The Teachers of the Church

The Teachers of the Church

 

 

* To avoid the persecution of the Roman authorities, caused by their misunderstanding of Christianity, to protect the sound Christian teachings from the various Christian heresies, many apologists wrote apologetic writings. These writings had became an important sources for the Christian doctrines.

 

 

* All the writings of the so-called apostolic fathers deal with a single issue, and none of them seeks to expound the totality of Christian doctrine. The same is true of the apologists who wrote in the second half of the second century.

 

# General View regarding Apostolic Fathers and their thoughts

1) Variety: Beginning of certain schools or theological tendencies: Asia; Alexandria, and Rome

2) In Asian Minor: More Johanine; Emphasizes on mystic union with Christ (Ignatius of Antioch)

3) In Rome: Emphasizes on practical and ethical moralism (Clement of Rome)

4) In Alexandria: Allegorical interpretation (The Epistles of Barnabas)

5) Uniformity among Diversity: Christological frames: Preexistence; Divinity and Humanity

 

 

 

# General View regarding the early apologists in the second century

(Aristides, Justin Martyr, Taitan, Athenagoras, Theophilus of Antioch, Hermias, Melito of Sardis)

1) Various efforts of Christian thinkers to interpret the relationship between Christianity and the surrounding culture. (Dialogue between faith and culture)

2) To depend their faith to the pagans, they systemized Christian theology.

3) However, these efforts later be the cause of serious theological controversies.

4) In general, the apologists looked upon Christianity as a doctrine, be it moral or philosophical. Christ is above all the teacher of new morality or of the true philosophy.

5) The apologist contributed to the progressive Hellenization of Christianity.

 

 

* Most of their writings deal with the issue of persecution. But towards the end of the second century the challenge of Marcion and the Gnostics required a different response. The heretics had created their own system of doctrine, and to this the church at large had to respond by having some of it teachers offer equally cogent expositions of orthodox belief. This gave rise to the first writings in which one can find a fairy complete exposition of Christian truth. These are the works of Irenius of Lyons, Tertullian of Carthage, Clement and Origen of Alexandria. (67-68)