|
|
Home
Testimonies to the Authenticity & Accuracy of The POEM of The MAN-GOD and Testimonials of Support |
|
|
Contact Us Site Map |
|
|
THE CATHOLIC FAITH was the Faith of the Early Church Fathers
As I was coming to more assurance of the Catholic faith through the Scriptures, I became increasingly
motivated to research the early church Fathers (the great leaders of the Church in the 2nd and 3rd centuries just
after the era of the Apostles). What I found was complete confirmation of all I had discovered to be revealed in
the Scriptures. While I needed no more reason to believe the Catholic faith today was the faith of the Apostles
and the first century Church what I discovered here will perhaps help someone else to believe.
Within the first 160 pages of The Faith of the Early Church Fathers, by William A. Jurgens, I found over
40 clear references to distinctly Catholic tenants of faith in the 135 year period immediately following the New
Testament era itself (A.D.100-235). Most of these references indicate these Catholic tenants were universally
taught and believed through out the Church at the time. Since they were believed so universally at such an early
date, to deny they were part of the Apostolic teaching would be foolish.
Protestantism then is not only based on, misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Scripture but
ignorance of the plain facts of history. In my Baptist college or seminary education this massive pile of evidence
for the Catholic faith in the early Church was never mentioned. Totally ignoring the faith of this period we
jumped ahead another 100-150 years to the time of Constantine. Discovering the Catholic faith there, we were
quick to explain its appearance as the result of the "corruption" of the Constantine era. It was after Constantine
declared religious freedom for Christianity in A.D. 312 and his support of the Christian faith that we claimed a
massive corruption of the faith had occurred. According to the facts you are about to read, this massive
corruption, however, must have taken place up to 200 years earlier, just after the Apostle John dies at the end of
the first century! We are going to have to say this massive corruption of the faith took place almost instantly
with no one in the Church, many of whom personally knew the Apostles, raising a peep of protest! Some of those
whose testimony to Catholic faith you will read actually knew the Apostles intimately and all were respected as
authorities in the Church. This corruption would also have taken place at a time when the Church was spiritually
at its height. From 120 followers in A.D. 34, the Church had spread itself over the entire face of the known
world and by A.D. 312, literally brought the mighty Roman Empire to its knees!
Someone in uncomforting wisdom has said, the wish is often father to the thought. Even the plainest
facts can thus be often ignored when they threaten the comforts of our personal prejudices. Change itself can be
most uncomfortable. For those who have at least the desire to be truly honest in mind and spirit, life itself will
often expose our faulty thinking by showing us their unpleasant fruits. The seeds of humility first, then finally
truth itself will sprout forth from such blessed disappointments.
ON BAPTISMAL REGENERATION
(2) Hermas, brother to Pope Pius I, in The Shepherd (A.D. 140-155), says that in a vision the Angel of
God [The Shepherd] affirms that "when we went down into the water" we "obtained the remission of our
former sins"[Mand. 4, 3, 1]. (p.35) The Angel refers to water Baptism as "the Seal," and "the Seal of
the Son of God" at least five times [Par. 9,16,3,4; 9,17,4; 9:31,4]. (p.36).
(3) St. Ignatius of Antioch, the third bishop of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians, A.D. 110 :"He [Jesus
Christ] was born and was baptized so that by His submission He might purify the water" [18:2]. (p.18).
Jesus' act was seen as having sanctified the water used in Christian Baptism.
(4) Letter of Barnabas, author unknown, A.D. 70-79 or 117-132? Speaking of the "flowing river" in
Ezekiel 47:1-12 the writer then says, "We descend into the water full of sins and foulness, and we come
up bearing fruit in our heart" [11:10,11]... (p.15).
ON INFANT BAPTISM
ON THE EUCHARIST AS THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
(7) Justin the Martyr, in his First Apology, written between A.D. 148-155, says: "We call this food
Eucharist; and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true
and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration, and is
thereby living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive
these...the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by Him...is
both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus" [66]. (p.55).
