Part 9
through the aeons. The hymn is included here to demonstrate to what extent Gnostic circles did (or did
not) concur with the confessed beliefs of the first Christians.
30-39 The origin of the Odes of Solomon, composed in the second century, is not clear. Most scholars
consider them Gnostic; nevertheless, it seems likely that they were particularly popular among the
Montanists. As late as the fifth and sixth centuries the Monophysites, who stood for the separation of
church and state, cherished the Odes; aside from that, it was only through their publication in Syriac
(they were originally Greek) in 1909 that they have been rediscovered. For an English translation from the
Syriac, see R. Harris and A. Mingana, Odes and Psalms of Solomon, London and New York: Longmans,
Green and Co., 1920.
40 This dance hymn from the Acts of John is attributed to Jesus himself. The profound paradox of
a redeeming Savior who wounds by his wounds; who brings new birth through his birth; who wants to
be heard and eaten and sought; who effects his washing; whose grief pierces the heart; whose unity
unites all; who, homeless and free from temple worship, sanctifies everything; who is the door and the
pathway of the striding dance – is frequently attributed to Gnostic influences.
41 This poetic doxology is believed to be an authentic poem by Clement of Alexandria.
42 Our survey of meetings and sacred gatherings of early Christian times ends with Polycarp's
spirit-filled prayer at his martyrdom. The final gathering around a martyr was felt to be the very crowning
of the solemn meetings held by early believers. Polycarp's prayer is indicative of this; we include it as a
typical second-century prayer of the church.
2 3 1
PROCLAMATION AND
THE PROPHETIC SPIRIT
n this last section, the texts give insight into the missionary zeal of a young church untrammeled by convention and tradition. Unlike the statements and "positions" of many ecclesiastical bodies today, which sometimes read as little more than exercises in polished and often politically weighed oratory, the words of the early Christians speak to us even now – after almost two millennia – with unique clarity and authority. Among them, the gift of prophecy was not only alive but seriously heeded. And as the following passages show (despite certain excesses, and the inclusion of a few controversial Montanist texts), their proclamations were inspired not by a pharasaic, scribal legalism, but by the living Word.
A rare symbol found only in a few catacombs, the pair of sandals or shoes stands for mission and the proclamation of the Word; it may also allude to the itinerant life of the first apostles and of Christ himself. In classical and early Christian symbolism, sandals also stand for man's crossing over into the "next land," i.e. his journey through life on earth, and death, to eternal life.
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
1 He sent the Logos to appear to the world. He was slighted by his people, proclaimed by the apostles, and accepted and believed in by the Gentiles. This is he who was from the beginning. He appeared as the new and was found to be old. He is always born anew in the hearts of the saints. He is the eternal one who is declared to be "the Son today." Through him the church is made rich. Through him the grace which unfolds in the saints is multiplied. This grace grants understanding. It unravels mysteries. It announces the appointed times. It rejoices in the believers. Grace imparts itself to the seekers. It gives itself to those who do not break the vows of faith or transgress the boundaries set by the fathers.
Then the fear of the law is glorified, the gift of prophecy is recognized, the faith of the Gospels is firmly established, and the tradition of the apostles is preserved. The grace of the church exults. If you do not offend this grace, you will know what the Logos speaks through the mouth of those whom he chooses and when he chooses. Letter to Diognetus 11.
2 Hear now what was prophesied about the messengers of his truth and the heralds of his appearance; the king and prophet was inspired by the prophetic Spirit to speak thus:
One day shouts the message to the other, and one night makes it known to the next; there is no speech or call whose voice is not perceived. Their voice goes forth throughout the earth and their words to the ends of the world. He has pitched his tent in the sun, which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, like a giant running his course with joy.
And again in another prophecy the prophetic Spirit, testifying through the same David, said that after being crucified Christ would reign as king, for he said, "Let joy rule among the nations. The Lord reigns from the tree!" Justin, First Apology 40, 41.
3 "They will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But those who were born to the Kingdom will be driven into the darkness outside."
2 3 3
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
This, I confirm, is what I proclaim; for I have but one concern, to speak the truth. I have no fear of anyone even if you were to tear me to pieces this very minute. Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 120.6.
4 When the blessed evangelist John, the apostle, had lived in Ephesus into his extreme old age and could hardly be carried to the meetings of the church by the disciples, and when in speaking he could no longer put together many words, he would not say anything else in the meetings but this: "Little children, love one another!" When at last the disciples and brothers present got tired of hearing the same thing again and again, they said, "Master, why do you keep saying the same thing?" John replied with a saying worthy of him: "Because it is the Lord's command, and it is enough if it is really done."
Jerome, Commentary on Galatians 6: 10. A.D. 387–388.
5 When a person loves God with all his heart and with all his strength, his mind is filled with the fear of God. He will fear no other god; but he will, since God desires it, fear the messenger who is loved by the Lord and by God himself. Whoever loves his neighbor as himself will wish for him all the good things he claims for himself, and nobody wishes evil for himself. He who loves his neighbor will ask and do for him the same things he would for himself. A person's neighbor is whoever feels and thinks as he does: that is a true person. The Word tells us so! Whoever loves God the Lord with his whole heart and with all his strength and his neighbor as himself, whose religion is fully committed to this twofold service – service to God and service to others – such a person could truly be good.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 93.2, 3.
6 The prophet Isaiah tells us that we should not, as some think, love only our own people: "Say to those that hate and curse you, 'You are our brothers!'" And the Gospel says, "Love your enemies!"
Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus III.14.
