2^nd Century Fathers' Witness

Second Century Church Fathers

One of the most important things that the testimonies of these Second Century Church Leaders do for us, is to establish that the deity of Jesus the Christ, was widely accepted and confessed immediately after the Apostolic Age of the First Century.

This demonstrates for us that this early Christology was a part of the Church’s confession, beginning in the First Century, and carried on into the Second Century. There is absolutely no evidence that Jesus’ deity was not established until the Fourth Century, at the Council of Nicaea. You can thank Dan Brown for that little bit of pseudo-church history.

IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH [(B)AD 35-50 - (D) AD 110]

St. Ignatius of Antioch, also called Ignatius Theophorous (Greek: “God Bearer”), (died c. 110, Rome), bishop of Antioch, Syria (now in Turkey), known mainly from seven highly regarded letters that he wrote during a trip to Rome, as a prisoner condemned to be executed for his faith. He was apparently eager to counteract the teachings of two groups—the Judaizers, who did not accept the authority of the New Testament, and the Gnostic docetists, who held that Christ’s sufferings and death were apparent but not real. The letters have often been cited as a source of knowledge of the Christian church at the beginning of the 2nd century. Tradition holds that he was a fellow disciple of Polycarp with the Apostle John. (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Ignatius-of-Antioch.)

The Letter to the Ephesians

“Being the followers of God, and stirring up yourselves by the blood of God, ye have perfectly accomplished the work which was beseeming to you.” (Chapter I.- Praise of the Ephesians)

*** Note the above statement, regarding the “blood of God”, how can God have blood unless He abides in a body of flesh and blood. [see also Acts 20:28]

“There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; first possible and then impossible, even Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Chapter VII.-Beware of False Teachers)

But our Physician is the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only begotten Son. We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. (ibid) For he who shall both "do and teach, the same shall be great in the kingdom.” Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, first did and then taught, as Luke testifies, "whose praise is in the Gospel through all the Churches." (Chapter XV.-Exhortation to Confess Christ by Silence as Well as Speech)

*** See that Ignatius refers to Jesus as, “Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin.”

How much clearer can it be, that they worshipped Jesus, as the Lord our God. Also, see the opening line in the next section, where Jesus Christ is called, “our God.”

 

For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb by Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost. He was born and baptized, that by His passion He might purify the water. (Chapter XVIII.-The Glory of the Cross)

The Letter to the Romans

Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which has obtained mercy, through the majesty of the Most High God the Father, and of Jesus Christ, His onlybegotten Son; the Church which is sanctified and enlightened by the will of God, who formed all things that are according to the faith and love of Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour; the Church which presides in the place of the region of the Romans; (Greetings to the Romans)

For our God, Jesus Christ, now that He is with the Father, is all the more revealed [in His glory]. (Chapter III.-Pray Rather that I May Attain to Martyrdom)

The Letter to the Smyrnaeans

I Glorify God, even Jesus Christ, who has given you such wisdom. (Chapter I.-Thanks to God for Your Faith) And I know that He was possessed of a body not only in His being born and crucified, but I also know that He was so after His resurrection, and believe that He is so now. When, for instance, He came to those who were with Peter, He said to them, "Lay hold, handle Me, and see that I am not an incorporeal spirit.”(21) "For a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have."(22) And He says to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger into the print of the nails, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side; "(23) and immediately they believed that He was Christ. Wherefore Thomas also says to Him, "My Lord, and my God." (Chapter III.-Christ Was Possessed of a Body After His Resurrection)

 

For what does it profit, if any one commends me, but blasphemes my Lord, not owning Him to be God incarnate? He that does not confess this, has in fact altogether denied Him, being enveloped in death. (Chapter V.-Their Dangerous Errors)

This is quite a warning for those who confess Jesus, but reject His deity. The rejection of Christ’s deity is a denial of the Person of Jesus as the true Son of God. I would go further to say, that there can be no basis for fellowship with anyone who openly denies Jesus’ deity. What can be the basis of such fellowship, between the one who believes in Jesus Christ, our Lord God, and the one who rejects this? How can light have fellowship with darkness?

Ye have done well in receiving Philo and Rheus Agathopus as servants of Christ our God, who have followed me for the sake of God, and who give thanks to the Lord in your behalf, because ye have in every way refreshed them. (Chapter X.-Acknowledgment of Their Kindness)

The Letter to the Trallians

They introduce God as a Being unknown; they suppose Christ to be unbegotten; and as to the Spirit, they do not admit that He exists. Some of them say that the Son is a mere man, and that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are but the same person, and that the creation is the work of God, not by Christ, but by some other strange power. (Chapter VI.-Abstain from the Poison of Heretics)
Be on your guard, therefore, against such persons. And this will be the case with you if you are not puffed up, and continue in intimate union with Jesus Christ our God, and the bishop, and the enactments of the apostles. (Chapter VII.- The Same Continued)

For that which is false is quite abhorrent to the truth. Mary then did truly conceive a body which had God inhabiting it. And God the Word was truly born of the Virgin, having clothed Himself with a body of like passions with our own. He who forms all men in the womb, was Himself really in the womb, and made for Himself a body of the seed of the Virgin, but without any intercourse of man. He was carried in the womb, even as we are, for the usual period of time; and was really born, as we also are; and was in reality nourished with milk, and partook of common meat and drink, even as we do. (Chapter X.-The Reality of Christ's Passion)