(8) Imprisoned and facing his end with the wild beasts, St Ignatius, in His Letter to the Romans, in
A.D.110 writes, " I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the
Bread of God, which is the Flesh of Jesus Christ...and for drink I desire His Blood.." [7:3]. (p.22).
(9) St. Ignatius, in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans, A.D. 110. "Take note of those who hold heterodox
opinions...They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the
Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, Flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father,
in His goodness raised up again"[6:2; 7:1]. (p.25).
(10) St. Ignatius of Antioch, the third Bishop of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians, A.D. 110: "Breaking
one bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the antidote against death, enabling us to live forever in
Jesus Christ" [20:2]. (p.19).
ON PRAYING FOR THE DEAD–PURGATORY
(12) Tertullian, in another treatise, The Crown, written in A.D. 211, says, "We offer sacrifices for the
dead on their birthday anniversaries" [3,3]. (p.151).
ON THE PRIESTHOOD IN THE CHURCH
(14) Tertullian's An Exhortation to Chastity, dating between A.D. 208-212 is filled with references to the
priesthood within the Church [7,2-6]. (p.150).
(15) Tertullian, in his Demurrer Against the Heritics, written about the year A.D. 200, and condemning
the heretics who have departed from the doctrine of the Church says, "I must not omit a description of
heretical conduct, how frivolous, how worldly, how merely human it is. ...So it is that today one man is a
bishop, tomorrow another; today, a deacon, and tomorrow he is a lector; today a priest , who is tomorrow
a layman. For even on laymen do they enjoin the functions of the priesthood" [41,1,8]. (p.123).
Speaking of the right to baptize, Tertullian says, "The primary right is had by the high priest, that is the
bishop; and after him, the presbyters [elders, or regular priests}..."[17,1]. (p.128).
ON HOLY MARY–THE SINLESS SECOND EVE
(17) St. Irenaeus, in his Against Heresies, (between A.D. 180-199), also taught that Holy Mary was the
second and sinless Eve: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What
the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith"[3,22,4]. (p.93). Holy Mary
certainly could not have been seen as loosing what Eve bound had the early Church believed she sinned
as had Eve!
(18) Justin the Martyr, in his First Apology, written between A.D. 148-155, taught that Holy Mary, as the
second Eve, was as involved in the reversal of the human sin problem as the first Eve was involved in
introducing sin into the world: "He [Christ] became man by the Virgin so that the course which was
taken by disobedience in the beginning through the agency of the serpent, might be also the very
course by which it would be put down. For Eve, a virgin and undefiled, conceived the word of the
serpent, and bore disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel
Gabriel announced to her the glad tidings that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her and the power
of the Most High would overshadow her, for which reason the Holy One being born of her is the Son of
God. And she replied: 'Be it done according to they word'" [100]. (p.62).
ON APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION
(20) Tertullian, in his Demurrer Against the Heritics, written about the year A.D. 200 challenges those
heretics who would dare to claim their doctrines were from the Apostolic days, to "show the origins of
their Churches, let them unroll the order of their bishops, running down in succession from the beginning,
so that their first bishop shall have for author and predecessor some one of the Apostles or of the
apostolic men who continued steadfast with the Apostles. For this is the way in which the apostolic
Churches transmit their lists: like the Church of the Smyrnaeans, which record that Polycarp was placed
there by John; like the Church of the Romans [Church of Rome] where Clement was ordained by Peter.
In just this same way the other Churches display those whom they have as sprouts from the apostolic
seed, having been established in the episcopate by the Apostles"[32,1-3]. (p.121,122). Note: Just so
there is no misunderstanding on this point, churches established even apart from Apostolic faith or
authority can and will always be accepted as apostolic upon affirmation of the faith and practice of the
Catholic Church and proper ordination of their bishops, presbyters and deacons. Many Churches have
been founded outside the Catholic faith and discipline that have been later received into, and as a part of
the one Apostolic Catholic Church.
