Crazy Theology: What the early church fathers believed

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Crazy Theology: What the early church fathers believed

March 14, 2014

TL;DR version: Some of the most important early church fathers who first articulated core Christian doctrines also believed in things you think are “heresy.” If you want to call people “heretic” for views that differ from yours, you will cut off the branch you are sitting on.

What most Christians don't know

What is the most important thing that the average Christian (as a generalization) has very little knowledge about? History. I can say this without being condescending because I myself was in that category for most of my life. I remember about five years ago, before taking my first course on the History of Christianity, I knew virtually nothing about the early church. In my head, I literally had a picture of the Apostles (and of course they were very similar to me and my church, or so I imagined) and then I saw a hazy fog for the next few years… right up until the advent of contemporary Christianity. The first 1,500 years of Christian history were completely absent from my brain. Today I know people who are ignorant of the first 1900 years of Christian history. And what’s even more frightening is that I didn’t even think to question this gap.

In the past few years, thanks to numerous books, courses, lectures, I am learning so much that I did not know, and realizing how ignorant I was. One thing that has profoundly shocked me is how much modern Evangelical Christianity portrays Christian doctrine as a firm, monolithic, unchanging list of truths. Any deviation from this list is seen as immoral and unethical. Yet, the astounding variety of views held by some of the most important early Christians are completely against such a position. Consider the interesting theological doctrines held by the following patriarchs, men who literally defined what Christianity means.

Ask yourself one question, if you met a person who believed such things today, would you consider them orthodox? Would you let them preach in your church? My guess is that you would quickly reject them. Yet, these men clarified and first penned words and phrases that became widely accepted doctrinal confessions. Behold the great irony, contemporary Christians often present Christianity in such a way that the most important early Church leaders and theologians are excluded.

The Heretics who defined Orthodoxy

This list is a tiny foray into a vast expanse of important people and ideas. There are more early church fathers I would love to include, but the amount of time and space this would require is far too immense. Also, even amongst the patriarchs I do include, we only have the time and patience for a small sampling of strange (to us) theological views. This list not exhaustive, it is a tiny page in a vast book of Christian history which is obscure to most Christians.

Justin Martyr (100-165 CE)

Justin is canonized as a saint who died as a martyr for the Christian faith. He was a prolific apologist (defender of Christianity) and is considered the foremost early interpreter of the theory of the Logos. This means that our current theology and understanding of what the Word/Logos in John 1:1 means is developed from Martyrs thoughts and writings. In all things Justin Martyr was a very influential and exemplary Christian that was beloved and well received by the Christians of the Early Church. You could probably compare Justin to someone like C.S. Lewis today, he was widely read and quoted. (1, 2, 3)
  • Greek philosophy is like the Old Testament: “The seeds of Christianity (manifestations of the Logos acting in history) actually predated Christ's incarnate existence. This notion allowed him to claim many historical Greek philosophers (including Socrates and Plato, in whose works he was well studied, as unknowing Christians.” (4) Justin was not alone in this, another prominent Church Father, Clement of Alexandria (150-215CE), said "it is clear, therefore, that to the Jews was given the law, and to the Greeks philosophy, until the appearance of our Lord... philosophy was necessary to the Greeks as a means of righteousness; now it is useful in the service of piety as a sort of preparation for demonstrating the faith." (5)
  • Forgiveness can only be had with fasting: “As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them.”  (6)
  • Satan only sinned after Jesus came to earth. Irenaeus (another early church father) wrote: “Truly has Justin remarked: That before the Lord's appearance Satan never dared to blaspheme God, inasmuch as he did not yet know his own sentence, because it was contained in parables and allegories; but that after the Lord's appearance, when he had clearly ascertained from the words of Christ and His apostles that eternal fire has been prepared for him as he apostatized from God of his own free-will,” (7)
  • Conditional immortality (the soul is not in itself eternal) and likely annihilationism (that souls die and cease to be, forever). “But I do not say, indeed, that all souls die; for that were truly a piece of good fortune to the evil. What then? The souls of the pious remain in a better place, while those of the unjust and wicked are in a worse, waiting for the time of judgment. Thus some which have appeared worthy of God never die; but others are punished so long as God wills them to exist and to be punished (7)