2 3 4
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
7 Jesus commanded us to love even our enemies. This was already announced through Isaiah in several passages, which also tell of the mystery of new birth, a new birth belonging to all people who expect Christ's coming in Jerusalem and who strive to please him through deeds. He was crucified so that he might come again in glory according to the Scriptures. And the tree of life which was planted in paradise was a mysterious sign pointing to him and so was the history of all the just.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 85.7; 86.1.
8 Now there remains nothing for us to do but to seek what we once had but have lost: to join the soul to the Holy Spirit and thereby to achieve union with him according to God's will.
Tatian, Address to the Greeks 15.1.
9 Our hearts have been so thoroughly circumcised from sin that we even rejoice when going to death for the sake of the name of that glorious rock from which living water gushes forth into the hearts of those who love the father of the universe through him, quenching the thirst of those who desire to drink the water of life.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 114.4.
10 Die to the world by renouncing the madness of its stir and bustle. Live for God by throwing off the old man in you through recognition of his nature. We were not born to die. We die because of our own guilt. Our freedom of will has ruined us. We who were free became slaves. We were sold because of our sin. God created nothing evil. It is we who brought forth wickedness. Those who brought it about can also do away with it again. Tatian, Address to the Greeks 11.5–6.
11 We were saved as though from a fire. We were liberated from our former sins, from the torment, out of the conflagration prepared for us by Satan and all his servants. And again it is Jesus alone, the son of God, who snatches us from their hands. He has promised that, if we keep his commandments, he will dress us in the garments laid out for us and prepare for us an eternal kingdom. Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 116.2.
2 3 5
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
12 We ourselves, both men and angels, shall be the cause of our condemnation if we sin and do not repent while there is time. For the sake of your salvation take this hard struggle upon yourselves and immediately put the Messiah of the almighty God in the place of your teachers!
All who desire can share in the divine mercy. They only need to repent. The Logos foretells that they shall be happy when he says, "Blessed is the person whom the Lord does not charge with sin," which means that anyone who repents of his sins receives from God full remission of his sins.
Therefore I challenge you: I can wish nothing greater for you, gentlemen, than the recognition that every person can obtain happiness on the way shown. May you come to share fully in our confession: Jesus is the Messiah of God!
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 141.1; 142.2; 141.2; 142.3.
13 This much we know, that before any creatures were made he proceeded from the Father in the Father's power and in accordance with his will; he is the one whom the prophets call wisdom, day, sunrise, sword, stone, branch, Jacob, and Israel, sometimes one, sometimes another; and we also know something else, that he became man through the virgin in order that the sin caused by the Serpent would be abolished in the same way in which it had begun.
From the virgin Mary, Jesus was born, Jesus to whom a great many passages in the Scriptures refer as we have shown. Through him God destroys the Serpent and those angels and men who have become like the Serpent. Through him God frees from death those who repent of their sins and believe in him. Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 100.4,5.
14 When the cup of our wickedness was filled, when it had become quite clear that as its reward we were to expect punishment and death, and when the time had come which God had appointed to reveal from then on his goodness and his power, then – oh, overflowing kindness and love of God! – then he did not hate us or reject us; he did not hold our evil deeds against us. Instead, he was generous and forbearing. In his
2 3 6
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
compassion he took our sins upon himself. He gave his own son as a ransom for us: the holy for the unholy, the innocent for the sinners, the righteous for the unjust, the incorruptible for the corruptible, and the immortal for the mortal. What else could have covered our sins except his righteousness?
In whom else could we, criminals and godless people that we are, be justified except in the son of God alone? What wonderful exchange, what inscrutable design, what unexpected act of goodness: the injustice of the many was to be covered by the One who is righteous, and the righteousness of the One was to justify the many sinners! In former times he proved to us the powerlessness of our nature to gain life; now he showed that the Redeemer has the power to save what is powerless. In both ways he wanted to lead us to have faith in his goodness, to learn to know him as our nourisher, as our father, teacher, counselor, and physician, as spirit, light, honor, glory, power, and life so that we no longer need to care anxiously for food and clothing.
Letter to Diognetus 9.(14)
15 He grew up like any other man. He lived in a fitting way and granted each stage of development its due. He used all kinds of food. He was thirty years old, more or less, when John appeared, who heralded his advent and went before him on the way of baptism.
When Jesus came to the Jordan where John was baptizing and stepped down into the water, fire blazed up in the Jordan; and when he came out of the water, the Holy Spirit lighted on him like a dove, as the apostles of this our Christ have written. We know that he did not go to the river because he needed either the baptism or the Spirit coming down upon him in the shape of a dove. Nor did he want to be born and to die on the cross for his own sake. On the contrary, his only concern was the human race, which from the time of Adam had fallen prey to death and to the deceit of the Serpent, every person having burdened himself with guilt and sin.
2 3 7
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
Then Jesus came to the Jordan. He was known as the son of Joseph the carpenter and was without comeliness as the Scriptures foretold. He was also regarded as a carpenter; for when he was among men he made the things a carpenter makes, plows and yokes, in order to teach the symbols of justice and of an active working life.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 88.2–4,8.
16 His sayings were brief and to the point, for he was no Sophist, but his word was the power of God. Justin, First Apology 14.
17 He has the power to drive away every importunate, evil angel and to stop him from taking possession of our souls… Therefore God teaches us through his son to fight to the utmost for justice and, when we come toward the close of life, to pray that our souls may not fall into the hands of any of these evil powers.
