Latest / Walk Talk: Faith in Motion / Apostolic Fathers
Transcript
- Randy: What if you could sit down with someone who personally knew the Apostle John or the Apostle Peter or the Apostle Paul? What if you could read the work of someone who learned directly from the 12 apostles, someone who lived shortly after the time of Jesus? Well, you can because the works of the apostolic fathers are out there. These are the teachings written down. By the guys who actually learn directly from the apostles themselves. Now, in the world that we live in, 2,000 years after the birth of Christ, there are thousands of Christian denominations, all of which agree on some things but disagree on a lot of other things. A lot of teachings that exist that are probably things that would have been foreign to the early church. Think about that. There's a lot of things being taught today. That the early church fathers, the people who learned directly from the apostles, wouldn't recognize. But how much time do we take actually reading the writings of these early church leaders? Sure, there are tons of best-selling Christian authors that are out there today who sell millions of copies of their books. But I think it's time that we take a minute and actually explore what our early church fathers had to say. So that's what we're going to talk about today on this episode of the Walk Talk Solo Edition. So, who were the apostolic fathers? The apostolic fathers were the early Christian leaders who lived during the late first century and early second century. Some of them knew the apostles, some of them belonged to the generation immediately following the apostles. Their writings are not part of the biblical canon, but historians generally Recognize them as authentic early Christian documents. What makes them particularly valuable is their proximity to the apostles. We're not talking about theologians writing 500 or a thousand years after Jesus. We're talking about individuals who lived within decades of his ministry and in some cases personally learned from the disciples themselves. For today's discussion, we're going to examine five important early Christian leaders. Four of them are traditionally grouped with the Apostolic Fathers. The fifth, Iranius, belonged to the following generation and helps connect some of their teachings to later Christianity. Now, we've probably all heard different viewpoints on the scriptures and people who try to argue that. The Bible canon, was maybe a political move. Certain things were left out or certain things were added in because of politics. And people who want to criticize the Bible will mention that, well, you know, some of these books are written a hundred years or hundreds of years after the time of Jesus. Look, I'm not a biblical scholar. I can't dive deep into you know, those statements and discuss whether They are true or false or the timing. I'm not an expert in these things. However, I will say that if you understand what the Bible's telling us, if you read the New Testament, you get this feeling that the early church fathers, specifically the apostles, they really believed that Jesus was going to be returning in their lifetime. So they didn't see the need to immediately write things down. They saw the need to immediately go out and spread the good news. And that's what they did. That was the Great Commission. So they went out and they began spreading the good news throughout the world. And the apostles divided up the different regions of the world amongst themselves, and they went out to do that to tell people about Jesus. And my understanding is it wasn't until much later in their life, as these men who were young men at the time when they began following Christ, probably teenagers, most of them, it wasn't until they were much later on in life. And they realized that hey, Jesus might not actually come back in my lifetime, that they actually started writing some of this stuff down. This is when we started to get some of the writings of the gospel. This is where we got the gospels from. Because when it became apparent that, hey, this generation of disciples might not actually live to see the return of Christ. They thought, well, we need to write this stuff down to make sure there's an accurate account of everything that Jesus taught and everything that the disciples heard and saw. And so they began writing these things down. And not only did they begin writing them down, but they began teaching other people, disciples that they were making, who then also began writing down the things that they were learning from the disciples themselves. So as the Holy Spirit was moving in these men, they were writing down. What they remembered and they were writing down what they were learning, right? And so we we all hear about the 12 disciples, right? Everyone knows a few of them. Most people probably can't name all 12. we know that Judas was a disciple who betrayed Jesus, and then eventually they had to replace him. So they they cast lots to replace Judas, and then they all went on and they spread the gospel throughout the world. As they were spreading the gospel, they were making disciples. That's what Jesus said to do, right? He said, Go out and make disciples of all nations. And so they did. And some of these disciples became leaders in their own right, and they made disciples. And some of these guys also wrote letters. Some of them wrote letters in a similar fashion to the letters written by people like Paul. And so while their letters weren't considered scripture, you know, and again. There's a whole there's a whole there's a whole study there as to what became scripture and why. But even though these letters from this first generation of disciples didn't become scripture, that doesn't mean that they're not good solid teachings. Teachings that not only tell us about what