Tertullian (160-225 CE)

Tertullian was a Christian apologist who is known as “the greatest theologian of the West until Augustine” who was “the first to use the term Trinitas (trinity) to describe the Godhead.” (8) While others had developed the idea of the Trinity before (a few of these theologians will be listed later) it was Tertullian who first wrote down the term that is today considered one of the most essential and sacred words of the Christian faith.
  • Accepted the book of Enoch as Holy Scripture. (9) For reference, “the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angels who fathered the Nephilim (giant magical beings in Noah’s day). The remainder of the book describes Enoch's visits to heaven in the form of travels, visions and dreams, and his revelations.” (10)
  • Forgiveness is almost impossible. As historian Eric Osborn says “After baptism there can be only one further forgiveness and this must follow severe penance.. Tertullian never admitted the possibility that God might pardon freely” (11)
  • Promoted many anti sex arguments (even sex within marriage), asking “I cannot help asking, whether we do not, in that very heat of extreme gratification when the generative fluid is ejected, feel that somewhat of our soul has gone from us?” (12)
  • The beauty of women is evil, and jewelry/clothes were made by demons. Tertulian wrote that “the angels who fell from heaven invented jewelry and for this they were condemned to death.” And “The beauty of women was so great it turned the angels away from God. Once they were contaminated they could not go to heaven… from their seed giants are supposed to have been born, and it was they who taught people… how to dye wool.” (13)
  • Misogynistic view of women, said “"Do you not know that you are Eve? The judgment of God upon this sex lives on in this age; therefore, necessarily the guilt should live on also. You are the gateway of the devil; you are the one who unseals the curse of that tree, and you are the first one to turn your back on the divine law; you are the one who persuaded him whom the devil was not capable of corrupting; you easily destroyed the image of God, Adam. Because of what you deserve, that is, death, even the Son of God had to die." (14)

Origen of Alexandria (185-254 CE)

Origen, born a little over 80 years after the death of Apostle John, was “the Church’s first true theologian and Bible scholar.” (15, 16) He translated scriptures, conducted textual studies, wrote 6,000 scrolls of commentaries and sermons, was the father of Christological typology (17), and his studies were later used to decide which books were canonical (in the Bible or not). (18) He was read and accepted by everyone in the early church, local Bishops would even call him in to publicly defend Christianity against the heretics. (19) Modern theologians admit that “forever is the Church indebted to Origen.” (20)
  • The Bible contains three layers of meaning. “Origen spoke of a threefold sense of scripture: body, soul, and spirit. The bodily sense supposedly involved the literal, the outward, the external events. The soul sense dealt with all of man’s personal relationship and experiences with his fellow men. The spiritual sense concerned mans relationship to God and Gods relationship to himself, his world, and especially to mankind.“ (21)
  • Rigid asceticism, even possible self-castration. “Origen, during his time as an instructor, lived the life of a devoted ascetic, sleeping little and eating meager meals.” (22) There are some reports of him actually castrating himself, in obedience to the command of Jesus in Matthew 5:29-30, however, this may have been a false accusation promulgated by his enemies.
  • Universalism (everyone gets saved though Jesus in the end) it is well agreed that Origen was a prominent believer in the universal reconciliation of all creatures to God and spoke of all souls being “restored” unto God. (23) He hypothesized that even satan might join “after having undergone heavier and severer punishments…improved by this stern method of training, and [are] restored…and thus advancing through each stage to a better condition, reach even to that which is invisible and eternal” (24)

Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390 CE)

