concludes: He who is greatly d isturbed
with the impatience of a loss [of a material possession] sins d irectly
against God by giving earthly things precedence over heavenlythings (VII). If one is trained by patience not to be hurt by the loss
of material possessions, how mu ch more willing will that person be
to share resources with a brother or sister in need? Thu s, patientia
creates an env ironment in w hich koinonia can flourish.
The koinonia of the Early Church was centered on the
Eucharist, the shared meal that served as a reminder of Christs gift
to hum ankind . Mathetes noted the importance of the comm on table
in the life of the early Christian communities (Diognetus V), and asJohn Howard Yoder one of the most prominent Mennonite thinkers
of the twentieth century has noted, all the sharing of the Early
Chu rch was the norm al, organ ic extension from table fellowship
(Body Politics 17). We see koinonia illustrated in Lukes accounts of
the Church in Jerusalem just after Pentecost (Acts 2 and 4), and in
chapter 2 this sharing is connected to the daily breaking of bread
together (2:42-44). Likewise, Cyprian remind s his aud ience that
Brethren ought to sustain one another (Third Treatise#9). The earlyChristians, following the teaching of the Scriptures, saw themselves
as Gods stewards, as ones who own nothing but are responsible for
administering the riches of God. Ind eed, Cyprian warns that We
must boast in nothing for nothing is our own (Third treatise #4).
Thus, if the Churchs mem bers were stewards of Gods resources, to
what end w ere these resources to be used? The answer to this
question seems quite clear: the gifts and resources given by God
were to be used to ed ify, or build up, Gods people the Church.
Thus, koinonia not only follows from the Gifts of the Spirit and
mutu al subm ission bu t also from a rad ical doctrine of steward ship.
Barnabas emphasizes the connection of koinonia and steward ship:
You shall share all things with your neighbor; you shall not call
things your own; for if you partake together in things which are
incorruptible, how much more should you do so in those things
which are corruptible (Epistle XIX)
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The sharing of material resources however was not the only
expression of koinonia in the early Church comm unities. The Apostle
Paul instructed the Church in Corinth to structure its gathering
around the koinonia that emerged from the interaction of the gifts
of the Spirit: How is it then, brothers and sisters? When you come
together, each one of you has a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a
revelation, an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the
edification of the bod y (I Cor. 14:26). Thus, whatever the Spirit
laid on a persons heart, whether a song, a Scripture, a story, etc.,
was to be shared with the congregation du ring the meeting time .
The early Christians also demonstrated koinonia in their
willingn ess to share each others spiritual burdens. Confession of
sins and forgiveness were the fundamental ways in which the Early
Church spiritually supported one another. In theDidache, the Chu rch
is instructed: When you gather together, confess your sins; do not
come near to pray with an evil conscience (4:14). Similarly, Cyprian
writes: When w e have been w ronged , we must remit and forgive
it (Third Treatise #22). Forgiveness, stemm ing from p atience, was
an essential element of community for the early Christians. Thus,
Tertu llian says:
Who in the world that is prone to impatiencewill even
once forgive his brother, let alone seven times, or
seventy-seven times (Matt. 18:21-22)? Who that is
contemplating a suit against h is adversary will settle the
matter by agreement,unless he first begins by lopp ing
off chagrin, hard heartedness and bitterness, which are
in fact the p oisonous fruits of impatience? How will you
forgive, and forgiveness shall be granted you (Luke
6:37) if the absence of patience makes you tenaciouslyhold onto a wrong? (About Patience XII)
Chagrin, hardheartedness and bitterness, these are sins that bu ild
up wal ls be tween brothers and s i s te rs and ea t away a t the
fundamental un ity of Christs body. Patience demand s that we bear
the stru ggles of a brother or sister, even if he or she keeps making
the same mistake. Likewise, our sins are to be borne by others. It is
important for us to remember that the bearing of sins is not p ossible
without confession. Thus, we begin to see a picture of koinonia inthe spiritual sense: the process begins with the confession of an
individual, continues with the forgiveness of the commu nity (or part
of the comm unity) and these steps might have to be repeated if the
confessing ind ividu al falls again into the same sin. Thus, the
community was to endure patiently until this cycle of sin was finally
broken, and the ind ividual set free a milepost on that persons
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journey toward repentance. It is this sort of spiritual koinonia that
Jesus was describing when he instructed his disciples to forgive an
errant brother or sister 490 i.e., seventy times seven times (Matt.