the early church believed, but also are things that we could learn from today. nowadays we got people who live 2,000 years later who have no connection to the disciples, who read the Bible and then they write down what they think it's telling them. Maybe they have a degree in theology, maybe they've studied the history and the culture, maybe they haven't. Maybe they just have read the words on the page and that's all they know. And they go on to write all sorts of books about different topics and and things that they believe regarding different theological viewpoints. Well, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. And lots of people get value from reading those sort of books. and they learn a lot from reading those sort of books. Well, I think if that's the sort of person you are, if you had a sort of person who likes to study the scriptures, if you like to deep dive into what's actually happening in the first century, what was happening in the first century, and how that applies to us today, well, it behooves us to then take a look at what the early church fathers had to say as well, and what they believed. Because I really do have a strong suspicion that a lot of the beliefs that exist across the Christian world today would be foreign to the apostolic fathers. So let's talk about the apostolic fathers, who they were, and what they taught. Because I think that it's important for us as believers to have some understanding. So the first person I'm going to talk about is Polycarp. So Polycarp. was an early Christian leader. He was known as the Bishop of Smyrna. And that was located in what is now Western Turkey. And according to early Christian testimony, Polycarp was personally instructed by the Apostle John. He lived around 69 A.D. to 155 A.D. So you could see that, you know, John was probably still alive around 69 A.D. that that perfectly aligns with the time that John Would have probably still been around and could have been teaching and making disciples. So John spent his later years ministering in Asia Minor, particularly around Ephesus, which was approximately 40 miles south of Smyrna. Polycarp eventually became one of the most influential Christian leaders in the early second century. And how do we know that he learned from John? Well, one of our strongest sources is a man named Iranius. Iranius was that next generation, the second generation of disciples. So he was not someone, who learned directly from John or any other apostle himself, but he learned directly from Polycarp. So he knew Polycarp's background. And Ireneus went on to become very influential, and he talks about Polycarp and how Polycarp learned directly from the apostle John himself. so he was influential in the second century as a Christian theologian who eventually became the bishop of Leon, which is in modern day France. And as a young man, he knew and learned directly from Polycarp. Decades later, Ireneus recalled Polycarp describing his conversations with John and others who had personally known Jesus. It doesn't say if these others were other disciples. Or if they were just other people who lived in Israel and Jerusalem around the time of Jesus and personally knew him. But this gives us a really good historical connection that Jesus was connected to the Apostle John, which was then connected to Polycarp, which then taught Iranius. And this is important because Iranius wasn't simply repeating a tradition that appeared centuries later. He was writing and describing what he personally remembered hearing from Polycarp. And this is a strong historical testimony, although it does not independently prove every detail of the relationship. But we have enough evidence to say that, yeah, Polycarp was a guy who actually learned directly from the Apostle John and probably from other people who knew Jesus himself, whether they were disciples or not. Polycarp wrote a work known as the Letter to the Philippians. Sound familiar? We know another guy who wrote a letter to the Philippians, right? The Apostle Paul. He wrote The letter to the Philippians. and he probably wrote this during the early second century. This was addressed to the same Christian community that the Apostle Paul had written to decades earlier. The letter that Polycarp wrote, and I recommend everyone go out and read it, emphasizes that the Christian faith, salvation, and righteous living, Are all things that we should focus on and that we should remain faithful to the teachings of Jesus. he taught that salvation comes through grace, not through works. Very interesting, right? He's teaching that salvation is a gift that comes through grace, not of any works. In chapter one, Polycarp teaches that Christians are saved through Jesus Christ by God's grace, not through any works of their own, which closely parallels Paul's teachings in Ephesus. In Ephesians two, eight, and nine, we see, for by grace you are saved through faith, not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And Polycarp is basically saying something very similar to the Philippians. Polycarp presents salvation as something that is received from God rather than something that is earned through human effort. One important observation here is that someone who reportedly learned elect directly from John was teaching salvation by grace in language remarkedly similar to Paul. So this is someone who was a student of John, a disciple of John, but they are teaching a message very similar to the teaching of Paul. And this is important because there are those who say that Paul totally changed the message of Christ. That he came in and he taught something drastically different. And look, if you read through the Bible, you're gonna see that each person, you know, who actually wrote epistles or what became books of the Bible, they put their own thoughts into it. They put their own