Gregory of Nazianzus was an Archbisop, and a widely influential theologian, who made “a significant impact on the shape of Trinitarian theology.” (25) For a short time until his resignation, he presided over the First Council of Constantinople, where the Nicene Creed (faith statement) was written and formulated. (26, 27) The Nicene Creed is one of the earliest, by far the most important, and the most universally accepted Christian creed; it is literally the most well known “standard of Christianity.”
  • Universal reconciliation, or the idea that ultimately all of creation will be reconciled with the Father. This would mean that, hell, should it exist is only a preparatory place that purges men of their sins, culminating in the salvation of all. (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33) He wrote that “a few drops of blood renew the whole world, and become for all men that which rennet is for milk, uniting and drawing us into one.” (34)

Gregory of Nyssa (335 - 395 CE)

Gregory who is venerated as a saint, was brother to St. Basil, and a bishop of Nyssa who made significant contributions to the doctrine of the Trinity. (35) He was also involved in the formation and defense the Nicene Creed, the most universal standard of Christianity. (36) Not only that, but there is a tradition that he “added the clauses to the Nicene creed that are in italics” (37) while others wrote this passed down tradition isn’t necessarily true. (38) Nonetheless Gregory was vastly influential in the formation of traditional Christian doctrine, whether or not he was, as theologian Robin Parry calls him: the “final editor” of the Nicene Creed. (39)
  • Universal reconciliation, or the idea that ultimately all of creation will be reconciled with the Father. This would mean that, hell, should it exist is only a preparatory place that purges men of their sins, culminating in the salvation of all. He wrote “For it is evident that God will in truth be ‘in all’ when there shall be no evil in existence, when every created being is at harmony with itself, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; when every creature shall have been made one body. Now the body of Christ, as I have often said, is the whole of humanity.” (40)

Augustine of Hippo (354-430CE)

a bishop and a saint, hardly needs an introduction. His books, including The Confessions of Augustine and the City of God, still remains today, as some of the most read and esteemed Christian books in history, besides the Bible. Many Evangelicals and Conservative Protestants often consider Augustine to be the most important theologian that has ever lived. (41, 42, 43, 44, 45) Augustine’s thought was very influential on the church as a whole, in addition to sparking the doctrine of Calvinism, original sin, just war, and many others.
  • Some parts of the Bible are to be hidden. Believed we should hide difficult texts, or that all Scriptures are not for everyone. Said “for there are some passages which are not understood in their proper force, or are understood with great difficulty… these should never be brought before the people at all, or only on rare occasions when there is some urgent reason.” (St. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine Translated By Rev. Prof. J. F. Shaw, 46)
  • The “Apocrypha” is  canonical Scripture. “The whole canon of the Scriptures, however, in which we say that consideration is to be applied, is contained in these books…” [list of “Old Testament” books prior to the Prophets], “and Judith and the two books of Maccabees, and the two of Esdras” [list Prophets and a few more Apocryphal books in between them] (47)
  • Baptismal regeneration. The physical act of baptism caused one to be cleansed from (original) sin. “Baptism washes away all, absolutely all, our sins, whether of deed, word, or thought, whether sins original or added, whether knowingly or unknowingly contracted” If anyone wonders why children born of the baptized should themselves be baptized, let him attend briefly to this. . . . The sacrament of baptism is most assuredly the sacrament of regeneration. The sacrament of baptism is undoubtedly the sacrament of regeneration.” “"There are three ways in which sins are forgiven: in baptism, in prayer, and in the greater humility of penance; yet God does not forgive sins except to the baptized” (48)
  • Infants should be baptized for salvation. Said: “baptizing infants is certainly not to be scorned, nor is it to be regarded in any way as superfluous, nor is it to be believed that its tradition is anything except apostolic (49)
  • Infants who are not baptized, automatically go to hell, though will suffer the least (A doctrine called Limbo, 50). Augustine said: “such infants as quit the body [die] without being baptized will be involved in the mildest condemnation of all. That person, therefore, greatly deceives both himself and others, who teaches that they will not be involved in condemnation; whereas the apostle says: 'Judgment from one offence to condemnation' (Romans 5:16), and again a little after: 'By the offence of one upon all persons to condemnation' (Romans 5:18).” (51)
  • Purgatorial fires can cleanse a soul after death. "We read in the books of the Maccabees [2 Macc. 12:43] that sacrifice was offered for the dead. But even if it were found nowhere in the Old Testament writings, the authority of the Catholic Church which is clear on this point is of no small weight, where in the prayers of the priest poured forth to the Lord God at his altar the commendation of the dead has its place" And “some  of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good things that perish, through a certain purgatorial fire.” (52)
  • Six day creation is not true. He “concluded that the six days of Creation are not chronological. Rather, they are a way of categorizing God's work of creation. God created the world in an instant but continues to develop and mold it, even to the present day.” And opened the door for the theory of evolution by saying “Scripture has stated that the earth brought forth the crops and the trees causally, in the sense that it received the power of bringing them forth." (53)

