Saturday, February 8, 2020

Views of the Apostolic Fathers

 The early apologists describe the Father alone as the "one God" and "only God." (Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 1.3.6; 2.30.9; 3.1.2; Justin Martyr, Dial. Trypho, 61, 128; Tertullian Adv. Prax. 2, 16, 18; Origen, Adv. Celsus, 8.13; Athenagoras, Leg. Christ. 4; Clement of Alexandria Strom. 6.5; 7.10; Hippolytus, Adv. Noet. 3, 5; Lactantius, Inst. 1.7) Such epithets are never even given to the Son—much less to the Father, Son and Spirit together. All early authors wrote on the subject of the generation of the Son affirm that it was not an eternal act of nature, but a free act of God's will. (Theophilus, Ad Autol. 2.10; Justin 2 Apol. 6, Dial. Trypho 120; Tatian, Orat. ad Graec. 5, Hippolytus, Contr. Noet. 10, Tertullian, Adv. Prax. 5; Adv. Hermog. 3, 5, 18; Novatian, De Trin. 31, Lactantius, Instit. 2.9, 4.6.) 


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