With the possible exceptions of Buddha,
Confucius,
and Socrates, Jesus is probably the most influential
teacher of ethics in human
history so far.
As with those three, we have no direct writing
from him but
extensive descriptions of his life and teachings
by his disciples.
No contemporary report survived, as the gospels
were
probably written about thirty years or more after his death.
Since these accounts can be treated as both history and
literature, I will discuss the ethics of Jesus as presented by
Mark,
Matthew, Luke,
John, and Thomas
in that order,
avoiding repetition of what was already discussed.
Immediately preceding Jesus was John the Baptist.
Luke introduced John the Baptist, born six months before Jesus,
as the son of Mary's relative Elizabeth and the elderly Zacharias.
He was expected not to drink alcohol
and to be guided by the Holy
Spirit.
He began teaching and baptizing people
in the Jordan River
about 27 CE.
Probably influenced by the Essenes,
his baptism differed
as a single transformative experience
rather
than a daily ritual of purification.
He preached repentance for
the forgiveness of sins,
telling people to change their minds
because the sovereignty of heaven is near.
He saw himself fulfilling
prophecies of Isaiah with his
voice
in the desert to prepare the way of the Lord by making
crooked
paths straight and rough roads smooth,
leveling the mountains
and the valleys.
People came from Jerusalem and all around Judea
to be baptized by him.
He called the Pharisees and Sadducees a
brood of vipers
trying to flee from the coming wrath.
He challenged
them to produce fruit worthy of repentance
and implied that being
sons of Abraham
was not sufficient for salvation.
When people
asked him what they should do,
he told them to share their clothes
and food.
He told tax collectors not to collect more than they
were
required and the soldiers not to shake down nor
harass anyone
but be satisfied with their pay.
John baptized Jesus in the Jordan and suggested that he was
preparing people for the greater teachings of Jesus.
Those baptized
by John more willingly accepted the teachings
of Jesus on the
justice of God.
The disciples of John fasted,
while those of Jesus
apparently did not.
John criticized Herod Antipas for marrying
his niece Herodias
because she had been the wife of his brother
Philip.
Herod imprisoned John, as Herodias wanted him killed.
Herod, though he feared he might instigate rebellion,
liked to
hear his ideas and thought him a just and holy man.
However, to
please the daughter of Herodias,
Herod ordered John beheaded.
The historian Josephus wrote that some Jews believed
Herod was
punished for this by the destruction of his army.
Mark wrote that
Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee
and was baptized by John.
The Spirit came down upon him like a dove,
and a voice from heaven
called Jesus beloved son.
He went into the desert for forty days,
was tested by Satan and ministered to by angels.
After John was
arrested, Jesus preached the same
good message that the sovereignty
of God is near
and that people should change their minds.
By the
Sea of Galilee Jesus called the fishermen brothers
Simon and Andrew
and the sons of Zebedee, James and John;
he told them to follow
him and that
he would make them fishers of people.
Jesus amazed
the people of Capernaum, because
he taught with authority, not
like the scholars.
In their synagogue he commanded an unclean
spirit to come
out of a person, and his fame soon spread in Galilee.
He cured Simon's mother-in-law of her fever,
healed many who were
ill and expelled demons.
Jesus cleansed a leper and sent him to
his priest.
As the crowds grew, he could no longer enter the towns
openly and taught out in the desert.
When he forgave the sins
of a paralytic in Capernaum,
some scholars accused him of blasphemy.
To show that a human son has the authority
to forgive sins, he
healed the paralytic.
Seeing Levi at a tax office, Jesus told him to follow him.
Dining in his home, the Pharisees asked why he was eating
with
tax collectors and sinners.
Jesus replied that the ill are those
who need a physician,
that he did not come to call the just but
the sinners.
Jesus explained that his disciples do not fast while
the
bridegroom is with them, but they will fast
when the bridegroom
is taken away.
Unshrunk cloth is not sewed into an old garment,
nor is new wine put into old wineskins.
Jesus had a fresh approach.
On a Sabbath his disciples picked wheat in a field,
but Jesus
explained that David ate
the consecrated bread when he was hungry.
The Sabbath was made for humans,
not humans for the Sabbath.
Angry
at those who objected to his healing on the Sabbath,
Jesus restored
a person's withered hand.
This led the Pharisees to consult with
the
Herodians how they might destroy him.
Jesus appointed twelve disciples.
In addition to Simon and
his brother Andrew and the sons of
Zebedee, there were Philip,
Bartholomew, Matthew (Levi),
Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddeus,
Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot.
Some scholars
from Jerusalem said Jesus expelled demons
by the ruler of the
demons.
Jesus asked how Satan could expel Satan.
A divided sovereignty
cannot stand.
To rob property from a house, one must first bind
the strong.
Jesus warned them that although slanders will be forgiven
humans, slandering the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven
because
it is an eternal sin.
When his mother and brothers came to see
him, Jesus said
that
whoever does the will of God is his brother,
sister, and mother.
Jesus taught the parable of the sower.
Some seeds fell along
the way, and the birds ate them up.
Others fell on rocky ground,
where they dried up.
Others fell among thorns, which choked them.
Others fell in good earth and produced fruit.
Jesus explained
to his disciples that the sower sows the word.
Those along the
way have the word
immediately taken by Satan (negativity).
Those
on rocky ground accept it gladly for a while
but are offended
by oppression or persecution.
Those among the thorns have worries
and desires
for things that choke the word.
Those sown in good
earth welcome the word and bear fruit.
A lamp should not be concealed
but put on a lampstand
out in the open.
For what is hidden may
be manifested.
Jesus told them to examine what they hear, because
they will
be measured by the measure they measure.
Whoever learns
will be given more; but those who do not,
will lose what they
have.
The sovereignty of God is also like
a person throwing seed
on the earth.
By itself it grows and bears fruit,
though one does
not know how.
It is like the mustard seed, the smallest seed,
that becomes greater than all the vegetables
with great branches
for the birds of heaven.
While in the boat during a storm, Jesus commanded the wind
to become calm, asking his disciples
why they are cowards and
have no faith.
He sent a legion of unclean spirits out of a Gerasene
demoniac;
they went into pigs and drowned in the sea.
This frightened
people, and they begged Jesus
to go away from their region.
A
woman with a flow of blood for twelve years was healed
by touching
the clothes of Jesus;
he said her faith had saved her.
Then he
brought back to life the daughter of Jairus
who had just died.
Jesus taught in his homeland; but he could do little there
because
of their lack of faith.
Jesus sent out his twelve disciples in
pairs, giving them
authority over unclean spirits and instructing
them
to take nothing with them but a staff.
They were to stay
with whomever welcomed them.
They preached repentance, expelled
demons,
and healed the sick.
When a large crowd gathered in the desert,
Jesus said they
were like sheep without a shepherd.
He told his disciples to give
them something to eat.
They had only five loaves and two fish;
but after Jesus blessed it,
there was enough to feed five thousand.
Jesus went alone to the mountain to pray and later came
toward
the boat by walking on the sea.
He was going to pass by; but since
they thought
he was a phantom, he got into the boat.
At Gennesaret
Jesus went into towns and farms,
where he healed many.
Pharisees from Jerusalem asked why his disciples
ate without
washing their hands.
Jesus criticized them for letting go of God's
commandments
while holding to popular traditions.
Moses said to
honor father and mother;
but they say to their parents whatever
they may have benefited
is a gift, and so they do not do anything
for father and mother,
nullifying the word of God.
Jesus said
that nothing outside of a person can defile one,
explaining to
his disciples that what defiles are the evils
that come out of
the heart such as fornicating, theft, murder,
adultery, greed,
malice, deceit, lewdness, the evil eye,
slander, arrogance, and
foolishness.
In Tyre a Syrophoenician woman asked Jesus to expel
a
demon from her daughter; although she was a foreigner,
because
of her humility and persistence,
her daughter was healed.
In the
Decapolis region he cured a deaf person
so that he spoke correctly.
After a crowd was with him three days in the desert,
Jesus empathized
with them and told his disciples to
give them the seven loaves
and a few small fish they had.
With his blessing about four thousand
people
ate and were satisfied.
He warned his disciples to watch
out for the yeast
of the Pharisees and Herod.
At Bethsaida Jesus
cured a blind man.
Jesus asked his disciples whom they say he is,
and Simon (called
Peter) said he is the Christ;
but Jesus warned them not to tell
anyone.
Then he began to teach them that the human son must suffer,
be rejected by the priests and scholars,
be killed and after three
days rise up.
When Peter reprimanded him, Jesus called him Satan
and told him to get behind him,
because he thought not of God
but of humans.
Jesus told his disciples that whoever intended
to come
after him should deny oneself,
take up one's cross, and
follow him.
For whoever tries to save one's life will lose it;
but whoever loses one's life for the good message will save it.
What benefit is it to gain the whole world and lose one's soul?
For what can one get in exchange for one's soul?
Whoever is ashamed
of his words, the human son will be
ashamed of when coming in
glory with the holy angels.
On a high mountain Peter, James, and
John saw Jesus
transformed into light as he spoke with Elijah
and Moses.
When they asked why
Elijah must come first,
Jesus implied that he had come as John
the Baptist.
Jesus expelled a particularly difficult spirit to show that
all things
are possible to the one believing through prayer.
Jesus
again predicted that he would be given over to people,
who would
kill him; but he would rise up on the third day.
On the way to
Capernaum the disciples
were discussing who is greater.
Jesus
said that whoever wants to be first
must be last and servant of
all.
Whoever welcomes a child in his name
welcomes him and the
one who sent him.
Jesus told them not to forbid someone expelling
demons in his
name, because whoever was not against them was for
them.
Whoever gives them water because they are Christ's
will
not lose one's reward; but for the one offending the
small ones
believing it would be better if that one were
drowned with a millstone
around one's neck.
It is better to cut off an offending hand or
foot or eye
than having hands, feet, and eyes to go
into the hell
of worms and fire.
Everyone will be salted with fire;
but salt
can become tasteless.
Therefore have salt in yourself
and be at
peace with each other.
In Judea the Pharisees asked him if divorce was permitted.
Jesus said divorce was for the hard-hearted,
but that male and
female can become
one flesh joined by God.
Jesus told his disciples
that to divorce
and marry another is adultery.
Jesus let the children
come to him, for the sovereignty
of heaven is for those who welcome
it like a child.
To one who practiced the commandments and
called
him good, Jesus said that only God is good.
Jesus told him to
sell whatever he has, give to the poor,
and follow him; but he
went away distressed
because he had many possessions.
Jesus said
it is hard for those with property to enter the
sovereignty of
God; it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle
than for a rich person
to enter the sovereignty of God.
With humans
this may be impossible, but not with God.
Jesus said that anyone
leaving family or fields
for his good message would receive a
hundred times
more with persecutions and then eternal life.
Jesus told them that in Jerusalem the human son will be given
over to the high priests and the nations, will be mocked,
whipped,
and killed, rising after three days.
Jesus would not grant that
James and John
may sit next to him in glory.
He said those thinking
to rule nations lord it over them and
exercise authority; but
to become great they should be servants,
for the human son did
not come to be served but to serve
and give his life as a ransom
for many.
In Jericho Jesus cured a blind beggar.
Jesus entered
Jerusalem on a colt as the people cheered.
The next day he cursed
a fig tree and came into the temple,
where he threw out those
buying and selling and overturned
the tables of the money-changers,
saying the house of prayer
had been made a den of robbers.
The
frightened high priests and scholars planned to destroy him.
Passing
the withered fig tree, Jesus spoke of the power of faith.
When
praying he said to believe you are receiving it
and forgive if
you have anything against anyone
so that your Father will forgive
you.
In the temple the priests and scholars asked Jesus
by what
authority he acted.
So he asked them if the baptism of John was
from
heaven or people; but they were afraid to answer
because
the crowd considered John a prophet.
Jesus told them a parable
of a person
who planted a vineyard and rented it to farmers.
He
sent servants for the fruit; but they beat and killed them.
They
even killed his son
so they could take over the inheritance.
Will
the lord of that vineyard not destroy those farmers?
The rejected
stone became the corner-stone.
They tried to arrest Jesus, but
he left.
Pharisees and Herodians tried to catch him by asking
if it is permitted to pay tax to Caesar or not.
Aware they were
hypocritically testing him,
he asked whose image is on the coin.
He suggested they give Caesar's things back to Caesar
while giving
God's things to God.
They knew he opposed paying tax for a military
empire;
but he cleverly avoided offending Rome openly
by implying
they not use the Roman money system at all.
The Sadducees did not believe in reincarnation or resurrection
and so asked about the wife of seven brothers.
Jesus explained
that all souls live just as Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob still do,
but that in heaven there is no marriage.
A scholar asked Jesus
what is the foremost commandment.
Jesus answered,
The foremost is, "Hear, Israel, the Lord our God
is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God
from your whole heart and from your whole soul
and from your whole intelligence
and from your whole strength."