Comments (8)

John McYntire
Just out of curiosity: why are you writing CE now instead of AD?
Yuriy Stasyuk
It is the standard convention in academic literature, even in many of the Biblical texts I read, I suppose I didn't even realize it rubbed off on me. There is certainly no secret agenda, if thats what you are asking
Josh C.
I wouldn't call this crazy. I'd say it's the dynamic and progressive realization of divine action. It wasn't completed back then, and still isn't today. Full of fits and starts, but clearly working towards some goal. It shows the modern day fundamentalist with his certainty-seeking faith to be mostly bogus. However, to the more moderate and rational of believers, I'm not sure there is anything shocking here... but definitely some interesting and useful history!
Jonathan
May not be a theological stance but it should be noted that the father of Protestantism said some pretty evil and vile things about Jews. In his treatise, "The Jews and their Lies", he wrote that their synagogues and schools should be destroyed, that Rabbis should be forbidden from teaching at pain of losing a limb. Very enlightened, yes? I believe John Calvin also had some nasty words for the Jews as well.
Jake
It is evident that you implication of history is the history contained outside of the Bible. Although I find it important to mention that the Bible itself contains history, biographies, and even things such as genealogies. So I am inclined to disagree with your statement that the most important thing Christians have little knowledge about is history and I make the claim that it is actually the Bible itself. I do agree with you though that Christians should not neglect history, even outside of the Bible. Christians should study history so they can receive a better understanding through the application of historical context. Although, a Christian should not view history in such a way that jeopardizes the authority of the Bible. Just because early church fathers stated things, which there are clear examples you have provided, that doesn't mean what they stated is true. As much of an exhaustive list that you are capable of providing, I could provide an exhaustive list of Biblical passages warning against false teachers. With this knowledge, I still stand with my claim that the Bible is of much more importance than any form of outside history. My final statements: If I identify heresy, I can save others from perching on that branch. If we contain knowledge within the Bible, then we will be able to identify heresy more clearly.
Andre
Lay level interest in history is quite low. Especially in pop evangelicalism. Things are even worse in Slavic Protestant circles. We must keep in mind the social strata of most of us Slavic Protestant immigrants. We are all working class. History, Church Fathers, multiculturalism, etc - none of those things were ever a priority for people in our economic class. Add fundamentalism on top of that. My current mindset is one of accepting certain presuppositions with the possibility in mind that I can be wrong. Everyone operates on basis of certain presuppositions, including me. So my Christian commitments are in that category as well. All this to say that there's not a whole lot I can do. I can maybe examine what I can from Christian history, learn from excellent scholars, evaluate sources, see what makes sense, and adopt what I can in my posture before God and in my posture before my community of origin.
Robert
So glad you didn’t include Marcion of Sinope in this list. Although he was probably as theologically insane as his contemporaries....at least he realized the absolute incorrectness of including the Tanakh in the Christian canon. But..he was excommunicated by the church. As is said by current scholars... “Marcion attacked the symbols of Judaism....but left the people in peace. Whilst the church took (stole... appropriated) the symbols... and attacked the people.” The Roman church is indeed the devilish womb of Anti-Semitism. The Lord Jesus was born into Judaism and lived a Jewish life....but he did not die a Jew. That’s something to accept and deal with. The religious leaders of the time followed their law and had him murdered. He’d introduced a fresh approach to the Divine...faith instead of Levitical law. The problem with church fathers is they didn’t turn from Levitical sensibilities. Instead...they embraced them...thereby creating the toxic dynamic of Judeo-Christian consciousness. “Therefore let us go to him outside the camp...” Hebrews 13:13.
