The Apostolic Fathers

162 Pages·2016·1.33 MB·English

by  Simon Tugwell

>
SIMON TUGWELL OP
t 'J
SeriEedsi tor
BrianD avies
IgnatoifuA sn tiocah b,r illainadnp ta ssionmaatret ytrh;ea uthor
oft heD idachae d,o wn-to-ecaarntohln a wyeCrl;e menotf
Romea, s pokesperfsoortn h eC hurcohf Romaen ds eeni n
retrospaesct th et hirPdo pe- thesaer es omeo ft hef igures
examiniendt hissc holabrultay c cessibboloekT .h eyb elontgo
thee raw hent heC hurcwha so nlgyr aduablelgyi nntions gh ape
itosw nc anoonf S criptwuirteah,' NewT estameanstw 'e lals
theo ldJ ewisBhi blTeh.i wsa st hep eriowdh ent hec hurch was
progressifvoremlayl iiztissnt gr uctuarnedis n stituatnido ns
developai cnogn sciousonfei stossw n' orthoddooxc't rine.
SimoTnu gwelglu idetshe r eadecra refualnldiy n telligently
througthh em ajofri guraensdd ebatoefst hikse ya gei nt he
emergenacned s preaodfC hristianity.
SimonT ugwelli sa membero ft heD ominicHains torical
Institauntdle i vaetst heA ngeliciunmR ome.
PrinteGdr eiaBntr itain
ISBN0 -8264-5771-1
>
THEA POSTOLIFCA THERS
OUTSTANDINCGf/ RJSTIATNfi/ NKERS
SeriEedsi toBrr:i aDna vieOsP ,P rofesosfoP rh ilosoapthF yo rdham
UniversNietwy Y,o rk.
Cappadocians HansU rsv onB althasar
AnthonMye rediStJh JohnO 'DonneSlJl
Augustine TeresoafA v iai
MaryT. ClarRkS CJ ArchbishRoopw anW illiams
CatherionfeS iena Bultmann
Giuliana CaOvPa llini DaviFde rgusson
Kierkegaard KarlB arth
JuliWaa tkin JohnW ebster
Lonergan Aquinas
FrederRiocwke S J BriaDna vieOsP
ReinhoNled ihuhr PaulT illich
KennetDhu rkin JohnH eywooTdh omas
VenerabBleed c KarlR aimer
BenedicWtaar dS LG WilliYam.D ychS J
ApostolFiact hers Anselm
SimonT ugwelOlP G.R .E vans
Denyst heA reopagite
AndreLwo uth
THEA POSTOLIC
FATHERS
SimoTnu gwelOlP
Continuum
TheT oweBru ildiInIgY .o rkR oadL.o ndoSnE I7 NX
370L exingAtvoenn uNee.w YorkN.Y .1 0017-6503
www.continuumbooks.com
<nS imoTnu b'WeOlPl 1 989
Allri ghtrse servNeod p.a rotft hipsu blicamtaiyob ne
reproduocret dra nsmititnea dn yf oromr b ya nym eans,
electroornm iecc haniicnacll udpihnogt ocopying.
recordoirna gn yi nfommtsitoonr aogrre e triesvyasl tem.
withopurti opre rmissiionwn ri tinfgr otmh ep ublishers.
Firpsutb lis1h9e8d9
Re-iss2u0e0dI
Britilsihb raCrya taloguing-in-PDuabtlai cation
A catalorgeuceo frdot rh ibso oki sa vailafbrloeTm h eB ritiLsihb rary
ISBN0 82645 771I
TypesbeytY HT LtdL.o ndon
PrintaenddB oundi nG reaBtr itabiyn
BiddiLetsd G.u ildfaonrddK ing'Lsyn n
Cotnents
Editofroiraelw ord vii
Preafce viii
Bibliography xi
Abbreviations xii
1 TheD idaec h
2 TheL ettoefBr a rnabas 21
3 Herma1sT: h eV isions 47
4 Herm2a:s TChoem mandmeanntdtsh Pe a rables 65
5 ClemeonfRt o me 89
6 IgnatoifAu nst ioch 140
7 Polcyarp 192
8 The' eSconLde tteCrl eomfe nt' 163
v