Jesus knew what the words of the Psalm revealed: His father would grant all his requests and would raise him from the dead. He urged all who fear God to praise him, for through the mystery of the crucified Jesus, God has compassion for all the believers of every race. He stood in the midst of his brothers the apostles and convinced them that he had warned them beforehand of the suffering he would have to endure and told them that this had been predicted by the prophets. Thus, after he had risen from the dead, the apostles were gripped with remorse that they had abandoned him when he was crucified. He praised God while he was with them, as the memoirs of the apostles also testify.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 105.3,5; 106.1.
18 We had lost it. By means of the tree it was made newly manifest to all, showing in itself the height, the length, the breadth, and the depth as one of the witnesses who went before us said:
Through the extension of his hands he gathered together the two peoples to the one God. There are two hands because there are two peoples scattered to the ends of the earth. And there is one head in the middle as there is but one God who is above all and through all and in us all.Irenaeus, Against Heresies V.17.4.
2 3 8
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
19 Hail, O cross! I have come to thee whom I know to be mine; I have come to thee because thou longest for me. I know thy mystery for the sake of which thou art set up. Thou art fastened to the world to make firm what is unstable. In one direction thou reachest up into heaven to witness to the Spirit above. In the other direction thou art spread out to the right and to the left that thou mayest put to flight the dreadful hostile power and draw the world into one. In a third direction thou art planted in the earth in order to join all that is on the earth and under the earth to the things that are in heaven.
O cross, tool of salvation of the most high! O cross, banner of Christ's victory over all enemies! O cross, planted upon the earth and bearing fruit in heaven! O name of the cross, that containest the universe!
Well done, O cross, that hast bound the whole circumference of the world! Well done, O shape full of clarity, that hast given shape to thine own unshapely outward appearance! Hail to the invisible chastisement with which thou strikest at the very nature of the many gods and drivest out from this humankind him who invented them! Well done, O cross, that hast cast off the ruler, brought home the robber, and called the apostle to repentance, and hast not thought it beneath thy dignity to accept us.
But how long am I speaking instead of letting myself be embraced by the cross in order that in the cross I may be awakened to life! Through the cross I go into the death common to all, and depart from life.
Acts of Andrew (Andrew's Death).
20 This cross of light is sometimes called Logos by me for your sakes; sometimes it is called reason, sometimes Jesus, sometimes Christ, sometimes door, sometimes way, sometimes bread, sometimes seed, sometimes resurrection, sometimes son, sometimes father, sometimes spirit, sometimes life, sometimes truth, sometimes faith, sometimes grace.
Know me, then, as the repose of the Word, the piercing of the Word, the blood of the Word, as the wounding of the Word, as the hanging of
2 3 9
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
the Word, as the suffering of the Word, as the nailing of the Word, as the death of the Word! Acts of John 98, 101.
21 The crucifixion is, as the prophet predicted, the greatest mystery of his power and rulership. This can be shown, too, by the things you can perceive. Consider all the things in this world and whether they could be used without this shape or held together without it.
The sea cannot be plowed unless this sign of victory, here holding the sail, remains unbroken. The land is not plowed without it. Diggers and artisans do no work without tools having this shape. And the human form differs from that of the irrational animals precisely in this, that he can stand erect with his arms spread out. The symbols you are in the habit of using display the force of this sign: I mean the standards and trophies you use in all your processions by which after all you brandish, though unconsciously, the insignia of his power and dominion.
Justin, First Apology 55.
22 The symbol of the scarlet cloth, too, showed the mystery of Christ's blood. The spies sent out by Jesus [Joshua], son of Nun, had given it to Rahab the harlot in Jericho, instructing her to tie it outside her window. Through this same window she lowered them to escape from their enemies. This symbol points to the blood of Christ by which people from every nation who were once servants of fornication and wrongdoing are freed, provided they have received forgiveness of sin and do not sin anymore.
We should grasp such passages of the Scriptures according to their symbolic meaning. Or shall we understand them in the foolish way your teachers do? Must we not see in the cross with the bronze serpent the same symbolic reference to Jesus, the crucified? Did not your people owe their victory to the fact that Moses stretched out his arms and that the name Jesus [Joshua] was given to the son of Nun?
If we see things in this light, we shall no longer be troubled by this story concerning the lawgiver. He did not turn away from God, as you
2 4 0
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
might think, urging the people to place their hope in the very Beast which caused sin and disobedience in the beginning. Rather, what the blessed prophet did and said at that time contains a wealth of wisdom and deep mystery.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 111.4; 112.2–3.
23 By this sign God has declared a mystery. By this he proclaims that he destroys the power of the Serpent which first caused Adam to sin; that he saves from the bites of the serpents, from the works of sin (that is, from idolatry and other wrongdoing); and that he frees all who believe in Jesus. For he wanted to go into death through the same sign, the cross.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 94.2.
24 The type or sign set up against the serpents, from whose bites Israel was suffering, was erected for the finding of salvation, the salvation of those who believe that at that time it was announced to the serpent that it would die through him who voluntarily went to his death. This sign concerns believing in the salvation of all who, poisoned by the serpent's bite, flee to him who sent his son into the world to be crucified. Not that the prophetic Spirit taught us through Moses to submit in faith to a serpent. On the contrary, he told us that the serpent was cursed by God from the beginning; and through Isaiah he indicated that the serpent would be slain as the Enemy by the great sword, that means by Christ.
Since the Word is truth, it is God's will that you should not always remain foolish and self-seeking. It is his will that you may be saved by becoming one with Christ. Him God loves. To him God bears witness. I have proved this by giving evidence from the holy words of the prophets.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 91.4; 92.5.
