Apostolic Fathers and the Trinity (Part 1)

 0. Introduction

The earliest Patristic writings are often called the "Apostolic Fathers," which are a collection of first and second century Christian writings. I shall discuss there views of the Father, Son and Spirit. Ignatius is a more difficult topic, therefore I have discussed him in more detail elsewhere. 

1. General Data

Only the Father is ever called "one God," and "only God" by the Apostolic Fathers. (1 Clem. 13:1; 35:3; 43:6; 44:1; 46:6; 59:3; 64:1; 2 Clem. 20:5; Poly. Phil. 1:1, 3; 3:3; 5:2; 3; Hermas, Mand. 1.1.1; Mand. 5.1.2; 10.3.3.) The epistle to Diognetus calls Christ "the Eternal One, who is accounted a Son," ούτοσ ο αεί, ο σήμερον υιό λογισθείς, and speaks of his pre-existence in language reminiscient of the prologue of John's Gospel. (Diog. 11:5) Ignatius calls Jesus "God," θεὸς at least eleven times. (I. Eph. Prol, 1:1; 7:2; 18:2; 19:3; I. Smyr. 1:1; I. Trall. 7:1; I. Rom. Prol. (2*); 3:2; 6:3; I. Poly. 8:3.) He is fond of calling Christ "our God," θεός ημών, and "God, come in the flesh," εν σαρκί γενομενος θεός. There may, or may not be an additional three instances of this, but at this time we cannot conclusively determine due to textual variants or ambiguity. (I. Eph. 8:1; I. Magn. 6:1) The pre-existence of Christ was also generally taught from the earliest centuries and was not a later development. (Ad Diog. 7:2, 4; Hermas Par 9:12:2; Barnabas 5:5; 6:12; 2 Clem. 9:4; Poly. Phil. 12:2.) And the personhood of the Holy Spirit is affirmed as subordinate to the Son. (1 Clem. 58:2; Mart. Pol. 14:1-3; Par. 5.6.5; 9.1.1.) The most plain is the statement of Clement, "as God lives, and as the Lord Jesus Christ lives and the Holy Spirit, who are the faith and hope of the elect." (1 Clem. 58:2) However, in no instance is the Holy Ghost directly called "God." 

2. Papias and Barnabas

From Papias of Hierapolis (60-130) the student of the apostle St. John and companion of Polycarp, no complete works survive. (Eusebius, Ecc. Hist. 3.36.1-2.) His works are only known in fragmentary quotations from which we have nothing extant which would be valuable for this discussion. The Epistle of Barnabas, which many early Fathers attribute to the Biblical apostle Barnabas (died c. 60) does not present a systematic picture of Christ but it does speak of the atonement frequently. It attests to the pre-existence of Christ in several places. (Barn. 5:11; 6:12; cf. Gen. 1:26.) 

"There is yet this also, my brothers; if the Lord endured to suffer for our lives, though he was Lord of the whole world, to whom God said from the foundation of the world, "Let us make man after our image and likeness," how then did He endure to suffer at the hand of men?" (Barn. 5:5)

 Barnabas claims that it was at the command of the Father that the Son became incarnate to die for sins and prepare a people for his glory. (Barn. 14:6) He refers to the Holy Spirit as the inspirer of the prophets and seems to confuse him with the Son in several places. (Barn. 6:14; 12:2; 14:3; 19:7.) His primary concern is a polemic against Judaism, hence does not talk in detail about the relations between the three persons. 

3. The Didache

In the Didache a high Christology is not articulated, but there are several references to Christ as the "servant" of God the Father and the "vine" of David. (Did. 7:1, 3; 9:1, 3; 10:3.) It contains the earliest extant written quotation of the sacred baptismal formula found in St. Matthew 28:19, "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Did. 7:1, 3; cf. St. Matt. 28:19.) 