Second is this, "You shall love
your neighbor as yourself."
There is no other commandment
greater than these.1
Jesus told them to watch out for scholars wanting to walk
in
robes and have the best seats in the synagogues
and at dinners, while devouring the houses of widows
and making long prayers in
pretense.
Seeing a poor widow putting two copper coins
in the
contribution box, he pointed out that
she gave more than any,
because she gave all she had.
As they were going out of the temple and looking at the great
buildings, Jesus predicted they would all be thrown down.
His
closest disciples asked him what would be the sign
of these things
happening.
Jesus told them not to be led astray
by anyone saying,
"I am he."
Do not be disturbed by wars and rumors of
wars,
for nation will be raised against nation.
Earthquakes and
famines will be the birth pangs.
They will be given over to councils,
governors,
and kings to give testimony.
He assured them not to
worry about what to say,
because the Holy Spirit would speak through
them.
Families will be divided, and they will be hated;
but whoever
endures to the end will be saved.
When they see the devastating
abomination standing,
they should flee to the mountains.
If anyone
says here or there is the Christ,
they should not believe it,
because false Christs will appear.
They will see the human son
coming in clouds of glory,
sending angels to gather the chosen
ones.
Jesus said this generation may not pass away until
these
things happen, though no one knows the time.
Therefore they should
be alert.
In fact about forty years later the Temple at Jerusalem
was
completely destroyed in a devastating war
between the Jews
and the Romans.
The high priests plotted to arrest Jesus deceitfully
so as
not to disturb the people at the feast.
In Bethany a woman came
and poured
expensive perfume on the head of Jesus.
Some complained
that this could have
been sold to help the poor;
but Jesus explained
she was anointing his body for burial.
Judas Iscariot went to
the high priests and said he might
give over Jesus; they promised
him silver.
Jesus instructed his disciples where
they would celebrate
the Passover.
At the meal he said one of them would give him over
and that
it would have been better for him if he had not been
born.
Then Jesus blessed the bread and gave it to them as his
body,
and they drank the wine as his blood of the covenant.
He
said he would not drink any more until he drank it
anew in the
sovereignty of God.
They sang a hymn and went to the Mount of
Olives.
Jesus told them they would all fall away.
Peter said he
would not; but Jesus said he would deny him
three times that night
before the cock crowed.
In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed
with
Peter, James, and John; but they fell asleep.
Jesus asked
that the hour might pass,
but he surrendered his will to his Father's.
Judas arrived with a crowd carrying swords and clubs
from the
high priests.
He kissed Jesus, and they arrested him.
Jesus was taken to the high priest, while Peter followed.
The
testimony against Jesus did not agree,
because many testified
falsely.
Finally Jesus admitted that he is the Christ and that
they
would see the human son sitting in power
and coming with
heavenly clouds.
They condemned him to death for blasphemy, spit
at him,
asked him to prophesy, and slapped him.
Three times people
asked Peter if he was with Jesus,
and each time he denied it.
Then the council bound Jesus and led him away to Pilate.
Pilate
asked if he was king of the Jews, and Jesus answered,
"You
say it."
But Jesus did not answer the
many accusations of
the high priests.
Pilate released one prisoner at the feast and
asked if
they wanted the rebel Barabbas or the king of the Jews.
The high priests urged the crowd to ask for Barabbas,
and Pilate
had Jesus whipped and given over to be crucified.
The soldiers
took Jesus inside the palace
and mocked him as though he were
a king.
Jesus was crucified at Golgotha during the third hour
between
two robbers.
High priests and scholars said he saved others
but
could not save himself.
They asked him to come down from the cross
so that they might believe.
At the sixth hour it became dark for
three hours,
and then Jesus cried out,
"My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?"
This is the first line of the 22nd
Psalm and describes his plight.
Then with a shout Jesus expired.
A centurion said he was the son of God, and the women
who had
followed Jesus and ministered to him in Galilee
were watching
from a distance.
Joseph of Arimathea got Pilate's permission
to
put the body in a rock tomb.
After the Sabbath Mary Magdalene
and another Mary
took spices to anoint him, but at the tomb they
found a youth
in a white robe, who told them he was raised
and
that he would lead the disciples to Galilee.
He appeared first
to Mary Magdalene, from whom
he had expelled seven demons.
Then
he appeared to two men traveling in the country.
Later he appeared
to the eleven while they were dining,
reproaching them for not
believing those who had seen him.
He told them to travel and preach
the good message,
baptizing, expelling demons, and healing the
sick.
Finally according to Mark,
Jesus was taken up
into heaven and sat at the right hand of God.
Matthew added
to the account of Mark
a narrative
of his birth and many more ethical teachings.
Jesus
was born to Mary, the betrothed of Joseph,
in Bethlehem during
the reign of King Herod.
He was visited by magi (astrologer-priests) from the east.
His
parents were warned by an angel to take the child
to Egypt, because
the paranoid Herod ordered
all the infants in the region killed.
After Herod
died in 4 BC, they took Jesus to live in Galilee.
In the desert
Jesus fasted for forty days and was tested
by the devil, who asked
him to turn stones into bread,
to throw himself down from a pinnacle,
and offered him sovereignty over the world;
but Jesus responded
by quoting scripture loyal to God.
To the Pharisees he quoted,
"I wish mercy and not sacrifice."
To those questioning
his healing on the Sabbath, Jesus asked
who would not retrieve
a sheep that fell into a ditch,
and how much does a person differ
from a sheep!
The heart of Jesus' ethical teachings are found in the sermon
he gave on the mountain.
He blessed the poor, the mourning, the
gentle, those hungering
and thirsting for justice, the merciful,
the pure in heart,
peacemakers, and those persecuted for the sake
of justice;
for they receive heavenly rewards.
He told them to
let their light shine in their good works.
He said he did not come to abolish the Jewish law
or prophets
but to fulfill them.
Whoever performs and teaches the commandments
will be called great in heaven.
The ancients said not to murder;
but Jesus warned
against being angry with a brother.
He suggested
seeking reconciliation with your brother
before offering a gift
at the altar.
Agree with an opponent before they turn you over
to the judge to be put in prison.
They said not to commit adultery;
but Jesus warned
against looking at a woman with desire.
The ancients
said not to break an oath;
but Jesus told them not to swear at
all; just say yes or no.
They said an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth;
but Jesus taught not resisting.
Turn your other cheek
to the one striking your right cheek.
Give your coat to the one
who tries to take your shirt.
Go two miles with the one forcing
you one mile.
Give to those who ask, and do not turn away
from
those wishing to borrow from you.
They said love your neighbor
and hate your enemy;
but Jesus said love your enemies, pray for
those who
persecute you in order to become children of God;
for
the sun rises on the bad and good,
and it rains on the just and
unjust.
Even tax collectors love those who love them.
Therefore
be perfect like your heavenly Father.
Be careful not to do what is right in order to be seen by people,
or you will have no heavenly reward.
Do not trumpet charity like
the hypocrites to gain praise;
but give secretly, and your heavenly
Father
will give back to you secretly.
Do not pray in public like
the hypocrites,
but pray to your Father in your room secretly.
Jesus recommended praying thus:
Our Father in heaven: holy be your name;
may your sovereignty come; may your will be done,
as in heaven also on earth.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgave also our debtors;
and do not bring us into temptation,
but rescue us from the evil.2
For if you forgive people their transgressions,
God will also
forgive you.
When fasting, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites;
do not show people you are fasting, but your Father.
Do not lie,
and do not do what you hate;
for everything will be revealed.
Do not store up treasures on earth, where they decay and
thieves
steal, but in your heart.
If your eye is clear, your whole body
will be illuminated.
No one can serve two lords, because to love
one is
to hate the other, and to hold to one is to disregard the
other.
You must choose to serve either God or money.
So do not
be anxious about
what you are to eat or drink or wear.
Is life
not more than food and the body more than clothes?
Does not your
heavenly Father
feed the birds and clothe the grass?
People strive
for all these things, and God knows that
you need them; but seek
first the rule of God and its justice,
and everything will be
provided for you.
Do not be anxious about tomorrow,
for each day
has enough trouble.
Do not judge and condemn lest you be judged and condemned.
Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye
but do not
consider the log in your own?
First take the log out of your own
eye so that you will see
clearly to take the speck from your brother's
eye.
Do not give what is holy to dogs
lest they trample on it
and tear you apart.
Ask, and you will receive; search, and you
will find;
knock, and it will opened to you.
Who would not give
bread to a son who asks?
If you know to give good gifts to your
children,
how much more will God give good things to those who
ask.
Enter the narrow gate,
for broad is the road many take to
destruction.
Watch out for false prophets clothed like sheep,
but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
You will recognize them
by their fruit.
Grapes and figs are not picked from thorns and
thistles.
Every good tree produces good fruit;
but the rotten
tree produces bad fruit.
Not everyone saying,
"Lord, Lord"
will enter heaven,
but those doing the heavenly will.
Those hearing
these teachings and practicing them will be
like a sensible person
who built a house on rock;
but those not practicing them
will
be like a fool building on sand.
Rain, rivers, and wind will cause
that house to fall.
When they heard that John was put in prison,
Jesus praised
his work and said he is the predicted Elijah.
Jesus lamented the
current generation saying John
had a demon because he did not
eat nor drink,
and the human son is a gluttonous drunkard
and
friend of sinners because he eats and drinks.
Jesus reproached
the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida,
and Capernaum, because they
did not repent after
powerful deeds were performed among them.
Jesus called to those who labor and are burdened
that he might
refresh them.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble of heart,
and you will find rest for your souls;
for my yoke is kind, and my burden is light.3
To the Pharisees accusing him of expelling
demons by Beelzebub,
Jesus said they spoke bad things from the bad treasure
in their
hearts, while the good person puts out good things.
Everyone will
be justified or condemned by their words.
When asked for a sign,
Jesus said a bad generation
would only be given the sign of Jonah,
who was in a sea monster for three days.
He told how an unclean
spirit cast out may return
and find the house put in order,
bringing
seven more worse spirits.
So the final state of a bad generation
may become worse than the first.
Jesus told the parable that the sovereignty of heaven
is like
a person sowing good seed.
While they slept, an enemy came and
sowed weeds.
The master told the servants to let both grow until
the harvest;
then the reapers gather the weeds to burn them
but
gather the wheat into the barn.
To his disciples he explained
that the sower of good seed
is the human son; the field is the
world; the good seeds
are the children of heaven; weeds are the
children of evil;
the enemy sowing them is the devil;
the harvest
is the completion of the age;
and the reapers are angels.
So at
the end of the age the human son will send angels
to gather the
wrong-doers and throw them into a fire;
but the just will shine
out like the sun in heaven.
The sovereignty of heaven is like
a treasure hidden in a field;
a person finding it gladly sells
everything to buy that field.
Or it is like a merchant finding
one very precious pearl.
The sovereignty is like a net cast in
the sea gathering
everything; on shore what is good is gathered
in baskets,
and the bad is thrown out.
For this reason every scholar
who becomes a disciple
of heavenly sovereignty is like a master
of a house
bringing the new and old out of one's treasure.
To
one asking to bury his father first,
Jesus said to follow him
and let the dead bury the dead.
As the harvest was large and the workers few, Jesus told his
disciples to pray that the Lord of the harvest
will put out more
workers.
Jesus sent out his disciples as sheep among wolves and
told
them not to acquire money nor a bag nor clothes nor a staff,
for the worker is worthy of his food.
He advised them to be wise
as serpents and innocent as doves.
When they are persecuted in
one town,
they should flee to another.
What he tells them in the
dark, they may say in the light;
what they hear in their ear,
they may proclaim on the housetops.
They should not fear those
killing the body but the one able
to ruin both soul and body in
hell.
Everyone who acknowledges Jesus before people will be
acknowledged
by his heavenly Father;
but whoever denies him before people will
be denied in heaven.
Jesus warned them that he did not come to
bring peace,
but there would be division in families.
Whoever
loves father or mother or son or daughter
more than him is not
worthy of him.
Whoever finds life will lose it,
and whoever loses
life for his sake will find it.
Whoever welcomes a disciple welcomes
Jesus, and whoever
welcomes Jesus welcomes the one who sent him.
Those welcoming prophets and the just will be rewarded.
When Simon Peter said that Jesus is the Christ,
Jesus blessed
him, because this was revealed not by flesh
and blood but by his
Father in heaven.
He called him Peter and said that on this rock
he would build his church, giving him the keys of heavenly
sovereignty
so that whatever he bound or released on earth
would be bound
and released in heaven.
According to Matthew, Jesus sent Peter
to catch a fish
with a four-drachma coin to pay the two-drachma
tax
for them so as not to offend the kings of the earth.
Jesus
told his disciples not to offend the small ones,
because their
angels in heaven see the face of the Father.