Andrew
Heres some history for you. Christianity built the modern world you enjoy every day. Introduced through the teachings of Christ sanctity of life, true equality among social classes, and transformed countless people, spiritually, physically, and mentally Transformed the pagan Roman Empire Established the first experiment in complete religious freedom through Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313 A.D Brought true equality of dignity, compassion, and responsibility to men and women in marriage Increased the average age of marriage for women from about 14 to age 19 in the Roman Empire Opposed and largely eliminated infanticide, forced abortions, child abandonment, and pederasty in the Roman Empire Opposed and eliminated the Roman gladiator games, in which men, women, slaves, and animals were slaughtered for entertainment Outlawed the branding of slaves, ordered speedy trials, and outlawed crucifixion during Constantine’s rule after his conversion to Christianity Saved abandoned children left to die in the Roman Empire. Callistus of Rome gave children to christian homes, Benignus of Dijon nourished deformed abandoned children, and Afra of Augsburg (formerly a pagan) developed a ministry for abandoned children. Church fathers Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Lactantius, all aggressively opposed child abandonment. Ordered the construction of a hospital for every cathedral town in the Roman Empire at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D to care for the poor, sick, widows, and strangers. Created the first distinct hospital in 369 A.D. through St. Basil of Caesarea Established the first medical schools through the Nestorian christians in the Levant Provided medical care for lepers through the Hospitallers of Saint Lazarus during the 12th century Created 37,000 Benedictine monasteries alone that cared for the sick by 1500 A.D. The Hospitaller Order of Saint Anthony established about 800 hospitals in Europe, taking long term care of cripples and lepers. The Rule of the Holy Spirit indicated they focused their care on newborns, orphans, children, elderly, abandoned, and pregnant girls. Invented the term “scholasticism”; Christian monks were the first scholastics Preserved civilization through the Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries in the midst of the chaos of Viking and Islamic invasions Established the first scientists, Robert Grosseteste (1168-1253), Albertus Magnus (1200-1280), Roger Bacon (1214-1294), whom is credited as pioneering the modern scientific method Established that slavery is against natural law, immoral, and sinful through Thomas Auquinas (1225-74) Opposed slavery in Spanish colonization through papal bulls by Pope Eugen IV, Pius the II, Sixtus the IV, and Paul the III Denounced slavery in 1462, 1537, 1639, 1741, 1815, and 1839 through the Catholic Papacy Preserved civilization in Europe through the Crusades beginning in 1095 A.D in which the Byzantine emperor Alexius implored the Pope for help defending his borders from the Seljuk Turks, before which Islam had conquered 2/3 of Christian lands from 600-1000 AD including the city of Jerusalem Turned back Islamic invasions in southern Europe at critical moments such as the Battle of Tours and the Battle of Vienna Developed modern professional medical practice, technology, and pioneered epidemiology Introduced the concept of chivalry through Bernard of Clairvaux’s “In Praise of the New Knighthood” Established the first universities in the 11th century which include Oxford, Cambridge, Bologna, Paris, and Toulouse Created The Salvation Army, founded in 1865 by William Booth, providing medical care in impoverished inner city areas and homes for women who had been induced into prostitution. Pioneered world-wide medical missions through David Livingstone, Albert Schweitzer, Albert Cook, William Wanless, Ida ,Hudson Taylor, and Paul Brand. Established the Magna Carta in 1215 through a coalition of nobles, clergy, and the master of the Knights Templar Saved about 860,000 jews during WW2 through the efforts of Pope Pius XII, credited by Isreali diplomats Established modern nursing in 1900 due to the work of Elizabeth Fry and Florence Nightingale Established the first concepts of basic capitalism through the catholic monasteries and invented double-ledger accounting concepts Pioneered equality among people in the Rule of Saint Benedict, in which all were considered “one in Christ” Provided education for people concerning