spin into it. And they didn't always agree on everything. And it's very possible that there was an evolution in John, in in his understanding of what salvation actually meant. could you imagine coming from, first century temple Judaism where everything revolves around sacrifices and following the law? And then you got this guy, Jesus, who comes and he keeps telling you he's gonna die. You don't really even understand if he means it metaphorically or physically. Then he does die and you're like in panic because you don't know. You thought he was ushering in this kingdom, and now he's gone. Then he's resurrected and he's telling you go out and tell everybody the good news. And you're like, wait a second, what? Okay, so I can imagine it would take some time, even for someone who learned at the feet of Jesus to fully process what actually happened at the crucifixion. And that's where Paul comes in. Paul, the disciple of disciples, the guy who the Lord converted on the road to Damascus, the guy who would have had the entire, scriptures memorized, who then went off into where did he say he went? I think to into the wilderness in Arabia or something to go and study and learn what this salvation actually meant. It took some time and it took someone like Paul to really help the the early church understand what this salvation was all about. And so it's important here that we're seeing that, you know, regardless of what John may have taught or what you may think that John was teaching, that his disciples are actually teaching something that aligns more with Paul. So, what does that mean? That means that they were learning. Those first few centuries, they were learning. They were still discovering what does it actually mean to be saved? What does it actually mean to be forgiven? What does it actually mean to have a new covenant? And that's something that even Christians to this day still struggle with and don't fully understand in a lot of cases. So Polycarp also emphasizes that believers should demonstrate their faith. through the way they live. and he says genuine faith produces love and obedience. So if you have genuine faith, you're not trying to follow the law, but as a natural outworking of that faith, the Holy Spirit is going to bear fruit. And that fruit is going to produce love and obedience. This is something Polycarp, the guy who learned from John, is teaching. He encourages forgiveness, humility, compassion, and obedience to Christ. And this Aligns with several New Testament passages. It aligns with John 13, 35. By this all men shall know that you are my disciples. in ye have love to one another. The words of Jesus, right? Jesus is telling them, Hey, you people are going to know you are my disciples because you have love for one another. And Polycarp is re-emphasizing this. He's saying, Hey, look, we are saved by grace. But if we are saved, there's going to be fruit that's going to start showing up. And one of those fruit. It's going to be love. in James 2, 17, it says, even so faith, if it had not had not works, is dead, being alone. Polycarp doesn't present good works as a means of earning salvation. Rather, he connects Christian conduct with a genuine life of faith. So some people they read James and they're they're saying, Look, you're not saved unless you have works. And they they kind of misinterpret or they misunderstand what James is actually saying here. Or maybe they look at it as look, James and Paul, they they are they disagree here. The Bible doesn't contradict, but maybe there's some disagreement here and it's documented in these two books. Polycarp comes and says, Look, hey, the way I understand that is you are going to have works. You are going to show love if you have genuine faith. No, those things don't save you. They have nothing to do with your salvation. But if you are saved, then it's going to show up. And Polycarp comes in and he kind of clarifies that. In First Timothy six ten. it says, for the love of money is the root of all evil. Polycarp emphasizes that it's that we shouldn't be using our faith to obtain wealth, but we should resist greed and we should live faithfully. And this is particularly interesting when you think about the modern prosperity gospel teachings, which PJ and I talked about previously, right? There's this whole prosperity gospel. and there are megachurch pastors who make millions and millions of dollars a year. Polycarp says that look. We should not use our faith to obtain wealth. We should avoid anything that looks like greed in our lives. And we should remain faithful to the words of Christ and to the word of God. Christians should care for the poor and vulnerable. Polycarp instructs church leaders to care for widows, orphans, and the poor and those who are suffering. And this aligns with what James had to say in James 1 27 pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this. To visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. For Polycarp, Christian leadership wasn't simply about authority, it involved compassion, service, and responsibility. Jesus truly came in the flesh. Now, there was this whole Gnostic movement at the time of the disciples of the apostles, the apostolic fathers. So there was this whole movement where There was a conflict between the Gnostics and the early church because the Gnostics were going more off of ancient like Greek and Roman worldviews where there was this distinction between flesh and spirit, where spirit was seen as good and flesh was seen as bad. Whereas we know that God created the entire world, physical, spiritual, and he said it is good. So there's nothing inherently bad in In and of the physical world itself. The bad came later when sin entered the world. But the Gnostics refused to believe that Jesus actually came in a physical body because they couldn't understand how