4. Clement of Rome

With regard to Clement, the great bishop of Rome who was likely a companion of the apostle St. Paul, we have only one authentic epistle attributed to him which was written to the Corinthians. (He may very well be the same who is mentioned at Philippians 4:3 when he says, "help those women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.") He never once uses "God" θεός for the Son or the Holy Spirit, but reserves θεός for the Father, and several times calls him "the only God." (1 Clem. 43:6; 44:1) He distinguishes Christ from the "almighty God'' in several places and describes Christ as a "servant," παιδός of God. (1 Clem. 32:4; 49:6; 59:3; 62:2) When referring to the "King of eternity" mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:17, he applies the text to the Father and not to the Son. (1 Clem. 61:2) Clement gives exquisite titles to God, "the Creator and Father of the worlds, the Supremely Holy one," "the Benefactor of spirits and the God of all flesh," "The Creator and Bishop of every spirit," "the all-seeing God and Ruler of spirits and Lord of All flesh, who chose the Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Clem. 35:3; 59:3; 64:1) Clement teaches the pre-existence of Christ when he says that it was Christ who spoke in the Psalms "through the Holy Spirit." (1 Clem. 22:1; cf. Psa. 34:11-19) And again when he says, "Jesus Christ was sent forth from God. So then Christ is from God'' borrowing language from St. John's Gospel. (1 Clem. 42:1, 2; cf. St. Joh. 6:38; 13:1-3; 16:30.) He quotes from the epistle to the Hebrews to demonstrate that Christ is superior to all angels. (1 Clem. 26:2-5; cf. Heb. 1:3-7, 13.) He teaches that God "elected" Christ and appointed him as high priest and savior. (1 Clem. 64:1) Although Clement writes a great deal about creation, he never directly implicates Christ in the creation of the universe in his epistle. (1 Clem. 20:1-10; 33:4; 35:3.) The subordination of Christ to the Father is emphasized in several places,

"You alone are the benefactor of spirits and the God of all flesh… you have chosen those who love you through Jesus Christ, your beloved servant, through whom you instructed us. Let all the nations know that you are the only God, and that Jesus Christ is your servant." (1 Clem. 59:3, 4)

There are a few indications of belief in the personality of the Holy Spirit, most notably, "as God lives, and as the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit, who are the faith and hope of the elect." (1 Clem. 58:2) "Have we not one God and one Christ and one Spirit of grace that was shed upon us?" (1 Clem. 46:6; 13:1) But he says nothing of the relation of the Spirit to the other persons. In the spurious second epistle of Clement, we find an explicit statement of the pre-existence of Christ,

"If Christ the Lord who saved us, being first spirit, then became flesh, and so called us, in like manner also shall we in this flesh receive our reward." (2 Clem. 9:5)

It was Christ who "called us when we did not exist and out of nothing willed us into existence." (2 Clem. 1:8) Yet in this epistle as well, θεός is reserved for the Father who is called,

"The only God, invisible, the Father of Truth, who sent forth unto us the Savior and Prince of immortality, through whom also He made manifest unto us the truth and the heavenly life, to Him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen." (2 Clem. 20:5)

 The Holy Spirit is mentioned only a few times in passing, and Clement seems to confuse him with the Son when he says, "the flesh is the Church and the Spirit is Christ." (2 Clem. 14:3-5) In general the Fathers have a habit of referring to Christ as "the Spirit" or "a Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit in St. Lk. 1:35 is often interpreted as the pre-existent Son by the Ante-Nicenes. (Justin Martyr, Apology 1.33; Tertullian, De Carne Christi, 14; Adversus Judaeos, 13; Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5.1.3.) Hippolytus seems to be among the few exceptions to this. (Hippolytus, Sermo in sancta Theophania 9.) The definite article is lacking, πνεύμα άγιον, hence it may have been read as "a holy spirit," and on this basis was applied to the Logos. 

