This document provides an overview of major Christian leaders and developments in the 3rd century Church. It discusses influential figures like Tertullian, Cyprian, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen who emerged from North Africa and Alexandria. It also examines the development of the Apostles' Creed as an early statement of orthodox doctrine in response to heresies. The document emphasizes the growing importance of bishops and apostolic succession in defending church unity and orthodoxy during a time of persecution.

1. COACH Institute of Intercultural Studies, Hyderabad
History of Christianity-1
Dr. Pothana

2. Church History: The Third Century
Lecture-10

3. A. Major Players:
African Christianity:
As we move into the
church’s third
century, the most
influential Christian
leaders emerge from
North Africa.

4. 1. Carthage
a. Tertullian (c. 155-220)
1) Although he embraced
Montanism later in life, he
was an important theologian
and apologist for the faith.
2) Is often called the father of
Latin theology because he
was one of the first church
writers to use Latin.
3) Championed and laid the
groundwork for the fourth
century orthodox expressions
of the doctrine of the Trinity
and the doctrine of Christ.
Carthage was the capital city of
the ancient Carthaginian
civilization, on the eastern side
of the Lake of Tunis in what is
now Tunisia.

5. a) Terms like “Trinity,” “substance,” and “person” first used by Tertullian
became key terminology for the church. b) Only area of weakness
regarding the doctrine of Christ was his belief that the eternal son had not
existed as a distinct person from the Father for all eternity (rejected
eternal generation of the Son), but had become distinct just before the
creation ofthe universe. He saw the Word as inferior to the Father. Prior to
that, the Word had existed as “Reason” in a non-personal way within the
Father.
4) Articulated a doctrine of original sin and salvation by grace;
nevertheless, believed that after salvation, you can make satisfaction for
sin through repentance or confession. And by fasting and other forms of
mortification, the sinner can escape eternal punishment. This becomes
the foundation for the Roman Catholic doctrine of penance.
5) Argued that the church should have nothing to do with heretics.
6) Argued that tradition was of equal importance to Scripture.

6. 7) Emphatic on the importance of the death of
Christ, but doesnot stress the necessity of penal
satisfaction.
8) Believed essentially that there is no such thing
as an invisible church, just a visible one – if you
are not part of it, you haveno legitimate claim to
belong to Christ.
9) Anti-Greek philosophy (though himself
influenced by Stoicism).
10) Hostile toward Greco-Roman culture and life
– advocated that Christians would basically
withdraw.

8. b. Cyprian (c. 200-258)
1) Bishop of Carthage in 247
2) Saw NT presbyters as priests and the Lord’s Supper as a
sacrifice, interpreting the NT along OT lines.
3) First early father to set forth a doctrine of Communion in
sacrificial terms, a view that became increasingly
widespread.
a) He did not teach that the Lord’s Table was a fresh
sacrifice, but that through the Eucharist, Christ presented
himself to God the Father as the one who had made the
once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of his people on the cross.
By eating the bread and drinking the wine, believers were
united with that perfect self- offering of Christ, so that he
presented both himself and the congregation to the Father.
b) He also taught that Communion benefited believers who
had died.

10. 2. Alexandria (Egypt)
a. Interesting facts
1) Greatest library and best museums in
the ancient world.
2) The beginnings of Christianity there cf.
Acts 18:24-28. We don’t know much.
3) Home to the most influential Gnostic
leaders Basilides (early 2nd century) and
Valentinus (c. 100-160).

12. b. Clement (of Alexandria, not of Rome) (c. 150-215)
1) Believed that the Christian should build a bridge
between Christianity and Gentile learning.
2) Wrote Exhortation to the Greeks in which he
suggested that Christ the source of true philosophy.
3) Not consistent in his representation of Greek
philosophy; sometimes he says that it is nearly
inspired, and at other times he suggests that it is a rip-
off of the Hebrew prophets.
4) Believed that the Law led Jews to Christ and that
philosophy would lead Greeks.
5) Baptism represents the beginning of a new life in the
church, and includes the forgiveness of sins.

13. 6) Subordinationistic in his understanding of the Trinity.
The Logos is the divine reason, subordinate (= inferior)
to the Father.
7) Heathen have an opportunity to repent in hell and
thattheir probation does not end until the Day
ofJudgment.
8) Taught that there were five meanings of Scripture:34
a) The historical: the OT event was an actual event
inspace-time.
b) The doctrinal: the obvious moral, religious, and
theological teachings of Scripture.
c) The prophetic: the predictive and typological
(repeated patterns in redemptive history that
foreshadow Christ and his work).

14. d) The philosophical: following the Stoic
understanding that natural objects and historical
persons convey a cosmic and psychological
meaning.
e) The mystical: the deeper moral, spiritual, and
religious truth symbolized by people and events.

16. c. Origen (c. 184-254)
1) Father was a martyr, and like his father, Origen was
eventually imprisoned, tortured, and executed by the
Romans.
2) Very influenced by Platonic thought.
3) Studied under Clement, but was the superior
intellect.
4) He wrote the first systematic theology (First
Principles), and Against Celsus, defending Christianity
against a pagan critic.

