BOOK III.
CHAPTER XXII-XXIX.
CHAPTER XXII- IGNATIUS, THE SECOND BISHOP OF ANTIOCH.
At this time Ignatius was known as the second Bishop of Antioch, Evodius having
been the first.
Simeon, likewise, was at that time the second ruler of the Church of Jerusalem,
the brother of our Savior, having been the first.
CHAPTER XXIII.
NARRATIVE CONCERNING JOHN THE APOSTLE.
At that time the apostle and evangelist John, the one whom Jesus loved,
was still living in Asia, and governing the churches of that region, having
returned after the death of Domitian from his exile on the island.
And that he was still alive at that time may be established by the testimony of two
witnesses.
They should be trustworthy who have maintained the orthodoxy of the Church,
and such indeed were Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria.
The former, in the second book of his work Against Heresies, writes as follows,
And all the elders that associated with John the disciple of the Lord in Asia bear
witness that John delivered it to them, for he remained among them until the time
of Trajan.
And in the third book of the same work he attests the same thing in the following
words, But the church in Ephesus also, which was founded by Paul, and where John
remained until the time of Trajan, is a faithful witness of the apostolic
tradition.
Clement, likewise in his book entitled What Rich Man Can Be Saved, indicates the
time, and subjoins a narrative which is most attractive to those that enjoy
hearing what is beautiful and profitable.
Take and read the account which runs as follows.
Listen to a tale, which is not a mere tale, but a narrative concerning John the
Apostle, which has been handed down and treasured up in memory.
For when, after the tyrant's death, he returned from the isle of Patmos to
Ephesus, he went away upon their invitation to the neighboring territories
of the Gentiles, to appoint bishops in some places, in other places to set in
order whole churches, elsewhere to choose to the ministry some one of those that
were pointed out by the Spirit.
When he had come to one of the cities not far away, the name of which is given by
some, and had consoled the brethren in other matters, he finally turned to the
bishop that had been appointed, and seeing a youth of powerful physique,
of pleasing appearance, and of ardent temperament, he said, This one I commit to
thee in all earnestness in the presence of the church and with Christ as witness.
And when the bishop had accepted the charge and had promised all, he repeated
the same injunction with an appeal to the same witnesses, and then departed for
Ephesus.
But the presbyter, taking home the youth committed to him, reared, kept,
cherished, and finally baptized him.
After this, he relaxed his stricter care and watchfulness, with the idea that in
putting upon him the seal of the Lord he had given him a perfect protection.
But some youths of his own age, idle and dissolute, and accustomed to evil
practices, corrupted him when he was thus prematurely freed from restraint.
At first they enticed him by costly entertainments.
Then, when they went forth at night for robbery, they took him with them,
and finally they demanded that he should unite with them in some greater crime.
He gradually became accustomed to such practices, and on account of the
positiveness of his character, leaving the right path, and taking the bit
in his teeth like a hard-mouthed and powerful horse, he rushed the more
violently down into the depths.
And finally despairing of salvation in God, he no longer meditated what was
insignificant, but having committed some great crime, since he was now lost once
for all, he expected to suffer a like fate with the rest.
Taking them, therefore, and forming a band of robbers, he became a bold bandit chief,
the most violent, most bloody, most cruel of them all.
Time passed, and some necessity having arisen, they sent for John.
But he, when he had set in order the other matters on account of which he had come,
said, Come, O Bishop, restore us the deposit which both I and Christ committed
to thee, the church over which thou presidest being witness.
But the bishop was at first confounded, thinking that he was falsely charged in
regard to money which he had not received, and he could neither believe the
accusation respecting what he had not, nor could he disbelieve John.
But when he said, I demand the young man and the soul of the brother, the old man,
groaning deeply and at the same time bursting into tears, said, He is dead.
How, and what kind of death?
He is dead to God, he said, for he turned wicked and abandoned, and at last a
robber.
And now, instead of the church, he haunts the mountain with a band like
himself.
But the apostle, rent his clothes, and beating his head with great
lamentation, he said, A fine guard I left for a brother's soul, but let a horse be
brought me, and let someone show me the way.
He rode away from the church just as he was, and coming to the place, he was taken
prisoner by the robber's outpost.
He, however, neither fled nor made entreaty, but cried out, For this did I
come, lead me to your captain.
The latter, meanwhile, was waiting, armed as he was.
But when he recognized John approaching, he turned in shame to flee.
But John, forgetting his age, pursued him with all his might, crying out,
Why, my son, dost thou flee from me, thine own father, unarmed, aged?
Pity me, my son, fear not.
Thou hast still hope of life.