5. Polycarp of Smyrna

From Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69-155) we have only one epistle which was written to the Philippians but it does not talk at great length about Christology, and mentions the atonement only in passing. (Pol. Phil. 1:2, 3; 2:2) He attacks the doctrines of the docetae and moves onto general hortatory. (Pol. Phil. 7:1) It survives in the original Greek and in a later Latin translation. There are noteworthy omissions in the Greek version, for example, in the Latin version of his epistle he refers to the Lord Jesus as the "the eternal high priest himself," ipse sempiternus pontifex. (Pol. Phil. 12:2.) It is found also in the quotation of Eusebius, "eternal high priest Jesus Christ," is αιωνίου αρχιερέως Ιησού χριστού. 

In the Greek versions of Polycarp's epistle, he never refers to Christ as θεός but often uses the phrases "God almighty and Jesus Christ," or "God and Christ." (Pol. Phil. 1:1, 3; 3:3; 5:2, 3.) But in the Latin version he refers to Christ once as "our Lord and God Jesus Christ" dominum nostrum et deum Iesum Christum. (Pol. Phil. 12:2.) There is no direct statement as to whether Polycarp held adoptionist views, or any clear passage which states that Christ had a prehuman existence. His main concern is to address the local pastoral issues which the Church at Phillippi mentioned when they first wrote to him. (Pol. Phil. 3:1; 13:1.) We have an early anonymous account of the Martyrdom of Polycarp which is generally dated to the second century. The opening salutation wishes "mercy, peace, and love from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ." He attributes to Polycarp the following words,

 "O Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, the God of angels and powers and of all creation, and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your presence, I bless you for you have reckoned me worthy of this day and hour, that I may be given a place among the number of martyrs in the cup of your Christ, to the resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and of body…. I glorify you through the eternal and heavenly high priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be glory to you, with him and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever. Amen." (Mart. Pol. 14:1-3.)

In this prayer we are given a direct attestation to belief in a triad of persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But in the end we are left with disappointingly inconclusive language from Polycarp, and a notable absence of developed Christological descriptions or concepts. 

Click here a discussion of the remaining Apostolic Fathers. 

Apostolic Fathers and the Trinity (Part 2)

Click here to read a previous discussion of the other Apostolic Fathers. 

6. Mathetes

An anonymous early apologist, who is often called Mathetes, wrote a single epistle to a certain Diognetus defending the Christian faith. Seven times Mathetes calls Christ "the Word" (λόγος) which is likely due to his familiarity with the Johannine corpus or a common tradition. (Diog. 11:2, 7, 8; 12:9) Towards the end of the epistle, Mathetes has a sublime section where he describes God and his Son,

 "The invisible God himself, established among humans the truth and the holy, incomprehensible word from heaven and fixated it firmly in their hearts, not, as one might imagine, by sending them some subordinate, or angel or one of those who manage earthly matters or one of those entrusted with the administration of things in heaven, but the Designer and Creator of the universe himself, by whom he created the heavens." (Diog. 7:2)

He describes the pre-existent Christ as one "by whom" the Father created the universe, a co-creator of the universe, but not a mere "angel." Mathetes seems to be drawing implicitly upon such texts as Gen. 1:26 and 3:22 which mention another who was involved in creation beside God the Father. It is noteworthy that Christ is called "the Creator of the universe himself." Elsewhere he says that God,

"Sent (Christ) in gentleness and meekness, as a king might send his son who is a king; he sent him as a God (ως θεόν έπεμψεν) he sent him as a human to humans." (Diog. 7:4)

Mathetes does not say that Christ was a mere man upon the earth, rather he was sent "as a God" and "as a man" simultaneously. Rather reminiscent of later traditional language for the hypostatic union. Such language implies that the Logos did not give up his deity when he became human. He also teaches that God communicated his plan of salvation to the Logos before he sent him into the world. (Diog. 8:9-11; 9:1-3) Mathetes he describes the Son as"his Son, the only-begotten,"τον υιόν αυτού μονογενή (Diog. 10:2) and once calls the Son ο ἀεί which Holmes renders as "the eternal one." (Diog. 11:5) This implies to my mind an eternal begetting, putting the author quite in line with later Nicene (325) and Chalcedonian (451) definitions of Christ. The epistle is unfortunately devoid of any detailed discussions of the nature of the Holy Ghost.