25 Elisha threw a stick into the Jordan to recover the iron axhead used by sons of the prophets to cut down trees. This was for building a house in which they were to read and study the law and the command-
2 4 1
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
ments of God. Through the very heavy sins we committed we too went down to the bottom and were redeemed by our Christ through his death on the cross and through the cleansing by water. In this way we were made a house of prayer and worship.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 86.6.
26 God reveals that the day will come when the demons, who already now dread God's name, will be annihilated through the crucified Jesus, to whose entire life those symbols pointed beforehand; that because of his working, all the powers and kingdoms will look at him with dread; and that the believers in Christ everywhere will be recognized as God-fearing people and bearers of peace.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 131.5.
27 If it had not been ordained for Christ to suffer and if the prophets had not foretold that he would be brought to death by the sins of the people, that he would be reviled, scourged, counted among the sinners, and led as a lamb to the slaughter, one would indeed be justified in feeling astonished. Seeing, however, that these things so clearly mark him out and reveal him to all the world, we had to surrender to him in firm belief. Anyone who knows the words of the prophets and who hears that Jesus was crucified will have to confess that he, and no other, is the Messiah. Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 89.3.
28 His heart trembled and his bones quaked. His heart melted like wax in his breast. We must recognize, then, that the Son in reality endured these great pains for our sake according to the Father's will, and we cannot maintain that, since he was the son of God, he did not feel what was done to him and inflicted upon him.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 103.8.
29 Christ, the firstborn of all Creation, became the beginning of a second race. This race he brought forth anew by water and faith and wood (the mystery of the cross) just as Noah and his household were
2 4 2
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
saved by wood when they rode over the waters. By water, faith, and wood, those who prepare themselves in good time and awake to repentance for their sins shall escape the impending judgment of God.
We know that of the two peoples who were blessed (the descendants of Shem and Japheth) the Semites conquered the habitations of Canaan first; and that afterwards, in accordance with the prophecies, the Japhethites seized what the Semites had conquered, the one people (the Canaanites) being given into servitude under the other two. Christ, however, has come in the power of the almighty Father to call people to friendship, blessing, change of heart, and life together as brothers in that time to come, when all the holy ones shall live in the land whose possession he promised them, as has been shown before. Hence people of every nation, whether slaves or free citizens, realize now that they shall live with Christ in that land and inherit everlasting, imperishable good if they believe in him and recognize the truth taught by him and his prophets.
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 138.2; 139.4–5.
30 He called Abraham and commanded him to go out from the country where he was living. With this call he has roused us all, and now we have left the state and the evil ways we shared with its inhabitants. We shall inherit the holy land together with Abraham, and we shall take possession of our inheritance for all eternity, for having believed like Abraham, we are his children. Just as Abraham believed the word of God, and this was counted to him as righteousness, in the same way do we believe the word of God, which, after being spoken to us first through the prophets, was proclaimed to us again through the apostles of Christ. Therefore we have renounced all the things the world offers, even unto death. Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 119.5 – 6.
31 Believe me, according to the teaching of Isaiah and the other prophets, at the second coming of Jesus no libations or sacrifices of blood will be offered on the altar but true praise in the Spirit, and thanksgiving! Justin, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 118.2.
2 4 3
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
32 Brothers! We must think of Jesus Christ as we do of God, as the judge of the living and the dead. We must not think little of our salvation.
For how many proofs of his bountiful love do we thank him! He gave us light. Like a father he has called us sons. He has saved us when we were lost. The air surrounding us made us weak; our eyes were full of darkness. And then we learned to see. We cast off the dark cloud which had enveloped us. That happened through his will, for he had mercy on us. He sorrowed for us. He saved us since he saw great error and ruin in us. He saw that we had no hope of salvation unless it came through him. He called us when we were not there. He willed us to come into being out of nothing.
Those who are lost must be saved. It is a great and wonderful thing to support, not what is standing, but what is collapsing. Thus it was the Messiah's will to save what was lost, and he saved many when he came and called us who were already lost. What then can we offer him in return as our thanks and recompense? Only this, that we confess him through whom we were saved! But how do we confess him? By doing what he says and not ignoring his commandments so that we honor him not only with our lips but rather with all our heart and soul.
So then, brothers, let us confess him with our actions by loving one another, by not committing adultery, not speaking evil of each other, and not being envious, and by being self-controlled, compassionate, and kind! We ought to suffer together the things which are hard to bear. It is our obligation not to love money. We want to confess him with such actions and not do the opposite.
Be aware, brothers, that the stay of our fleshly nature in this world-age has little significance. It is of short duration. But Christ's promise is great and wonderful. It brings the peace of the future kingdom and of eternal life. What then should we do to gain these things? We must lead a holy and upright life, regarding things of the present age as alien. We must not covet them, for in desiring to possess them we fall from the right path.
2 4 4
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
The world to come and this world-age face one another as enemies. This age spreads abroad adultery and corruption, avarice and deceit, while the world-age to come renounces all these things. We cannot be friends of both. We must give up the present age and keep to the age to come. Therefore, as long as we are in this world-age, let us repent with our whole heart for the wicked things we have done in the flesh so that we may be saved by the Lord while there is still time to turn around.
In what state were you saved, in what state did you learn to see? It happened in this life of the flesh. Therefore it is the flesh which we must guard as God's temple, for just as you were called in the flesh, you will reach the goal in the flesh. If Christ the Lord, who saved us and who at first was pure Spirit, became flesh and called us when he was in that state, we also shall receive our reward in this very flesh.
Let us therefore love one another so that we may all enter the kingdom of God. Let us expect the kingdom of God from hour to hour in love and justice! Indeed we do not know the day when God will appear. When someone asked the Lord when his kingdom would come, he only said, "When that which is now two shall become one, the outside like the inside, and the male with the female shall be neither male nor female!"