17. 5) Taught that there was a threefold interpretation of
Scripture:
a) The bodily meaning, which corresponds closely to
Clement’s “historical” meaning.
b) The moral meaning, which finds ethical teaching
through an allegorical approach.
c) The spiritual meaning, which finds teaching about
Christ and the church through an allegorical approach.
6) His allegorical method held sway until the time of
theReformation; thus he had a great impact on Bible
interpretation.
7) Baptism represents the beginning of a new life in
the church, and includes the forgiveness of sins.

18. 8) Communion confers participation in
immortality because through it the communicant
enters into fellowship with Christ and the Holy
Spirit.
9) God is absolute, incomprehensible,
inestimable, who needs nothing.
10) Argued vigorously against Gnosticism .
11) Strange beliefs (put to rest in the sixth
century).
a) Preexistence of human souls.
b) Resurrection was non-corporeal.

19. c) Emphasized free-will, this was God’s
great gift to humanity – even fallen angels
and Satan himself can repent. d)
Restoration at the end of history will
include reconciling Satan to God.
e) Hell is purgatorial – that is, it is not
punitive, butcleansing, cathartic.
f) He was also a universalist – everyone
eventually will be saved.

20. B. The Apostles’ Creed: Moving out of the second century, a creedal
formulation became necessary to protect the average Christian from the
influences of Gnosticism and Montanism. In a very real way the Apostles’
Creed is a statement of faith that says, “This is true Christian doctrine,
distinct from Gnosticism and Montanism.”
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in
Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died,
and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the
dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the
Father Almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I
believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic church; the communion of
saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life
everlasting. Amen.

21. 1. The creed gradually took shape throughout the church from about AD
200 to 750.
2. The reason it is called the Apostles’ Creed is that it was believed to have
been created by the apostles themselves as a baptismal confession. While
it is true that the creed is both a good summary of apostolic teaching and
was used by the early church as a baptismal confession, the notion that its
origin is apostolic is spurious.
3. Excursus on “He Descended into Hell”
a. This phrase is the most controversial in the creed.
b. It was unknown in earlier versions of the Apostle’s Creed and did not
appear in the Latin creeds until it appeared in one of two of Rufinus’
versions in AD 390. Even though he included the phrase, he did not believe
that it referred to hell, but understood it to mean “buried.” In harmony
with the Greek form of the creed, he took it to mean that Christ descended
into the grave; for hadēs can simply mean“grave.”
c. It was not until AD 650 that the phrase was again included.

22. d. Throughout the history of the church there have been three
dominant interpretations of the phrase:
1) It is to be identified as the place of the dead, both of the
righteous and the wicked (Hebrew, sheŇl; Greek, hadēs). Thus it
means simply that Jesus continued in the real state of death
until theresurrection.
2) It signifies the intensity of Christ’s sufferings on the cross,
where he tasted the pain of hell for sinners.
3) It refers to an actual self-manifestation of Christ to the dead
between the time of his death and resurrection.
4) RBC believes that the statement ought to be understood in
the first sense; for this creed was developed over and against
Gnostic teaching that suggested that the eternal son of God did
not truly become a man. This statement makes clear the point
that Jesus died a real, human death as any ordinary human
being

23. C. Apostolic Succession, Church Unity, and Loyalty
underPersecution
1. Apostolic succession and the fight to preserve the church’s
unity
a. By the time we hit the third century, the churches had in
common the Apostles’ Creed, the canon of the New
Testament, and the episcopal form of church government.

24. b. Ignatius (2nd century) paved the way by arguing that the the bishop
was the great bond of church unity and therefore a powerful defense
against heresy. For example, his letter to the church in Philadelphia
says, “Do ye all follow your bishop as Jesus Christ followed the Father. Do
nothing without the bishop.”
c. Cyprian was most influential in bringing together two ideas
in this connection:
1) The visible church = the bishop.
2) The bishop = the apostles. There is one God, and Christ is one; and
there is one Church and one Chair [i.e. center of authority]….He who is
not in the Church of Christ is not a Christian. He can no longer have God
for his Father who has not the Church for his mother. There is no
salvation outside the Church. The Church is based on the unity of the
bishops. The bishop is in the Church, and the Church is in the bishop. If
anyone is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church.

25. a) For Cyprian, the difference between apostles and bishops faded
almost completely away.
 The apostles were the first bishops, the bishops were the new
apostles.
 Not infallible, but absolutely authoritative over the congregations. As
for infallibility, Cyprian accused Stephen of Rome of “Error, arrogant
claims, irrelevant statements and contradictions.”
 Had supernatural power to administer the life-giving sacraments40
of baptism andCommunion.
 And although he held that the bishop of Rome ought to be given
special reverence because Peter was the city’s first, he would not say
that the bishop of Rome had authority over any of the other bishops.
Let each bishop give his opinion…without judging another, and
without separating from the fellowship of those who are not of his
opinion. None of us must set himself up as a bishop of bishops, nor
force his