a perfect, pure, and holy God would go from being spirit to physical when physical was bad. So one of the things that Polycarp taught was that Jesus actually did, no kidding, appear in the flesh. So one of Polycarp's strongest warnings is in chapter seven, where he condemns anyone who denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. And this closely parallels John's teaching in first John four two, where it says every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. He also taught that the resurrection is real. Polycarp emphasizes that the resurrection of Jesus and the future resurrection and judgment is something that is going to happen, which aligns with Paul's teachings in 1 Corinthians 15. For Polycarp's Christianity wasn't simply about spiritual alignment or escaping the physical world. Jesus physically rose from the dead, and the resurrection was the central hope and central theme in the Christian worldview. Polycarp was fighting against. I I'm not sure how to say it, but it's teachings associated with docetism, docitism, D-O-C-E-T-I-S-M, which claim that Jesus only appeared to have a physical body. that he didn't actually have a physical body, it just looked like he did. All right, so major takeaways. So if you read through the works of Polycarp, his letter to the Philippians, the major takeaways are Polycarp emphasizes that salvation is by grace through Jesus Christ, that we should live righteously, and that the physical reality of Jesus, his incarnation and resurrection were all real, and that anyone who teaches otherwise is to be condemned. His teaching closely resembles those that are found in the New Testament. So if you're reading through the New Testament, it's much shorter book than the Old Testament, right? New Testament's only 27 books long. And you're wanting to go deeper, let's take a look at what some of these other guys have to say. Let's dig into the writings of someone like Polycarp, which is then going to expand even more. Again, not scripture, not part of any canon. There's not a church out there that I'm aware of that actually takes the works of Polycarp and says, hey, this is considered scripture. This is the word of God. But that doesn't mean there isn't something of value there. That doesn't mean it's not historically accurate and it doesn't accurately reflect the beliefs of the early church. So it means it's probably something good for us to learn from. Okay, so Clement of Rome is the next apostolic father I want to talk about. So he was personally associated with both Peter and Paul. So this is someone who learned at the feet of Peter and Paul, or at least knew them well enough that they were able to absorb their teachings directly from what are what are probably the two most influential apostles, probably the most Influential Christians to ever live, right? these are guys who knew the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter, was one of the first disciples who walked with them throughout his entire ministry. And then Paul, the Lord, appeared to him on the road to Damascus and personally called him when he was out there persecuting the church. And so then we got Clement of Rome who learned from both of these guys. That's awesome. So Clement was an early Christian leader in Rome who lived during the first. Century. Early Christian writers associated him with the Apostle Peter and Paul. Iranius, the second century bishop who studied under Polycarp, reported that Clement had personally known the apostles and heard their preaching. Later Christian tradition also associated Clement with Peter's leadership in Rome. However, we cannot establish with certainty that Clement was formally discipled by both of them. But it's very plausible that he did. Learned from both of them and had at least heard their preaching and was influenced by them. So what did he write? So around 96 AD or AD 96, Clement wrote a letter commonly known as First Clement. The letter was addressed from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth. Interestingly, This was the same Christian community that Paul had addressed in his letter to the Corinthians several decades earlier. So there's a there's a trend here. These early churches, man, you know, when when they got these letters from Paul, and then Paul was later executed, they weren't just abandoned. We had these other early church leaders who are continuing the traditions of Paul and writing letters to the same churches to encourage them and admonish them and and just you know try to continue pouring into them the teachings of Christ. It says, what did he teach? So he taught that Christians are justified through faith. So Clement taught in chapter 32, he emphasizes that believers are justified through faith rather than their own wisdom, righteousness, or works, which strongly resembles Paul's teaching. He taught humility is essential to Christian living. He repeatedly emphasizes that humility is something that we should all possess and warns against pride. He points to Jesus as the ultimate example of humility. he taught against division and jealousy and how that destroys the churches. One of Clement's primary concerns was division within the Corinthian church. Certain church leaders had been removed from their positions and conflict had developed within the congregation. Clement argued that jealousy, envy, pride, and rivalries were damaging the church, which also closely resembles Paul's teachings in First Corinthians. He taught that Christians should live in love and in unity. Clement places considerable emphasis on love, which is the ultimate goal, right? The goal is not to follow laws and commandments, the goal is to love. What did Jesus command us to do? He commanded us to love. In chapter 49, he describes love as essential to life and to unity, which closely parallels Paul's teachings