(21) Tertullian, in his Demurrer Against the Heritics, written about the year A.D. 200, and continuing to
challenge the heretics who have departed from the doctrine of the Church says, "Come now,...run through
the apostolic Churches in which the very thrones of the Apostles remain still in
place...Achaia...Corinth...Philippi...Ephesus. But if you are near to Italy, you have Rome, whence also
our authority derives. How happy is that Church, on which the Apostles poured out their whole
doctrine along with their blood, where Peter endured a passion like that of the Lord, where Paul was
crowned in a death like John's [John the Baptist], where the Apostle John, after being immersed in
boiling oil and suffered no hurt, was exiled to an island"[36,1-3]. (p.122).
(22) St. Irenaeus, in his Against Heresies, (between A.D. 180-199), "the true gnosis [wisdom] is the
doctrine of the Apostles, and the ancient organization of the Church throughout the whole world, the
manifestation of the Body of Christ according to the succession of bishops, by which succession the
bishops have handed down the Church which is found everywhere" [4,33,8]. (p.97).
(23) St. Irenaeus, in his Against Heresies, continues: "The preaching of the Church truly continues
without change and is everywhere the same...That in which we have faith is a firm system directed
to the salvation of men; and since it has been received by the Church, we guard it. Constantly it has its
youth renewed by the Spirit of God, as if it were some precious deposit in an excellent vessel; and it
causes the vessel containing it also to be rejuvenated....In the Church, God has placed apostles, prophets
and doctors, and all the other means through which the Spirit works; in all of which none have any part
who do not conform to the Church. For where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the
Spirit of God, there the Church and every grace"[3,24,1]. (p.94).
(24) St. Irenaeus, again in his Against Heresies: "It is necessary to obey those who are the presbyters
in the Church, those who, as we have shown, have succession from the Apostles; those who have
received, with the succession of the episcopate, the sure chrism of truth according to the good
pleasure of the Father. But of the rest, who have no part in the primitive succession and assemble
wheresoever they will, must be held in suspicion"[4,26,2]. (p.96).
(25) St. Irenaeus, in his Against Heresies, continues: "The blessed Apostles [Peter and Paul], having
founded and built up the Church [of Rome], they handed over the office of the episcopate to Linus.
[Paul makes mention of this Linus in the Epistle to Timothy.] To him succeeded Anencletus; and after
him, in the third place from the Apostles, Clement was chosen for the episcopate. He had seen the
blessed Apostles and was acquainted with them. It might be said that He still heard the echoes of the
preaching of the Apostles, and had their traditions before his eyes. And not only he, for there were still
many remaining who had been instructed by the Apostles.... [After Clement]
Evaristus....Alexander....Then, sixth after the Apostles, Sixtus was appointed....[then] Telesphorus....Then
Hyginus; after him, Pius; and after him, Anicetus. Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth
place after the Apostles, the lot of the episcopate has fallen to Eleutherus. In this order, and by the
teaching of the Apostles handed down in the Church, the preaching of the truth has come down to us.
Polycarp...was also appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna....He always taught those things which he
had learned from the Apostles, and which the Church had handed down..." [3,3,3; 3,3,4]. (p.90). "It is
not necessary to seek among others the truth which is so easily obtained from the Church. For the
Apostles, like a rich man in a bank, deposited with her most copiously everything which pertains to
the truth; and everyone who soever wishes draws from her the drink of life. For she is the entrance to
life....cherishing with the utmost diligence...the tradition of truth"[3,4,1]. (p.90, 91).
(26) Finally, St. Irenaeus, in his Against Heresies, says: "It is possible, then, for everyone in every
Church...to contemplate the tradition of the Apostles which has been made known throughout the
whole world. And we are in a position to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the
Apostles, and their successors to our own times...to whom they handed on their authority"[3,3,1].
(p.89).