A person is more
glad to find the one wandering sheep
than the ninety-nine not
wandering.
Thus the Father's will is that
not even one small one
should be lost.
Jesus said that if your brother sins, correct him yourself.
If he does not listen, take along one or two
more witnesses to
establish every word.
If he ignores them, tell the congregation.
If he ignores the congregation,
let him be as a national and tax
collector.
Jesus assured them that if two or three agree on any
request,
his Father will grant it; for where two or three are
gathered
in his name, he is there with them.
Peter asked if he
should forgive his brother's sin up
to seven times, but Jesus
said up to seventy times seven.
The heavenly sovereignty is like
a king who
wished to settle accounts with his servants.
He forgave
a debtor ten thousand talents
(equal to millions of dollars) because
he pleaded with him;
but that servant insisted a fellow servant
pay back only a
hundred days' wages and threw him in prison.
The
fellows servants complained to the lord,
and he sent the servant
to jail for not having mercy
after having been forgiven.
Thus
also will the heavenly Father do
if you do not forgive your brother
from your heart.
Jesus told his disciples that some become eunuchs
because of the sovereignty of heaven.
Jesus said the sovereignty of heaven is like a master of an
estate who hired workers in the morning for a day's wage.
Then
he hired others at the third, sixth, ninth,
and eleventh hours
for the same wage.
When the last were paid first just as much,
those hired in the morning complained.
Yet the master had kept
his agreement
even though he made the last first.
He told another
parable of a person
who asked two children to work in the vineyard.
One said he was going and did not go;
the other said he would
not but later went.
Jesus asked which did the will of the father.
Then he said the tax collectors and prostitutes would go
to heaven
ahead of them,
because they did not believe John,
while the tax
collectors and prostitutes did.
Another parable compared the heavenly sovereignty to a king
who gave a wedding for his son.
He sent his servant to invite
people to the banquet,
but they would not come.
He sent more servants,
but people went elsewhere or seized,
insulted, and killed the
servants.
The king became angry and
sent his armies to destroy
their city.
Then he told his servants to invite everyone they
found
on the streets, but one who came without wedding clothes
was thrown out.
Jesus concluded that many are called, but few
are selected.
In Jerusalem Jesus criticized the scholars and the Pharisees,
telling people to do what they say but not what they do;
for they
put heavy burdens on people
but will not lift a finger to help.
They like to be seen and called teacher;
but Jesus said they have
one teacher and are all brothers.
He also advised them not to
call anyone father on earth,
for there is one heavenly Father;
nor be called leaders
because the Christ is their leader.
The
greatest serves.
Whoever exalts oneself will be humbled,
and whoever
humbles oneself will be exalted.
The hypocrites travel to convert
one person
and then make him twice the son of hell they are.
Blind
guides say it is nothing to swear
by the temple or the altar,
but swearing by its gold or the gift obligates one.
Yet the temple
sanctifies the gold as the altar does the gift.
The scholars and Pharisees tithe mint, dill, and cumin
but
have left out justice, mercy, and faith.
While straining out the
gnat, they swallow the camel.
They clean the outside of the dish,
but inside they are full
of greed and self-indulgence.
Clean the
inside first.
The hypocrites are like white-washed tombs that
appear
pleasant outwardly, but inside they are
full of everything
unclean.
Outwardly they appear just, but inside
they are hypocritical
and lawless.
They build the tombs of the prophets and think
they
would not have shed the blood of the prophets,
but even now they
are persecuting and killing them.
Jesus wished to gather the children
of Jerusalem,
but they were not willing.
Jesus said they should be alert like the master of the house
who does not know when the thief is coming.
Blessed is the servant
providing food when the lord comes;
such will be put in charge
of much.
But the bad servant who hits fellow servants and gets
drunk
will be put with the hypocrites when the lord comes.
Then
the rule of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps
to meet the bridegroom.
Five foolish virgins did not take oil
and asked for some from the wise.
The wise told them there may
not be enough
and told them to go buy some.
Meanwhile the bridegroom
came and joined those
who were ready, but the others were shut
out.
When the human son comes in glory with the angels,
he will
sit on this throne before all the nations
and separate the sheep
from the goats.
This king will give sovereignty and eternal life
to the blessed,
who gave the thirsty a drink, welcomed strangers,
dressed the naked, and visited the ailing and those in prison,
because by doing these things to others they did it to him.
But
the cursed who did not do these things
will go away into eternal
punishment.
At this time the high priests and elders were plotting with
the
high priest Caiaphas how to arrest and kill Jesus by deceit.
At the Passover meal Judas asked Jesus if he was the one
giving
him over, and Jesus confirmed it.
When one of those with Jesus
cut off the ear of the
high priest's servant while Jesus was being
arrested,
Jesus told him to put away his sword,
for all who take
a sword will die by a sword;
also he could have called on legions
of angels.
Matthew's account tells how Judas returned the
thirty
silver coins to the high priests and hanged himself.
Also Pilate's
wife warned her husband to have nothing
to do with the just Jesus
because of a dream she had,
and Pilate washed his hands to assuage
his guilt.
On the day after the crucifixion the high priests and
Pharisees
asked Pilate to order the grave guarded, and he did
so.
They also gave silver to the soldiers to say
that his disciples
at night stole him while they slept.
Similar to the narrative of the ministry and teachings of Jesus
found in Mark and
Matthew,
Luke
recounted several additional parables.
When he was twelve, Jesus
was discovered listening and
questioning the teachers in the temple.
Jesus was about thirty when he began his public ministry.
Jesus
asked if the blind could lead the blind.
He said a student is
not above the teacher,
but everyone prepared will be like the
teacher.
The good bring forth good treasure from the heart,
and
the bad bring forth bad things,
for one speaks out of the abundance
of the heart.
At Nain Jesus raised the dead son of a widow.
When a Pharisee inwardly criticized Jesus for letting a woman
kiss his feet and anoint him with perfume, he told a parable
of
two pardoned debtors,
asking which would love the creditor more.
This woman loved more
because
the sins forgiven her were greater.
Several women traveled with Jesus, including Mary Magdalene,
from
whom seven demons had been expelled.
To the one asking that he
be permitted to say good-bye
to those in his house, Jesus said
that no one putting his hand
to the plow and looking back is fit
for God's sovereignty.
Jesus reprimanded James and John for asking
if he wanted
them to call down fire from heaven to destroy a Samaritan
village which did not welcome them.
Jesus also sent out seventy-two
in pairs ahead of him,
saying the harvest is large, but the workers
are few.
To the lawyer who asked him who is his neighbor, Jesus said
a person traveling was stripped and beaten by robbers.
A priest
on that road passed by, as did a Levite;
but a Samaritan was compassionate,
bound up his wounds,
took him to an inn, and paid the innkeeper
to take care of him.
Jesus told the lawyer to do
like the one
who demonstrated mercy.
Yet to the actively serving Martha, Jesus
said that she is
worried about many things, but Mary in listening
to his word had selected the good part.
Jesus told of a man who
goes to borrow bread for his visiting
friend and gets him to unlock
his door
because of his persistence.
If humans know how to give
good gifts to their children,
how much more will the heavenly
Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.
Of those who said
that he expelled demons by Beelzebub,
Jesus said that whoever
is not with him is against him,
and whoever does not gather with
him scatters.
More blessed than his mother are those
who hear
the word of God and keep it.
Warning against greed and the abundance of possessions,
Jesus
told the parable of a wealthy citizen, who decided to
tear down
his barns to build larger ones so that with many
goods laid up
he could rest, eat, drink, and be merry;
but that night his soul
was demanded, and the things
he prepared would belong to someone
else.
Rather than treasuring for oneself
it is better to be wealthy
in God.
Jesus said to be ready for the lord with lamps burning,
because the human son is coming when they do not think.
Jesus
said the faithful and sensible manager the lord put in
charge of his attendants to give out food
will be blessed
when the lord comes,
and he will be put in charge of all his possessions.
But
if the servant starts to beat the children and get drunk,
the
lord will come when he does not expect
and cut him in two.
The
servant who is aware of the lord's will and does not do it
will
be beaten much, but the servant who is not aware will be
beaten
a little for doing things deserving blows.
To those who are given
much, much will be demanded.
Jesus noted those being killed and warned people to change
their minds or they will die the same way.
He told a parable about
a farmer of a fig tree,
which had not borne fruit for three years.
The gardener urged him to leave it for another year so that
he
could fertilize it and see if it would bear fruit;
but if it does
not, cut it down.
When a synagogue ruler complained that Jesus
healed a
woman of her ailment on the Sabbath, Jesus called him
a
hypocrite because they feed their ox or donkey on the Sabbath,
and this woman had been bound by Satan for eighteen years.
Why
should she not be released on the Sabbath?
Jesus said many would come from east and west
to recline in
the sovereignty of God.
When Pharisees told him that Herod Antipas
intended to kill
him, Jesus told them to tell that fox that he
expels demons and
performs cures and on the third day he would
be perfected.
He lamented Jerusalem killing the prophets when
he wished to gather their children like a bird
gathering her brood
under her wings.
Jesus cured a person with edema.
Noticing how
they selected the best seats,
Jesus suggested they not sit in
the best seat
so that the host can give them a better place.
When
giving a dinner, do not invite your friends and relatives
and
wealthy neighbors so that they may pay you back,
but invite the
poor, crippled, lame, and the blind so that
you will be blessed
because they have nothing to repay you.
This will be repaid in
the resurrection of the just.
When a person invited many to a
great dinner, the first
asked to be excused because he bought
a farm,
another because he bought five yoke of oxen,
and another
because he married a woman.
So the angry master had his servant
go into the streets
and invite the poor, crippled, blind, and
lame.
Jesus said that whoever does not bear one's cross
and come
after him cannot be his disciple.
To build a tower one must first
calculate the cost
so that one will be able to finish it.
A king
must decide if he can oppose his enemy's army;
if not, he sends
an embassy to make peace.
Just as the shepherd is glad to find
the lost sheep and the
woman the lost coin, so too do the angels
of God
rejoice over one sinner repenting.
A younger son asked his father for his share of the estate
and moved away, squandering his property in profligate living.
After spending it all he suffered in a severe famine
and was hired
to feed pigs.
Hungry, he decided to return to his father and told
him
he had sinned, asking to be treated like a servant.
His father
put his best robe on him and sacrificed a fat calf
to celebrate,
because his son was found.
While they were celebrating, the older
son coming in from
the field was angry, because they had never
celebrated
with him but were doing so with his brother,
who ate
up his living with prostitutes.
The father told him everything
was his,
but they must celebrate because the lost brother was
found.
A rich person told a manager, who squandered his possessions,
that he must give back his account and no longer be manager.
So
the manager called the lord's debtors and reduced each
of their
debts so that they would welcome him into their houses.
The lord
commended the unjust manager for acting shrewdly
in making friends
from the money of injustice.
The important value here is shown
in the following teaching
that a domestic cannot serve two lords—God and money.
Because of this the money-lovers sneered at him,
but Jesus said that God knows the hearts and that what is
highly
valued by people is an abomination before God.
There was a rich
person who celebrated every day
while the poor Lazarus suffered
at his gate.
When they both died, the rich one suffering in Hades
saw Lazarus with the angels and asked Abraham to send him
to cool
him down with water,
because he is in pain from the flame.
But
Abraham said he had his good things during life
and Lazarus the
bad things.
Now it is reversed.
The rich man asked that Lazarus
be sent to warn his brothers.
Abraham said they have Moses
and the prophets.
If they do not listen to them, neither will
they
be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.
When Jesus healed ten men of leprosy, he found only one
foreigner
turning back to praise God.
To show them the need to pray and
not despair, Jesus told a
parable about a judge who did not regard
God or any person;
but a woman persisted so much that he vindicated
her.
To those who were confident they are just and despise others,
Jesus told a parable of a Pharisee
and a tax collector praying
in the temple.
The Pharisee thanked God he is not like the sinners,
that he fasts and tithes;
but the tax collector confessed he was
a sinner.
The latter was justified rather than the other.
In Jericho Jesus stayed with Zacchaeus,
who was eager to serve
him.
He told a parable of a noble person who went abroad to
receive
a kingdom and gave ten servants ten minae
to do business
until he returned.
The citizens hated him
and did not want him
to be king over them.
When he returned, the first servant said
his mina had earned
ten minae, and he was put over
ten cities;
the servant with five minae was put over five
cities;
but the servant returning the one
had it given to the
servant with ten.
Then this king ordered those enemies not wanting
him
to be king over them to be slaughtered.
Jesus told this parable
when he was near Jerusalem to those
who were thinking the sovereignty
of God was about to appear.
I suggest that this king does not
represent God
but an unjust and murdering king of this world.
As he approached Jerusalem, Jesus wept and mourned that
they
did not know the things for peace.
He predicted their enemies
would attack them on all sides
and raze the city to the ground,
because they did not know
the time of their visitation.
