A Study Of The New Testament Canon (III.)
In our last article, we learned three important facts: (1) It took about 350 years to complete the formation of the entire canon. (2) The Old Testament was the only written Scripture for the first few years of the church. (3) Hence, there was no canon of the New Testament in the Apostolic Age.
In this article, we shall follow the formation of the canon through the years 100-150 A.D. These years, if you will remember, we have arbitrarily called the Age of the Apostolic Fathers.
In passing from "The Apostolic Age" to the period of "The Apostolic Fathers", it might be well to determine just what is meant by the term "apostolic fathers". A. F. Walls writes: "The name 'Apostolic Fathers'... meant to designate men in contact with ...the apostles... ; but lists of the Apostolic Fathers vary considerably. To three -- Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp -- this title is regularly applied." (The New Bible Dictionary, p.941).
This period is important in the history of the church, yet written records of it are relatively scarce. This period is one of great persecution of the church -- Roman persecution led by Domitian is at a peak during these years. The church, through the endeavor of many, is widely spread in and even beyond the Roman Empire. It is, in short, an age of turbulence -- admirable courage on the part of some, repulsive cowardice on the part of others.
This period opened with a man who was later to generate quite a bit of interest and controversy over one of his epistles. Clement was an elder in the church at Rome and lived about 30-100 A. D. He is not to be confused with the Clement of Phil. 4:5, or with Flavius Clemens, who was Domitian's (the Roman persecutor) cousin. In the time of Domitian's persecution, about 95-96 A.D. , Clement wrote his First Epistle, which was a long Greek letter addressed from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth. It seemed that scripturally appointed elders in Corinth had been ousted from their office. Clement, in his letter, pleaded for peace and order in Corinth; he asked them to remember the orderly worship of Israel and to follow the apostles' teaching concerning the appointment of elders and the respect due them. The book, in times past, has caused some controversy. A few regarded the book as canonical, although it never was generally regarded as such -- which, by the way, is the reason it never found its way into the accepted canon and why it is not in our New Testament today, While Clement was an important "apostolic father" in the West (Rome), Ignatius was of equal importance in the East. He was a bishop in the church of Antioch of Syria. Ignatius was intent upon becoming a martyr; therefore, he wrote seven letters, asking the recipients of his letters not to intervene to prevent his martyrdom. These different seven letters were later put into one body or work. The book was never universally accepted as being divinely inspired -- which is, again, the reason it is not in our New Testaments today.
Polycarp was another "apostolic father" who was highly revered. He is remembered the most, perhaps, by reason of his answer to the emperor when commanded to revile Christ. He said, "Eighty and six years do I serve Him, and He has never done me wrong. And how can I blaspheme my king that saved me?" The fire was then lit on the stadium, and Polycarp was consumed in its flames. He is especially important because he links the apostolic age to the late second century church. Before his martyrdom, he wrote a letter to the Philippians, which still exists to this day -- although it is not in our New Testament..
A book, written about 130 A.D. and called the Epistle of Barnabas , it often falsely ascribed to Barnabas, the companion of Paul on his first missionary journey. The book is an allegory and is strongly anti-Jewish in tone. Although valued in and around Alexandria, it did not gain universal acceptance as being divinely inspired.
Toward the close of this age of the "apostolic fathers, Hermas, who was "the bishop of Rome" from about 141-147 A. D. wrote a letter entitled the Shepherd or Pastor of Hermas. It was a symbolic work, and was intended to arouse a "dead" church and to admonish Christians to repent. The Muratorian Fragment (this was a list of canonical books that was compiled years after Hermas wrote his book. It was found about 200 years ago. We shall discuss it fully later) states that this book was read in public worship, but that it was not regarded as inspired as were the apostolic and prophetic writings. This is a point which might need some clarification. In the early church (the second century), books such as the First Epistle of Clement, the Epistle of Barnabas, and the Shepherd of Hermas were read in public worship. The people listening, however, did not believe these books to be divinely inspired. To illustrate, a preacher today might, in the pulpit, quote a renowned scholar, such as McGarvey or Lipscomb, but it does not logically follow that the preacher, nor the people listening, think that the quoted scholars are inspired of God. So it was in the second century.
These apostolic fathers are important, if for no other reason, because they show us (as they showed others) that the canon of the New Testament must have (as it did indeed have) limits.