I will give account to Christ for thee.
If need be, I will willingly endure thy death as the Lord suffered death for us.
For thee will I give up my life.
Stand, believe, Christ hath sent me.
And he, when he heard, first stopped and looked down.
Then he threw away his arms, and then trembled and wept bitterly.
And when the old man approached, he embraced him, making confession with
lamentations as he was able, baptizing himself a second time with tears,
and concealing only his right hand.
But John, pledging himself and assuring him on oath that he would find forgiveness
with the Savior, besought him, fell upon his knees, kissed his right hand
itself as if now purified by repentance, and led him back to the church.
And making intercession for him with copious prayers, and struggling together
with him in continual fastings, and subduing his mind by various
utterances, he did not depart, as they say, until he had restored him to
the church, furnishing a great example of true repentance and a great proof of
regeneration, a trophy of a visible resurrection.
Chapter 24.
The Order of the Gospels.
This extract from Clement I have inserted here for the sake of the history and for
the benefit of my readers.
Let us now point out the undisputed writings of this apostle.
And in the first place his gospel, which is known to all the churches under
heaven, must be acknowledged as genuine, that it has with good reason been put by
the ancients in the fourth place, after the other three gospels,
may be made evident in the following way.
Those great and truly divine men, I mean the apostles of Christ,
were purified in their life and were adorned with every virtue of the soul,
but were uncultivated in speech.
They were confident indeed in their trust in the divine and wonder-working power
which was granted unto them by the Savior, but they did not know how, nor did they
attempt to proclaim the doctrines of their Teacher in studied and artistic language,
but employing only the demonstration of the divine Spirit, which worked with them,
and the wonder-working power of Christ, which was displayed through them,
they published the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven throughout the whole
world, paying little attention to the composition of written works.
And this they did because they were assisted in their ministry by one greater
than man.
Paul, for instance, who surpassed them all in vigor of expression and in richness of
thought, committed to writing no more than the briefest epistles, although he had
innumerable mysterious matters to communicate, for he had attained even unto
the sights of the third heaven, had been carried to the very paradise of
God, and had been deemed worthy to hear unspeakable utterances there.
And the rest of the followers of our Savior, the twelve apostles, the seventy
disciples, and countless others besides, were not ignorant of these things.
Nevertheless, of all the disciples of the Lord, only Matthew and John have left us
written memorials, and they, tradition says, were led to write only under the
pressure of necessity.
For Matthew, who had at first preached to the Hebrews, when he was about to go to
other peoples, committed his gospel to writing in his native tongue, and thus
compensated those whom he was obliged to leave for the loss of his presence.
And when Mark and Luke had already published their gospels, they say that
John, who had employed all his time in proclaiming the gospel orally,
finally proceeded to write for the following reason.
The three gospels already mentioned having come into the hands of all and into his
own too, they say he accepted them and bore witness to their truthfulness,
but that there was lacking in them an account of the deeds done by Christ at the
beginning of his ministry.
And this indeed is true, for it is evident that the three evangelists recorded only
the deeds done by the Savior for one year after the imprisonment of John the
Baptist, and indicated this in the beginning of their account.
For Matthew, after the forty days fast and the temptation which followed it,
indicates the chronology of his work when he says, Now when he heard that John was
delivered up, he withdrew from Judea into Galilee.
Mark likewise says, Now after that John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee.
And Luke, before commencing his account of the deeds of Jesus, similarly marks the
time when he says that Herod, adding to all the evil deeds which he had done,
shut up John in prison.
They say, therefore, that the Apostle John, being asked to do it for this
reason, gave in his gospel an account of the period which had been omitted by the
earlier evangelists, and of the deeds done by the Savior during that period,
that is, of those which were done before the imprisonment of the Baptist.
And this is indicated by him, they say, in the following words, This beginning of
miracles did Jesus.
And again, when he refers to the Baptist in the midst of the deeds of Jesus,
as still baptizing in Enon near Salim, when he states the matter clearly in the
words, For John was not yet cast into prison.
John accordingly, in his gospel, records the deeds of Christ which were
performed before the Baptist was cast into prison, but the other three evangelists
mention the events which happened after that time.
One who understands this can no longer think that the gospels are at variance
with one another, inasmuch as the gospel according to John contains the first acts
of Christ, while the others give an account of the latter part of his life.
And the genealogy of our Savior according to the flesh John quite naturally omitted,
because it had been already given by Matthew and Luke, and began with the
doctrine of his divinity, which had, as it were, been reserved for him as their
superior by the divine spirit.
These things may suffice which we have said concerning the gospel of John.