in First Corinthians chapter 13. church leadership should be respected. So Clement was teaching that church leaders have responsibilities established within the Christian community. He argues against removing faithful leaders without a legitimate cause. And this provides early evidence of organized church leadership. So, and and if you think about it, what does organization do? Organization unifies. if we're all organized on into one group, that's going to create unity across different spans and layers of the Christian world. It does not, however, establish every feature of the later Roman Catholic or Protestant church government. So even though Clement was a fan of organization. He was a fan of having leaders and those leaders being respected and not being removed from their place. This is not the same thing. This is not a one-for-one comparison with the Roman Catholic traditions or any Protestant traditions that exist today. What was he fighting against? So, Clement was primarily confronting divisions within the church, pride and jealousy, rebellion against established church leaders. And lack of humility and love. And then lastly, disorder from within the Christian community, which, if you have these other things going on, pride and jealousy, rebellion, etc., you can see how that's going to lead to disorder. Unlike Polycarp, whose surviving letter directly challenges false teachings about Christ's physical humanity, Clement focused primarily on Christian unity and conduct. The major takeaway here is Clement teaches justification through faith. While emphasizing humility, love and unity, and responsible church leadership. His letter strongly reflects Paul's teachings, particularly Romans, Philippians, and First Corinthians. All right, the next apostolic teacher, I'm gonna struggle with his name. It's Papius of Heropolis, I believe. Now it says he was early second century, an early collector of apostolic testimony. So he was a bishop in Heropolis, located in modern day Turkey. He lived during the late first and early second centuries and was a contemporary of Polycarp. Early tradition associates Papius with the Apostle John, although historians do debate whether he personally learned from John or from another early Christian leader known as John the Elder. What makes Papias especially interesting is his effort to preserve the teachings of Jesus through people who had known the apostles. So what did he write? So he wrote a five-volume work called The Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord. But unfortunately, the complete work has been lost. Only fragments survive because later Christian writers quoted portion of his writings. So his work As a whole was lost, but we got little pieces of it because the disciples who came next, the the second and third generation of disciples, were quoting from him. So we know some of what he taught. so what did he teach? He teaches that eyewitness testimony matters. Papias believed that the teachings of the people who had personally known the apostles were especially valuable. He sought information from those who had heard. Heard Andrew, Peter, Philip, Thomas, James, John, Matthew, and other disciples. His interest was in preserving what Jesus had actually taught. This aligns with the emphasis on eyewitness testimony found in the New Testament. He also taught that Mark recorded Peter's teaching. Papias provided one of the earliest surviving accounts of the origin of the Gospel of Mark. According to Papias, Mark served as Peter's interpreter and carefully recorded what he remembered of Peter's teachings concerning Jesus. Most people probably don't realize that the book of Mark is actually the book of Peter, or at least it's the gospel according to Peter, as remembered by Mark. this is significant because Mark was not one of Jesus' original twelve apostles. Papias' testimony helps explains why the early church associated Mark's gospel with With apostolic eyewitness testimony. he also taught that Matthew collected teachings of Jesus. he stated that Papias also stated that Matthew compiled teachings or sayings in the Hebrew language or dialect. exactly how this relates to our present Greek gospel of Matthew remains debated, but nevertheless, his testimony provides an important early connection between Matthew and And written accounts of Jesus' teaching. He teaches that God's kingdom would involve the physical creation. This is important. Papias reportedly believed in a future earthly kingdom of Christ. Later writers describe him as teaching that Christ would reign in a renewed creation. This resembles certain interpretations of Revelation 20. in Revelation 20, verse 4, it says, And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. This demonstrates that beliefs about future earthly kingdom existed among the very earliest of Christians. So PJ and I talked previously on this podcast about, you know, how a lot of the views of heaven that we have today actually come from Greek and pagan viewpoints of the universe. Like it's not this spiritual realm. Like there is different levels to heaven, and God is in heaven, but that's not. Where we go necessarily when we die, that this earth is going to be restored. The the the old version of earth is going to be passed away, it's going to be destroyed and renewed, and the new version of earth is going to take its place. And we're going to reign right here on earth. We're going to be resurrected. We're going to live and reign on this earth with Christ. Not in some, you know, spiritual realm floating on clouds with harps and things like that. But right here in this world, in this physical world, we will be physically resurrected. With spiritual bodies like Jesus had, and we're gonna live and reign on this earth with Jesus. So where are the dead today? They're sleeping, just like Jesus