At the
last supper he asked the disciples to eat the bread
as his body
in remembrance of him.
According to Luke, after predicting that
Simon would
deny him three times, Jesus told them now to take
a purse and wallet and buy a sword.
When the ear of the high priest's
servant was cut off,
Jesus said no more of that and healed it.
Before Pilate the high priests and elders accused Jesus
of perverting
their nation by forbidding them
to pay taxes to Caesar.
Pilate
told the crowds he found no guilt in Jesus.
Discovering he was
Galilean,
Pilate sent Jesus to Herod Antipas.
Herod was glad to
see him but was disappointed
he did no miracles, nor did he answer
his questions.
After the soldiers mocked him,
Herod had Jesus
sent back to Pilate.
Pilate wanted to release Jesus,
but the crowd
insisted he be crucified.
So Pilate released Barabbas,
who had
been imprisoned for rebellion and murder.
On the way to being crucified Jesus told the daughters of
Jerusalem
not to weep for him but for themselves,
because if they do this
when the wood is green,
what will happen when it is dry?
One criminal
on a cross asked Jesus to save them,
while the other said Jesus
did nothing wrong;
Jesus told the latter he would be with him
that day in paradise.
Dying, Jesus cried out,
"Father, into
your hands I entrust my Spirit."4
After the resurrection,
Luke described the conversation
Jesus had with two men walking
to Emmaus
and also Jesus eating broiled fish with the disciples.
Probably written some time later than the versions of Mark,
Matthew, and Luke, John
added theological concepts such as
identifying Jesus with the Logos (Word) or the lamb of God
and emphasizing love.
Jesus
called Nathanael by showing he could read his mind.
At a wedding
in Cana he provided wine by transforming water.
According to John, Jesus drove
the money-changers out of the
temple in Jerusalem at an earlier
Passover festival.
Jesus taught the elder Nicodemus that he must
be born of the
Spirit from above to enter the sovereignty of God.
Jesus said that the judgment is that the light has come into the
world, but people loved the dark rather than the light,
because
their actions were bad.
Those doing evil hate the light, because
it exposes their actions;
but those doing what is true come to
the light so that
it may be clear their actions are accomplished
in God.
In Samaria Jesus was not afraid to talk with a woman
even
though Jews did not associate with Samaritans.
He perceived that
she had been married five times.
He offered her living water and
said that
true worshippers worship in spirit and truth.
For two
days Jesus taught the Samaritans.
At Capernaum Jesus healed the
son
of a royal official from a distance.
At another feast in Jerusalem on a Sabbath Jesus healed a man
who had been ailing for 38 years.
Jews objected because he broke
the Sabbath
and called God his own Father.
Jesus explained that
he does what he sees the Father doing.
Soon the good will come
to a resurrection of life
and the bad to a resurrection of judgment.
Jesus criticized those rejecting him
for not having the love of
God in them.
Yet if they believed in Moses,
they would believe in him.
After feeding people Jesus warned them
not to work
for food which spoils but for eternal life.
When they
asked him what they should do,
Jesus said to believe in the one
God sent.
Jesus said he is the bread of life come down from heaven
to do God's will, and that he would not lose any
but raise them
up on the last day.
He quoted the prophets that everyone would
be taught by God.
The Spirit gives life, but flesh benefits nothing;
his sayings are Spirit and life.
After this Jesus left Judea and
went to Galilee,
because the Jews were trying to kill him.
Later Jesus went to the feast of tabernacles.
Some said he
is good; others said he misleads the crowd.
Jesus said his teaching
came from the one who sent him.
Jesus asked them, if they practiced
the law,
why were they trying to kill him?
Since he spoke openly,
some wondered if he was the Christ.
So they tried to arrest him,
but he escaped.
On the last day of the feast Jesus asked those
who were thirsty to come and drink.
The crowd was divided, and
Nicodemus said their law
does not judge a person without first
hearing from him and knowing what he does.
The next day Jesus sat in the temple and taught.
When they
brought a woman caught in adultery,
he told anyone without sin
to throw the first stone.
Jesus did not condemn her either
and
told her not to sin anymore.
Jesus said they judged according
to the flesh,
but he did not judge anyone
unless the one who sent
him did by truth.
While he taught in the treasury, no one arrested
him.
Jesus said he would be going and that if they
did not believe in him, they would die in their sins.
Yet those continuing in
his word are his disciples;
they will know the truth, and the
truth will free them.
Some said as Abraham's seed they have never
been enslaved;
but Jesus said slaves of sin do not stay in the
house forever;
but the son stays forever and can really free them.
If they knew God, they would not be trying to kill him
but would
love him, because he came out of God,
sent by that one.
They perform
the desires of their murdering father
and do not stand in the
truth but lie.
Jesus is saying the truth; but they do not believe
him
and think he has a demon.
Jesus answered he does not have
a demon
but honors his Father.
Those keeping his words will not
see death at all ever.
Jesus not only said he knew Abraham
but
existed before Abraham.
For this they picked up stones to throw
at him;
but he escaped out of the temple again.
As he was going, Jesus healed one born blind.
Jesus said he
came into the world so that those
not seeing may see, while those
seeing become blind.
Jesus told the allegory of himself as the
noble shepherd
who lays down his life for the sheep.
Other sheep
will also hear his voice,
and they will become one flock.
At the dedication festival in winter at Jerusalem
Jesus also
taught that the works he does
in the name of the Father testify
about him.
He asked them why they want to stone him,
and they
answered it was because of blasphemy.
Jesus quoted the law where
it said, "You are gods."
Jesus asked them to believe
his works so they would know
the Father is in him; but they tried
to arrest him again.
Jesus went to Bethany, where he met the sisters
Martha and
Mary and then brought
the dead Lazarus back to life.
When the
council of the Pharisees was told this,
the high priest Caiaphas
prophesied that one person
would die on behalf of the nation.
To Greeks Jesus used symbolism similar to the
Eleusinian
mysteries to explain eternal life as being like
a grain of
wheat that dies and bears much fruit.
Jesus said that whoever
loves one's life loses it,
but whoever hates one's life in this
world
will preserve eternal life.
Jesus said that the judgment
of this world is that its ruler
is thrown out; but by being lifted
up from the earth,
he will draw everyone to himself.
Many rulers
believed in Jesus; but they did not admit it
lest they be put
out of the synagogue by the Pharisees.
Jesus said he did not come
into the world
to judge the world but to save the world.
When Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with expensive
perfume, it was Judas Iscariot who complained
it could have been sold and
given to the poor.
According to John, he was a thief
and stole
from the money box.
At the Passover feast Jesus put aside his
clothes
and washed the feet of his disciples.
He told them to
wash each other's feet
according to his example.
No servant is
greater than his lord, and the messenger
is not greater than the
one sending him.
Jesus told Judas Iscariot to act quickly.
Then
Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment,
that they love each
other as he had loved them.
By this everyone will know that they
are his disciples,
if they love each other.
He told them not to
be troubled
but to trust in God and him.
He will go to prepare
a place for them
and will welcome them to himself.
Jesus declared himself the way, the truth and life;
everyone
can come to the Father through him.
Those believing in him will
do the works he does and even
greater, because he is going to
the Father.
They can ask for things in his name.
If they love
him, they will keep his commandments,
and he will send as an intermediary
the spirit of truth.
Jesus will not leave them orphans but will
come back to them.
Whoever loves him will keep his word
and be
loved by his Father.
The Father will send the Holy Spirit to teach
them everything.
Jesus said he leaves peace with them.
Jesus called
himself the true vine, and they are the branches;
those connected
to him may bear much fruit.
Jesus loved them, as the Father loved
him.
Their joy will be fulfilled.
No one has greater love than
laying down one's life for friends.
If the world hates them, it
hated him first;
but they are not of the world,
because he selected
them out of the world.
If they persecuted him, they will persecute
them also.
The intermediary will testify about him.
Jesus told
them these things so that they would not fall away.
There is more
to tell them, but the spirit of truth
will guide them into all
truth.
Their grief will turn into joy like a woman giving birth.
Whatever they ask the Father in his name they will receive.
Jesus
told them to have courage,
because he overcame the world.
Then
Jesus prayed to the Father.
According to John, when the cohort and the Jewish officials
arrested Jesus, they took him to the high priest Annas first.
Jesus told him he had spoken openly;
but an official slapped him
for speaking confidently to the high priest.
When Pilate went
outside and told the crowd to judge
him according to their law,
the Jews replied
they were not allowed to put anyone to death.
When Pilate asked Jesus if he is king of the Jews,
Jesus answered
that his sovereignty is not of this world,
but he came into the
world to testify to the truth.
Later the Jews said Jesus should
die
because he made himself son of God.
Jesus said Pilate would
not have any authority
unless it was given to him from above.
Jews argued that to release him
would not be friendly to Caesar,
because everyone making himself king speaks against Caesar.
They
did not want him to write "King of the Jews"
but that
he said he was king of the Jews.
The soldiers divided the clothes
of Jesus
and decided by lot for the tunic.
Seeing his mother,
her sister, and Mary Magdalene,
Jesus while on the cross implied
that the beloved disciple
(John) should take care of his mother.
The soldiers did not break the legs of Jesus,
because he was
already dead;
but one pierced his side with a spear.
(According
to the recently discovered Gospel of Peter,
they did not
break his legs so that he would die in torment.)
When Mary Magdalene
was weeping outside the tomb,
she saw two angels and then Jesus
standing there.
When he spoke her name, she recognized him.
She
went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord.
Jesus
appeared to the disciples in a locked room
and told Thomas to
touch his side.
Jesus manifested himself again to seven of the
disciples
while they were fishing in the Sea of Tiberias.
He told
Simon Peter to feed his sheep.
Three letters attributed to John are included in
The New
Testament, and scholars believe they were
written about the
same time as his gospel
about the end of the first century.
John
proclaimed fellowship with his readers and
"with the Father
and with his Son Jesus Christ."
He suggested that God is
light and that they can have
fellowship with one another while
walking in the light.
To say they have no sin is to deceive themselves;
but if they confess their sins,
they will be forgiven and cleansed.
John put forth Jesus Christ not only as the expiator
of their
sins but for the sins of the whole world.
To say one is in the
light while hating a brother
is to be in darkness still.
Whoever
loves a brother abides in the light.
The world and its lust passes
away,
but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
John exhorted
them to love one another, for love is of God,
and whoever loves
is born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know
God,
because God is love.
Love has no fear, because perfect love
casts out fear.
Whoever says they love God while hating a brother
is a liar,
for whoever does not love a brother, who is seen,
cannot
love God, who is not seen.
The book of Revelation is also attributed to John and
was
probably written near the end of the reign of Domitian
(81-96),
who banished John to the rocky island of Patmos.
John
sent this description of his vision to the seven church
of Asia
in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira,
Sardis, Philadelphia,
and Laodicea.
The angels promise to search their mind and heart
and
give to each what their works deserve.
The violent imagery
may reflect John's resentment toward
Rome for its persecution
of him and other Christians.
The four horseman bring death by
war, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts.
He warned against a
beast in authority not allowing
anyone to buy or sell unless they
have its mark,
the name of the beast or its number.
The Roman
empire is symbolized by Babylon,
the mother of harlots and of
earth's abominations.
The merchants of the earth will weep and
mourn
when no one buys their cargo anymore,
including slaves that
are human souls.
The great city will be overthrown with violence.
The devil Satan will be bound
for a thousand years while Christ
reigns.
Then Satan will be loosed from prison to deceive nations.
The dead will be judged by what they have done.
Those whose name
is not written in the book of life
will be thrown in the lake
of fire.
John saw a new heaven and a new earth with no death
and
no night; but God will be their light and reign forever.
Finally
Jesus as the beginning and the end,
the alpha and omega, promises
to come soon.
John generally but correctly prophesied the fall
of the
Roman empire, though the following millennium
of Christian
culture was far from ideal.
In my view the final vision refers
to higher realms of light
than the physical universe where souls
go after death.
According to tradition the disciple Thomas was chosen to go
to Parthia, and he later took the good message as far as India.
A Coptic Gnostic library of apocryphal books that had been
buried
in the fourth century was found
at Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945.
The Gospel According
to Thomas with its 114 secret sayings
of Jesus was written
by the disciple called twin Judas Thomas
probably about the same
time as the four canonized gospels.
Used in Syria, Egypt, and
other places, this and other texts
rejected later by the church
are called Gnostic
because they emphasize knowledge more than
belief.
According to Thomas, when they suggested he fast,
Jesus
asked them what sin he had committed
or whether he had been overcome.
When his disciples asked Jesus if they should fast,
he told them
not to lie and not to do what they hate,
for everything is manifest
before heaven.
Jesus said to search and not cease searching until
one finds.
Finding, one will be troubled
but will marvel and reign
over the All.
Jesus said to know what is before your face,
and
what is hidden will be revealed.