18:21-22). Of course, 490 was not a magical nu mber beyond w hichsins d id not have to be forgiven, but rather it served as a figure of
speech ind icating that there was to be no limit to the forgiveness that
Christs followers wou ld extend.
In all its man ifestations material shar ing, worsh ip and the
bearing of spiritual burdens koinonia was facilitated in the Early
Church by their frequent gatherings. Perhaps we could even say
that one facet of koinonia was the Bodys practice of frequently
sharing time together. Church for them was not a once or twice a
week gathering rather it was a lifestyle that emerged through regu lar
gatherings of Gods people. In the story of the earliest Chu rch in
Jerusalem (Acts 2:42-46), we see that these followers of Jesus had a
practice of meeting together daily, and we also notice that their
gatherings contained a good deal of variety: listening to the teaching
of the Apostles, breaking bread together and praying. Ignatius
likewise reminds the Church in Ephesus of the importance of
gathering together frequently:
Take heed , then, to come together often to give thanks
to God, and show his praise. For when you come
frequently together in the same place, the powers of
Satan are d estroyed, and his fiery d arts (Eph. 6:16) of
sin fall back, worthless. For your unity and harm onious
faith prove his destruction, and the torment of his
assistants. Nothing is better than Christs peace, by
which all war, both of heavenly and earthly spirits, is
brought to an end . (First Epistle XIII)
Thus, the gathering of the Church was not only a means to the
koinonia of the Body, but w as also essential for the Church to carry
out its mission of fighting the spiritual battle against the worlds
pow ers of darkness. The Early Chu rch und erstood itself as waging
Gods battle for justice on Earth , but as Origen makes clear, this battle
is waged, not with the weapons of the world, but rather with the
weapons of the Spirit, the foremost of which is prayer.
CompassionAnother tool that the Church has been given for the battle
against injustice is compassion. If prayer is und erstood as the first
response to injustice, perhaps we will then see that compassion
emerges out of a p rayerful life, and indeed that it can be though t of
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as prayer in action. Before we go any fur ther, we must have a clear
u nd erstand ing of w hat com p assion is. From its Latin roots,
compassion literally means suffering with. Jesus, of course, served
as a model of compassion for the Early Church. He chose not toremain aloof, but instead became a man, immersing himself in the
problems, sorrows and temptations of hu man ity. The Apostle Paul
describes Jesus compassion in this way: Although he was in the
form of God, he did not exploit his equality with God, but rather
made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a
servant, and w as mad e in the likeness of men: And being found in
this fashion as a man, he hu mbled himself, and became obedient unto
death , even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:6-8). The stories in the
Gospels show that Jesus also d id not shy aw ay from the sick and the
socially marginalized; he brought healing to the sick and the blind,
and he regularly fellowshipped with tax collectors and showed
kindness to prostitutes. These actions how ever were only an extension
of his teachings. One of the fundamental teachings of the Sermon on
the Mou nt w as Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain m ercy
(Matt. 5:10). We tend to un d erstan d m ercy in very abstract,
spiritualized terms, but the Greek w ord that is translated merciful
could just as easily be translated comp assionate. Jesus taugh tcompassion, and did not stop there, but also provided us with an
example of a comp assionate life.
Comp assion, like the other p ractices of the Early Church that
we have named, was founded upon the attitudes of prayer and
patientia. It was prayer that brough t the healing and liberation of
Christ to those in pain and oppression. As those who prayerfully
followed Christ suffered alongside those in pain, the suffering ones
realized the good news that Jesus, through his resurrection, hadconquered the p owers of death and suffering. Prayer taught the early
Christians that obedience to Jesus did not magically evaporate all
pain and suffering, but rather conquered that pain and suffering by
the p ractice of compassion, whereby Christs Body took that suffering
upon herself until that final redemption of the world when all
suffering w ill be eliminated .
The Early Churchs practice of compassion was also
ground ed in patientia. As a d isciple learned to patiently end ure hersufferings, she was equipped to bear the sufferings of other sisters
and broth ers. If one has been prepared by patientia to end ure
suffering and hardship, then she will not be afraid to enter into
situations where others are suffering. Mathetes, in his letter to
Diognetus, described the compassion of the early Christians: they
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share in all things w ith others (see excerpt on the next page). Just as
Gods patience was a means to express love to us, our patience is a
means to express our love to God and to others, but w e cannot enter
into that ministry of compassion unless we are being discipled(trained ) in the prayer and patientia of Jesus.