7. The Shepherd of Hermas

The Shepherd (c. 95) is a very curious work written by a certain Hermas who describes himself as a Christian and former slave who was owned by a certain "Rhoda." (Vis. 1.1.1.) There is a certain Christian woman named Rhoda mentioned in Acts 12:13 and the apostle St. Paul mentions a certain "Hermas" in Romans 16:14, whom Eusebius suggests is the author of the Shepherd. (Eusebius, Ecc. Hist. 3.3.6.) It is a lengthy work containing parables, visions, and commandments which mostly relate to salvation and repentance. He says that the first or most important commandment is to "believe that God is one who created and finished all things, and made all things out of nothing. He alone is able to contain the whole, but Himself cannot be contained." (Mand. 1.1.1.)

 There is a similarity to St. Mark 12:29 where Christ says that the "first commandment is, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is one." He also speaks of his Son, the "Shepherd" and "angel of repentance" who was sent to dwell with Hermas 'the remaining days of his life.' (Vis. 5.5.7.) Hermas does not use the name "Jesus" for his savior, evidently out of reverence for the name, but instead uses the titles "Lord," and "Son of God" to refer to his Messianic Shepherd, who is not a mere man, but "the holy, pre-existent Spirit, that created every creature, whom God made to dwell in flesh." (Par. 5.6.6) He may have a reverential avoidance of using the name Jesus, but he does acknowledge that the Shepherd has a "name." (Par. 8.6.4; 9.12.4.) 

Hermas states the same concept more clearly when he says, "the Son of God is older than all His creatures, so that He was a co-counsel with the Father in his work of creation that is why he is old." (Par. 9.12.2.) This latter statement seems to be a denial of adoptionism, as the Son was a son even before the creation of the cosmos. To Hermas, Son of God is a highly exalted figure, second to God himself. There is no way to approach God "than through his Son," and even the angels cannot approach God except by him. (Par. 9.12.6; 9.12.8.) The basis for this exalted status is never directly explained and there is a striking absence to any talk of the crucifixion or resurrection of the Lord. Hermes regards the Holy Spirit as a person who "speaks" and reveals divine truths. He abides in Christians and intercedes on their behalf with God the Father. (Mand. 5:1.2; 10.3.3.) Unrepentant sinners "grieve the Holy Spirit" and "sadden" him with their transgressions. (Mand. 10.2.1-5; 10:3.2.) He often confuses the Son to be with the Holy Spirit. He refers to the Son as the "Holy Spirit," who dwelt in flesh even saying at one point, "the Spirit is the Son of God." (Par. 5.6.5; 9.1.1.) He does elsewhere talk of "Holy Spirits." (Par. 9.13.2.) It is then possible that Hermas regarded the Son as a Holy Spirit, of sorts. He elsewhere distinguishes the Father, Son, and Spirit as three distinct persons, "the Lord has put you to the test, and enrolled you among our number, and your whole seed will dwell with the Son of God for you received his Spirit." (Par. 9.24.4.) No word is said of the begetting or origin of the Son of God. Nor is any word said of the Procession or origin of the Holy Spirit. Despite the vague and seemingly confused theology of the Shepherd of Hermas, it was treasured by the ancient Church and treated as Scripture by Irenaeus and Tertullian. 

8. Ignatius of Antioch

It is a difficult thing to summarize the theology of the Ignatius of Antioch (died c. 140) because there are so many fraudulent epistles attributed to him and those which are genuine suffer from textual corruption. We know little of Ignatius with historical certainty, aside from the fact that he was bishop of Antioch, that he was known to Polycarp, and that he was martyred in the early second century. There are fifteen ancient epistles which claim to be written by Ignatius which offer contradictory theological views and historical details. The spurious epistle to the Tarsians even teaches a form of Arianism. There is also a purported epistle to the Virgin Mary and another to the blessed apostle St. John, both of which are forgeries. 

