<div1 type=”Title Page”
title=”History of the Christian Church”>
HISTORY
of the
CHRISTIAN CHURCH*
by
PHILIP SCHAFF
<foreign lang="la">Christianus
sum</foreign>.
<foreign lang="la">Christiani
nihil a me alienum puto</foreign>
VOLUME I
APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAINITY
a.d. 1–100.
————
</div1><div2
type=”Preface” title=”Preface to the Revised Edition”>
PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION
As I appear before the
public with a new edition of my Church History, I feel more than ever the
difficulty and responsibility of a task which is well worthy to occupy the
whole time and strength of a long life, and which carries in it its own rich
reward. The true historian of Christianity is yet to come. But short as I have
fallen of my own ideal, I have done my best, and shall rejoice if my efforts
stimulate others to better and more enduring work.
History should be
written from the original sources of friend and foe, in the spirit of truth and
love, "sine ira et studio,"
"with malice towards none, and charity for all," in clear, fresh,
vigorous style, under the guidance of the twin parables of the mustard seed and
leaven, as a book of life for instruction, correction, encouragement, as the
best exposition and vindication of Christianity. The great and good Neander,
"the father of Church History"—first an Israelite without guile
hoping for the Messiah, then a Platonist longing for the realization of his
ideal of righteousness, last a Christian in head and heart—made such a history
his life-work, but before reaching the Reformation he was interrupted by
sickness, and said to his faithful sister: "Hannchen, I am weary; let us
go home; good night!" And thus
he fell gently asleep, like a child, to awake in the land where all problems of
history are solved.
When, after a long
interruption caused by a change of professional duties and literary labors, I
returned to the favorite studies of my youth, I felt the necessity, before
continuing the History to more recent times, of subjecting the first volume to
a thorough revision, in order to bring it up to the present state of
investigation. We live in a restless and stirring age of discovery, criticism,
and reconstruction. During the thirty years which have elapsed since the
publication of my separate "History of the Apostolic Church," there
has been an incessant activity in this field, not only in Germany, the great
workshop of critical research, but in all other Protestant countries. Almost
every inch of ground has been disputed and defended with a degree of learning,
acumen, and skill such as were never spent before on the solution of historical
problems.
In this process of
reconstruction the first volume has been more than doubled in size and grown
into two volumes. The first embraces Apostolic, the second post-Apostolic or
ante-Nicene Christianity. The first volume is larger than my separate
"History of the Apostolic Church," but differs from it in that it is
chiefly devoted to the theology and literature, the other to the mission work
and spiritual life of that period. I have studiously avoided repetition and
seldom looked into the older book. On two points I have changed my opinion—the
second Roman captivity of Paul (which I am disposed to admit in the interest of
the Pastoral Epistles), and the date of the Apocalypse (which I now assign,
with the majority of modern critics, to the year 68 or 69 instead of 95, as
before).1
I express my deep
obligation to my friend, Dr. Ezra Abbot, a scholar of rare learning and
microscopic accuracy, for his kind and valuable assistance in reading the proof
and suggesting improvements.
The second volume,
likewise thoroughly revised and partly rewritten, is in the hands of the
printer; the third requires a few changes. Two new volumes, one on the History
of Mediaeval Christianity, and one on the Reformation (to the Westphalian
Treaty and the Westminster Assembly, 1648), are in an advanced stage of
preparation.
May the work in this
remodelled shape find as kind and indulgent readers as when it first appeared.
My highest ambition in this sceptical age is to strengthen the immovable
historical foundations of Christianity and its victory over the world.
Philip Schaff
Union Theological
Seminary, New York,
October,1882
</div2><div2
type=”Preface” title=”From the Preface to the First Edition”>
FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
———————————
Encouraged by the favorable
reception of my "History of the Apostolic Church," I now offer to the
public a History of the Primitive Church from the birth of Christ to the reign
of Constantine, as an independent and complete work in itself, and at the same
time as the first volume of a general history of Christianity, which I hope,
with the help of God, to bring down to the present age.
The church of the first
three centuries, or the ante-Nicene age, possesses a peculiar interest for
Christians of all denominations, and has often been separately treated, by
Eusebius, Mosheim, Milman, Kaye, Baur, Hagenbach, and other distinguished
historians. It is the daughter of Apostolic Christianity, which itself
constitutes the first and by far the most important chapter in its history, and
the common mother of Catholicism and Protestantism, though materially differing
from both. It presents a state of primitive simplicity and purity unsullied by
contact with the secular power, but with this also, the fundamental forms of
heresy and corruption, which reappear from time to time under new names and
aspects, but must serve, in the overruling providence of God, to promote the
cause of truth and righteousness. It is the heroic age of the church, and
unfolds before us the sublime spectacle of our holy religion in intellectual
and moral conflict with the combined superstition, policy, and wisdom of
ancient Judaism and Paganism; yet growing in persecution, conquering in death,
and amidst the severest trials giving birth to principles and institutions
which, in more matured form, still control the greater part of Christendom.
