Apostolic Age
Apostolic Age
Apostolic Age
The Acts and the Pauline Epistles accompany us freedmen, slaves. St. Paul says: “Not many wise
with reliable information down to the year 63. after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble
Peter and Paul are lost out of sight in the lurid were called, but God chose the foolish things of
fires of the Neronian persecution which seemed to the world, that he might put to shame them that
consume Christianity itself. We know nothing are wise; and God chose the weak things of the
certain of that satanic spectacle from authentic world that he might put to shame the things that
sources beyond the information of heathen are strong; and the base things of the world, and
historians. A few years afterwards followed the the things that are despised, did God choose, yea,
destruction of Jerusalem, which must have made and the things that are not, that he might bring to
an overpowering impression and broken the last naught the things that are: that no flesh should
ties which bound Jewish Christianity to the old glory before God.” (1 Cor. 1:26-29) And yet these
theocracy. The event is indeed brought before us poor, illiterate churches were the recipients of the
in the prophecy of Christ as recorded in the noblest gifts, and alive to the deepest problems
Gospels, but for the terrible fulfilment we are and highest thoughts which can challenge the
dependent on the account of an unbelieving Jew, attention of an immortal mind. Christianity built
which, as the testimony of an enemy, is all the from the foundation upward. From the lower
more impressive. ranks come the rising men of the future, who
The remaining thirty years of the first century are constantly reinforce the higher ranks and prevent
involved in mysterious darkness, illuminated only their decay.
by the writings of John. This is a period of church At the time of the conversion of Constantine, in
history about which we know least and would like the beginning of the fourth century, the number of
to know most. This period is the favorite field for Christians may have reached ten or twelve
ecclesiastical fables and critical conjectures. How millions, that is about one-tenth of the total
thankfully would the historian hail the discovery population of the Roman empire. Some estimate it
of any new authentic documents between the higher.
martyrdom of Peter and Paul and the death of The rapid success of Christianity under the most
John, and again between the death of John and the unfavorable circumstances is surprising and its
age of Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. own best vindication. It was achieved in the face
Causes of Success. of an indifferent or hostile world, and by purely
spiritual and moral means, without shedding a
As to the numerical strength of Christianity at the
drop of blood except that of its own innocent
close of the first century, we have no information
martyrs. Gibbon, in the famous fifteenth chapter
whatever. Statistical reports were unknown in
of his “History,” attributes the rapid spread to five
those days. The estimate of half a million among
causes, namely:
the one hundred millions or more inhabitants of
the Roman empire is probably exaggerated. The 1. the intolerant but enlarged religious zeal of
pentecostal conversion of three thousand in one the Christians inherited from the Jews;
day at Jerusalem, and the “immense multitude” of 2. the doctrine of the immortality of the soul,
martyrs under Nero, favor a high estimate. The concerning which the ancient philosophers
churches in Antioch also, Ephesus, and Corinth had but vague and dreamy ideas;
were strong enough to bear the strain of
3. the miraculous powers attributed to the
controversy and division into parties. But the
primitive church;
majority of congregations were no doubt small,
often a mere handful of poor people. In the 4. the purer but austere morality of the first
country districts paganism (as the name indicates) Christians;
lingered longest, even beyond the age of 5. the unity and discipline of the church, which
Constantine. gradually formed a growing commonwealth
The Christian converts belonged mostly to the in the heart of the empire.
middle and lower classes of society, such as But every one of these causes, properly
fishermen, peasants, mechanics, traders, understood, points to the superior excellency and
The Apostolic Age 3
to the divine origin of the Christian religion, and whole. It has the same regulative force for all the
this is the chief cause, which the Deistic historian subsequent developments of the church as the
omits. inspired writings of the apostles have for the
works of all later Christian authors.
Significance of the Apostolic Age.
Furthermore, the apostolic Christianity is
The life of Christ is the divine-human
preformative, and contains the living germs of all
fountainhead of the Christian religion; the
the following periods, personages, and tendencies.
apostolic age is the fountainhead of the Christian
It holds up the highest standard of doctrine and
church, as an organized society separate and
discipline; it is the inspiring genius of all true
distinct from the Jewish synagogue. It is the age of
progress; it suggests to every age its peculiar
the Holy Spirit, the age of inspiration and
problem with the power to solve it. Christianity
legislation for all subsequent ages.
can never outgrow Christ, but it grows in Christ;
Here springs, in its original freshness and purity, theology cannot go beyond the word of God, but it
the living water of the new creation. Christianity must ever progress in the understanding and
comes down front heaven as a supernatural fact, application of the word of God. The three leading
yet long predicted and prepared for, and adapted apostles represent not only the three stages of the
to the deepest wants of human nature. Signs and apostolic church, but also as many ages and types
wonders and extraordinary demonstrations of the of Christianity, and yet they are all present in
Spirit, for the conversion of unbelieving Jews and every age and every type.
heathens, attend its entrance into the world of sin.