The cause which led to the composition of the gospel of Mark has been already stated
by us.
But as for Luke, in the beginning of his gospel, he states himself the reasons
which led him to write it.
He states that since many others had more rashly undertaken to compose a narrative
of the events of which he had acquired perfect knowledge, he himself,
feeling the necessity of freeing us from their uncertain questions, delivered in
his own gospel an accurate account of those events in regard to which he had
learned the full truth, being aided by his intimacy and his stay with Paul,
and by his acquaintance with the rest of the apostles.
So much for our own account of these things.
But in a more fitting place, we shall attempt to show by quotations from the
ancients what others have said concerning them.
But of the writings of John, not only his gospel, but also the former of his
epistles, has been accepted without dispute both now and in ancient times,
but the other two are disputed.
In regard to the Apocalypse, the opinions of most men are still divided.
But at the proper time, this question likewise shall be decided from the
testimony of the ancients.
Since we are dealing with this subject, it is proper to sum up the writings of the
New Testament which have been already mentioned.
First then must be put the Holy Quaternion of the Gospels, following them with the
Acts of the Apostles.
After this must be reckoned the Epistles of Paul.
Next in order, the extant former Epistle of John, and likewise the Epistle of
Peter, must be maintained.
After them is to be placed, if it really seem proper, the Apocalypse of John,
concerning which we shall give the different opinions at the proper time.
These then belong among the accepted writings.
Among the disputed writings, which are nevertheless recognized by many,
are extant the so-called Epistle of James, and that of Jude, also the second Epistle
of Peter, and those that are called the second and third of John, whether they
belong to the evangelist or to another person of the same name.
Among the rejected writings must be reckoned also the Acts of Paul,
and the so-called Shepherd, and the Apocalypse of Peter, and in addition to
these the extant Epistle of Barnabas, and the so-called Teachings of the
Apostles, and besides, as I said, the Apocalypse of John, if it seem proper,
which some, as I said, reject, but which others class with the accepted
books.
And among these some have placed also the Gospel according to the Hebrews,
with which those of the Hebrews that have accepted Christ are especially delighted,
and all these may be reckoned among the disputed books.
But we have nevertheless felt compelled to give a catalogue of these also,
distinguishing those works which according to ecclesiastical tradition are true and
genuine and commonly accepted, from those others which, although not
canonical but disputed, are yet at the same time known to most ecclesiastical
writers.
We have felt compelled to give this catalogue in order that we might be able
to know both these works and those that are cited by the heretics under the name
of the Apostles, including, for instance, such books as the Gospels of Peter,
of Thomas, of Matthias, or of any others besides them, and the Acts of Andrew and
John, and the other Apostles, which no one belonging to the succession of
ecclesiastical writers has deemed worthy of mention in his writings.
And further, the character of the style is at variance with apostolic usage,
and both the thoughts and the purpose of the things that are related in them are so
completely out of accord with true orthodoxy that they clearly show
themselves to be the fictions of heretics.
Wherefore they are not to be placed even among the rejected writings, but are all
of them to be cast aside as absurd and impious.
Let us now proceed with our history.
Menander, who succeeded Simon Magus, showed himself in his conduct another
instrument of diabolical power, not inferior to the former.
He also was a Samaritan, and carried his sorceries to no less an extent than his
teacher had done, and at the same time reveled in still more marvelous tales than
he.
For he said that he was himself the Savior, who had been sent down from
invisible eons for the salvation of men, and he taught that no one could gain the
mastery over the world creating angels themselves unless he had first gone
through the magical discipline imparted by him and had received baptism from him.
Those who were deemed worthy of this would partake even in the present life of
perpetual immortality and would never die, but would remain here forever,
and without growing old, become immortal.
These facts can be easily learned from the works of Irenaeus.
And Justin, in the passage in which he mentions Simon, gives an account of this
man also, in the following words.
And we know that a certain Menander, who was also a Samaritan from the village
of Keparatea, was a disciple of Simon, and that he also, being driven by the
demons, came to Antioch and deceived many by his magical art.
And he persuaded his followers that they should not die, and there are still some
of them that assert this.
And it was indeed an artifice of the devil to endeavor, by means of such sorcerers,
who assumed the name of Christians, to defame the great mystery of godliness
by magic art, and through them to make ridiculous the doctrines of the Church
concerning the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead.
But they that have chosen these men as their saviors have fallen away from the
true hope.
Chapter 27.
The Heresy of the Ebionites.
The evil demon, however, being unable to tear certain others from their allegiance
to the Christ of God, yet found them susceptible in a different direction,
and so brought them over to his own purposes.