Cyprian, with the example of Jesus in mind for it was he
who w as said The example of living is given to us in Christ (#39)
begins h is description of the Church in the Third Treatiseby reminding
his readers of the the benefit of good works and mercy (#1). Indeed
this opening line sets the tone for this piece and thu s compassion is a
pr imary theme of the work. We see Cyprian emp hasizing the need
to care for widow s and orp hans (#113), as w ell as the sick (#109), andalso the need to sustain each other, a point that rings especially
true in our times of d istress (#9). Clement of Alexandria likewise
describes compassion in his provocatively titled treatise Who is the
Rich Man that shall be Saved?:
[Jesus has said:] Give to every one that asks of you (Luke
6:30). For tru ly such is Gods delight in giving. And this
saying represents god liness in its highest form: not to wait
to be asked, but to inquire oneself who has need ofreceiving your kindness. God has appointed a reward
for your liberal giving an everlasting habitation! What
an excellent trade! One purchases immortality through
generosity; and, by giving the perishing things of the
world, receives in exchan ge for these an eternal mansion
in the heavens! Rush to this market, if you are wise, O
rich m an! If need be, sail arou nd the w hole world (XXXI-
XXXII).
Thus, the koinonia of the Christian community gave birth to
comp assion, as the w ealthy entered into the suffering of the poor by
sharing their resources to meet the needs of their poor brothers and
sisters. The rich w ere called to go even so far as not build ing up an
inheritance for their children; instead their resources were to be given
toward the needs of the poor, and they were expected to trust that
God would take care of their children (Cyprian, On Works and A lms,
18-19). Thus, the Early Church was called to follow the compassionate
example that Jesus provided in his incarnational ministry, rich and
poor alike were called to share life together and to take the burdens
of their brothers and sisters upon themselves.
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Mathetes, Letter to DiognetusChapter V. The Manners of the Christians.
The Christians are distinguished from other men neither bycountry, nor by language, nor by the customs that they ob-serve; for they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employa peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life that is marked by anysingularity. Their course of conduct has not been devised byany speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they,like some others, proclaim themselves the advocates of anymerely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as bar-
barian cities, as the lot of each of them has determined, andfollowing the customs of the natives in respect to clothing,food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to ustheir wonderful and confessedly strikingmethod of life. Theydwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. Ascitizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure
all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them astheir native country, and every birth-land as a land of strang-ers. They marry, as do all others; they beget children; but theydo not destroy their offspring.They have a common table, butnot a common bed.They are in the flesh, but they do not liveafter the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they arecitizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the
same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men,and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned;they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yetthey make many rich; they are lacking all things, and yetabound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their very dis-honor are glorified. They are spoken of as evil, and yet are
justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted and re-
pay the insult with honor; they do good, yet are punished asevildoers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened intolife; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners and are perse-cuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable toassign any reason for their hatred.
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Lessons for churches today
Thus, the stories of the Early Church reflect that they
carried out their mission through the practices not only ofcompassion, but also of koinonia, mutual submission and
holiness, all of which w ere grounded in the attitudes of prayer
and patientia. In so doing, they have provided us with a mod el
of w hat it means to be the people of God . In the following
paragraphs, I will describe five lessons that churches at the
beginning of the twenty-first century can learn from the early
Christian comm unities.
The Call to HolinessThe Church in the United States today has lost sight of
its distinctive nature, of its calling as a peculiar p eople (Titus
2:14 KJV, I Peter 2:9 KJV). As we described above, the broad
story of Gods people can be understood in terms of cycles of
domestication and holiness. The unification of Chu rch and State,
brought to a head by the Emp eror Constantine provides us with
perhaps the most striking example of the Churchs domestication.
However, in the sixth century, St. Benedict reacted to that
domes t i ca t ion and l aunched a movement g rounded in
communities of obedience that were called to holiness. Since the
time of St. Benedict, the Church has gone through a nu mber of
cycles of domestication and holiness. For app roximately the last
century, the Church in the United States has to a large extent
been dom esticated to American culture. This enculturation is
symbol ized by the American f lags tha t hang in church
sanctuaries, as well as the God Bless America or The Power
of Pride bum per stickers on the cars in the parking lot .