Now, "two shall become one" means the time when we tell one another the truth, the time in which two bodies are one soul without deception. That "the outside" shall be "like the inside" shows us this: the inside means the soul, the outside means the body. Just as your body is clearly visible, so your soul shall be manifest in the good deeds you carry out with your body. "The male together with the female shall be neither male nor female" means that a brother when seeing a sister does not think of the woman in her, just as on the other hand the sister does not think of him as a man. He says therefore: When you act like this and are like this, my father's kingdom will come.
When the heathen hear the words of God from our lips, they marvel at them as something beautiful and great. However, when they find out that our deeds are unworthy of the words we speak, they turn from this to blasphemy. They say it is a myth and a delusion. If we do the will of
2 4 5
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
God our father, we shall belong to the first church, the one of the Spirit, who was created before the sun and the moon. But if we do not do the Lord's will, we shall be like those of whom the Scripture says, "My house is become a den of thieves." Let us choose, then, to be a part of the church of life so that we shall be saved.
I believe that you are not unaware that the living church is the Body of Christ, for the Scripture says that God made male and female – the male is Christ, the female is the church. To this belong the books of the prophets and the apostles, and so the church is not merely of today but existed from the beginning, for she was present in the Spirit just as our Jesus was. But he was revealed in the last days to save us.
The church, being present in the Spirit, was made manifest in the flesh of Christ. She shows us through him that each one among us who guards her and does not corrupt her in the flesh shall receive her in the Holy Spirit, for this flesh is the counterpart of the Spirit. No one, therefore, who destroys the counterpart can receive the original. This is what it means then: Brothers, guard the flesh so that you may receive the Spirit! If we say that the flesh is the church and that the Spirit is Christ, then he who dishonors the flesh dishonors the church. Whoever acts like this will not be able to receive the Spirit who is the Christ. If we renounce the pleasures of the flesh and master our soul by not yielding to its evil lusts, we shall gain the mercy of Jesus.
Realize that the day of judgment is at hand like a blazing furnace. Heaven upon heaven shall dissolve. The whole earth shall be like lead melting in the fire, and then the secret and the open deeds of people shall appear as they are. For the Lord says, "I am coming to gather all nations, tribes, and tongues." This refers to the day of his appearing when he will come and redeem us, each according to his works. Even the unbelievers shall see his glory and might. They will be dismayed when they see the rulership of the world in the hands of Jesus. Let us have faith, then, brothers and sisters! We are standing the test of the living God and training ourselves in the present life so that we shall be crowned by the life to come.
Second Letter of Clement, one of the oldest church sermons, about A.D. 150.
2 4 6
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
33 From The Shepherd
People who think out evil in their hearts bring death and captivity upon themselves, especially those who seize upon this present world for themselves and boast of their wealth and do not turn their will toward the good things that are to come. The Lord is near to those who turn to him, as is written in the book of Eldad and Medad, who prophesied to the people in the desert. Because the church was created before all other things, she is old. It was for her sake that the world was formed.
The stones that are white and round and do not fit into the building are the people who have faith but at the same time possess the riches of this world. When the suffering of persecution comes upon them, they deny their Lord because of their wealth and their business affairs. Once their wealth which entices their souls is cut off from them on all sides, they will be useful to God. Just as a round stone cannot be squared and made useful for the building unless it is hewn and thus loses one part of itself after another, so also the wealthy in this world-age cannot be used by the Lord unless their wealth is cut off from them on all sides. Learn this first from your own life's experience: when you were rich you were useless, but now you are useful, now you can be accepted into life. Be useful to God, all of you! For you yourself will also be taken from these very stones.
Do you not see that the tower is still being built? Only when the construction of the tower is finished will the end come. But it will be built up quickly. Let this reminder and this renewal of your spirits be sufficient for you and for the saints.
Listen to me now: Stand together in peace! Look after one another! Be concerned each for the other! Do not use for yourselves alone what God has created, but share it with the poor! By eating too much, some are bringing sickness upon their bodies and ruining them, while the bodies of others who have nothing to eat are ruined by lack of food. Their bodies are wasting away. High living is harmful to you who are well off and do not share with the poor. Think of the coming judgment! You who are privileged, seek out those who are going hungry while the
2 4 7
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
tower is still incomplete. Once the tower is finished you will wish to do good, but you will not have an opportunity anymore. You who enjoy your wealth, take care that the poor do not groan lest their groaning go up to the Lord and you be shut outside the door of the tower with all your riches.
Why did the figure appear to you in the first vision as an old woman sitting in a chair? Because you had become old in spirit and were already dying and had no strength anymore. Your soft living and your doubts had brought you to this point. You became enervated by the affairs of daily life and fell into lethargy just like old men who, once they have given up all hope of regaining strength, expect nothing but to fall asleep.
But all who have repented will be quite new again. They will be firmly founded once they have repented with all their hearts. As I prayed at home and sat on my bed, a man of splendid appearance came in. He was dressed like a shepherd. He wore a white goatskin about his shoulders and had a satchel on his back and a staff in his hand. The following is what the shepherd, who is the angel of repentance, commanded me to write down.
First Command: Above all, believe that God is one, he who created all things, who set them in order, and who brought all things from nonexistence into existence; he contains all things who alone is uncon-
tainable. Therefore put your trust in him and fear him, and in fearing him exercise self-control.
Second Command: Do good, and with a simple heart share the fruits of your labor which God gives to you with all those who are poor, not wondering to whom you should give and to whom you should not give. Give to all, for God wishes that you give to all from his gifts to you.