It takes up its permanent abode with our fallen The Representative Apostles.
race, to transform it gradually, without war or Peter, Paul, and John stand out most prominently
bloodshed, by a quiet, leaven-like process, into a as the chosen Three who accomplished the great
kingdom of truth and righteousness. work of the apostolic age, and exerted, by their
Modest and humble, lowly and unseemly in writings and example, a controlling influence on
outward appearance, but steadily conscious of its all subsequent ages. To them correspond three
divine origin and its eternal destiny; without silver centres of influence, Jerusalem, Antioch, and
or gold, but rich in supernatural gifts and powers, Rome.
strong in faith, fervent in love, and joyful in hope; Paul was called last and out of the regular order,
bearing in earthen vessels the imperishable by the personal appearance of the exalted Lord
treasures of heaven, it presents itself upon the from heaven, and in authority and importance he
stage of history as the only true, the perfect was equal to any of the three pillars, but filled a
religion, for all the nations of the earth. place of his own, as the independent apostle of the
At first an insignificant and even contemptible sect Gentiles. He had around him a small band of co-
in the eyes of the carnal mind, hated and laborers and pupils, such as Barnabas, Silas, Titus,
persecuted by Jews and heathens, it confounds the Timothy, Luke.
wisdom of Greece and the power of Rome, soon Nine of the original Twelve, including Matthias,
plants the standard of the cross in the great cities who was chosen in the place of Judas, labored no
of Asia, Africa, and Europe, and proves itself the doubt faithfully and effectively, in preaching the
hope of the world. gospel throughout the Roman empire and to the
In virtue of this original purity, vigor, and beauty, borders of the barbarians, but in subordinate
and the permanent success of primitive positions, and their labors are known to us only
Christianity, the canonical authority of the single from vague and uncertain traditions.
but inexhaustible volume of its literature, and the The labors of James and Peter we can follow in the
character of the apostles, those inspired organs of Acts to the Council of Jerusalem, AD 50, and a
the Holy Spirit, those untaught teachers of little beyond; those of Paul to his first
mankind, the apostolic age has an incomparable imprisonment in Rome, AD 61-63; John lived to
interest and importance in the history of the the close of the first century. As to their last labors
church. It is the immovable groundwork of the we have no authentic information in the New
The Apostolic Age 4
Testament, but the unanimous testimony of We would like to know more about the personal
antiquity that Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom relations of these pillar-apostles, but must be
in Rome during or after the Neronian persecution, satisfied with a few hints. They labored in
and that John died a natural death at Ephesus. The different fields and seldom met face to face in their
Acts breaks off abruptly with Paul still living and busy life. Time was too precious, their work too
working, a prisoner in Rome, “preaching the serious, for sentimental enjoyments of friendship.
kingdom of God and teaching the things Paul went to Jerusalem AD 40, three years after his
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, with all conversion, for the express purpose of making the
boldness, none forbidding him.” A significant personal acquaintance of Peter, and spent two
conclusion. weeks with him; he saw none of the other
It would be difficult to find three men equally apostles, but only James, the Lord’s brother. He
great and good, equally endowed with genius met the pillar-apostles at the Conference in
sanctified by grace, bound together by deep and Jerusalem, AD 50, and concluded with them the
strong love to the common Master, and laboring peaceful concordat concerning the division of
for the same cause, yet so different in temper and labor, and the question of circumcision; the older
constitution, as Peter, Paul, and John. Peter stands apostles gave him and Barnabas “the right hands
out in history as the main pillar of the primitive of fellowship” in token of brotherhood and
church, as the Rock-apostle, as the chief of the fidelity.
twelve foundation-stones of the new Jerusalem; Not long afterwards Paul met Peter a third time, at
John as the bosom-friend of the Saviour, as the son Antioch, but came into open collision with him on
of thunder, as the soaring eagle, as the apostle of the great question of Christian freedom and the
love; Paul as the champion of Christian freedom union of Jewish and Gentile converts. The
and progress, as the greatest missionary, with “the collision was merely temporary, but significantly
care of all the churches” upon his heart, as the reveals the profound commotion and fermentation
expounder of the Christian system of doctrine, as of the apostolic age, and foreshadowed future
the father of Christian theology. antagonisms and reconciliations in the church.