crops, industries, irrigation and production methods through the Benedictine monasteries The discovery of champagne by Dom Perignon of Saint Peters Abbey Developed and shared technological advances in mechanization for industrial use throughout Europe and agricultural technology through the workshops of Cistercian monasteries Described the geometry and physics of a flying vessel for the first time- Father Francesco Lana-Terzi Preserved literacy, ancient Latin literature, and libraries of knowledge by monks copying manuscripts in the midst of entire libraries being burned by Viking and Germanic invasions Established the first monastic schools and education for common people through Charlemagne Established the first instance of modern international law through the Laws of Burgos (1512) and Valladolid (1513), pioneered by Father Francisco de Vitoria Birthed the modern economic theory of money through Jean Buridan (1300-1358), Nicolas Oresme (1325-1382), and Saint Bernardino of Siena (1380-1444) Vigorously fought against communism in Poland through John Paul 2nd , in which the marxist state-atheism of the Eastern Bloc had killed 80 million people Openly condemned and fought against Hitler. A New York Times headline in 1939 read “Pope condemns dictators, treaty violators, racism”. Hitler even criticized Pope Pius XII as the “pro-jewish” pope in 1942. The Vatican assisted many Jews escape, used the pope’s summer home Castel Gandolfo to shelter thousands of Jews, and was credited by Jewish historians of saving more than 700,000 Jews. Created the Spanish Inquisition which (contrary to anti-catholic pop-history) was created to “inquire” concerning due process rights through a court of law for one accused, containing rules of evidence, to end the witch hunts. Less than 1% of people tried by the Spanish inquisition were condemned to death. The court was considered lenient and torture devices associated with the inquisition were fabricated by secularists during the enlightenment period to create perceptions of anti-catholic barbarism. Places like Japan during the Shimabara Rebellion, an uprising of Christian samurai, developed no such court mechanism and 40,000 christians were subsequently killed during the 17th century. Developed the fundamentals of modern music, notation, and polyphony through the monasteries and the Benedictine monk Ubaldus Hucbald (840-930 A.D.) Ended the cruel Chinese practice of “foot-binding” of women, made illegal in 1921, through the influence of Christian missionaries visiting China, credited by Lin Yutang Ended the Hindu practice of forced husband widow’s-burning in India, made illegal in 1829, through the influence of Christian missionaries Invented humanism- one of the first well-known humanists was a Christian named Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536), who spoke continually on religious tolerance, laying a foundation for the founding fathers of the USA. Created the International Red Cross, through Henry Dunant, which provides humanitarian relief effort to wounded and sick civilians world-wide. Created the store chain Goodwill, through Christian minister Edgar Helms in 1902 founded the USA through Christian enlightenment ideas and thinkers such as John Locke, Isaac Newton, and James Madison, among others, the stage being previously set by Martin Luther, who wrote “On the Freedom of the Christian”, and the subsequent 30 Years War. The document that predated the Constitution as a template was the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1638) which established a government specifically crediting the God of the Bible. Before these things took place the pilgrims arrived in North America and credited God in the Mayflower Compact, “for the glory of God and the advancement of the christian faith.” The Declaration of Independence credits our inalienable rights as given by God, the Creator, and is signed “The Year of Our Lord”. Findings published in the American Political Science Review (1984) led by Dr. Donald S. Lutz, identified the specific political documents/sources that directly inspired the founding of the US in which more than 15,000 documents were analyzed from 1760 to 1805. 3154 references were identified, in which Montesquieu was reference 8.3% of the time, Sir William Blackstone was referenced 7.9% of the time, and John Locke was referenced 2.9% of the time. All three were Christians who drew their legal and political philosophy from the bible. The bible itself was referenced 34% of the time, more than any other source.