Third Command: Love truth. Let your mouth speak nothing but the truth, for the Lord is truthful in every word. In him there is no falsehood. Liars wound the Lord. They become thieves who steal from the Lord be-
2 4 8
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
cause they do not return to him the gift in the same way as they received it, for they received a spirit from him that does not lie.
Never in my life have I spoken a true word, but I have always talked deceitfully with everybody, and I even twisted my lies in such a way that to everyone they appeared to be true.
Fourth Command: I command that he who has sinned must sin no more. For his former sins there is one who can give healing because he is the one who has all things in his power. I am in charge of repentance, and to all who repent I give discernment. To repent is great discernment.
Fifth Command: If you are patient, the Holy Spirit who lives in you will remain pure. Then the shadow of a hostile, evil spirit will not darken Him, but, dwelling in a wide, open room, he will rejoice and be glad…But when a spirit of anger tries to push itself in as well, the Holy Spirit, who is so tender, straight away feels constricted. The Lord dwells in patience, but the Devil dwells in anger. When such spirits dwell in one and the same vessel with the Holy Spirit, that vessel can never contain them all. It overflows as it were. For the tender spirit is not accustomed to live together with an evil spirit or with harshness. He departs from such a person and seeks to dwell in a place where gentleness, patience, and quiet are at home.
Sixth Command: The angel of righteousness is tender and chaste, gentle and calm. When he stirs in your heart, he straight away speaks with you about justice, purity, holiness, and self-control and about all just deeds and every glorious virtue. Whenever these impulses stir your heart, know that the angel of righteousness is with you. When anger flares up in you, however, or when a mood of bitterness overcomes you, know that the angel of wickedness is in you. And furthermore, when the urge for much bustle and for the stimuli provided by many kinds of food and drink arises in your heart, when intoxication and plenty of amusements, when desire for women, passion for money, and the power of arrogance and ostentation, or when anything like them or akin to them arises in your heart, know then that the angel of wickedness is in you.
2 4 9
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
Seventh Command: If you fear the Lord you will master the Devil, for he does not have any power. One who has no power need not be feared. He who has glorious power must be feared. Therefore fear the Lord and you will live for him.
Eighth Command: Adultery and sexual promiscuity, much drinking, wicked sumptuousness, much eating, opulence, boastfulness, pride and arrogance, lying, slander and hypocrisy, vindictiveness and abusive language – all these actions are the most wicked of all in the life of men. From all these actions the servant of God must abstain.
Listen now to the actions that are good, for which you must fight and which you must not lack: most of all faith, fear of the Lord, love, unity, words of justice, truthfulness, and patience. There is nothing in men's lives which is better than these.
Now hear what follows from these things: rendering service to widows, visiting orphans and the poor, giving them active help, delivering God's servants from every distress, being hospitable…resisting no one, being calm, becoming poorer than all other men, honoring the aged, practicing justice, observing brotherly love, putting up with abuse, being patient, not bearing any grudges, giving comfort, not letting those who are gravely tempted despair of their faith but helping them to turn around and encouraging them to be joyful and trusting, reproving sinners, not oppressing debtors and needy people, and doing whatever other actions are like these.
Ninth Command: Tear doubt out of your heart! Never allow doubt to hinder you from praying to God by perchance thinking to yourself, "How can I ask anything from the Lord, how can I receive anything from him since I have sinned so much against him?" Never think like this! Instead, turn to the Lord with your whole heart. Pray to him without wavering and you will come to know his great mercy. He will never desert you. He will fulfill your heart's request because God is not like men, who harbor grudges. No, he does not remember evil, and he has compassion for what he has made.
2 5 0
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
Tenth Command: Man, you have no insight if you do not grasp that sadness is the most wicked of all the spirits and very terrible for the servants of God. Sadness ruins a person more than all the other spirits combined. It drives the Holy Spirit from him. Certainly, on the other hand, it also saves.
Whenever a doubting person starts out to do something and he fails in it because of his doubt, sadness enters into the man. It grieves the Holy Spirit and pushes him out. These two things then grieve the Spirit: doubt because he did not succeed in his undertaking and the angry temper on the other hand grieves the Spirit because he did evil. God's spirit, which was given into this flesh of yours, cannot endure either sadness or confinement. A gloomy person always does evil. The prayer of a dejected person never has the strength to ascend to God's altar. So cleanse yourself of all this wicked gloom, and you will live for God.
Eleventh Command: Whoever consults a false prophet on any matter is an idolater. Such a person is completely lacking in truth; he is foolish. No spirit given by God waits to be consulted. Having the power of divinity, it speaks all things of itself because it is from above, from the power of the divine spirit. But the spirit that waits to be consulted and speaks upon a human request is earthly and shallow. It has no power. And unless it is asked it has nothing to say.
Therefore test the true and the false prophet. By his life test the per-
son who has the divine spirit. In the first place, the person who has the Spirit from above is filled with gentleness, patience, and calm. He knows himself to be small and abstains from all wickedness and from the vain desires of this world-age. He makes himself poorer than all other men. He makes no reply whatever to anyone who consults him. He does not speak in secret. Nor does the Holy Spirit ever speak when man wants to speak, but only when God wants him to speak.