Peter was a man of action, always in haste and Several years later (AD 57) Paul refers the last time
ready to take the lead; the first to confess Christ, to Cephas, and the brethren of the Lord, for the
and the first to preach Christ on the day of right to marry and to take a wife with him on his
Pentecost; Paul a man equally potent in word and missionary journeys.
deed; John a man of mystic contemplation. Peter Peter, in his first Epistle to Pauline churches,
was unlearned and altogether practical; Paul a confirms them in their Pauline faith, and in his
scholar and thinker as well as a worker; John a second Epistle, his last will and testament, he
theosophist and seer. affectionately commends the letters of his
Peter was sanguine, ardent, impulsive, hopeful, “beloved brother Paul,” adding, however, the
kind-hearted, given to sudden changes, characteristic remark, which all commentators
“consistently inconsistent” (to use an Aristotelian must admit to be true, that (even beside the
phrase); Paul was choleric, energetic, bold, noble, account of the scene in Antioch) there are in them
independent, uncompromising; John some what “some things hard to be understood.”
melancholic, introverted, reserved, burning within Peter was the chief actor in the first stage of
of love to Christ and hatred of Antichrist. Peter’s apostolic Christianity and fulfilled the prophecy of
Epistles are full of sweet grace and comfort, the his name in laying the foundation of the church
result of deep humiliation and rich experience; among the Jews and the Gentiles. In the second
those of Paul abound in severe thought and logical stage he is overshadowed by the mighty labors of
argument, but rising at times to the heights of Paul; but after the apostolic age he stands out
celestial eloquence, as in the seraphic description again most prominent in the memory of the
of love and the triumphant paean of the eighth church.
chapter of the Romans; John’s writings are simple,
serene, profound, intuitive, sublime, inexhaustible. He is chosen by the Roman communion as its
special patron saint and as the first pope. He is
The Apostolic Age 5
always named before Paul. To him most of the the Gentiles, and ever since Paul’s genius has
churches are dedicated. In the name of this poor ruled the theology and religion of Protestantism.
fisherman of Galilee, who had neither gold nor As the gospel of Christ was cast out from
silver, and was crucified like a malefactor and a Jerusalem to bless the Gentiles, so Paul’s Epistle to
slave, the triple-crowned popes deposed kings, the Romans was expelled from Rome to enlighten
shook empires, dispensed blessings and curses on and to emancipate Protestant nations in the distant
earth and in purgatory, and even now claim the North and far West.
power to settle infallibly all questions of Christian St. John, the most intimate companion of Jesus, the
doctrine and discipline for the Catholic world. apostle of love, the seer who looked back to the
Paul was the chief actor in the second stage of the ante-mundane beginning and forward to the post-
apostolic church, the apostle of the Gentiles, the mundane end of all things, and who is to tarry till
founder of Christianity in Asia Minor and Greece, the coming of the Lord, kept aloof from active part
the emancipator of the new religion from the yoke in the controversies between Jewish and Gentile
of Judaism, the herald of evangelical freedom, the Christianity. He appears prominent in the Acts
standard-bearer of reform and progress. His and the Epistle to the Galatians, as one of the
controlling influence was felt also in Rome, and is pillar-apostles, but not a word of his is reported.
clearly seen in the genuine Epistle of Clement, He was waiting in mysterious silence, with a
who makes more account of him than of Peter. reserved force, for his proper time, which did not
But soon afterwards he is almost forgotten, except come till Peter and Paul had finished their
by name. He is indeed associated with Peter as the mission.
founder of the church of Rome, but in a secondary Then, after their departure, he revealed the hidden
line; his Epistle to the Romans is little read and depths of his genius in his marvellous writings,
understood by the Romans even to this day; his which represent the last and crowning work of the
church lies outside of the walls of the eternal city, apostolic church. John has never been fully
while St. Peter’s is its chief ornament and glory. In fathomed, but it has been felt throughout all the
Africa alone he was appreciated, first by the periods of church history that he has best
rugged and racy Tertullian, more fully by the understood and portrayed the Master, and may
profound Augustine, who passed through similar yet speak the last word in the conflict of ages and
contrasts in his religious experience; but usher in an era of harmony and peace. Paul is the
Augustine’s Pauline doctrines of sin and grace had heroic captain of the church militant, John the
no effect whatever on the Eastern church, and mystic prophet of the church triumphant.
were practically overpowered in the Western Far above them all, throughout the apostolic age
church by Pelagian tendencies. and all subsequent ages, stands the one great
For a long time Paul’s name was used and abused Master from whom Peter, Paul, and John drew
outside of the ruling orthodoxy and hierarchy by their inspiration, to whom they bowed in holy
anti-catholic heretics and sectaries in their protest adoration, whom alone they served and glorified
against the new yoke of traditionalism and in life and in death, and to whom they still point
ceremonialism. But in the sixteenth century he in their writings as the perfect image of God, as
celebrated a real resurrection and inspired the the Saviour from sin and death, as the Giver of
evangelical reformation. Then his Epistles to the eternal life, as the divine harmony of conflicting
Galatians and Romans were republished, creeds and schools, as the Alpha and Omega of
explained, and applied with trumpet tongues by the Christian faith.
Luther and Calvin. Then his protest against
Judaizing bigotry and legal bondage was renewed,
and the rights of Christian liberty asserted on the
largest scale. Of all men in church history, St.
Augustine not excepted, Martin Luther, once a
contracted monk, then a prophet of freedom, has
most affinity in word and work with the apostle of
The Apostolic Age 6