Nowadays, only seven epistles out of fifteen attributed to Ignatius are sometimes considered authentic works of the martyr. The seven which some consider authentic are the epistles to the Ephesians, the Magnesians, the Trallians, the Romans, the Philadelphians, the Smyrnaeans and the one to Polycarp. These seven epistles were known and used by fourth century writers but there is a great deal of corruption in their textual transmission. There are basically three different versions or recensions of the seven epistles which differ from one another greatly in terms of style and theology. Holmes gave the following opinion. 

"The letters (of Ignatius) exist in three basic forms. The long recension consists of an expanded (interpolated) version of the original letters created in the fourth century accompanied by six spurious letters (some of which came to be associated with the middle recension as well). The short recension is a Syriac abridgment of the letters to the Ephesians, the Romans, and Polycarp. The middle recension, which was known to Eusebius, preserves the original form of the letters." (M. Holmes, Apostolic Fathers, 171.)

Now, I am of the opinion that all the short and long recensions are somewhat corrupted but give us a general picture of the theology of Ignatius. Athanasius quotes from the middle recension and from another lost recension, which shows that there were different versions of the Ignatian epistles circulating in the fourth century. (Athanasius, De Synodis 47.) The short and long recensions are not total forgeries, nor are they entirely genuine, both contain interpolations and corruptions. Cureton published short recension which survives in Syriac, an early translation of three of the epistles. It is admitted by everybody that the long recension is heavily interpolated. But what can we gather from the epistles of Ignatius as they have been transmitted to us? Ignatius taught that the pre-existent Logos voluntarily chose to reside "in" a human body. (I. Eph. 3:2; 6:1; 7:1.) No time is devoted to explaining the details of this incarnation. There is a somewhat difficult statement in the middle recension of the epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians.

"There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both begotten and unbegotten (γεννητός καὶ αγέννητος); God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; first possible and then impossible, even Jesus Christ our Lord." (I. Ep. 7:2)

This language appears far removed from the Nicene confession that Christ is "the only-begotten (μονογενής) Son of God, begotten (γεννηθέντα) of the Father before all worlds," Ignatius calls him as "unbegotten," αγέννητος, language which is reserved for the Father alone among patristic authors. (I. Eph. 7:1) This language, taken plainly, would be highly objectionable. Athanasius condemned all who said the Son was "unbegotten," αγέννητος, to deny eternal generation, and argues that this passage in Ignatius must be understood merely as a denial that the Logos came into existence in Mary or was created at the incarnation. (Athanasius, De Syn. 27, 47.) This is plausible. The longer recension has an entirely different reading in this place,

"But our Physician is the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only-begotten Son. We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin."

The meaning is changed radically. Although the Son is still depicted as pre-existent, the title “one Physician” is applied to the Father rather than the Son and any confusing assertions of being “unbegotten” are omitted. The more difficult reading is the more plausible to be correct, hence, the middle recension likely preserves the original wording. The later editor of the long recension sought to remove anything which might be used by advocates of Sabellianism. Some versions of the epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp describes Christ as "above time," and "eternal," but this language is omitted from the short recension. (I. Pol. 3:2) 

The Ignatian epistles in all their forms contain scathing attacks upon the docetae, any who deny that the Lord "was clothed in flesh" is figuratively "clothed in a corpse," because their demise is assured. (I. Smyr. 6:2) The descent of the Word to earth was a departure from the "divine silence" of heaven, "who before the ages was with the Father and appeared at the end of time … the Word, that came forth from silence, who in every respect pleased the one who sent him." (I. Magn. 6:1; 7:2; 8:2) The seven epistles refers to Jesus Christ as "God," θεὸς at least eleven times, which is far more than any single New Testament author. (I. Eph. Prol, 1:1; 7:2; 18:2; 19:3; I. Smyr. 1:1; I. Trall. 7:1; I. Rom. Prol. (2*); 3:2; 6:3; I. Poly. 8:3.) The middle recension often refers to Christ frequently as "our God," θεός ημών, and "God, come in the flesh," εν σαρκί γενομενος θεός. There may, or may not be an additional three instances of this, but at this time we cannot conclusively determine due to textual variants or ambiguity. (I. Eph. 8:1; I. Magn. 6:1) 