The man who only imagines that he has the Spirit exalts himself. He wants to have the place of honor, and he straight away becomes impudent, shameless, and talkative, given to excessive eating and drinking,
2 5 1
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
and well versed in all kinds of trickery. He accepts payment for his prophesying, and if he does not get it he does not prophesy. It is impossible for a prophet of God to act like this. For your part, then, trust the Spirit who comes from God and has power, but do not believe the earthly, empty spirit at all, for it has no power because it comes from the Devil. Listen now to the parable I am going to tell you. Take a stone and throw it up to heaven; see whether you can hit the firmament with it! Or again, squirt water up to heaven; see whether you can make a hole in the firmament.
Just as this is impossible, so are the earthly spirits impotent and weak. In the same way, the divine spirit who comes down from above is mighty. Therefore trust this spirit, but keep away from the other one!
Twelfth Command: Hear then by which acts evil desire destroys the servants of God! What stands out more than anything is the desire for someone else's wife or husband, for extravagant wealth, excessive eating and drinking, and for all other foolish luxuries. All excess is foolish and futile for the servants of God. When evil desire finds you armed with the fear of God and determined to resist, it will flee far away from you and you will never see it again, for it fears your weapons.
Cannot man master these commands – man who is master over all creatures and has been given dominion over all things? Yes, that person who has the Lord in his heart is able to master all things and all these
commands. Those, however, who have the Lord merely on their lips while their hearts are hardened and who are far from the Lord find these commands hard and impossible to fulfill.
So you who are empty and fickle in faith, let the Lord enter into your hearts! Then you will know that nothing is easier than these commands, nothing sweeter, nothing kindlier! Turn around, you who live under the commands of the Devil. Though the Devil can wrestle with God's servants, he cannot throw them. If you resist him, he will be beaten back and will flee from you in disgrace. Empty jars sour quickly, and so their contents no longer taste good. All who are filled with faith stoutly resist
2 5 2
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
the Devil, and he goes away from them because he can find no place to break in. Then he goes to the people who are empty. There he finds room. He forces his way in to them and does in them as he pleases. And they become his slaves.
But I, the angel of repentance, say to you, be not afraid of the Devil! I was sent to be with you who repent with all your hearts. I was sent to strengthen you in your faith. Believe in God, you who because of your sins have despaired of your life, adding new sins to the old and weighing down your lives! Believe in God. Believe that the Lord will heal you of your former sins if you turn toward him wholeheartedly and do good in the remaining days of your lives, serving him rightly in accordance with his will. Believe that strength will be given you to overcome the works of the Devil.
Hear the parables which the shepherd, who is the angel of repentance, told me:
First Parable: You know that you who are God's servants are living in a foreign country, for your own city-state is far away from this City-state. Knowing, then, which one is to be your own City-state, he continued, why do you acquire fields, costly furnishings, buildings, and frail dwellings here? Anyone who acquires these things for himself in this city cannot expect to find the way home to his own City.
Foolish, double-minded, wretched man: Do you not realize that all
these things here do not belong to you, that they are under a power alien to your nature? The ruler of this city-state here will say, "I do not want you to live in my city! No! Get out of this city, for you do not observe my laws!" Now you own fields, buildings, and many other possessions, and you are driven out by the overlord! What are you going to do now with your fields, your houses, and all the other things you have amassed? Quite rightly the ruler will tell you, "Either observe my laws or get out of my country!"
What are you going to do now? In your own City you have a clearly defined law. Will you, for the sake of your fields and the rest of your pos-
2 5 3
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
sessions, altogether renounce your own laws and actually live in accordance with the laws of this city-state? Take care lest it prove fatal to you to repudiate your own laws, for if you wish to come home to your own City, you will not be received there because you have denied the laws of your own City-state. You will be expelled. You should realize, then, that you live in a foreign country. Acquire no more here than what is absolutely necessary, the bare necessities of life. Be ready at any time so that, whenever the ruler of this city wishes to expel you because you disobey his laws, you can leave his city and move to your own City to live there in accordance with your own laws, in great joy, without having to suffer torture! Instead of fields, buy for yourselves people in distress in accordance with your means. It is far, far better to buy this kind of field, property, or building, which is quite different and which you can find again in your own City when you come home. This "extravagance" is beautiful and holy; it brings no grief and no fear; it brings nothing but joy. Do not practice the extravagance of the pagans, for it is damaging to you who are the servants of God.
Third Parable: The present world epoch is wintertime for the righteous. Just as in winter all the trees are alike and, once they have shed their leaves, it is not easy to tell which trees are dead and which are still alive; in the same way in this world-age, it will not be easy to tell the righteous from the evildoers. They all look alike. Those budding trees are the righteous who shall live in the future world-age. The future age will be summertime for the righteous; but certainly for the evildoers it will be winter. Just as in summer the fruits of each individual tree appear, and one can tell to which species it belongs, in the same way the fruits of the righteous will appear. They will all be visible when they blossom and ripen in the world to come…
Fifth Parable: My servant carried out the command I gave him to fence the vineyard and did a great deal more to my vineyard besides: he dug it up and weeded it. In the same way on the day when you are fasting,
2 5 4
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
take nothing but bread and water, and calculate according to the value of what you otherwise would have eaten, the sum you would have spent on it each day. Give it to a widow, an orphan, or a poor person. Never let the thought arise in your heart that this flesh of yours is perishable and that you could abuse and defile it on that account! If you defile your flesh, you also defile the Holy Spirit; and if you defile the Spirit, you will not attain life. For the two belong together, and the one cannot be defiled without defiling the other. Keep them both pure, then, and you will live for God!
Eighth Parable: he showed me a great willow that overshadowed valleys and mountains. All who are called by the name of the Lord gathered under the shelter of this willow. A radiant angel of the Lord, of tremendous height, stood beside the willow. With a great sickle he cut branches from it and gave them to the people who stood in the shade of the willow. He gave them little sticks from the branches.