According to Thomas,
Jesus said the Father's sovereignty
is like a woman carrying a
jar full of flour a long way.
The handle broke, and the flour
spilled without her knowing it.
When she got home, she found the
jar was empty.
This parable implies the need to be careful.
Similarly
the sovereignty is like a man who sold a field with a
hidden treasure;
the buyer plowed, found the treasure,
and lent money to whomever
he wished.
Jesus said that whoever knows the All
but fails oneself
fails everywhere.
Jesus suggested that those with riches
or power
should renounce.
Jesus wondered how the great wealth of the Spirit
made its home in the poverty of the body.
Jesus said the sovereignty
is spread upon the earth,
but people do not see it.
It is not
found in the sky with the birds
or in the sea with the fish,
but
inside you and outside you.
By knowing yourself you will be known
and will know
that you are children of the living Father;
but
if you do not know yourself, you are in poverty.
The Dialog of the Savior was also
probably written in
the same period.
Jesus warns his disciples about the power of
darkness and
tells them not to fear the ruling authority of tyrants.
Jesus suggests they will overcome even the rulers in heaven.
When
they remove envy, they will be clothed in light
and enter into
the bridal chamber, a place of secret initiation.
The Apocryphon
of James concludes the sovereignty
of heaven can be received;
but unless one understands it
through knowledge, one will not
be able to find it.
Therefore they should understand what the
great light is,
pay attention to the Word, understand knowledge,
and love life.
No one will persecute or oppress them other than
themselves.
Epiphanius criticized The Gospel of the Ebionites
for changing
some details to imply that John the Baptist
and Jesus
were vegetarians.
In his long work Against Heresies written late in the
second
century Irenaeus criticized some Gnostics for believing
their
spiritual knowledge placed them above the "animal men"
who could only be saved through good works.
He also criticized
those who yielded to lusts of the flesh,
maintaining that their
carnal nature
could be separated from their spiritual nature.
When the disciple Simon recognized Jesus as the Christ,
Jesus
named him Peter and said that on this rock
he would build his
church.
Yet right after that when Jesus mentioned he would suffer
because of the elders, high priests and scholars
and be killed,
Peter reprimanded him.
Jesus then called Peter Satan for tempting
him.
Thus the infallibillity of Peter is questionable, to say
nothing
of those claiming to be his successors.
The forming of
the church based on the life and teachings of
Jesus is described
in The Acts of the Apostles by Luke.
After the departure
of Jesus the eleven remaining disciples
returned to Jerusalem
and devoted themselves to prayer
along with the women and the
mother
and brothers of Jesus, about 120 in all.
Two men were nominated
to replace Judas Iscariot,
and Matthias was chosen by lot.
On
the day of Pentecost seven weeks after the Passover
a sound from
heaven was heard, and they all began to speak
in different languages
as they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Many heard the powerful
works of God
described in their own languages.
Peter spoke to
the congregation about Jesus and how he was
fulfilling the promise
by pouring out the Holy Spirit.
He announced to the house of Israel
that
God had made Jesus Lord and Christ.
Hearing this, people asked Peter
and the apostles what they
should do.
Peter told them to repent and be baptized in the name
of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins
so that they would
receive the Holy Spirit.
On that day about three thousand were
baptized,
and they joined the fellowship of the apostles,
sharing
their teaching, breaking of bread, and prayers.
All the believers
worked together and had all things in common.
They sold their
possessions and distributed
their goods to all according to need.
They ate together, praised God, found favor with people,
and increased
in numbers.
Going into the temple with John, Peter saw a lame beggar.
Saying
he had no silver and gold, Peter gave him what he had
by telling
him to walk in the name of Jesus Christ.
The man stood up and
walked
into the temple with them, praising God.
People were amazed,
and Peter began preaching to them
that the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob had glorified his
servant Jesus, whom they had delivered
and denied
when Pilate decided to release him.
Thus the author
of life was killed,
but God raised him from the dead.
Peter said
they acted out of ignorance and asked them
to repent so that their
sins might be blotted out.
As they were speaking, the priests
and the Sadducees
were annoyed, and the captain of the temple
arrested them.
When they asked Peter by what power he acted,
he
explained that the man was healed by the name of Jesus Christ,
whom they had crucified, and God raised.
Since the healed man was
standing there, they could not deny this.
So they charged them
not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
Peter and John answered
that they were judging them to listen
to them instead of God;
but they spoke of what they had seen and heard.
The authorities
did not punish them because of the people
praising God for what
happened;
but they threatened them and let them go.
The company of believers had one heart and soul,
sharing all
their possessions so that
there was no needy person among them.
Joseph Barnabas sold his field, brought the money,
and laid it
at the apostles' feet.
But Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold
their property
but kept some of the proceeds.
Peter asked Ananias
why he lied to people and God,
causing Ananias to fall down dead.
Three hours later the same thing happened with his wife.
As the
apostles gathered in Solomon's Portico,
many brought the sick
to be healed.
The Sadducee high priest had the apostles arrested
and
put in a common prison; but at night an angel of the Lord
opened the prison doors and led them out,
telling them to speak
the words of life in the temple.
Once again the captain and the
officers brought them
before the council;
but Peter said they
must obey God rather than men.
Some were angry and wanted to kill
them;
but the teacher Gamaliel noted that Theudas and four hundred
followers were slain and that Judas the Galilean
died and his
rebels were scattered.
He said if this undertaking is of men,
it will fail;
but if it is of God, they cannot overthrow it,
and
they might even be found opposing God.
So they beat the apostles,
charged them
not to speak of Jesus, and let them go.
Every day
they continued teaching
and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Some Hellenists complained that the Hebrews were
neglecting their widows in the daily distribution.
So the twelve, preferring
to preach instead of serving tables,
appointed seven men led by
Stephen to perform this duty.
Stephen accomplished many wonders;
but some including
Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians,
and Asians
argued with Stephen.
Unable to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit
by which
Stephen spoke, they accused him of blasphemy and
instigated elders and scribes to bring him
before the council with false
witnesses.
Stephen responded by reviewing the spiritual history
of Israel from Abraham to Solomon,
and he accused
their fathers of persecuting the prophets.
Then
Stephen said he saw
the human son standing next to God.
For this
they threw him out of the city
and stoned him to death,
while
Saul stood by with their garments approving.
That day began a great persecution against
the Jerusalem church,
and they scattered
throughout Judea and Samaria.
Saul devastated
the church and, entering house after house,
dragged off men and
women to prison.
Philip preached in Samaria,
expelling demons
and healing the lame.
Peter and John went to Samaria to baptize
people,
who had received the word of God.
A powerful magician
named Simon offered them money so
that by laying on hands he too
could dispense the Holy Spirit.
Peter told Simon his heart was
not right in trying to
buy the gift of God and asked him to repent.
Philip was guided to meet an Ethiopian eunuch on the road
to Gaza,
and Philip explained to him
how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies
of Isaiah.
Philip baptized him
and took the good message to Caesarea.
Saul threatened to murder the disciples and from the high priest
he got letters to arrest believers in the synagogues at Damascus.
As he approached that city, a heavenly light flashed,
and he fell
to the ground.
A voice asked Saul why he was persecuting him,
Jesus.
Then Saul was told to rise, enter the city,
and he would
be told what to do.
For three days Saul was blind and fasted.
Then Ananias was guided to lay his hands on Saul
so that he could
regain his sight
and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Then Saul
was baptized and ate food.
In the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus
as the son of God.
After several days Jews plotted to kill him,
but Saul escaped
when his disciples let him down over the wall
in a basket.
In Jerusalem Barnabas took Saul to the apostles,
and he told them how the Lord spoke to him on the road
and how
he preached in Damascus.
Saul preached and argued with the Hellenists,
who sought to kill him.
So Saul went to Caesarea and then to Tarsus.
At Lydda Peter healed a paralyzed man, and in Joppa
he brought
the woman Tabitha back to life.
While the centurion Cornelius
at Caesarea was guided to send
his men to Joppa to get Peter,
Peter had a vision in which
a voice told him to eat all kinds
of animals
because God has cleansed them.
When Peter visited Cornelius,
he interpreted his vision as
God showing him that no person is
unclean.
Peter perceived that God shows no partiality;
but in
every nation those who do right are acceptable to God.
As Peter
preached about Jesus Christ,
the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard
the word
even though they were not Jews.
Then Peter commanded
that they be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ.
When Peter
returned to Jerusalem, the circumcision party
criticized him for
eating with uncircumcised men.
Peter explained about the vision
he had three times
and how the Holy Spirit came to the Gentiles
in Caesarea.
King Herod Agrippa had John's brother James
killed with the
sword.
When this pleased some Jews, he had Peter arrested;
but
an angel helped Peter to escape.
Shortly after being proclaimed
a god,
Herod died of illness in 44 CE.
In Jerusalem Pharisees
charged that believers should be
circumcised and keep the law
of Moses.
Peter spoke to the brothers
that God had guided him to
preach the good message to the Gentiles
and had given
to them the Holy Spirit, cleansing their hearts
by faith.
He asked why they should try God by putting
on their
necks a yoke hard to bear.
Then Barnabas and Paul related the
wonders
God did among the Gentiles.
After they spoke, James, the
brother of Jesus, recalled how
God visited the Gentiles and how
this fulfilled prophecies
of Amos, Jeremiah, and Isaiah.
The judgment
of James was that they should not trouble the
Gentiles but write
them to abstain from pollutions of idols,
from fornication, and
from meat not ritually butchered.
The church agreed with James
and sent Judas Barsabbas
and Silas with Paul and Barnabas
with
these instructions to the Gentiles in Syria and Cilicia.
Little is known of Peter after this.
Eusebius believed that
Peter preached to Jews in Pontus,
Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia,
and Asia, and according to
tradition he was crucified upside down
in Rome
during Nero's persecution of the Christians
following
the fire in 64 CE.
The first letter of Peter included in The New
Testament
was probably written shortly before his death.
Peter
wrote to exiles of the dispersion in Asia, urging them
to be holy
and not conform to the passions
of their former ignorance.
Purifying
their souls, they may love one another from the heart.
Thus they
should put away all malice,
deceit, insincerity, envy, and slander.
He encouraged them to abstain from the passions
of the flesh that
wage war against the soul.
By doing right they can silence the
ignorance of the foolish.
He urged them to live as free persons
without using freedom
as a pretext for evil but in order to serve
God, honor people,
love the community, reverence God, and honor
the emperor.
Thus Peter told them to submit to their masters
even
if it means suffering unjustly.
They should follow the example
of Jesus who was reviled
but did not revile in return, who suffered
but did not threaten;
he trusted in the one who judges justly.
Peter also told the wives to be submissive to their husbands
but that the husbands should likewise be considerate
of their
wives, honoring them as the weaker sex.
In the unity of spirit
they may love
with a tender heart and a humble mind.
Do not return
evil for evil, but rather bless because
they have been called
to this and may so obtain blessing.
Keep the tongue from evil
and do right;
seek and pursue peace, for the Lord
sees the just
and listens to their prayers.
Even if they suffer for justice,
they will be blessed.
Thus they should not be afraid nor troubled.
To anyone who calls them to account they may defend
themselves
with gentleness and reverence,
keeping their conscience clear
so that those abusing them
for their good behavior may be put
to shame.
It is better to suffer for doing what is right
than
for doing wrong.
Those suffering in the flesh may cease from sin and live
from
then on free of passions by the will of God.
The time for licentiousness,
passions, drunkenness, revels,
carousing, and lawless idolatry
is past, for the good message
is preached so that they may live
in the spirit like God.
Because the end is near, they should keep
sober for praying
and maintain their love for one another,
since
love covers many sins.
They should practice hospitality and
employ
the gifts they have received.
In the fiery ordeal that proves
them they should
rejoice in sharing Christ's sufferings.
Suffering
as a Christian glorifies God.
Thus they should do right and trust
their souls
to the faithful Creator.
They should tend the flock
of God, not by constraint or
domineering but by being examples
to the flock.
Peter recommended they be humble, sober, and watchful.
After they have suffered, God will restore them.
Although James was skeptical of his brother Jesus during his
lifetime, after seeing him resurrected, James
(with Peter and
John) became a leader of the Jerusalem church.
According to Hegesippus,
James was universally
called the Just; he drank no alcohol, ate
no animal food,
wore linen garments, and no razor touched his
head;
his knees became hardened by frequent praying.
The Gospel
of the Hebrews was mentioned
more than any other by the early
church.
A quote from it by Jerome states that after the resurrection
Jesus appeared to his brother James the Just.
When Festus died
about 61 CE, before Albinus arrived,
the high priest Ananus accused
James
before the council and had him killed.
Complaints about
this to King Agrippa caused him
to take the high priesthood away
from Ananus.
A letter attributed to this James emphasizes that faith
also requires works, though many scholars question
whether it was written
by James himself.
