008. Chapter 6 - The Early Christian Writers

Chapter 6 - The Early Christian Writers When we turn from the Apocryphal Gospels to the “Apostolic Fathers” and the succeeding early Christian writers, we pass from the realm of ignorant and unrestrained imagination to that of faith and learning. The earliest of these writers were Justin Martyr, Papias, Polycarp, Clement of Rome and Barnabas.

Justin Martyr

Justin Martyr wrote his Apology to the Emperor, Antoninus Pius, and one to the Roman Senate, and his Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew, sometime between a.d. 135-145.

Polycarp

Polycarp (a.d. 50?-155) “was instructed by apostles,” “conversed with many who had seen Christ,” and for thirty years was a contemporary of the apostle John, who lived at Ephesus while Polycarp resided at Hierapolis. Of the various Epistles of Polycarp, only that to the Philippians is extant.

Papias

Papias (a.d. 70?-160?) was the companion of Polycarp and others of the second generation. He lived at Hierapolis. He wrote An Exposition of Oracles of the Lord in five books, but we know his work only through quotations, mainly by Eusebius.

Clement of Rome

Clement of Rome died in a.d. 101, and wrote his famous Epistle to the church at Corinth about a.d. 96. It is extant in two manuscripts and a Syriac translation. The Epistle of Barnabas was written at an uncertain date sometime between a.d. 70 and 132.

Ignatius and others might be cited here, but the above are the most important.

These early Christian scholars add but little to the information given in the New Testament. They stand in striking contrast to the writers of the Apocryphal Gospels, who attempt to add to the life of Christ in such reckless fashion.

Justin’s Additions

Justin Martyr says that Jesus was born in a cave near Bethlehem (this does not agree with Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:11), that in His youth at Nazareth He made yokes and plows, that when He was baptized “when he stepped into the water, a fire was kindled in the Jordan,” and that when He was being mocked by the Jews they set Him up on the judgment seat and mocked Him, saying: “Judge us.” The Agrapha The early writers also quote a few sayings which they attribute to Jesus, but which are not found in the four Gospels. These sayings are called “Agrapha,” “Unwritten Sayings.” Some of these are as follows: “He that wonders shall reign, and he that reigns shall rest.” “In whatsoever things I may find you, in these shall I also judge you.” “Never rejoice except when ye have looked upon your brother in love.” “They who wish to behold me and lay hold on my kingdom must receive me by affliction and suffering.” “Ask for great things, and the small shall be added to you; ask for the heavenly things, and the earthly shall be added unto you.” “Be approved money-changers, disapproving some things, but holding fast to that which is good.” In connection with the Agrapha found in the writings of the apostolic fathers, mention should be made of those found in certain ancient manuscripts of the Gospels. The most important of these is found in Codex Bezae (D), a manuscript of the sixth century. It was found by Theodore Beza, and presented to the University of Cambridge in a.d. 1581. This is a valuable manuscript and it contains a number of interesting variations. Following Matthew 20:28, it inserts a paragraph which is closely akin to Luke 14:7-10. And at Luke 6:4 there is the following addition: “On the same day, having seen one working on the sabbath, he said to him, O man, if thou knowest what thou doest, thou art blessed, but if thou knowest not, thou art accursed and a transgressor of the law.”

Oxyrhynchus Papyri An intensely interesting discovery of certain sayings attributed to Jesus was made by two archaeologists — Grenfell and Hunt — at Oxyrhynchus in Idwer Egypt, in 1897 and 1903. A broken and well-nigh illegible leaf of papyrus was first found containing some sayings, and later others were found on the back of a survey-list of real estate. The latter was in such bad condition that the reading had to be conjectured in many places. The broken papyrus leaf begins in the middle of a sentence and runs as follows: “...and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” “Jesus saith, Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in nowise find the kingdom of God; and except ye keep the sabbath, ye shall not see the Father.” “Jesus saith, I stood in the midst of the world, and in the flesh was I seen of them; and I found all men drunken, and none found I athirst among them; and my soul grieveth over the sons of men because they are blind in heart.” “Jesus saith, Wherever there are,...and there is one,...alone, I am with him. Raise the stone, and there thou shalt find me; cleave the wood, and there am I.” “Jesus saith, A prophet is not acceptable in his own country, neither does a physician work cures upon them that know him.” “Jesus saith, A city built upon the top of a high hill and established can neither fall nor be hid.” The survey-list contained the following: “These are the (wonderful) words which Jesus the living (Lord) spake to...and Thomas; and he said unto (them), Every one that hearkens to these words shall never taste of death.” “Jesus saith, Let not him who seeks cease until he finds, and when he finds he shall be astonished, and astonished he shall reach the kingdom, and having reached the kingdom he shall rest.” “Jesus saith (Ye ask? Who are those) that draw us (to the kingdom, if) the kingdom is in heaven?...The fowls of the air and all the beasts that are under the earth or upon the earth, and the fishes of the sea (these are they which draw) you, and the kingdom of heaven is within you, and whosoever shall know himself shall find it. (Strive therefore?) to know yourselves, and ye shall be aware that ye are the sons of the (Almighty?) (Father) (and) ye shall know that ye are in (the city of God?) and ye are (the city).” “Jesus saith, A man shall not hesitate...to ask...concerning his place (in the kingdom. Ye shall know) that many that are first shall be last, and the last first and (they shall have eternal life?)” “Jesus saith, Everything that is not before thy face, and that which is hidden from thee, shall be revealed to thee. For there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest, nor buried which shall not be raised.” “His disciples question him, and say, How shall we fast and how shall we (pray?)?...and what (commandment) shall we keep?...Jesus with...do not...of truth...blessed is he.”

Critical Estimates

Critics date these two groups of sayings in the first half of the second century. They appear to be a free quotation or development of sayings of Jesus in the New Testament. Some of them are plainly contradictory to the Gospels; for instance, the emphasis on keeping the Sabbath and on fasting. Of course, there is always the possibility that some traditions concerning Jesus and His teaching may have been handed down outside the four Gospels. But the evidence to the contrary is powerful. Scholars are generally agreed that the most of the Agrapha are not genuine. Many scholars like Wellhausen and Jülicher maintain that all of them are spurious. Resch published an edition of “Agrapha” in 1889, and reckoned that seventy-four of them were genuine. In 1906 he published a second edition, and held that thirty-six were genuine. Professor Ropes, of Harvard, reviewed Resch’s work and decided that twelve are authentic, but even these can be indirectly derived from the New Testament. He held that the evidence is insufficient to prove that there are in existence any sayings or facts about Christ which are not to be found in the New Testament or to be derived from it.

Klausner, with the perversity of unbelief, undertakes to hold that the Agrapha give a clearer insight into the teaching of Jesus in some cases than the Gospels, and prove that the sayings in point in the New Testament are inventions. Keim, on the other hand, says: “It is a significant fact that as far as can be discovered from these (apocryphal) Gospels, and from the untenable notices in the writings of the fathers, at the end of a hundred years after Christ, every independent and really valuable tradition concerning this life, outside of our Gospels, was extinguished, and that nothing more than a growing mass of fables runs, as a pretended supplement, by the side of the latter.” The survey of the entire field of sources of the life of Christ sends us back with renewed reverence to the New Testament. The scattering references of hostile writers establish Jesus as a historical figure, and are not able to shake the testimony of the Gospels as to details. The entire mass of early Christian literature is able to add practically nothing to what has already been recorded in marvelous fashion in the four Gospels. God has given us here an inspired and infallible account of the life of Jesus, and has seen to it that it remains practically our sole source of information.