Without the least
disposition to detract from the merits of my numerous predecessors, to several
of whom I feel deeply indebted, I have reason to hope that this new attempt at
a historical reproduction of ancient Christianity will meet a want in our
theological literature and commend itself, both by its spirit and method, and
by presenting with the author’s own labors the results of the latest German and
English research, to the respectful attention of the American student. Having
no sectarian ends to serve, I have confined myself to the duty of a witness—to
tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; always remembering,
however, that history has a soul as well as a body, and that the ruling ideas
and general principles must be represented no less than the outward facts and
dates. A church history without the life of Christ glowing through its pages
could give us at best only the picture of a temple stately and imposing from
without, but vacant and dreary within, a mummy in praying posture perhaps and
covered with trophies, but withered and unclean: such a history is not worth
the trouble of writing or reading. Let the dead bury their dead; we prefer to
live among the living, and to record the immortal thoughts and deeds of Christ
in and through his people, rather than dwell upon the outer hulls, the trifling
accidents and temporary scaffolding of history, or give too much prominence to
Satan and his infernal tribe, whose works Christ came to destroy.
The account of the
apostolic period, which forms the divine-human basis of the whole structure of
history, or the ever-living fountain of the unbroken stream of the church, is
here necessarily short and not intended to supersede my larger work, although
it presents more than a mere summary of it, and views the subject in part under
new aspects. For the history of the second period, which constitutes the body
of this volume, large use has been made of the new sources of information
recently brought to light, such as the Syriac and Armenian Ignatius, and
especially the Philosophoumena of Hippolytus. The bold and searching criticism
of modern German historians as applied to the apostolic and post-apostolic
literature, though often arbitrary and untenable in its results, has
nevertheless done good service by removing old prejudices, placing many things
in a new light, and conducing to a comprehensive and organic view of the living
process and gradual growth of ancient Christianity in its distinctive
character, both in its unity with, and difference from, the preceding age of
the apostles and the succeeding systems of Catholicism and Protestantism.
And now I commit this
work to the great Head of the church with the prayer that, under his blessing,
it may aid in promoting a correct knowledge of his heavenly kingdom on earth,
and in setting forth its history as a book if life, a storehouse of wisdom and
piety, and surest test of his own promise to his people: "Lo, I am with
you alway, even unto the end of the world."
P. S.
Theological
Seminary, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania,
November, 8, 1858
</div2><div2
type=”Preface” title=”Preface to the Third Revision”>
PREFACE TO THIRD REVISION
———————————
The continued demand for my
Church History lays upon me the grateful duty of keeping it abreast of the
times. I have, therefore, submitted this and the other volumes (especially the
second) to another revision and brought the literature down to the latest date,
as the reader will see by glancing at pages 2, 35, 45, 51–53, 193, 411, 484,
569, 570, etc. The changes have been effected by omissions and condensations,
without enlarging the size. The second volume is now passing through the fifth
edition, and the other volumes will follow rapidly.
This is my last
revision. If any further improvements should be necessary during my lifetime, I
shall add them in a separate appendix.
I feel under great
obligation to the reading public which enables me to perfect my work. The
interest in Church History is steadily increasing in our theological schools
and among the rising generation of scholars, and promises good results for the
advancement of our common Christianity.
The Author
New York, January, 1890.
</div2><div2
type=”Table of Contents” title=”Contents”>
CONTENTS
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<insertContents level=” “ />
</added>
<deleted>
GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
§ 1. Nature of
Church History.
§ 2. Branches of
Church History.
§ 3. Sources of
Church History.
§ 4. Periods of
Church History.
§ 5. Uses of Church
History.
§ 6. Duty of the
Historian.
§ 7. Literature of
Church History.
FIRST
PERIOD
APOSTLIC CHRISTIANITY
A.D. 1–100.
CHAPTER
I.
PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY.
§8. Central Position
of Christ in the History of the World.
§ 9. Judaism.
§ 10. The Law, and
the Prophecy.
§ 11. Heathenism.
§ 12. Grecian
Literature, and the Roman Empire.
§ 13. Judaism and
Heathenism in Contact.
CHAPTER
II.
JESUS CHRIST.
§ 14. Sources and
Literature.
§ 15. The Founder of
Christianity.
§ 16. Chronology of
the Life of Christ.
§ 17. The Land and
the People.
§ 18. Apocryphal
Tradition.
§ 19. The
Resurrection of Christ.
CHAPTER
III.
THE APOSTOLIC AGE.
§ 20. Sources and
Literature of the Apostolic Age.
§ 21. General
Character of the Apostolic Age.
§ 22. The Critical
Reconstruction of the History of the Apostolic Age.
§ 23. Chronology of
the Apostolic Age.
CHAPTER
IV.
ST. PETER AND THE CONVERSION OF THE
JEWS.
§ 24. The Miracle of
Pentecost and the Birthday of the Christian Church.
§ 25. The Church of
Jerusalem and the Labors of Peter.
§ 26. The Peter of
History and the Peter of Fiction.
§ 27. James the
Brother of the Lord.
§ 28. Preparation
for the Mission to the Gentiles.
CHAPTER
V.