History: 1st-5th Centuries

• The Apostle Paul was one of the most influential leaders of the early Christian church
• He played a crucial role in spreading the gospel to the Gentiles (non-Jews) during the first century, and his missionary journeys took him all throughout the Roman empire.
• Paul started more than a dozen churches, and he’s traditionally considered the author of 13 books of the Bible, more than any other biblical writer
• For this reason, Saint Paul is often considered one of the most influential people in history
• He had a greater impact on the world’s religious landscape than any other person for the Gospel of Christ
• You can find details of his missionary journeys in the book of "Acts" 
• The Bible doesn’t tell us how Paul died, but numerous early church fathers wrote that he was martyred, specifically he was beheaded, by emperor Nero, which would mean it had to be sometime before 68 AD
• Clement of Rome provided the earliest surviving record of Paul’s death in his letter to the Corinthians (known as 1 Clement), where he mentions that Paul and Peter were martyred

• Clement of Rome was the first Apostolic Father of the church, a title given to Christian leaders who personally knew the Apostles
• He was also one of the earliest popes from 88-100 AD
• Tradition holds that Clement of Rome is the same Clement who Paul mentions in Philippians 4:3.  
• As the church grew in Rome, Clement developed into one of its most notable leaders, and as the apostles were martyred, Clement encouraged the church to trust in the leadership the apostles helped establish
• We get a sense of the perspectives, decisions, and behaviors that shaped the church as the apostles were giving way to new leaders, and we see how their teachings were expressed in the life of the church
• Clement references Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, 1 Corinthians, Matthew, and Luke showing the authority in Scripture already being circulated
• 'The Acta Martyrii Clementis',  tells us that after Clement of Rome converted more than 400 noteworthy people
• Emperor Trajan banished him to a prison in Chersonesus, then the Romans tied an anchor around his neck and threw him into the Black Sea. 

Writings:  1 Clement (to the Corinthians); 2 Clement (an ancient Christian sermon); Other writings claimed his name but not likely from this Clement of Rome.

• Ignatius was born in Syria and converted to Christianity at a young age
• Tradition identifies Ignatius as a disciples of John the Apostle
• He was chosen to serve as the Bishop of Antioch
• Theodoret of Cyrrhus claimed that St. Peter himself left directions that Ignatius be appointed to the episcopal see of Antioch
• Ignatius called himself 'Theophorus' (God Bearer)
• A tradition arose that he was one of the children whom Jesus Christ took in his arms and blessed. 
• Ignatius’s great concern was for the unity and order of the Church
• Even greater was his willingness to suffer martyrdom rather than deny his Lord Jesus Christ
• He knew the price of commitment and would not deny Christ 
• In the year 107, Emperor Trajan visited Antioch and forced the Christians there to choose between death and apostasy
• He would not deny Christ and was condemned to be put to death in Rome
• He was transferred to Rome at the request of the emperor in order to provide entertainment to the masses by being killed in the Colosseum
• Ignatius bravely met the lions in the Circus Maximus

Writings:  7 Letters; to (1) the Ephesians (2) the Magnesians (3) the Trallians (4) Romans (5) the Philadelphians (6) the Smyrnaeans (7) Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna

• Polycarp lived during the end of the age of the original apostles
• Tradition has it that he was personally discipled by the Apostle John
• He was appointed as bishop of Smyrna by some of the original apostles
• He confronted one of the church's most troublesome heretics, the Gnostic Marcion, calling him "the first born of Satan," when he ran into him in Rome
• Polycarp was also responsible for converting many from Gnosticism
• He had been a Christian since he was a child, but the Romans didn't get around to killing him until he was in his eighties
• While in prayer, he received some sort of vision, he reported to his friends that he now understood, "I must be burned alive" 
• While interrogated, Polycarp told Quadratus that while the proconsul's fire lasts but a little while, the fires of judgment ("reserved for the ungodly," he slyly added) cannot be quenched.
• Soldiers then grabbed him to nail him to a stake, but Polycarp stopped them: "Leave me as I am. For he who grants me to endure the fire will enable me also to remain on the pyre unmoved." He prayed aloud, the fire was lit, and his flesh was consumed. 
• The chronicler of this martyrdom said it was "not as burning flesh but as bread baking or as gold and silver refined in a furnace." The account concluded by saying that Polycarp's death was remembered by "everyone"—"he is even spoken of by the heathen in every place."

Writings:  The Letter to the Philippians; Note: The Martyrdom of Polycarp, written by eyewitnesses

• Hermas was a well-to-do freedman (sometimes identified as a former slave) and earnest Christian, who lived in Ancient Rome
• He was a brother of Pius, Bishop of Rome about the middle of the 2nd century
• Romans 16:14 is one verse found toward the end of the Epistle that contains the names of various Christians (one being Hermas) who were living in Rome when Paul wrote the letter (approximately AD 56–58)
•  Sources insist that this Hermas is the same who wrote 'The Shepherd of Hermas', an ancient Christian writing that was read and appreciated by many in the early Church but did not make it into the finalized form of the Bible 

Writing: 'The Shepherd of Hermas' - A writing that survived from the post-apostolic period, widely popular in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It stands as an important witness to the state of Christianity in Rome in the mid-2nd century.  It reflects the efforts of it's author(s) to deal with questions and issues such as post-baptismal sin and repentance, and the behavior of the rich and their relationship to the poor within the church. 

