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The Apostolic Christians, as the followers of Jesus and Barnabas came to be known, produced a number of scholars and saints whose piety and learning is respected and admired even today., Apostolic, or, as it is generally known, Antiochene, exegesis of the Scriptures was historical, and, unlike what is now the orthodox approach , looked not for a hidden allegorical meaning in the text ,but accepted the plain meaning of the words spoken by the inspired prophet. They were also critical of holding some parts of the Bible to be of more value than the others. They insisted on the One-ness of God and abhorred any dogma which to the slightest degree savoured of tri-theism. They emphasised the historical Jesus and avoided the use of the term "Son" when talking of him. They endeavoured to live as Jesus had lived and to behave as he had behaved . Many of them lived in North Africa. Some of the most important of these followers of the followers of Jesus were:
Iranaeus (130 - 200 A. D)
By the time Iranaeus was born, the Antiochene Christianity had spread right
across North Africa and up into Spain and the South of France. Mention is first
made of him carrying a petition of behalf of Pothinus, the Bishop of Lyons, to
Pope Elutherus in Rome. In this petition , a request was made to the Pope to
stop the persecution of Christians who did not agree with the doctrine of the
Pauline Church. Iranaeus was still in Rome when he heard that all the dissenting
Christians, including Bishop Pothinus had been killed. On this return, Iranaeus
succeeded Pothinus as Bishop of Lyons.
In 190 A. D. he himself wrote to Pope Victor to stop the massacre of Christians
who were being killed solely for their differences in belief. The story was
again repeated and he himself was murdered in 200 A. D. for espousing the
cause of Christians who did not follow the Pope.
Iranaeus believed in One God and supported the doctrine of the manhood of Jesus.
He bitterly criticised Paul for being responsible for injecting the doctrines of
the pagan religions and Platonic philosophy into Christianity. Iranaeus quoted extensively
from the Gospel of Barnabas. It was after reading the writings of Iranaeus what
fra Marino became interested in this Gospel, which in turn led to his discovery
of the Italian manuscript of the Gospel of Barnabas in the Papal library.
Tertullian (160 - 220 A. D)
Tertullian belonged to the African Church. He was a native of Carhtage. He
believed in the Unity of God and identified Jesus with Jewish Messiah. He
opposed Pope Callistus for teaching that capital sin was forgiven after doing
canonical penance. He stressed the unity of the heart with existence.
He wrote : "Common people think of Christ as a man"
It was he who introduced the term "trinitas" into Latin ecclesiastical
writings when discussing this strange new doctrine, The term trinity is
not once used in the inspired Scriptures.
Origen (185-254 A. D)
Origen was an Egyptian by birth. Perhaps he was born in Alexandria. His father ,
Leonidas, founded a centre of learning and appointed the famous theologian
Clement as its head. Origen received his education here. The Pauline Church did
not approve of the beliefs held by Leonidas, who followed Apostolic Christianity
and refused to accept the interpretations and innovations of Paul.
He was murdered in 208 A. D. Origen was so affected by this event that he too
wish to offer himself as a martyr, but was prevented from doing so by his
mother.
His teacher, Clement , finding his life to be in danger, fled from Alexandria.
His father was dead, his teacher had gone, and Origen felt obliged to stop into
the breach. As the new head of the school, he soon acquired a reputation for
learning and courage, Owing to his piety and excessive zeal, he mutilated
himself, following the words of Mathew 19 : 12 :
There are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb : and there area some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men : and there be eunuchs , which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that able to receive it, let him receive it.
In 230 A. D he was ordained a priest in Palestine, but Bishop Demerius deposed
and exiled him. He found refuge in Caesarea in 231 A. D. Following the
example of his father, he started a centre of learning in Caesarea and his school
also became very famous.
Jerome , the author of the famous Vulgate Bible , the first Latin translation of
the Greek Bible, supported Origen to begin with, but later began to believe in
the doctrine of Trinity and became his enemy. Jerome had tried to have Origen condemned
by the Church ,but because of Origen's popularity, Bishop John did not dare to
do so. In fact, Jerome himself was exiled . However , Jerome succeeded in 250 A.
D. Origen was condemned by the Council of Alexandria. He was put in prison
and subjected to a prolonged torture which resulted in his death in 254 A. D.
The reason given for his imprisonment was that he rejected the doctrine of
Trinity and preached the unity of God. He believed that God was supreme and that
Jesus was not equal to Him, but was His slave.
Origen wrote about six hundred tracts and treatises. He has been described as
"one of the most appealing characters in Church History". From his
youth to his last hour, he showed an uncommon fearlessness. He was conscientious and
patient. He had all the qualities of a true teacher and those whom he taught
loved him. His power of discrimination, creative energy and catholicity of
knowledge were almost unparalleled among the Christians.
Diodorus
Diodorus was a Bishop of Tarsus. He is regarded as one of the
most important leaders of the Antiochene branch of Christianity.
He had that the world is subject to change, but that the change itself
is a condition which implies a beginning and requires one to assume that there
is a constancy behind it. Moreover, the variety of
existence and the wisdom displayed in the very process of change itself points
to the underlying unity of origin and shows the presence of a Creator and a
Providence. There could only be one such Creator.
Diodorus emphasised the complete manhood of Jesus who had a human soul and
human flesh.
Lucian (Died in 312 A. D)
Lucian's reputation for fear of God was no less than his fame as
man of learning . He had knowledge of both Hebrew and Greek. He remained outside
the communion of the Church from 220 to 290 A. D. His purity and profound
knowledge attracted a large number of people and soon his school became a
nursery of what later became known as Arian doctrine. Arius was one of his
pupils.
Lucian believed in the grammatical and literal exegesis
of the Scriptures. He opposes the tendency to look for symbolic and
allegorical meanings in them and believe in an empirical and critical approach
to them. The existence of this controversy demonstrates the fact that by now
people were beginning to rely more and more on the Scriptures and less and less
on the oral transmission of what Jesus had taught. It is an indication of how
quickly the teaching of Jesus in its totality was lost.
Lucian was a great scholar. He revised the Septuagent . He
eliminated many of the changes which had been made to some of the Gospels when
they were translated into Greek , and produced the four Gospel which, according
to him, were true Gospels. These Gospel commonly accepted by the Pauline Church
today.
He believed that Jesus was not equal to God and that he was subordinate to Him
.It was for this that he incurred the enmity of the Pauline Church, and after
many tortures he was put to death in 312 A. D.
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