Today, the people of God are being called to return to
holiness. The stories of the early Christian communities, as well
as other stories of Christian holiness like those of St. Benedict,
will gu ide us on our journey. Before we can begin this journey,
however, we must recognize the many ways in which the
idolatrous pow ers of our culture hold u s in bond age. First, wehave been d omesticated by consumerism; we are more concerned
about buying things to make ourselves feel good and to keep
up with (or outdo) our neighbors, than w e are about denying
ourselves and tru ly loving our neighbors. Second ly, we have
succumbed to the nationalistic pride of American imperialism;
how can w e claim to love our neighbors around the world, while
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we support the conquering of their lands, the killing of their children
and the littering of their countrysides with atrocities like napalm,
landm ines and depleted uran ium? We also have become prisoners
of our appetites just like the pagans be it the sexual appetite of
pornography or the literal appetite fueled by the ever-present
advertising of food and beverages. The time has come for us to be set
free from these chains that the world uses to bind us up and render
us impotent. Our assent to Christs lordship can no longer come in
words only; our behavior and attitud es must be obviously different
than those of our p agan neighbors.
Furthermore, we must learn from the political holiness of
the Early Church. The Scrip tu res make it clear that all hu man
governments are by nature oppressive (see I Samuel 8, Rom. 12:20-13:14, in which Paul implies that the governing authorities are enemies
especially the framing verses 12:17-21 and 13:8), so we thus should
be careful not to associate ourselves too closely with any particular
government. Instead, our call is to serve the comm on good of our
cities and nations in p rayer and in our practices of obedience to Jesus
(comp assion, koinonia, mutual submission, holiness), and in so d oing
we follow the pattern of the Early Chu rch.
Depth of Community
A second lesson that we can learn from the Early Chu rch is
the imp ortance of deep church comm un ities. For the Church to
partake meaningfully in Gods work in the world it must be united
as a community. Ezekiel 36:22-24 points ou t that God s name is mad e
holy by the gathering of a people:
Therefore say to the hou se of Israel, Thu s says the Lord
GOD; I do not d o these things for your sake, O house
of Israel, but for my holy names sake, which you have
profaned among the heathen, everywhere you w ent.
And I will sanctify my great nam e, which w as profaned
among the heathen, which you have profaned in the
midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am
the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when I shall be
sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you
from among the heathen, and gather you out of allcoun tries, and will bring you into your ow n land .
Thu s, in the second clause of the Lords prayer Make you r name
holy, * there is an imp licit hope that God would again gather a holy
*This imperative phrasing better reflects the original Greek than
declarative phrasings like Hallowed be thy name or Your name is holy.
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people from among the nations. The Early Chu rch und erstood
themselves as this holy people that God had called ou t from among
the pagan s. They also understood that Gods reign w as most clearly
demonstrated in the holiness of the gathered people of God. In ourage that is saturated with individualism, the Church needs to
remember that being the comm unity of Gods people, a united people
who are set apart from the ways of the world, is an essential part of
our mission in the world. In particular, we need especially to learn
from the Early Chu rchs faithful practices of mutual submission and
koinonia.
In these individualistic days, submission is a dirty word;
especially in the United States, we think we have the right to thepu rsuit of happ iness and thus view submission as a th reat to our
own self-fulfillment. We need to learn to be able to serve our brothers
and sisters in hum ility and not only to serve but also to be served by
them. If a sister has demonstrated the gift of teaching, we need to
learn to submit to that gift of teaching and learn from her. Likewise
if a brother has the gift of prophecy, we need to subm it to that gift
and to listen to his vision for our commun ity and carefully examine
where we fit as individuals in the way that God is leading ourcomm un ity. In my chu rch commu nity, the Spirit has been lead ing
us through a number of prophetic voices to examine how we can
move into closer proximity with our brothers and sisters in ord er to
worship and work on a more intimate level with them. It has been a
very moving experience to see people being subm issive to that leading
and considering how they can arrange their lives in response to it.
Similarly, our communities need to learn from the koinon ia
of the Early Church. Just as w e need to learn to use our gifts and to
submit to the gifts of others, we also need to share our resources
with one another and to graciously accept the generosity of others.