The short recension, which survives in Syriac, is devoid of much of the high Christology in the middle Recension. William Cureton translated the Syriac text of three epistles into English in 1845, and thought their content 'vindicated' Ignatius 'from the charge of heresy' brought upon him by the popular middle recension. (William Cureton, The Antient Syriac Version of the Epistles of St. Ignatius London: Rivingtons, 1845; Vindicæ Ignatianæ or the Genuine Writings of St. Ignatius as Exhibited in the Antient Syriac version London: Rivingtons, 1846). 

The short recension contains no language which might be considered Sabellian or adoptionist. The Syriac version of the epistle to Polycarp begins with salutations mentioning "by God the Father and by Jesus Christ our Lord." (The Antient Syriac Version of the Epistles of St. Ignatius, p. 5.) The Son is not a mere man, but existed before the ages and became incarnate for our sakes. 

"Be discerning of the times. Expect Him who is above times, Him to whom there are no times, Him who is unseen, Him who for our sakes became seen, Him who is impalpable, Him who is without suffering, Him who for our sakes suffered, Him who for our sakes endured every thing in every form." (Ibid. p. 6, 7.) 

The reality of the incarnation is emphasized in these paradoxical descriptions, the Son did not merely appear to suffer or take a human form, but truly did. In the Syriac version of his epistle to the Ephesians, he twice speaks of "Jesus Christ our God." (Ibid. p. 11, 25.) We also find the curious phrase, "ye are fervent in the blood of God," (Ibid. 11.) which is likely taken from Acts 20:28. The ancients freely spoke of Christ as "God" and "Spirit" though never intending him to be literally identified with either the Father or the Holy Spirit as Sabellius later did. Although Christ is divine, God remains "the greatness of the Father Most High." (Ibid. p. 17.) The Syriac version also contains an illustration which distinguishes between the Father, Son, and Spirit in the economia,

"Ye are prepared for the building of God the Father, and ye are raised on high by the engine of Jesus Christ, which is the Cross, and ye are drawn by the rope, which is the Holy Ghost, and your pulley is your faith, and your Love the way that raiseth up on high to God." (Ibid. p. 13.)

The Syriac epistle of Ignatius to the Romans speaks little of Christology and includes sections of morbid excitement over the prospect of martyrdom; where he goes so far as to beg Roman Christians not to prevent his execution by the hands of wild beasts. Although, it should be noted that all three versions of the Ignatian epistles contain a morbid fascination with martyrdom, it is astounding that there are not many variants readings in this section,

"Ye will not give me anything which is better than this, that I should be sacrificed to God whilst the altar is prepared, that in love ye may be in one concord, that ye may praise God the Father in Jesus Christ our Lord because he deemed a Bishop worthy that he should be God's when he called him from the East to the West… I am the wheat of God, and by the teeth of the beasts am I ground, that I may be found the pure bread of God." (Ibid. p. 19.)

The translator of the Syriac text evidently did not know of any other epistles of Ignatius besides these three because the Syriac manuscript ends with the words, "here end the three epistles of Ignatius, bishop and martyr." (Ibid. p. 23.) These epistles were not intended to present a systematic theology and speak mostly of martyrdom and pastoral matters, however they do give valuable insights, such as the fact that Ignatius already had a belief in the pre-existence of Christ, although he is hazy in explaining the details.

9. Summary

In summary, the Apostolic Fathers tend to describe the Father alone as the "only God" and the "one God." They generally taught the pre-existence of Christ and described him as the creator. And in some of their writings the personhood of the Spirit seems to be taught although their view of the Holy Spirit is hazy, and occasionally authors such as Hermas and the writer of 2 Clement seem to confuse him with the Son. Those who speak on the matter tend to describe the Logos as "begotten," but the middle recension of the Ignatian epistles seems teach the doctrine of an unbegotten Logos who became a Son at his incarnation, which is more akin to that of Marcellus than anything apostolic.