EditorFioarle word
StA nselmo f Canterbu(r1y 033-1o1n0ce9d )es cribheidm selafs
someone withs efeakiitnuhgn d erstandIinwn ogr.d asd dressteoGd o d
hes ays· Il ongto u nderstainns do me degreter utthwhyh. i chmy heart
believaensdl ovesf.or Id on ots eekt ou ndersttahnadIt m ayb elieve,
butb elieivneo rdetro u nderstand.·
Thisi sw hatC hristihaanvsea lwayisn evitasbaliyde .i theexrp licitly
or implic.i Cthlryistiarneisttyos n faithbu.t i ta lsoh asc ontent.
Itt eachaensd p roclaiam dsi stincatnidvc eh allengviinegwo fr eality.
Itn aturalelnyc ouragreesf lectIitoi ns.s omethintgo t hinakb out;
somethianbgo uwth icho nem ighetv enh aves econtdh oughts.
Butw hath avet heg reateCshtr isttihainn kesrasi dA?n di si tw orth
sayingD?o esi te ngagwei thm odern problemDso?e si tp rovidues
witha visiotnol ivbey ?D oesi tm akes enseC?a ni tb ep reacheIdsi? t
believable?
TheO utstandCihnrgi stTihainn kesresr iiesso fferteodr eadewrist h
questiolniskt eh esien m indI.t a imst op rovicdlee aaru,t horitaatnidv e
critiaccaclo unotfso utstandCihnrgi stian wfrriotmNe erws T estament
timetso t hep resenIttr. a nges actrhoefs usl slp ectruomfC hristian
thougthoti ncluCdaet holaincd Protestant thinkferrosmE, a stth inkers
andW estt,h inkers anmceideinate,va anld m odern.
Thes eridersa wso n theb esstc holarschuirpr enatvlayi labsloei ,t
wililn teraelswlti tha professicoonnacle rnf ort heh istoorfyC hristian
ideaBsu.t c ontribuatlosrwosr itfeor g enerraela dewrhso h avel ittolre
no previokunso wledgoeft hes ubjecttosb ed ealwti thI.t sv olumes
shoultdh erefoprreo veh elpfautla populaars w ella sa n academic
levelF.o rt hem ostp artt heya red evotetdo a singlteh inkebru,t
occasiontahlels yu bjeicsta movemenotr s chooolft hought.
BriaDna viOePs
vii
Prfecae
Ifwe w erteoo rganwiizteth,h h ee lopft ime-macahnidsn ceise nce
fictais oynm,p osaitwu hmi Cchhr istthikiaennrf sr oemv eargywe e re
givaenno pportutnopi rteys tehnetci hra ractdeorcitsrtiiintice s s ,
lilkyte hatth Aep ostoFlaithcwe orsu lmdo stfleyer la thoeurto f
placIefb. y' thkienrwse'a re gtooim negao nn lpye opwlheoh ave
dilsapytehde iinrt ellpercotwueiasntls h d ee ewpa teorfss p eculative
theolaongdpy h ilostohpehmnyo ,sot ft hAep ostFoaltihcse hrosu ld
nohta vbee einn vittooe udsr y mposiintu hmfe i rpslta cBeu.ti ,na
morgee neruonudse rstaonftd hien gw, o rtdhiesgr oeo rde astoon
recogtnhiAezp eo stFoaltihcae srs si gfniicaCnhtr istthiiannk ers.
Thew ritwehrosmw en owk noaws ' thAep ostFoaltihce wresr'e
firrsotu nduepad n lda bellilkeedi ntt hhleia sst eev entceeennttuhr y,
followai pnigo neeerdiintgoi foB na rnabHaesr,m aCsl,e ment,
IgnatainudPs o lycbayrt ph e FrsecnhcohJl .a r B. Cwohtoe lier,
dubbtehde 'maF thersf lwohuor iisnth hetedi moeft haep os'tl.e s
Therhea isn f acbte emnu cshc holcaornltyr oavset rohs oywm any
oft he,mi afn yd,i d acftoluuarliilsntyh h tei moeft haep ostbluets ,
fews cholwaoruslj dia btt hcel atihma atlt lh wer itiansgsse mbled
undetrh ihse adidnoag ta nyr atfea lwli thtihnfe i r1s02ty eaorfs
ChrishtiisatnTo hrayit.ts o s ayt,h ebye lotnotg h e period when the
Chriscthiuarnwc ahss trugtgolu inndge rsittaosnw dni denatnidt y
tod efindei sictttisnn efsrso m Jtuhdea iwshmi chha de nfolded its
birTthhe.by e lotnotg h e pewrhietnoh de chwuarsoc nhlg yr adually
begintnois nhga pieto sw nc anoonfS criptwuirtaeh' , Ne wT esta­
menta'sw elalst hoel Jde wiBsihb lTeh.eb ye lotnogt hpee riod
whetnh ceh urwcahsp rogresfsoirvmeallyii tzssit nrgu ctaunrde s
institaunt,di uonndse prr essfurroem vamroivoeumse natnsd
ideolqoguiiecdski lgayn osaes'd e hret'id,ce avleloapc ionngs cious­
nesosfi tosw n' rothoddooxc't rine.
viii