said. They're asleep, they're asleep awaiting the resurrection. The resurrection that all of us are going to take part in, and then we're gonna be judged. and we could see that Papias is teaching this from the very, very beginning. So What was he fighting against? Papias wasn't primarily known for opposing a particular heresy, but he emphasized preserving authentic teachings about Jesus, valuing eyewitness testimony, and passing down reliable apostolic traditions and understanding the promises of God and his coming kingdom. The major takeaways. Papias gives us valuable information on how early Christians understood the origins of the gospel and preserved the teachings of Jesus. His writings also show that expectations of a future earthly kingdom existed in the very earliest days of Christianity. The next Apostolic father we're going to talk about is Ignatius of Antioch. So he lived in the first century, early second century. it says that he died approximately A.D. 110 to 117. He was an early Christian bishop and martyr. So Ignatius was an early Christian leader and bishop of Antioch. Antioch was an important center of Christianity and the city where followers of Jesus were first called Christians, according to Acts 11, 26. Later Christian tradition associated Ignatius with the Apostle John, although strong evidence of direct discipleship is lacking. Ignatius was arrested arrested and transported to Rome, where he expected to be executed for his faith. During the journey he wrote several letters To Christian congregations. So again, a lot of these guys, whether they're the apostles or the first generation or second generation of disciples, they're out there spreading the gospel. They're teaching people, they're preaching, they're they're telling people about the good news. And then when they get arrested, when they see that their life is coming to an end, then they just they decide, hey, we better start writing some of this stuff down. So what did Ignatius write? Seven authentic letters survive. Letters to the Ephesians, the Magnesians, the Troyans, the Romans, the Philadelphians, the Smyrnians, and to Polycarp. So he wrote six letters, it looks like, to different congregations in different cities or different groups of people. And then he wrote a letter to Polycarp himself. What did he teach? Well, Jesus was truly human. That was the first thing he taught. He strongly, strongly emphasized that Jesus genuinely became human. He wasn't spiritually walking this earth in an appearance that was human. No, he was actually physically human, 100% man, 100% God. In his letter to the Smyrnians, he insisted that Jesus truly suffered and rose from the dead. He also pointed to the resurrected Jesus having a physical body, which parallels Luke's gospel. he taught that Jesus is both divine and human. Ignatius used remarkably explicit language about Jesus' divinity. In his letter to the Ephesians, he referred to Jesus Christ as God and emphasized his genuine humanity, which closely parallels the Gospel of John. He taught that Christians should remain united. So Ignatius repeatedly called Christians to unity. He warned that division weakens the church and creates opportunities for false teaching. Which aligns to the teachings of Paul. Church leadership has an important role. Ignatius emphasized the roles of bishops, elders, and deacons. He encouraged Christians to remain united with their church leaders. His writings are important because they demonstrate that a recognized structure of church leadership existed by the early second century. Early second century. So we're talking like the year 100, 110, 120, the early second century. There's already some sort of formal structure taking place. We know who the apostles are. We know who they are pouring into, who who are their disciples. We know these churches are popping up that they are planting around the world, right? And there's this this system, there is this the structure that is starting to appear. And you have people like Ignatius who are who is coming out and saying, look, we gotta stay united, we gotta have respect for the church leadership. And we got to, push back against heresies and we need to stand strong in our beliefs. he says that he also says that Christians will be suffering with Christ. So we got to be willing to suffer. He he talks about the executions that are happening during this time in Rome. His letters reveal someone who considered faithfulness to Christ more important than preserving his own life. So in other words, he's saying, look, there's going to be persecution, there's going to be executions that are happening. You are going to suffer, but your faith in Christ is more important than your physical body or your physical life. Don't try to preserve your own life at the cost of your faith. But instead, you're going to gain life. Jesus, just as Jesus said. That those who loved your life will lose it, and those who who lose their life for his sake will actually gain it. let's see. What was he fighting against? he's was fighting against docetism. Again, we see another person fighting against the docetism, which is that denial that Jesus actually had a physical body, that he was physically human. he was opposed to teachings that distorted Christ's identity in any way. He was opposed to division among Christian congregations. He didn't want to see all these different denominations and sects that we have today. He wanted to see a unity. He wanted to see a unified Christianity, regardless of what city you were in or who you were taught by, or which disciple you know, preached the gospel to you. he taught against rejecting the established church leadership. So he said, look, basically, these leaders are in place for a reason. you need to have respect for their for your leadership. major takeaway. So Ignatius strongly defended the