This great tree that casts its shade over valleys and mountains and over the whole earth is the law of God, which is given to the whole world. Indeed, this law is the son of God, who is proclaimed to the ends of the earth. The people standing in the shade are those who came to believe in him through hearing the proclamation. The tall and radiant angel is Michael, who has authority over this people and who guides them, for it is he who put the law into the hearts of the believers, and now he tests those to whom he gave it, to see whether they have kept it well.
Now you see many sticks that are useless. The people whose sticks were found withered and worm-eaten are the apostates and traitors to the church who heaped shame upon the Lord by their sins. They were ashamed of the name that was called down upon them, which is the name of the Lord. These people are utterly lost to God. You will see that not one of them has repented although they heard the words you spoke to them as I commanded you to do. From such people life has departed. All those who do not repent have lost their lives. Those among them who did repent became good and were given their places within the
2 5 5
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
outer walls; some even were allowed to go up into the tower. You see, then, that repentance holds life for the sinner. Unwillingness to repent spells death.
Those who gave up their sticks green but full of cracks are the people who were always faithful and good but jealously vied with each other for first places, honors, and privileges. However, they quickly repented and were given their dwellings in the tower. But if anyone should turn to such dissension again, he will be removed from the tower. He will lose his life. Life is given to all people who keep the Lord's commandments. His commandments say nothing about "first" places, honors, or privileges; instead, they speak of patience and of the readiness to be small.
The people who returned their sticks half green and half withered are those who are absorbed in their own business affairs and consequently do not hold to the saints. That is why they are half alive and half dead. Many of them did repent when they heard my commands, and all who have repented are given a place in the tower. Only a few of them fell away completely; there is no repentance in them. Go and tell all people to repent so that they can live for God, for the Lord has sent me to them in his compassion and in his will to give repentance to all.
Ninth Parable: I want to show you all the things the Holy Spirit showed you, who spoke to you in the form of the church; for that Spirit is the son of God. He showed me in the middle of the plain a great white rock rising from the plain, higher than the mountains, square like a cube, and of such immense size that it could contain the whole world. The rock was ancient. A gateway was cut into it. The gateway seemed to me to be new. The gateway beamed more brightly than the sun. I marveled at the brilliance of the gateway. Around the gateway stood twelve maidens. I saw that six men had arrived, tall and splendidly built and of like appearance. They called many more men to come, and they came – tall, handsome, strong men.
And the first six men ordered them to build a tower upon the rock above the gateway:
2 5 6
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
You are not to deliver any stones directly for the building. Put them down by the tower. The maidens are to carry them through the gateway and hand them over for the building. Unless they are carried through the gateway by the hands of these virgins, they cannot change their colors as is necessary. The tower cannot be completed until its master comes and inspects this building, for the tower is being built according to his will.
After a little while I saw a great body of men approaching. In their midst was a man of such tremendous stature that he rose above the tower. The six men who had been in charge of the building walked at his right and at his left, and all who had worked on the building were with him, and many other splendid figures were surrounding him. The virgins who guarded the tower ran up to him and kissed him and began to walk at his side around the tower. He inspected the building thoroughly, so thoroughly that he touched each individual stone. He held a rod in his hand with which he struck each of the stones that was built into the tower.
When the wonderful man who was the master of the whole tower had completed this task, he called the shepherd to him and handed over to him all the stones lying beside the tower which had been thrown out from the building, and he said, "Clean all these stones carefully and use them in the construction of the tower as far as they will fit in with the others. Those that will not fit throw away, far away from the tower!"
Now when the shepherd saw that the tower was splendidly built, he rejoiced greatly. So beautifully was the tower built that when I saw it I was filled with a longing to dwell in it. There was not a single joint in it. It looked as though it had been chiseled out of the rock. There it stood, as if of one single stone.
Now I was alone with the maidens. They were joyful and friendly to me, especially the four most glorious among them.
The maidens said to me, "The shepherd is not coming here anymore today. You were entrusted to us, and you may not leave us!"
"Where am I to stay then?" I asked. "You shall sleep with us," they said, "as a brother and not as a husband, for you are our brother and from now on we want to live with you, for we love you very much!"
2 5 7
T H E E A R L Y C H R I S T I A N S - P R O C L A M A T I O N A N D T H E P R O P H E T I C S P I R I T
But I hesitated to stay with them. The one who evidently was leader among them began to kiss and embrace me. When the others saw her embracing me, they too began to kiss me and lead me around the tower and rejoice with me. Some were pacing in a circle, others were swinging in dance, and again others were singing. Silently I walked with them around the tower, and I rejoiced with them. But when it became late, I wanted to go home. However, they did not let me go, and held me back. So I stayed with them that night and slept beside the tower. The virgins spread their linen tunics on the ground and made me lie down in their midst. They did nothing at all but pray. I prayed unceasingly with them and not less than they. The virgins were glad to see me praying like that. I stayed there with them until the morning, till the second hour.
The rock and the gateway are the son of God. The rock is old, the gateway is new! The son of God came into being before the whole creation; therefore he was his father's counselor at the creation. Yet because he was made manifest in the last days at the end of time, therefore the gateway is newly broken in, so that those who are saved may enter through it into God's kingdom. No one can enter the kingdom of God except through the name of his son, beloved by him. All the glorious angels surround the Lord like a wall. The gateway is the son of God; he is the only entrance to the Lord. No one shall enter into him except through his son. Also the glorious man [the master of the tower] is the son of God, and the other six are the radiant angels surrounding him on his right and on his left. The tower that is being built is the church.