(27) The form letter entitled, The Martyrdom of Saint Polycarp (A.D. 155-157), from the Church of
Smyrna to Christians in Philomelium of Phrygiawith opens with these words: "To the Church of God
which sojourns in Philomelium, and to all the dioceses of the holy and Catholic Church in every
place..." In one of his final prayers Polycarp was quoted as remembering "the whole Catholic Church
throughout the world.... " Polycarp, is also described as "an apostolic prophetic teacher, bishop of the
Catholic Church in Smyrna." The letter closes with the affirmation that Jesus Christ is the "Shepherd of
the Catholic Church throughout the world"[The Address; 8:1; 16:2; 19:1]. (p.30,31).
(28) St. Ignatius of Antioch, the third Bishop of Antioch, succeeding St. Evodius, who was the immediate
successor of St. Peter. He is considered an Apostolic Father in that he was a hearer of the Apostle John.
Because the seven letters attributed to him present such a strong case for the hierarchical and monarchical
Church, they have long been questioned by protestant scholars. The genuinity of the letters has now,
however, been long since vindicated by J.B.Lightfoot. Adolph von Harnack, Theodore Zahn, and F.X.
Funk; and their authenticity is now almost universally accepted. In his Letter to the Ephesians, A.D. 110
, he said: "For Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the will of the Father, just as the bishops, who have
been appointed throughout the world, are the will of Jesus Christ...Let us be careful, then, if we
would be submissive to God, not to oppose the bishop....we must look upon the bishop as the Lord
Himself" [3:2; 5:3; 6:1]. (p.17,18).
(29) St. Ignatius of Antioch, in his Letter to the Magnesians, A.D. 110, wrote, "Take care to do all things
in harmony with God, with the bishop presiding in the place of God and with the presbyters in the
place of the council of the Apostles..."[2]. (p.19).
(30) St. Ignatius of Antioch, in his Letter to the Trallians, A.D. 110, wrote," In like manner let everyone
respect the deacons as they would respect Jesus Christ, and just as they respect the bishop as a type of
the Father, and the presbyters as the council of God and college of Apostles. Without these, it
cannot be called a Church....Anyone who acts without the bishop and the presbytery and the deacons
does not have a clean conscience"[3:1; 7:2]. (p.20,21).
(31) St. Ignatius, in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans, A.D. 110, wrote, "You must all follow the bishop as
Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery as you would the Apostles....Wherever the bishop
appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church"[8:1,2].
(p.25).
(32) St. Ignatius, in his Letter to Polycarp, A.D. 110, wrote: "It is proper for men and women who wish
to marry to be united with the consent of the bishop, so that their marriage will be acceptable to the
Lord..."[5:2]. (p.26).
(33) St. Clement of Rome, fourth Pope A.D. 80, in his Letter to the Corinthians said: "The Apostles
received the gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; and Jesus Christ was sent from God. Christ,
therefore, is from God, and the Apostles are from God....They appointed their earliest converts, testing
them by the spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers [42:1, 2,4]....and afterwards added
the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry
[44:2]." Clement continues by saying that this approval must come, not from the local church
congregation, but from "illustrious men" that have the approval or "consent of the whole Church"
[44:3]. (p. 10).
ON THE INFALLIBLE CHURCH
(35) St. Irenaeus, in his Against Heresies, continues: "The preaching of the Church truly continues
without change and is everywhere the same...That in which we have faith is a firm system directed to
the salvation of men; and since it has been received by the Church, we guard it. Constantly it has its
youth renewed by the Spirit of God, as if it were some precious deposit in an excellent vessel; and it
causes the vessel containing it also to be rejuvenated....In the Church, God has placed apostles, prophets
and doctors, and all the other means through which the Spirit works; in all of which none have any part
who do not conform to the Church. ... For where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where
the Spirit of God, there the Church and every grace" [3,24,1]. (p.94).
(36) St. Irenaeus, in his Against Heresies, continues, "It is necessary to obey those who are the
presbyters in the Church, those who, as we have shown, have succession from the Apostles; those who
have received, with the succession of the episcopate, the sure charism of truth according to the good
pleasure of the Father. But of the rest, who have no part in the primitive succession and assemble
wheresoever they will, must be held in suspicion"[4,26,2]. (p.96).