genuine humanity and divinity of Christ, the resurrection, the church unity, and faithful Christian endurance. His letters also provide important evidence of early Christian leadership structure and worship practices. Okay, so the last apostolic leader we're going to talk about today is Iranius of Lyon, who lived approximately A.D. 30 to AD 202. He was a student of Polycarp and a defender of Apostolic Christianity. Iranius was an influential Christian theologian and bishop who grew up in Asia Minor and personally studied under Polycarp, who reportedly learned directly from the Apostle John, which we talked about earlier. Iranius became the bishop of Lyon in what is now France. He became one of Christianity's most important early defenders against teachings that he believed distorted the gospel. His connection to Polycarp is particularly valuable because it gives us a historical chain. Jesus, then John, then Polycarp, then Ireneus. Okay, so what did Iranius write? Well, he wrote Against Heresies, which was written in around AD eight 180 to AD 190. This is a five-volume work which examines and challenges teachings Ireneus believed contradicted the message of Jesus and the apostles. So what did he teach? first he taught that God created the physical world and his creation was good. One of his most important teachings concerned the goodness of God's creation. because certain Gnostic systems distinguish between a perfect spiritual realm and And an inferior or even evil material world, which is why the Gnostics didn't believe that Jesus actually came physically in the flesh. So he he taught against this. He also taught that Jesus came to restore what was lost through Adam. Great teaching. Ireneus emphasized the relationship between Adam and Jesus. Adam's disobedience brought sin and death into humanity. Jesus, through his obedience, death, and resurrection, brought redemption, restoration. And life, which closely parallels what Paul taught. he also taught that salvation is found in Jesus Christ. he emphasized that it's only through the work of Jesus that we are saved, and he presented Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promise and the one who restores humanity's relationship with God. He taught that Jesus truly became human. He taught the resurrection of the body is essential. So he argued that Christians would experience a genuine bodily resurrection, which directly opposed teachings that treated salvation as an escape from physical experience. See, there's this whole there's this whole thought process that you know the the physical is bad, the physical is evil, the material is just inherently bad, it's it's it's evil. And so we're gonna die and get salvation as an escape from the physical world, and we're gonna move on to the spiritual world. There's this whole mindset, this whole teaching out there. but what he's saying is look, Iranius is saying, look, God is going to restore the earth to what he originally intended, which is what the Garden of Eden was like, where there were physical beings who would have lived forever if it had not been for sin. But these physical beings Who also do have a spiritual nature were good just the way God created them. So this life, this salvation, is not about escaping the physical world. It's about the renewal process that God started at the crucifixion. He taught that there is only one God. Iranius opposed teaching suggesting that the creator described in the Old Testament was different from the Father revealed by Jesus, that God is the same throughout the entire Bible. He taught that the apostolic message must be preserved. He argued that authentic Christianity should remain consistent with what the apostles originally taught. He appealed to scripture and the public teaching preserved within the churches founded by the apostles. Which also resembles Paul's instruction in 2 Timothy. Ultimately, he was fighting against various Gnostic teachings and related movements. three examples are particularly important. Valentus was a second-century teacher who developed a complex theological system involving divine emanations and special spiritual knowledge. Marcion was a second-century teacher who rejected. The creator God of the Old Testament and the Father revealed through Jesus Christ. Let's see if I could say this name. Basilides was a second century teacher associated with Alexandria, who developed another Gnostic system involving spiritual powers and different understandings of salvation. And Arenaeus opposed these teachers because he believed their teachings distorted the nature of God, the humanity of Jesus, and The Christian message of salvation. So his major takeaways was Iranius was a defender of the goodness of creation, the unity of God, the genuine incarnation of Jesus, salvation through Christ, and the resurrection of the body. Those are beliefs that, for whatever reason, have been, and I shouldn't say for whatever reason, it's we know what the reason is, it's the influence of. Of the world. It's the influence of different belief systems, pagan belief systems, Greek Roman belief systems that were all around during the time of the early church that influenced a lot of what modern day Christians think about when they think about these things. But you could see that this, you know, first century you know, apostolic father is teaching things that align more with the scriptures than maybe what our modern beliefs around these topics are. he also provides one of our earliest extensive explanations of Christian theology from someone who personally studied under a man traditionally connected to the apostle John. So, what did the earliest Christians all have in common? Let's dig into it a little bit before we wrap. So, they all taught that Jesus Christ is central to salvation, that he truly became human, that faith should transform