It is written to the twelve tribes in the dispersion,
encouraging them to be joyful because trials
testing their faith
can produce steadfastness.
People are not tempted by God but by
their own desires.
James suggested they be quick to hear, but
slow to speak or
become angry; for anger does not work what is
right by God.
They should be doers of the word, not just hearers.
The religious also need to bridle their tongues, because
religion has more to do with visiting orphans and widows
and keeping oneself
unstained from the world.
James exhorted his brothers not to show
partiality
to the rich over the poor, asking has not God
chosen
the poor to be rich in faith.
Are not the rich the ones who oppress
them
and drag them into court?
Fulfilling the scripture is loving
one's neighbor as oneself;
but showing partiality is to commit
sin and transgress the law.
They should speak and act
as those
judged under the law of liberty.
Judgment is without mercy to
those
who show no mercy; yet mercy overcomes judgment.
James asked what benefit faith has without works.
A little
tongue can boast of great things,
as a great forest is inflamed
by a small fire.
The wise will show good works in the gentleness
of wisdom.
Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition
cause disorder
and vile practices.
The wisdom from above is pure, peaceful, gentle,
open to reason, and merciful,
bearing good fruit without uncertainty
or insincerity.
The harvest of justice is sown in peace
by those
who make peace.
What causes wars and fighting among them if not
passions?
Not getting what they desire, they kill.
Coveting without
obtaining, they fight and wage war.
They ask wrongly when intending
to spend it on their passions.
Whoever loves the world too much
makes oneself an enemy of God.
God opposes the proud but gives
grace to the humble.
Draw near God, and God will draw near you.
Purify your hearts.
Do not speak evil against one another,
because
this is to judge the law.
There is one lawgiver and judge
who
is able to save and to destroy.
Who are they to judge their neighbors?
Knowing what is right to do but failing to do it is a sin.
Be
patient and do not grumble against one another
so that you may
not be judged.
Therefore confess your sins and pray for one another
so that you may be healed,
for God is compassionate and merciful.
James concluded that bringing back a sinner
from error will cover
a multitude of sins.
The anonymous letter to the Hebrews included in
The New
Testament was probably written
before the temple was destroyed
in 70 CE.
It argues that the new covenant mediated by Jesus
is
better than the old covenant.
This covenant in which the laws
are written on their hearts
and in their minds was prophesied
by Jeremiah.
The sacrifice of
Jesus doing the will of God has replaced
the animal sacrifices
and burnt offerings.
Chapter 11 is on faith, which is defined
as the assurance
of what is hoped for and the conviction of what
is not seen.
Chapter 12 discusses the discipline of the Lord
which
comes to all whom God loves.
As earthly fathers discipline their
children for a short time,
so God does so for our good so that
we may share in holiness.
In the moment discipline seems painful,
but it produces the peaceful fruit of justice to those it trains.
Thus they should seek peace with all people and for holiness.
Brotherly love includes showing hospitality to strangers,
remembering
those who are in prison and those ill treated.
Marriage should
be honored and the marriage bed
undefiled by adultery.
Do not
love money, but be content with what you have,
and God will never
forsake you.
They may bear abuse like Jesus for his sake,
because
such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Because of the dispersion caused by the persecution,
some men
from Cyprus and Cyrene
went to Antioch and preached to Greeks.
Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem to Antioch.
When he saw a large
company added to the Lord there,
Barnabas went to Tarsus and brought
Saul to Antioch for a year.
This was about 46 CE, and the disciples
in Antioch
were the first to be called Christians.
Agabus prophesied
famine, and the Antioch disciples sent relief
to those suffering
in Judea by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Barnabas and Saul
were sent by the Antioch church to Cyprus.
There Saul, now called
Paul, reprimanded a magician named
Elymas, causing him to become
blind for a time.
Paul traveled to Perga and preached at the Antioch
in Pisidia
until he and Barnabas were driven out by Jews.
They
traveled through Lycaonia of southern Galatia,
where at Lystra
Paul healed a man crippled from birth.
Angry Jews persuaded people
to stone Paul,
and he was carried out of the city, going on to
Derbe.
They returned through Pisidia and Pamphylia,
sailing back
to the Antioch in Syria.
After a time Paul and Barnabas went to
Jerusalem and
participated in the debate about circumcision,
testifying
to the wonders God had done among the Gentiles.
Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and Judas Barsabbas took the letter
from the Jerusalem church to the Gentiles in Antioch.
Paul asked
Barnabas to go with him and revisit the brothers.
Barnabas wanted
to take John Mark; but Paul did not want to,
because he had withdrawn
from them in Pamphylia.
So Barnabas went with John Mark to Cyprus,
and Paul traveled with Silas through Syria and Cilicia.
At Lystra
Paul circumcised Timothy,
because his father was Greek.
Paul was
guided to travel to Macedonia, and in Philippi
he expelled a spirit
from a slave girl,
who had used it for divination.
Her owners
resented this loss and dragged Paul and Silas
before the magistrates;
they were beaten and thrown into prison.
An earthquake loosed
their fetters and opened the doors,
and Paul persuaded the jailer
not to harm himself.
The jailer took them home and was baptized.
The magistrates ordered their release and apologized
when Paul
pointed out they were Roman citizens.
Paul traveled to Thessalonica and taught in a synagogue,
but
jealous Jews caused an uproar and attacked the house
of Jason,
whom they accused for receiving those challenging
the decrees
of Caesar by saying Jesus is king.
Paul and Silas left at night
and went to Beroea,
where the controversy continued.
Silas and
Timothy stayed there while Paul went on to Athens.
There he was
questioned by Epicurean
and Stoic philosophers.
Paul observed their statue to the "unknown god" and
proclaimed the God who made the world as Lord of heaven
and earth
and who gives to all the breath of life.
He quoted their poets
that "In him we live and move
and have our being" and
that we are his offspring.
Now God commands everyone to repent
and
has given assurance by raising a man from the dead.
From Athens Paul went to Corinth, where he met Aquila,
who
had left Italy with his wife
when Claudius expelled the Jews in
49 CE.
Paul sent Timothy to encourage the congregation
at Thessalonica, and then from Corinth
Paul wrote two letters to the Thessalonians.
Paul said he had not used words as flattery
or to cover greed
nor did he seek glory.
He was gentle like a nurse taking care
of children.
Paul advised them to abstain from fornication,
that
they each take a wife in holiness and honor.
They are taught to
love one another.
They should admonish the idle, encourage the
faint-hearted,
help the weak, and be patient with all.
Do not
repay evil with evil
but always seek to do good to everyone.
Paul
tried to show by his work a good example and advised
them not
to feed those who will not work.
They should have nothing to do
with anyone who refuses
to obey what is in the letters, not treating
him as an enemy
but warning him as a brother so that he may be
ashamed.
Paul preached in Corinth for a year and a half.
Jews brought
Paul before a tribunal,
but Gallio refused to intervene in questions
of Jewish law.
Then Paul returned to Antioch
by way of Ephesus
and Caesarea.
After traveling through Galatia, Paul came to Ephesus
again
and stayed there more than two years.
Paul baptized them,
and they received the Holy Spirit.
Many people burned their books
on magic, and a riot
occurred over the Ephesians' faith in the
goddess Artemis.
From Ephesus Paul wrote to the Corinthians because it was
reported
to him that there was quarreling among them.
He warned that the
immoral person sins against the body;
but the body is the temple
of the Holy Spirit given by God.
So they should glorify God in
their bodies.
The single who cannot exercise self-control should
marry,
for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
Paul
noted that knowledge "puffs up" but love builds up.
Just as the body has many members, so they are the
members of
one body in Christ and drink of one Spirit
whether they are Jews
or Greeks, slaves or free.
The famous 13th chapter of the first
letter to the
Corinthians emphasizes the importance of love.
No
sacrifice is worth anything if one does not have love.
Love is
patient and kind, not jealous nor boasting,
not arrogant nor rude.
Love does not insist on its own way,
and it is not irritable nor
resentful.
Love does not rejoice at wrong but at what is right.
Love bears all, believes all, hopes all, and endures all.
Prophecies,
tongues, and knowledge will pass away,
for these are imperfect;
but love never ends.
Faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest
is love.
Paul's patriarchal sexism shows when he holds it
shameful
for a woman to speak in church.
He warned them not to be deceived,
because bad company can ruin good morals.
In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul reminded them
that
we all will be judged by Christ and will receive good or
evil
according to what one has done in the body.
Yet God in Christ
has reconciled the world, and so
he
beseeched them on behalf of
Christ to be reconciled to God.
The day of salvation is now, and
Paul commended them as
servants of God through afflictions, hardships,
calamities,
beatings, imprisonment, tumult, labors, watching,
and hunger
that they endure by purity, knowledge, tolerance, kindness,
the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech,
and the power
of God, using the weapons of justice.
Treated as impostors, yet
they are true; as unknown,
yet they are well known; as dying,
yet they live; as punished,
yet they are not killed; as sorrowful,
yet they are joyful;
as poor, yet they are rich; and as possessing
nothing,
yet they have everything.
Talking like a foolish madman,
Paul recalled that
he had been lashed by the Jews five times,
was beaten with rods three times, and was stoned once.
While on this third missionary journey probably about 55 CE
Paul
wrote to the Galatians.
Most of this letter emphasizes the importance
of faith,
but the last two chapters do not forget
that ethics
is important too.
The whole law is fulfilled by loving your neighbor
as yourself.
But if they bite and devour each other, they may
be consumed.
Paul advised them to walk by the Spirit and not gratify
the
opposed desires of the flesh which include fornication, impurity,
licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, selfishness, dissension,
party
spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and so on.
If they walk
by the Spirit, they will not have self-conceit
nor will they provoke
each other nor envy each other.
The spiritual should restore one
found trespassing
in a spirit of gentleness.
They should bear
each other's burdens
in order to fulfill the law of Christ.
They
should not be deceived, because God is not mocked:
everyone will
reap what they sow.
Whoever sows in the flesh will reap corruption,
while one sowing in the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Do not
grow weary of doing good,
because if we do not lose heart,
we
shall reap in due season.
So take the opportunity to do good to
all,
especially to those in the community of faith.
Paul's letter to the Romans was written before he went to that
great city, but he was hoping to visit them on his way to Spain.
He observed that God will render to everyone
according to their
works.
Those patiently doing well will be given eternal life;
but the factious who disobey the truth will find wrath and fury.
The Gentiles, who act naturally by the law,
have it written on
their hearts.
Paul found joy in suffering because it produces
endurance,
character, and hope that the Holy Spirit
will be poured
into our hearts.
He gave thanks to God that those who were slaves
of sin
have obeyed the standard of teaching and have been freed
of sin to become servants of justice.
Paul wrote about how carnal sin can cause one
to do the evil
one does not want to do.
So when one wants to do what is right,
evil lies close by;
the mind serves God, but the flesh serves
sin.
Thus to set the mind on the flesh is death;
but to set the
mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
For the flesh is hostile
to God
and does not submit to God's law.
But they can be in the
Spirit rather than in the flesh.
Though their bodies may be dead,
their spirits may be alive
because of the Spirit of Christ and
justice.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children
of God.
Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will
of God.
God works for good in those who love God
and are called
to this purpose.
If God is for us, who can be against us?
God
justifies, but who condemns?
Who can answer back to God?
Will
the one who has been molded question its molder?
In Romans 12-14 Paul discussed
the duties of a Christian
believer.
They should not conform to this world but be transformed
by the renewal of their minds to prove the will of God
that is
good, acceptable, and perfect.
They may use their gifts in prophecy,
serving, teaching,
exhorting, contributing, aiding, and doing
acts of mercy.
Love one another and outdo each other in showing
honor.
Be aglow with the Spirit and serve God.
Be glad in hope,
patient in tribulation, and constant in prayer.
Contribute to
the needs of the saints and practice hospitality.
Bless those
who persecute and curse you;
rejoice with the joyful and weep
with those weeping.
Live in harmony with each other; do not be
proud
or conceited but associate with the lowly.
Do not repay
evil with evil, but consider
what is noble in the sight of all.
Live peaceably with everyone.
Never avenge yourselves, for vengeance
is God's.
Rather if your enemy is hungry or thirsty, and you feed
them
and give them drink, you will be heaping
burning coals on
their heads.
Thus overcome evil with good.
Paul recommended they be subject to governing
authorities and
pay taxes, because he assumed
the authorities were ministers of
God.
They should owe no one anything
except to love them as oneself.
They should put on the Lord Jesus Christ and not make
provision
for gratifying the desires of the flesh.
They should not pass
judgment on others,
because all will stand before the judgment-seat
of God.
Thus put no stumbling blocks in the way of a brother.
The sovereignty of God is justice and peace
and joy in the Holy
Spirit.
Happy is the person who has no reason to judge oneself.
Once again Paul traveled in Macedonia and Greece,
quoting Jesus
in Miletus that
it is more blessed to give than to receive.