• The successful preaching of Christianity at Antioch to non-Jews led the church at Jerusalem to send Barnabas (nickname: Son of Encouragement) there to oversee the movement (Acts 11:20-22). 
• He found the work so extensive and weighty that he went to Tarsus in search of Paul, "an admirable colleague", to assist him. 
• Paul returned with him to Antioch and labored with him for a whole year (Acts 11:25-26). At the end of this period, the two were sent up to Jerusalem (44 AD) with contributions from the church at Antioch for the relief of the poorer Christians in Judea. 
• You can find more details of the missionary journeys of Paul and Barnabas in the book of "Acts"
• Church tradition describes the martyrdom of Barnabas. It relates that certain Jews coming to Syria and Salamis, where Barnabas was then preaching the gospel, being highly exasperated at his extraordinary success, fell upon him as he was disputing in the synagogue, dragged him out, and, after the most inhumane tortures, stoned him to death. 
• Although it is believed he was martyred by being stoned, the apocryphal Acts of Barnabas states that he was bound with a rope by the neck, and then being dragged only to the site where he would be burned to death.

Writing:  The Epistle of Barnabas

• Little is known about the life and death of Papias other than he was the bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor
• He recorded details regarding Jesus and the apostles in five books entitled 'Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord', Unfortunately, Papias’s books are now lost except for some excerpts found in the 2nd and 3rd century writings of Eusebius and Irenaeus.
• Papias wrote for the stated purpose of presenting an accurate record of the teaching and works of the apostles, as reported to him by “John the Elder"
• Irenaeus assumes this to be the Apostle John but Eusebius disagrees.
• It is from Papias that we learn that Mark’s gospel is based on the preaching of Peter
• He states that Matthew originally composed his gospel in Hebrew (which at the time could refer either to Hebrew as we know it or to Aramaic, a Semitic language spoken in Israel at the time of Christ)
• Papias also states that Judas Iscariot did not die from the actual hanging but from his fall when he was cut down and burst open upon hitting the ground. In this way Papias harmonizes Matthew 27:5 and Acts 1:8.
• Although Irenaeus and Eusebius disagree on some of the finer points of interpretation in Papias, neither one disputes the essential teaching about Christ as preached by the apostles
• This gives further evidence that, from the earliest days of Christianity, the risen Jesus was worshiped as God in the flesh.

Writings:  Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord (lost); The Fragments of Papias (only fragments of his letters)

• Justin Martyr was an early Church Father and Apologist who began his career as a philosopher
• When he discovered Christianity, he pursued it so zealously that it led to his execution (Justin "Martyr")    
• When Justin was about 30 years old, he encountered a man that spoke to him about Jesus Christ, and how Christ was the fulfillment promised by the Hebrew prophets. "A fire was suddenly kindled in my soul," Justin said later. "I fell in love with the prophets and these men who had loved Christ"
• He believed Plato and other Greek philosophers stole many of their theories from the Bible, but since the Bible came from God, Christianity was the "true philosophy" and became a belief worth dying for.
• Justin engaged in a public debate in Rome with two philosophers, legend has it that Justin defeated them in their contest, and stinging from their loss, they reported Justin and six of his students to Rusticus, the prefect of Rome.
• Rusticus questioned Justin and the others about their beliefs. Justin gave a short summary of Christian doctrine and the others all confessed to being Christians. 
• Rusticus then ordered them to offer sacrifices to the Roman gods, and they refused. Rusticus commanded them to be scourged and beheaded. 
• Justin said, “Through prayer we can be saved on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, even when we have been punished, because this shall become to us salvation and confidence at the more fearful and universal judgment seat of our Lord and Savior.”

Writings:  First Apology; Second Apology; Dialogue with Trypho

• The Didache (meaning “Teaching”) is the short name of a Christian manual compiled before 300 AD
• The full title is 'The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles'
• Some Christians thought Didache was inspired, but the church rejected it when making the final decision which books to include in the New Testament
• Didache contained instructions for Christian groups; and its statement of belief may be the first written catechism
• It has four parts: the first is the “Two Ways, the Way of Life and the Way of Death;” the second explains how to perform rituals such as baptism, fasting, and Communion; the third covers ministry and how to deal with traveling teachers; the fourth part is a reminder that Jesus is coming again, with quotations from several New Testament passages which exhort Christians to live godly lives and prepare for “that day.”

Sections:  Baptism / Prayer and Fasting / The Eucharist / Teachers, Apostles and Prophets / Sunday Worship / Church Leaders / Wrongdoers and Doing Right / The End Times