(37) St. Irenaeus, in his Against Heresies, continues: "The blessed Apostles [Peter and Paul], having
founded and built up the Church [of Rome], they handed over the office of the episcopate to Linus. [Paul
makes mention of this Linus in the Epistle to Timothy]. To him succeeded Anencletus; and after him, in
the third place from the Apostles, Clement was chosen for the episcopate. He had seen the blessed
Apostles and was acquainted with them. It might be said that He still heard the echoes of the preaching of
the Apostles, and had their traditions before his eyes. And not only he, for there were still many
remaining who had been instructed by the Apostles.... [After Clement] Evaristus....Alexander....Then, sixth
after the Apostles, Sixtus was appointed....[then] Telesphorus....Then Hyginus; after him, Pius; and after
him, Anicetus. Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place after the Apostles, the lot of the
episcopate has fallen to Eleutherus. In this order, and by the teaching of the Apostles handed down in
the Church, the preaching of the truth has come down to us. Polycarp...was also appointed bishop of
the Church in Smyrna....He always taught those things which he had learned from the Apostles, and
which the Church had handed down..." [3,3,3; 3,3,4]. (p.90). "It is not necessary to seek among others
the truth which is so easily obtained from the Church. For the Apostles, like a rich man in a bank,
deposited with her most copiously everything which pertains to the truth; and everyone who soever
wishes draws from her the drink of life. For she is the entrance to life....cherishing with the utmost
diligence...the tradition of truth"[3,4,1]. (p.90, 91).
ON PETER HELPING TO ESTABLISH THE CHURCH IN ROME
(39) Caius (Gaius), presbyter of Rome wrote a testimony in A.D. 198-217, affirming Peter and Paul's
founding the Church at Rome and their martyrdom in that city. Eusebius [A.D. 275-339] refers to this
testimony in his History of the Church, Bk 2, Ch 25:5-7: "It is recorded that Paul was beheaded in Rome
itself, and that Peter, likewise was crucified, during the reign [of Nero]. The account is confirmed by the
names of Peter and Paul over the cemeteries there, which remain to the present time. And it is confirmed
also by a stalwart man of the Church, Gaius by name, who lived in the time of Zephyrinus, Bishop of
Rome [A.D. 198-217]. This Gaius, in a written disputation [with a certain Montanist]...says this of the
places in which the remains of the afore-mentioned Apostles were deposited: 'I can point out the trophies
of the Apostles. For if you are willing to go to the Vatican or to the Ostian Way, you will find the trophies
of those who founded this Church'"[Disputation With Proclus]. (p.44).
ON THE SUPREMACY OF THE CHURCH AT ROME
(41) Irenaeus, in his Against Heresies, (between A.D. 180-199), says further, in what has been preserved
only in the ancient Latin: "But since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the
successions of all the Churches, we shall...[point] out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest
and most ancient Church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious
Apostles, Peter and Paul, the Church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us
after having been announced to men by the Apostles. For with this Church, because of its superior
origin, all Churches must agree, that is, all of the faithful in the whole world; and it is in her that the
faithful everywhere have maintained the Apostolic tradition" [3,3,2]. (p.90).
(42) In A.D. 110, addressing the Church at Rome St. Ignatius said, "to the Church that has found mercy in
the greatness of the Most High Father and in Jesus Christ, His only Son; to the Church beloved and
enlightened after the love of Jesus Christ, our God...to the Church also which holds the presidency in
the place of the country of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of blessing, worthy of
praise, worthy of success, worthy of sanctification, and, because you hold the presidency of love..."[The
Address] (p.21).
NOTE:
All quotes are taken from The Faith of the Early Fathers, Volume I, by William A. Jurgens, Liturgical Press,
Collegeville, Minnesota. 1970.
Bracketed references at the end of the quotations are locations in the original works cited in The Faith of the Early
Fathers. Page numbers in parenthesis are locations in The Faith... .
|
|