On
his way to Jerusalem Paul visited Philip in Caesarea.
The prophet
Agabus predicted that Paul would have
his hands and feet bound
in Jerusalem,
and he would be delivered to the Gentiles.
At Jerusalem
Paul greeted James and told
of his ministry to the Gentiles.
After
seven days Paul was dragged from the temple
and
beaten until the
Roman soldiers arrested him
and bound him with chains.
The tribune
allowed Paul to speak to the people in Hebrew.
Paul said he was
born a Jew at Tarsus
and was educated in Jerusalem by Gamaliel.
He had zealously persecuted believers in Christ,
sending men and
women to prison.
He got a letter from the council and journeyed
to Damascus
to bring more in bonds to Jerusalem for punishment.
Near Damascus he saw a great light, fell down, and heard
the voice
of Jesus ask him why he was persecuting him.
Paul asked what he
should do, and the voice told him
to go to Damascus and do what
he was told.
He was blinded by the light until Ananias
came and
baptized him.
At Jerusalem Paul was guided to take
his testimony
far away to the Gentiles.
At this point the Jews cried out against Paul, and the tribune
ordered him into the barracks to be scourged.
Paul asked the centurion
if it was lawful to
scourge a Roman citizen without a trial.
The
next day the tribune unbound Paul
and sent him to the Jewish council.
The high priest Ananias ordered Paul struck on the mouth.
When
Paul realized the council was divided between the
Sadducees and
the Pharisees, he said he was a Pharisee
being tried for believing
in resurrection.
This caused dissension and brought the Pharisees
to his defense; but some Jews plotted to kill him.
The Roman soldiers
took Paul
to the governor Felix at Caesarea.
Felix determined
that he was accused in regard to Jewish law
but was charged with
nothing deserving punishment.
Five days later the high priest
Ananias and his spokesman
Tertullus put their case against Paul
before the governor.
Paul replied that he did not stir up the
crowd
but was tried on the resurrection issue.
Felix put off his
decision and allowed Paul visitors.
When Festus succeeded Felix, he left Paul in prison
as a favor
to the Jews.
Paul asked to be tried before Caesar's tribunal and
appealed
to Caesar, and so Festus decided to send him to Rome.
The visiting Jewish king Agrippa II wanted to hear Paul,
and Paul
told him his story.
Agrippa told Festus that Paul could have been
set free
if he had not appealed to Caesar.
On his journey Paul
experienced a shipwreck and was
considered a god for surviving
a snake bite at Malta;
there Paul also healed people.
At Rome
Paul stayed with the soldier who guarded him,
and for two years
he lived there
preaching about the Lord Jesus Christ.
According
to tradition Paul was beheaded
in Rome during Nero's persecution
of 64 CE.
Paul wrote to the Philippians that they should not be selfish
or conceited but in humility consider others
better than themselves.
Look to the interests of others
and use the mind they have in
Christ Jesus.
They must work out their salvation in fear and trembling,
for God is working in them.
By not grumbling or questioning they
will be blameless
and innocent children in the midst of a crooked
and
perverted generation; holding fast to the word of life,
they
will shine as lights in the world.
To the Colossians Paul suggested they kill their fornication,
impurity, passion, evil desire, and coveting, while putting
away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk.
When they put on
renewed knowledge in the image of
their creator they will no longer
lie to one another.
As holy and beloved of God they may put on
compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, forgiving
each other as the Lord has forgiven them.
Paul advised the wives
to be subject to their husbands
and the husbands to love their
wives
and not be harsh with them.
Children should obey their parents,
but fathers should not provoke their children.
They will receive
reward for their work;
for there is no partiality, and the wrong-doer
is paid back for the wrong done.
Slaves should obey their masters,
and masters should treat their slaves justly and fairly,
knowing
they have a master in heaven.
Paul wrote Philemon on behalf of his slave Onesimus,
whom he
persuaded to return to his master.
Paul would have kept him with
him during his imprisonment,
but he preferred not to do so without
Philemon's consent
so that his goodness would not be compelled
but be by his free will.
Paul urged Philemon to take him back
not as a slave
but as a beloved brother, asking him to receive
Onesimus as he would receive Paul.
While still imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote to the
Ephesians not to lose heart over what he is suffering.
He asked them to
lead a life worthy of their calling with
humility, gentleness,
and patience,
tolerating one another in love,
and eager to maintain
the unity of Spirit in peace.
He urged them to put off their old
manner of life
corrupted through deceitful lust, but renew their
minds
in the spirit of God in true justice and holiness.
Put away
falsehood and speak the truth,
for we are members of one another.
One may be angry but not sin;
but do not let the sun set on your
anger.
Let the thief turn to honest work
in order to give to those
in need.
Put away bitterness, anger, slander, and malice,
being
kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving.
Do not participate in works
of darkness
but expose them to the light.
Of marriage Paul wrote
that a man shall leave his father
and mother and be joined to
his wife, the two becoming one.
Let him love his wife as himself,
and let the wife respect her husband.
Finally they should be strong
in the Lord by standing up
to the wiles of the devil and against
the ruling powers
of the world in the present darkness.
The pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus attributed to Paul
may have been written by a disciple.
To Timothy he recommended
love from a pure heart
and a good conscience with sincere faith.
Once again women are not allowed to teach
or have authority over
men, but they must keep silent.
Anyone not providing for family
relatives has disowned faith
and is worse than an unbeliever.
Those persisting in sin should be reprimanded
before all so that
others will be afraid.
Those wanting to be rich
fall into temptation,
ruin, and destruction.
"For the root of all evils is the
love of money."5
This craving causes some to wander away
from the faith.
The rich are charged not to be proud nor to set
their hope
on what is uncertain but on God,
who provides us with
everything we enjoy.
Be rich in good deeds by being liberal and
generous in order
to lay a good foundation for the future.
To
Titus he wrote that to the pure all things are pure;
but to the
corrupt nothing is pure,
since their minds and consciences are
corrupted.
Those who profess to know God, but deny this
by their
actions, are disobedient and detestable.
Clement of Rome may have known Paul at Philippi.
According
to Eusebius, Clement was the
third bishop of Rome from 92 CE to 101.
His letter to the Corinthians urges repentance,
which can be learned
from past generations.
He recommended humility and advised them
to obey God
rather than those who excite strife and tumult by
adhering
to those who truly cultivate peace
and not to hypocrites
who merely profess it.
They should hold to God's will
and let
their children be trained as Christians.
Clothing themselves in
concord and humility
and always exercising self-control,
they
may stand apart from evil-speaking.
The good worker receives bread,
but the lazy cannot look his employer in the eye.
Cleave to the
holy, innocent, and just,
and they shall be made holy.
Clement was concerned that the church of Corinth was
engaging
in sedition against its ministers
because of one or two persons.
They should return to the practice of brotherly love,
because
love unites people with God.
Love does not give rise to seditions
but does everything in harmony.
They should all pray for God's
mercy and live blamelessly
in love free from human partiality
for one above another.
He implored forgiveness for all transgressions
and asked the
leaders of sedition to respect the common hope.
Clement urged them to do whatever the majority commands,
that
the flock may live in peace under its appointed ministers,
concluding
that those who caused the sedition should submit
themselves to
the ministers and receive correction.
During the reign of Trajan (r. 98-117)
fanatical Jews accused
some Christians.
The second bishop of Jerusalem, Simeon, son of
Clopas,
was crucified in 107.
Either the same year or a few years
later the Antioch bishop
Ignatius was condemned to death, transported
to Rome,
and killed by wild beasts in the Colosseum.
Authors of
"The Martyrdom of Ignatius" wrote that
while falling into a brief slumber they saw Ignatius
suddenly standing by and
praying for them.
In 112 the Younger Pliny, while representing the emperor
in
Bithynia and Pontus, wrote to Trajan
about the problem of the
Christians.
He admitted he had little knowledge about them.
He
would ask those brought before him if they were
Christians and
would warn them they would be punished
if they admitted it three
times.
Those persisting he ordered executed, unless they were
Roman citizens, in which case he sent them to Rome for trial.
Those who denied it he made repeat an oath to the gods,
offer
wine and incense before a statue of Trajan,
and revile the name
of Christ.
He found that some had met regularly to chant verses
honoring Christ as a god and taking an oath to abstain
from robbery,
adultery, and breach of trust.
Those who said they gave up these
practices
he released except that he tortured
two slave women who were deaconesses.
Pliny brought this to the Emperor's attention
because
a great many people from every age and class
were being
brought to trial, and it was likely to continue.
Trajan wrote back to Pliny that Christians were not to be
hunted
down; but if brought before him,
and the charge is proved, they
must be punished.
Those denying they are Christians were to be
pardoned.
Trajan noted that anonymous pamphlets should play no
part
in any accusation, for this would be out of keeping
with
the spirit of his era.
Hadrian (r. 117-138) wrote that Christians
were to be
sentenced if convicted of an actual illegality;
but
anyone who prosecuted them
hoping for financial reward should
be punished.
"The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" wa
probably
written about 120 and summarized
the ethics of Jesus and the new
church.
The two ways of life and death are differentiated.
They
way of life is loving God and one's neighbor,
obeying the traditional
ten commandments of Moses,
and
following the more subtle teachings of Jesus
in regard to anger,
lust, charity, and so on.
The way of death went from the more
crude violations
of murder, adultery, theft, rape, false witness,
magic and
witchcraft to the more subtle infringements such as
hypocrisy, deceit, arrogance, greed, jealousy,
filthy talking,
boasting, and vanity.
Christians are encouraged to receive good
teachers,
apostles, and prophets of the way of life
but to turn
away from those who teach the opposite.
They are warned against
any prophet staying more than
three days or asking for money,
unless one is asking for those in need.
Yet they should provide
for the true prophets,
for the worker is worthy of support.
More
detailed rules of Christian behavior were later
developed in the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles.
About 130 CE a letter by a "disciple of the apostles"
was sent
to Diognetus, who may have been the tutor of Marcus Aurelius.
This letter describes Christian worship as having a common
table
but not a common bed.
Though in flesh they should not live after
the flesh but pass
their days on earth as citizens of heaven.
Obeying prescribed laws, they may surpass them in their lives.
They love all even though they are persecuted.
Though condemned
to death, they will be restored to life.
Though poor, they make
many rich.
Though dishonored, they are glorified.
Though reviled
and insulted, they are blessed and honored.
Though punished as
evil-doers, they are good.
The author of this letter compared Christians
in the world to the soul in the body.
They dwell scattered throughout the world
but are not of the world.
The godliness of the Christians is invisible.
Just as the flesh hates the soul when it is prevented from
enjoying
pleasures, so the world hates the Christians
because they abjure
pleasures.
Yet as the soul loves the flesh,
Christians love those
who hate them.
Christians are imprisoned in the world;
yet they
preserve the world.
Noting the example of the Christ,
violence
has no place in the character of God.
As more of them are punished,
their numbers
are becoming greater still, showing the power of
God.
Happiness is not found in ruling over weaker people
or in
being rich or by violence towards inferiors,
but in taking on
the burden of one's neighbor and distributing
to the needy what
one has received from God.
The author believed they will love
and admire those
who suffer punishment because they do not deny
God.
About 155 the church at Smyrna was persecuted, and the
martyrdom
of its bishop Polycarp was described in a
circular letter sent
first to the church at Philomelium.
Polycarp made little effort
to flee.
When he was arrested, he was allowed to pray
for two
hours, causing many to repent.
Polycarp was taken by the Roman
peacekeeper and had
his leg dislocated when he was thrown from
a chariot.
He was asked to revile Christ in a stadium,
but he
confessed himself a Christian, refusing to repent
from what is
good in order to adopt what is evil.
Polycarp gave thanks and
prayed,
but the flames only surrounded his glowing body.
He was
pierced with a dagger,
and his blood extinguished the fire.
Jews
objected to the Christians being given his body,
and so it was
burned.
By this account Polycarp was the twelfth Christian
martyred
in Smyrna and Philadelphia.
Polycarp's witness and death checked
the fury of people,
and the proconsul suspended the persecution.
Perhaps written about 100, the epistle of Barnabas
differentiated
Christian worship from Jewish traditions.
The epistles of Barnabas,
Clement, and Polycarp, and
The Shepherd of Hermas were
read aloud in many churches
in the second and third centuries.
The popular allegory also called The Pastor of Hermas was
probably written about the middle of the second century,
although
it was attributed to the Hermas
mentioned in Paul's letter to
the Romans.
This book attempts to give the moral teachings of
the church
in a way the common people can understand.
The first book of The Shepherd of Hermas describes
ive
visions of the narrator in which the
church appears to him as
a woman.
He is saved for not departing from the living God
because
of his simplicity and self-control.
The best fitting stones of
the building represent the apostles,
bishops, teachers, and deacons
who live purely and reverently.
Those cut down and thrown away
are the children of iniquity
who believe in hypocrisy and do not
depart from wickedness.
