Did the Apostolic Fathers believe in the Trinity?
The Apostolic Fathers may not give us all the information we want to grasp what the Church after the New Testament looked like, but they do give us glimpses. Of the many questions we may have, it would be natural to ask how they understood the relationship between God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Did the Apostolic Fathers believe and teach a Trinitarian doctrine?
The term Trinity wouldn’t be used in Christian theology until the late 2nd century. It is commonly argued that while the word “Trinity” isn’t in the Bible, the doctrine is clearly present. Can we say the same thing about the Apostolic Fathers?
My opinion is that traditional Trinitarian doctrine is seen in bits throughout the Apostolic Fathers. It is not as elaborated and carefully articulated as the Nicene-era would be, but the broad understanding is definitely there.
We’ll look at some quotes from the Apostolic Fathers and break down different levels of Trinitarian evidence. The first level will be the Trinitarian structure of the Father, Son, and Spirit being stated back-to-back. The second level will be all three Persons mentioned in a passage, working together in some way. The third level will be broader, examining passages that illustrate a relationship between two Members of the Trinity.
This blog will not be focusing explicitly on the deity of Christ, but rather the Trinity as a whole. I also won’t be using The Shepherd of Hermas or Papias for referencing. Hermas and Papias are fascinating writings, but I honestly haven’t spent as much time studying them, and I would like to properly represent them in later blogs.
All three Members mentioned back-to-back
1st Clement
· “Why are there strifes, and tumults, and divisions, and schisms, and wars among you? Have we not [all] one God and one Christ? Is there not one Spirit of grace poured out upon us? And have we not one calling in Christ? 46.6
· “Receive our counsel and you shall be without repentance (or regret; Howell, 2012, Pg. 128). For, as God lives, and as the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost live—both the faith and hope of the elect, he who in lowliness of mind, with instant gentleness, and without repentance has observed the ordinances and appointments given by God—the same shall obtain a place and name in the number of those who are being saved through Jesus Christ, through whom is glory to Him forever and ever. Amen.” 58.2
Ignatius of Antioch
· In response to heretics trying to deceive them with false doctrine, Ignatius replies to the Ephesians: “Nevertheless, I have heard of some who have passed on from this to you, having false doctrine, whom you did not allow to sow among you, but stopped your ears, that you might not receive those things which were sown by them, as (you, the church) being stones of the temple of the Father, prepared for the building of God the Father, and drawn up on high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, while your faith was the means by which you ascended, and your love the way by which you led up to God.” To the Ephesians 9.1
The Didache
· “And concerning baptism, thus baptize ye: Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. But if thou have not living water, baptize into other water; and if thou canst not in cold, in warm. But if thou have not either, pour out water thrice upon the head into the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit.” 7.1-3
All three Members working together
1st Clement
· “The apostles have preached the Gospel to us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ [has done so] from God. Christ therefore was sent forth by God, and the apostles by Christ. Both these appointments, then, were made in an orderly way, according to the will of God. Having therefore received their orders, and being fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and established in the word of God, with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they went forth proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand.” 42.1-3
2nd Clement
· “So, then, brethren, if we do the will of our Father God, we shall be members of the first church, the spiritual—that which was created before the sun and moon… I think not that you are ignorant that the living church is the body of Christ… The church being spiritual, was made manifest in the flesh of Christ, signifying to us that if any one of us shall preserve it in the flesh and corrupt it not, he shall receive it in the Holy Spirit. For this flesh is the type of the spirit; no one, therefore, having corrupted the type, will receive afterwards the anti-type. There is it, then, that He says, brethren, ‘Preserve the flesh, that you may become partakers of the spirit.’ ” 14.1a, 14.2a, 14.3
Ignatius of Antioch
· “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.” To the Ephesians 18.2
· Ignatius shares a prophetic word to the Philadelphians: “But the Spirit proclaimed these words: Do nothing without the bishop; keep your bodies as the temples of God; love unity; avoid divisions; be the followers of Jesus Christ, even as He is of His Father.” To the Philadelphians 7.2
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
· Polycarp prays to the Father (14.1) before dying: “Wherefore also I praise You for all things, I bless you, I glorify You, along with the everlasting and heavenly Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, with whom, to You, and the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and to all coming ages. Amen.” 14.3
The relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
We will only go over a few examples on this level because there are several that could be found throughout the Apostolic Fathers, especially in regard to the Father and Son.
1st Clement
· “The ministers of the grace of God have, by the Holy Spirit, spoken of repentance;” 8.1
· “Now the faith which is in Christ confirms all these [admonitions]. For He Himself by the Holy Ghost thus addresses us: ‘Come, ye children, harken unto Me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.’” 22.1
2nd Clement
· “Bretheren, it is fitting that you should think of Jesus Christ as of God—as the Judge of the living and the dead.” 1.1a
Ignatius of Antioch
· “For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the [manifested] will of the Father; as also bishops, settled everywhere to the utmost bounds [of the earth], are so by the will of Jesus Christ.” To the Ephesians 3.2b
· “How shall we be able to live apart from Him (Jesus), whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher?” To the Magnesians 9.2a
Polycarp to the Philippians
· “But may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Himself, who is the Son of God, and our everlasting High Priest, build you up in faith and truth, and in all meekness, gentleness, and purity;” 12.2a
The Epistle of Barnabas
· “And further, my brethren: if the Lord endured to suffer for our soul, He being the Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, ‘Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness,’ understand how it was that He endured to suffer at the hand of men.” 5.5
· “For the Scripture says concerning us, while He speaks to the Son, ‘Let us make man after Our image, and after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea.’ And the Lord said, on beholding the fair creature man, ‘Increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth.’ These things [were spoken] to the Son.” 6.12
The Epistle of Diognetus
· The Apologist describes God’s plan for salvation: “And He formed in His mind a great and unspeakable conception, which He communicated to His Son alone.” 8.9
Conclusion
By the end of the 2nd century, the Church Fathers begin using the word “Trinity” to describe the unifying relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. From there on to this very day, there is debate and controversy as how to properly understand and describe the Trinity. While the deeper and more developed descriptions of the Trinity would come later in Church History, we can see in these writings that the Apostolic Fathers had an early Trinitarian understanding of God in their doctrine.
Bibliography
Schaff, P. (2016). The Complete Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Collection of Early Church Fathers. Toronto, Canada.
Schaff, P. (1885). The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Vol. 7).
Howell, K. (2009). Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna: A New Translation and Theological Commentary. Zanesville, OH. CHResources.