The ancients quite properly called these men Ebionites, because they held poor and
mean opinions concerning Christ.
For they considered him a plain and common man, who was justified only because of his
superior virtue, and who was the fruit of the intercourse of a man with Mary.
In their opinion, the observance of the ceremonial law was altogether necessary,
on the ground that they could not be saved by faith in Christ alone and by a
corresponding life.
There were others, however, besides them, that were of the same name, but avoided
the strange and absurd beliefs of the former, and did not deny that the Lord was
born of a virgin and of the Holy Spirit.
But nevertheless, inasmuch as they also refused to acknowledge that he preexisted,
being God, Word, and Wisdom, they turned aside into the impiety of the former,
especially when they, like them, endeavored to observe strictly the bodily
worship of the law.
These men, moreover, thought that it was necessary to reject all the epistles of
the Apostle, whom they called an apostate from the law, and they used only the
so-called Gospel according to the Hebrews, and made small account of the rest.
The Sabbath and the rest of the discipline of the Jews they observed just like them,
but at the same time, like us, they celebrated the Lord's days as a
memorial of the resurrection of the Savior.
Wherefore, in consequence of such a course, they received the name of
Ebionites, which signified the poverty of their understanding, for this is the name
by which a poor man is called among the Hebrews.
Chapter 28, Serinthes, the Heresiarch.
We have understood that at this time Serinthes, the author of another heresy,
made his appearance.
Caius, whose words we quoted above, in the disputation which is ascribed to
him, writes as follows concerning this man.
But Serinthes also, by means of revelations which he pretends were written
by a great Apostle, brings before us marvelous things which he falsely claims
were shown him by angels, and he says that after the resurrection the kingdom of
Christ will be set up on earth, and that the flesh dwelling in Jerusalem
will again be subject to desires and pleasures.
And being an enemy of the Scriptures of God, he asserts, with the purpose of
deceiving men, that there is to be a period of a thousand years for marriage
festivals.
And Dionysius, who was bishop of the parish of Alexandria in Ardae,
in the second book of his work On the Promises, where he says some things
concerning the apocalypse of John which he draws from tradition, mentions this same
man in the following words.
that the kingdom of Christ will be an earthly one.
And as he was himself devoted to the pleasures of the body and altogether
sensual in his nature, he dreamed that the kingdom would consist in those things
which he desired, namely, in the delights of the belly and of sexual passion,
that is to say, in eating and drinking and marrying, and in festivals and sacrifices
and the slaying of victims under the guise of which he thought he could indulge his
appetites with a better grace.
These are the words of Dionysius.
But Irenaeus, in the first book of his work Against Heresies, gives some more
abominable false doctrines of the same man, and in the third book relates a story
which deserves to be recorded.
He says, on the authority of Polycarp, that the apostle John once entered a bath
to bathe, but learning that Serentis was within, he sprang from the place and
rushed out of the door, for he could not bear to remain under the same roof with
him.
And he advised those that were with him to do the same, saying, Let us flee,
lest the bath fall, for Serentis, the enemy of the truth, is within.
Chapter 29.
Nicolaeus and the sect named after him.
At this time the so-called sect of the Nicolaitans made its appearance and lasted
for a very short time.
Mention is made of it in the Apocalypse of John.
They boasted that the author of their sect was Nicolaeus, one of the deacons who,
with Stephen, were appointed by the apostles for the purpose of ministering to
the poor.
Clement of Alexandria, in the third book of his Stremata, relates the following
things concerning him.
They say that he had a beautiful wife, and after the ascension of the Savior,
being accused by the apostles of jealousy, he led her into their midst and gave
permission to anyone that wished to marry her.
For they say that this was in accord with that saying of his that one ought to abuse
the flesh, and those that have followed his heresy, imitating blindly and
foolishly that which was done and said, commit fornication without shame.
But I understand that Nicolaeus had to do with no other woman than her to whom he
was married, and that, so far as his children are concerned, his daughters
continued in a state of virginity until old age, and his son remained uncorrupt.
If this is so, when he brought his wife, whom he jealously loved, into the midst of
the apostles, he was evidently renouncing his passion, and when he used the
expression to abuse the flesh, he was inculcating self-control in the
face of those pleasures that are eagerly pursued.
For I suppose that, in accordance with the command of the Savior, he did not wish to
serve two masters, pleasure and the Lord.
But they say that Matthias also taught in the same manner that we ought to fight
against and abuse the flesh, and not give way to it for the sake of pleasure,
but strengthen the soul by faith and knowledge.
So much concerning those who then attempted to pervert the truth,
but in less time than it has taken to tell, it became entirely extinct.