The rough stones knew the truth but did
not remain in it.
The cracked stones are in discord
and are not
at peace with one another.
The white and round ones that do not
fit into the building
are those with worldly riches who because
of their wealth
deny the Lord in times of tribulation;
they cannot
be made useful until their riches are cut down,
like round stones
made square.
Other rejected stones represent those who refuse
baptism
because chastity is demanded.
The tower is supported by
seven women who symbolize faith,
self-restraint, simplicity, honesty,
chastity, intelligence, and love,
which arise from each other
in that sequence.
Some corrupt their flesh through the abundance
of food
by not distributing to those who are needy.
After the narrator prays at home, a shepherd comes to him
with
twelve commandments, defined in the second book.
They may be summarized
as follows:
1) Believe in one God who created all things.
2) Be simple and honest and
avoid speaking evil of anyone.
3) Love the truth and speak only what is true.
4) Guard chastity and do not think
about fornication with another's wife.
5) Be patient and do not be overcome by anger.
6) Trust the attending spirit that is just, gentle,
and peaceful, but disregard the spirit
that is wrathful, bitter, and foolish.
7) Fear God and keep God's commandments.
8) Restrain yourself from the evils of adultery,
fornication, wicked luxury, boasting, insolence,
lies, hypocrisy, and slander.
9) Put away doubt and pray to God.
10) Remove grief and put on cheerfulness.
11) Test prophets by their actions and trust
spiritual power which comes from God.
12) Put away wicked desires
and put on the desire for justice.
The shepherd concluded that if he believed,
these commandments
are easily kept, they would not be hard;
but if he imagined they
cannot be kept,
then he would not keep them.
In the third book the pastor elucidates the teachings of the
church with ten allegorical similitudes.
Instead of buying lands,
one should buy afflicted souls by
visiting widows and orphans
and spend one's wealth on them.
The elm tree of riches does not
give fruit;
but it can support the vine that symbolizes the poor
who intercede with God.
As living trees cannot be distinguished
from the dead in winter,
so the just and unjust appear the same
in this world;
but in summer living trees bear fruit,
and in the
world to come the just are happier.
The fasting the pastor recommends
is keeping the
commandments and precepts by abstaining from evil
and serving the Lord with a pure heart.
The voluptuous tear themselves
away from God and will suffer,
but the temperate are fed by the
shepherd.
The shepherd explains to the narrator that in repenting
as the
head of the household he must undergo some afflictions,
but all the afflictions will end
if he walks in the commandments.
Eventually all will be rewarded according
to their repentance
and good works.
Those who purify themselves with their whole heart
will be healed of their former transgressions by the Lord.
Yet
some may become worse after knowing God,
for such are more responsible
for doing evil than the ignorant.
An allegory of twelve mountains categorizes believers
into
these groups:
1) apostates, blasphemers and those betraying servants
of God;
2) hypocrites and teachers of wickedness;
3) the rich
preoccupied with business;
4) the doubtful who have the Lord on
their lips
but not in their hearts;
5) the obstinate who learn
slowly while pleasing themselves;
6) those who slander one another;
7) those who pity and help one another;
8) apostles and teachers
who preach the word of God;
9) those who use the ministry to plunder
widows and orphans
to gain possessions for themselves;
10) bishops
who gladly provide hospitality;
11) those who cheerfully lay down
their lives
for the son of God; and
12) those whose hearts are
as pure as those of infant children.
The shepherd urges everyone
to heal themselves,
for the Lord dwells in those who love peace.
Curiously in the last section the shepherd sends virgins to live
with them as sisters and brothers in a daring
Christian experiment
in communal living during this era.
Justin Martyr was born about 110 in Samaria
although apparently
he was not a Jew.
He studied philosophy and became a disciple
of
Socrates and Plato
before being won over to the
good message of Jesus the Christ.
His first defense of the Christian faith was addressed to
Emperor
Antoninus Pius and his philosopher sons on
behalf of all nations
that are unjustly hated and abused.
He began by pointing out that
reason directs the
truly pious and philosophical to love only
what is true even if death is threatened.
He adopted the Stoic
idea that no evil can be done
to one unless that person does evil.
Justin wrote, "You can kill, but not hurt us."6
If they
are not convicted of anything,
reason forbids wronging blameless
people.
Justin considered it his obligation to inform authorities
of Christian life and teachings so that he would not
be complicit
with their mental blindness.
If those continue to do what is not
just after learning the truth,
they will have no excuse before
God.
Nothing can be decided about good or evil merely by a name.
They are accused of being Christians, but to hate what in
Justin's
view is excellent is unjust.
They are not atheists because they
believe in the one true God.
Justin demanded that they be judged
for their actions
not simply for being Christians.
Like Plato
Christians believe in judgment after death,
but by Christ instead
of by Minos and Rhadamanthus.
Justin argued therefore that Christians
believe they cannot
escape the knowledge of God; they live decently
because
of the penalties they would suffer if they did not.
Formerly
delighting in fornication, now they embrace chastity;
formerly
using magic, now they dedicate themselves to God;
before they
valued acquiring property,
now they share with those in need;
before they hated and destroyed one another,
now they pray for
their enemies and attempt to persuade
those who hate them unjustly
to live by good precepts.
Justin noted that many have changed
their violent
and tyrannical dispositions to learn patience.
Justin noted that in the recent revolt the Jewish leader
Bar-Cochba
ordered Christians cruelly punished
unless they would deny Jesus
Christ.
Justin learned from the prophets that chastisements
and rewards are rendered to the merit of one's actions.
He did not
believe fate determined such things and
argued that if it were
fated to be either good or bad,
one would not be capable of both
opposites
nor would there be so many transitions from one to the
other.
In his second defense addressed to the Roman Senate,
Justin
compared Christ to Socrates,
who was similarly
accused of introducing new divinities.
Justin
himself had been converted from Platonism
when he heard Christians
slandered and saw them holding
to their beliefs fearless of death.
Justin prayed that his little book be published,
because it is
human nature to know good and evil.
Those condemning Christians,
whom they do not understand,
and inflicting death on them are
condemning themselves.
In a long dialog with the Jew Trypho, Justin
described
how he studied Stoic,
Peripatetic, Pythagorean,
and Platonic philosophy and how these led him to God.
A flame
was kindled in his soul as he began to
love the prophets and the
friends of Christ.
He then goes on to argue why Christianity
is
superior to many practices of Judaism.
Apparently the Cynic philosopher Crescens stirred up a
persecution,
which in 165 resulted in the martyrdom of Justin
and six others
who stated they were Christians.
They were brought before the
judgment seat of the prefect
of Rome and were asked to obey the
gods
and submit to the Emperor.
Justin replied that obeying the
commandments of their savior
Jesus Christ is worthy of neither
blame nor condemnation.
Justin explained they worship the God
of the whole creation;
they meet in various places; but Justin
had been communicating
the truth from only one particular home
since he came to Rome.
The prefect Rusticus asked him if he believed
he would ascend
to heaven after being beheaded,
and Justin answered
that he was convinced of that.
When the prefect warned them that
they would be punished
if they would not sacrifice to the gods,
Justin said they expected to be saved by their
Lord Jesus Christ when they came before the more
fearful and universal judgment-seat
of their Lord.
The other martyrs also refused to sacrifice to
idols,
and they were all led away to be
scourged and decapitated
according to the law.
Tatian (110-172) was an Assyrian who studied
with Justin Martyr
at Rome.
After the death of his teacher he founded an ascetic
sect
emphasizing self-control referred to as the Encratites.
Tatian
harmonized the four gospels into one version.
In his address to
the Greeks Tatian wrote that
humans are to be honored as fellow
humans,
but God alone is to be feared.
He suggested dying to the
world by repudiating its madness
while living in God by laying
aside one's old nature.
He believed we are not created to die,
but we die by the
fault of our own free will by selling ourselves
into slavery through sin.
God did not create evil, but we manifest
wickedness.
Because we have done so, we are able to reject it.
We must seek and find what we have lost by uniting
our soul with
the Holy Spirit to attain union with God.
God's perfection is
without flesh, but humanity is flesh.
The soul bonds with the
flesh as it is enclosed within the body.
Yet if the body is like
a temple, God is pleased to dwell in it
by its representative
spirit; but if the body is not a temple,
humans excel beasts only
in articulate language.
Tatian criticized the profligacy of buying and selling human
beings as gladiators, who kill and are killed for entertainment.
Tatian turned from human slaughter and Roman religion to
retire
into himself so that he could discover the truth.
Obeying the
commands of God, Tatian rejected human opinion.
Now not only the
rich pursue this philosophy,
but the poor are freely instructed.
Thus they admit all who want to hear, including old women
and
the young, though the licentious are kept at a distance.
Tatian
eventually condemned all sexual connection as impure,
thus rejecting
marriage, as he did also
eating of meat and drinking of wine.
Theophilus was born about 115 and was converted to
Christianity
by studying the holy scriptures.
He was the sixth bishop of Antioch
from 168 to his death in 181.
According to Jerome he commented
on the Gospels arranged
in a harmony and on the book of Proverbs.
His extant three books to Autolycus defend Christianity
in much the same way as Justin Martyr did.
When his friend Autolycus
asked him to show him his God,
he replied that if his person was
shown,
he would show him God.
God may be seen and heard by the
eyes of the soul
and the ears of the heart when these are opened.
Eyes of the soul covered by sin and evil deeds are blind.
To see
God the soul must be kept pure like a burnished mirror.
Theophilus
criticized the immorality of the Greco-Roman gods,
citing Saturn
for cannibalizing his children,
Jupiter for incest and adultery,
Hercules for burning himself,
Bacchus for raging while drunk,
and Apollo for fleeing Achilles,
seducing Daphne, and neglecting
Hyacinthus;
Venus was wounded, and Mars pesters mortals.
About 170 Melito observed that Christians in Asia were being
persecuted as never before by shameless, greedy sycophants.
In
177 the churches in Lyons and Vienne of Gaul were
subjected to
various tortures and martyrdoms.
Vettius Epagathus spoke in defense
of the Christians and
was executed himself for admitting he was
a Christian too.
The bishop Pothinus was thrown into a dungeon
at the
age of ninety and died after two days.
In his History
of the Church Eusebius included a detailed
description of
the martyrdoms of the virgin Blandina, Sanctus,
Maturus, and Attalus
by wild beasts in the arena;
Roman citizens were beheaded.
Because
of their love of Christ and the Spirit of the Father
they experienced
martyrdom in joy;
but the unfaithful were tormented by their conscience.
The Athenian philosopher Athenagoras is said to have been
won
over to Christianity while reading the scriptures
in order to
controvert them.
He wrote a defense of Christianity and sent it
to the emperors
Marcus Aurelius and Commodus about 177.
His treatise
on resurrection also still exists.
He complained to these emperors
that their government
allows Christians to be harassed, plundered,
and persecuted for their name alone.
He pleaded that they suffer
unjustly, contrary to all law
and reason, and he asked that this
slaughter instigated
by false accusers be stopped.
The charge
of atheism is easily refuted,
because Christians worship the one
God of all.
Even the uneducated and old women are taught
to do
good works, not to strike back when struck
nor go to law when
robbed, to give to those who ask,
to love their neighbors as themselves,
and even love their enemies.
Christians do not believe God requires
bloody sacrifices.
Athenagoras also criticized the absurd
representations
of the Greek gods.
In responding to outrageous charges of cannibalism
and sexual
orgies, Athenagoras noted that vice often has
made war on virtue,
citing the examples of Pythagoras
and
three hundred of his followers being burned to death,
the
banishment of Heraclitus and Democritus,
and the Athenians executing Socrates.
So far are the Christians
from committing murder that they
refuse to attend the spectacles
of gladiators
and believe that women using drugs
to bring on abortion
commit murder.
Athenagoras argued that the Christian belief in
immortality
and an omniscient God who judges
prevents them from
doing wrong.
For if we believed that we should live only the
present life, then we might be suspected of sinning,
through being enslaved to flesh and blood,
or overmastered by gain or carnal desire;
but since we know that God is witness to what
we think and what we say both by night and by day,
and that He, being Himself light, sees all things
in our heart, we are persuaded that when
we are removed from the present life
we shall live another life, better than the present one,
and heavenly, not earthly
(since we shall abide near God, and with God,
free from all change or suffering in the soul.)7
1. Mark 12: 29-31 tr. Sanderson Beck.
2. Matthew 6:9-13 tr. Sanderson Beck.
3. Ibid. 11:29-30.
4. Luke 23:46 tr. Sanderson Beck.
5. 1 Timothy 6:10 tr. Sanderson Beck.
6. The First Apology of Justin 2
tr. Alexander Roberts
and James Donaldson in
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume
1, p. 163.
7. Athenagoras, A Plea for Christians 31
tr. B. P. Pratten
in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, p. 146.
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