Oftentimes we are too enthralled w ith bu ild ing our own little empires
a bigger television, bigger house, bigger yard, bigger boat, etc.
that we forget our calling to participate in the koinonia of Gods
kingdom. The biblical concept of steward ship remind s us that our
resources are not our ow n, but rather are Gods and are to be used
for the fu rthering of God s kingd om. Wheth er it is shar ing a
lawnmower or a meal, we need to find new and creative ways toshare life and resources with our brothers and sisters. My wife and
I have been blessed by the numerous friends and family members
who have shared clothes, toys and supplies with us as we eagerly
aw ai t the coming of our f irs t baby. Pr ide com es w i th ou r
individualism, and we are often not ready to accept gifts from others
or to share sacrificially of our resources with others. Similarly, we
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need to be willing to share our spiritual burdens, and confess our
sins to our brothers and sisters. Once again, our individualistic pride
is a hind rance to this sort of sharing.
May the Early Chu rch serve as a gu ide for us as we explore
what it means to be the holy people of God. May their example
inspire us to subm it to one another and may w e learn new w ays to
grow deeper into the sharing fellowship of koinonia.
Prayer as Central to the Mission and Identity of the Church
Furthermore, the stories of the Early Chu rch remind us that
prayer is central to our mission as the Chu rch. Prayer is the tool that
God uses to guide us into obed ience. When w e hear of a problem,whether a brother, a sister or a neighbor in need or w hether something
catastrophic like a hurricane or a war has hit the world, our first
response is generally: What can we, or what can I, do? However,
rather than just jumping in and doing something that seems good,
prayer shou ld be our first course of action. Certainly, some situations
require immediate attention, but in those situations, we shou ld be
praying even as we are moving to help. Prayer is a demonstration of
our hum ility. It is a way of saying that we are helpless and need
Gods direction. In reality, how ever, prayer seems to often come to
us as an afterthou ght: Lord , bless this course of action that I have
decided to take. Our problems with prayer can be traced in large
part back to our p roblems with submission, for prayer is the means
by which w e submit ourselves to God.
By their submission to God in all things, the early Chr istians
provide us with a model of what the Apostle Paul meant when he
wrote to the Thessalonians: Pray w ithout ceasing (I Thess. 5:17).
Continual p rayer was the catalyst that energized the Early Church;
indeed, in h isEpistle to the Ephesians, Ignatius clarifies the Apostle
Pauls dictum: Pray without ceasing on behalf of other men (X).
In these words of Ignatius, we are remind ed that prayer is not to be
used for our own ends, for the build ing up of our ow n kingdom, but
rather for the building up of Gods kingdom in the midst of the
community of believers. While most churches today recognize the
importance of prayer, it does not always hold a central position in
the mission and identity of the comm unity. We are prone to forgetTertu llians proclamation that in the Lords Prayer which ind eed
was given as a m odel for all our prayers we find an ep itome of the
whole gospel (On PrayerI). There cannot be any part of the Christian
faith that is not pervaded by p rayer.
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The Power of Prayer
In add ition to the centrality of prayer, our chu rches would
do well to remember the pow er that the Early Church found in prayer.
This pow er is characterized by the w ords of Origen: And as we byour p rayers vanqu ish all the demons that stir up w ar, and lead to
the violation of oaths and disturb the peace we in this service are
much more helpful to the kings than those who go into the field to
fight for them ( Against Celsus VIII.73). Do we really believe that
God is capable of vanqu ishing the demons that stir up w ar and disturb
the peace? In the present age of technology, we seem to have lost
most of our faith in Gods pow er to bring healing to a broken world.
Our tend ency is to tu rn first to ou r technological solutions, and thenif those fail to turn to God as a last resort. It is much easier for us to
turn to the technological solutions because they allow us the illusion
of remaining in control; we can buy prescriptions, pay for the surgery,
bu ild a fence and install a security system to keep the evils of the
world ou t of our lives.
Marva Dawn , in her w onderful book, Powers, Weakness, and
the Tabernacling of God , reminds us that the Scriptural picture of
Christian discipleship centers on the Spirit of God dwelling (or
tabernacling) in our weakness. When w e come to God in all our
weakness and brokenness, God is p leased to d well in full power in
our midst. Thu s, a major problem in the Church today is that we are
afraid to come to God in our weakness. As wond erful as our
technology may be, it often has the collective effect of persuad ing u s
to be invu lnerable. We feel that have no need to worry because
technology will take care of us, and thus we grad ually end up tru sting
technology instead of trusting God.