how Christians live, that resurrection is essential, that the apostolic message should be preserved. Something that I think we should all reflect on and maybe we need to dive into even more in in our time today. Christian unity matters. They all taught that unity matters. This is what Jesus prayed for. When Jesus was praying his prayer, he prayed that God would keep us unified. Just as he and the Father are one, he prayed that we, his believers, would be one. and their writings also reveal real differences. So these individuals did not address every subject identically. Papias emphasized traditions about Jesus and expectations of the coming kingdom. Ignatius placed a strong emphasis on bishops and the Eucharist. Clement focused heavily on unity and leadership. Irenius developed extensive and theological arguments about creation, redemption, and resurrection. Those differences are important because the earliest Christian writers were not producing identical systematic theologies. they were writings that reflect different circumstances and different Mm-hmm. So let's talk about what they didn't teach. So, what they didn't teach is modern denominational structure and identities. They didn't teach detailed theological systems concerning predestination and free will. They didn't teach about modern prosperity gospel teachings. They didn't talk about requirements of speaking in tongues to demonstrate salvation or receiving of the Holy Spirit. They didn't talk about end times in any sort of detail. Or have any, pre-tribulation, post-tribulation, rapture type of conversations in their writings. And then later formal definitions of certain doctrines concerning Mary, purgatory, and papal infallibility. So we hear specifically in you know Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, you hear a lot about things like purgatory. You hear about a lot of people venerate Mary, you hear about The the Pope is infallible. These guys didn't teach any of this stuff. This came later. This came from much later teachings, and in my opinion, probably distortions. but at the same time, just because an early Christian writer doesn't dive into a particular doctrine doesn't automatically mean he rejected it or would have rejected it. these men were writing letters and They were writing about things that were important to them and specific issues that were important at the time, things that were happening at the time. And we see that sometimes they're directly addressing adversaries of the faith. And at certain times they're they're doubling down and foot stomping things that were written in the Bible by the apostles themselves. the last thing I'll say is, today we know that there are thousands of denominations of Christianity. Each one has their own interpretations of traditions and beliefs. but here's something I think that we should all consider. How many of those beliefs would have been completely foreign to the apostolic fathers? How many would have been unfamiliar to the apostles themselves, even, or perhaps even To Jesus. over the last 2,000 years, Christianity has developed so many different traditions, doctrines, and interpretations. But just because something has been taught for decades or even hundreds of years doesn't mean that it was taught by the disciples or that it's even true. So what makes studying the apostolic fathers so fascinating is these were men who lived during the time or shortly after the apostles. Some of them knew the apostles directly. They learned from them. They were disciples of them. They heard their preaching. and so I think it's important that we dig in and we study more about what they actually cared about and what they were actually teaching. If we really want to know the truth of the gospel and if we want to have a better understanding of the scriptures, I think it's important for us to to do this type of study. I'm not suggesting that these men got everything a hundred percent right. Nobody's perfect. they were human, just like we are human. Their writings are not considered scripture, but that doesn't mean that there's not a lot of value in them. It does mean that they are not considered the word of God, but I would say that it's probably the next closest thing to it. so I do think there's a lot of value in us reading their works and understanding what it is that they were teaching. As well as their connection to the apostles and what was actually written and considered scripture. but are we actually following the Christianity that Jesus and his apostles taught, or have we unknowingly allowed centuries of tradition and interpretation to shape what we believe? I think that's a question that we should all think about. Are we actually following the same Christianity that was taught by Jesus and his disciples? Or Are we following more traditions? so maybe that's the challenge that I want to leave everyone with today. Don't just believe something because it's what you've always been taught. be willing to go back, examine the evidence, study the scriptures, discover for yourself, and dig into what the early church fathers believed. because ultimately our goal should not be to the defend a particular church denomination or a particular church congregation. Or a particular system of beliefs that we feel comfortable with, or we were always taught. But our goal should be to follow Jesus. And I think that the more we understand what he taught us, what he did, what his works accomplished, and what the early church fathers believed regarding these things, the the more closely we'll be able to follow Jesus. So that's it for this episode of the Walk Talk Solo Edition. Thank you all so much for listening. If you haven't already, please like and subscribe and follow the show. And before you go, make sure you let me know what you think in the comments down below. God bless.