Period III. The Critical Period: A. D. 140 to A. D. 200
The interval between the close of the post-apostolic age and the end of the second century, or from about 140 to 200, may be called the Critical Period of Ancient Christianity. In this period there grew up conceptions of Christianity which were felt by the Church, as a whole, to be fundamentally opposed to its essential spirit and to constitute a serious menace to the Christian faith as it had been commonly received. These conceptions, which grew up both alongside of, and within the Church, have been grouped under the term Gnosticism, a generic term including many widely divergent types of teaching and various interpretations of Christian doctrine in the light of Oriental speculation. There were also reactionary and reformatory movements which were generally felt to be out of harmony with the development upon which Christian thought and life had already entered; such were Montanism and Marcionism. To overcome these tendencies and movements the Christian churches in the various parts of the Roman Empire were forced, on the one hand, to develop more completely such ecclesiastical institutions as would defend what was commonly regarded as the received faith, and, on the other hand, to pass from a condition in which the various Christian communities existed in isolated autonomy to some form of organization whereby the spiritual unity of the Church might become visible and better able to strengthen the several members of that Church in dealing with theological and administrative problems. The Church, accordingly, acquired in the Critical Period the [pg 051] fundamental form of its creed, as an authoritative expression of belief; the episcopate, as a universally recognized essential of Church organization and a defence of tradition; and its canon of Holy Scripture, at least in fundamentals, as the authoritative primitive witness to the essential teachings of the Church. It also laid the foundations of the conciliar system, and the bonds of corporate unity between the scattered communities of the Church were defined and recognized. At the same time, the Church developed in its conflict with heathenism an apologetic literature, and in its conflict with heresy a polemical literature, in which are to be found the beginnings of its theology or scientific statement of Christian truth. Of this theology two lines of development are to be traced: one a utilization of Greek philosophy which arose from the Logos doctrine of the Apologists, and the other a realistic doctrine of redemption which grew out of the Asia Minor type of Christian teaching, traces of which are to be found in Ignatius of Antioch.
Chapter I. The Church In Relation To The Empire And Heathen Culture
In the course of the second century the Church spread rapidly into all parts of the Empire, and even beyond. It became so prominent that the relation of the Church to heathen thought and institutions underwent a marked change. Persecutions of Christians became more frequent, and thereby the popular conviction was deepened that Christians were malefactors. To some extent men of letters began to notice the new faith and attack it. In opposition to persecution and criticism, the Church developed an active apologetic or defence of Christianity and Christians against heathen aspersions.
§ 17. The Extension of Christianity
Under the head of Extension of Christianity are to be placed only such texts as may be regarded as evidence for the presence of the Church in a well-defined locality. It is apparent that the evidence must be incomplete, for many places must have received the Christian faith which were unknown to the writers whose works we have or which they had no occasion to mention. Rhetorical overstatement of the extension of the Church was a natural temptation in view of the rapid spread of Christianity. Each text needs to be scrutinized and its merits assessed. It should, however, be borne in mind that the existence of a well-established church in any locality is in most cases sufficient reason for believing that Christianity had already been there for some time. In this way valid historical reasoning carries the date of the extension of the Church to a locality somewhat further back than does the date of the appearance of a document which testifies to the existence of Christianity in a definite place at a definite time.