The connection between repentance and baptism is an
obvious one to us, but perhap s we need to be reminded m ore often
that the humility of repentance should pervad e all phases of our life
in Christ. Ou r responsibility in the journey of Christian d iscipleship
is merely to come to God in all of our brokenn ess and need . John
Stott, in h is excellent comm entary on the Sermon on the Mou nt, has
said that the first four beatitudes poverty of Spirit, mourning,
meekness (humility) and hunger and thirst for righteousness
d escribe ou r relationship to God . If the gathered life of ourcommunities were to be characterized by these facets of hu mility, we
would undoubtedly learn much about the power of God made
manifest in prayer. Then, and only then, could we assent to the
poignant w ords of Tertullian: Prayer alone is that which unleashes
God. It washes away faults, repels temptations, extinguishes
persecutions, consoles the faint-spirited, cheers the high-spirited,
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escorts travelers, calms waves, makes robbers stand aghast,
nou rishes the poor, governs the rich, raises up the fallen, arrests the
falling, confirms the stand ing (On PrayerXXIX). If we come in allhu mility, God w ill work in power through u s, but it is imp ortant for
us to remember that God is working toward the ends of the Kingdom
and not toward ou r own human ends. It is easy for us to desire to
wield Gods power for our own end s, but w e must remember that
the model of prayer that we were given instructs us to pray Your
Kingd om come.
PatientiaIf we come to God in all hu mility, praying that the Kingd om of God
would come on Earth as it is in Heaven, God will undoubtedly
move powerfully in and through our comm unities. We will enjoy a
bumper crop of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), and we will
start to see signs that the mission of Jesus is being carried out in our
midst: the sick will be healed, the blind w ill see, and the oppressed
ones will be set free (cf. Luke 4:18-19). However, we must remember
that Gods work will unfold according to the divine timing and notaccording to our own wishes. Thus, one final lesson that our churches
need to learn from the Early Church is that of patientia. The culture
of the world, and particularly that of present day America, is centered
arou nd imp atience. One does not have to go very far to find
examples of our impatience; in fact, we are often inclined to use
convenience as a eup hem ism for our imp atience. There are
convenience stores on practically every corner, and even many of
our home appliances have their origins in convenience, especiallyones like the microwave and the dishwasher. Fast food restauran ts,
the modern icons of convenience, are just as abund ant as convenience
stores. Out on the highw ays, the average speed is almost always in
excess of the posted speed limit. All these phenom ena are, to some
degree, symptoms of our imp atience.
Our churches are, generally speaking, no less impatient than
the society that surrounds them. As we alluded to in the previous
section on the power of prayer, we tend not to believe that God canor w ill move p owerfully in d ifficult situations. Practically speaking,
we reject the omnipotence of God w hen w e impatiently rush to take
matters into our own hands. Our unwillingness to let God be the
Judge and Avenger is one of the fruits of our churches imp atience.
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The patientia of Jesus that was so fund amental for the Early Chu rch
taugh t them that it was better to suffer than to inflict harm. Many
churches in the United States have clearly demonstrated their
impatience by supporting the governments current war in Iraq.
Maybe the governm ent is justified in going to w ar and maybe it is
not, but regardless the Church has been called to be a nation of
peacemakers, a people wh o demonstrates Gods love for hu manity
by loving their enemies, and not retu rning evil for evil. It seems that
the Chu rch is particularly adep t at making excuses for why w e will
not follow our calling, and this is particularly tru e with regard to
our calling to return good for evil. This teaching of Jesus is generally
relegated to the realm of the ind ividual if it is recognized at all. Onemajor p roblem is that we are unwilling to recognize the Church as a
nation among all the other nations of the world, a nation found ed
and formed by the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. Our excuses
and justifications are grounded not only in our impatience and
disbelief bu t also in ou r fear of suffering.
Our fear of suffering stems in large part from our reliance
upon technology and from ou r present lack of persecution. As we
learn to come to God in brokenness and to t rust in Divineomnipotence, we will be taugh t patientia. This process of learning
patientia will certainly be a painful one, but we have not been left
alone in these struggles. We have a host of faithful witnesses that
have gone before us, not least of which was Jesus himself, whose
stories serve to inspire and encourage us. We also have been given
a new family, a comm unity of brothers and sisters who enter with
us into this painful journey of discipleship, and who w ill carry ou r
burdens when they become too much for us to bear. In the followingsection of this book, we w ill examine the role of persecution in the
Early Church, how it shaped their patientia, and how we can learn
from their example in these days that are almost persecution-free
for churches in the United States and the Western world.