CHAPTER V

DOMESTIC LITERATURE

Here it will be convenient and not seriously out of place to review other early Christian literature that was omitted from the "canon" of the New Testament. "The manifold variety of life and thought in early Christianity" are not fully realised if the books "which had their home in the unfamiliar and secluded places of its life" are neglected. "From the point of view of the historian of literature no line can be drawn between canonical and uncanonical books; all alike sprang from the Christian life of their age to serve the religious needs of the community, and it was only the call of a grave necessity in the Church's controversy with error that led to a distinct separation being made."1

This literature which concerned the domestic life of the Church may be divided into Romances; Homilies; Records; Letters.

i. ROMANCES.

The first, and in some respects the most important of the Romances, is The Shepherd, written by the pious but somewhat stupid prophet HERMAS, f1. 150, a brother of Pius, bishop of Rome.

HERMAS pictures himself as an elderly married man, with a termagant wife and some ill-brought up children. His book consists of Five Visions, Ten Similitudes, and Twelve Commandments. It is an allegory; the first of the type of which JOHN BUNYAN'S Pilgrim's Progress is the most popular representative. It was written to declare that the Church was corrupt and deeply marked by worldliness; that a time 1A. F. Findlay, Byways in Early Christian Literature, pp. 3-5.

of distress was coming when the evils would be purged away; that repentance was possible before that time began; and that HERMAS was the divinely ordained preacher of that repentance.

The Shepherd is an orthodox work which was sometimes quoted as 'Scripture' and sometimes publicly read in the churches. It has been called "a good but dull novel," but it is a veritable mine of information concerning the Church in Rome and the growing institutionalism of the Faith.

A more common type of romance is found in the Protevangelium (Earliest Gospel) of James. This is a composite product of ecclesiastical circles; some parts of it belong to the second century, but it did not attain its final form until the fifth century.

The stories of the Protevangelium deal with the birth of Mary, the mother of Jesus; the birth of Jesus and the accompanying wonders; the subsequent experiences of Joseph; the visit of the Magi, etc. These stories are told with much grace of language and imagery. The description of Anna's lament for her childlessness is very beautiful.

Woe is me! what am I like?

I am not like the birds of heaven,

For even the birds of heaven are fruitful before Thee,
O Lord.

Woe is me! what am I like?

I am not like the beasts of the earth,

For even the beasts of the earth are fruitful before Thee.

O Lord.

Woe is me! what am I like?

I am not like this earth,

For even this earth bears its fruits in due season and

blesses Thee, O Lord.2

The book had an immense vogue, in some places it was more popular than the Gospels themselves.

Another reflection of the popular Christianity of the age is preserved in the Acts of Peter, John, Andrew, Thomas, 2 Ibid., p. 152.

and Paul, c. 150-160; the work of an Ephesian writer whom tradition calls LEUCIUS CHARINUS. These Acts preserve many precious legends of the apostles' last days, interspersed with doctrines that the Church strenuously denounced and resisted. Pope Leo I ordered that "they should be utterly swept away and burned" but they were too much to the popular liking to be destroyed and kept their hold upon many communities for centuries. The famous Quo Vadis legend derives from the Acts of Peter (chap. 35).

Perhaps the most popular of all such romances is the Acts of Paul and Thecla, 160-170, which still captures the reader's interest as adventure follows upon the heels of adventure while the maiden Thecla pursues the Apostle with fervent devotion until his martyrdom separates them for ever. This "highly romantic work of the imagination" is graced with many touches of real poetry; e.g. Thecla is "tied to the window like a spider" as she listens to Paul preaching outside; when she is waiting to be burned she looks for the Apostle "as a lamb in the wilderness looks for the shepherd."

This Romance was written to give the appearance of apostolic authority to the changes that were taking place in the teaching and the institutions of the Church. It harmonised with the popular religious taste and reflected the prevailing moral standards.

The early Christian Romances appear in full dress in the so-called Clementines, a collection of stories that describe the life of Clement of Rome as if he himself were their author. Many critical battles have been fought over these works which consist of three principal parts: i. The Homilies; ii. The Recognitions; iii. The Epitome. Other pieces, sometimes associated with these are an Epistle to James; the Martyrdom of St. Clement; the Epistle of St. Peter to St. James of Jerusalem, and the Testimony.

With the exception of the twenty Homilies and the Recog

nitions the work has little value. It may be regarded as a series of short novels written to ascribe the honour of ecclesiastical supremacy to James and Jerusalem. In some passages the arch-enemy Simon Magus serves as a thinly disguised representation of the apostle Paul, whose teaching, that Christians are free from the Jewish Law, is repeatedly opposed.

In their original form the Clementine Romances probably date from about 161, in their present form they belong to the period 200-220.

ii. HOMILIES.

It is an easy step from the Clementines to The Preaching of Peter, 100-125; an early rival of the canonical Acts of the Apostles, and by some critics regarded as the foundation of the Homilies.

The Homilies were written addresses, prepared to be read during the Church services; sometimes the author read his own work, as was the case with the so-called Second Epistle of Clement. This work is a sermon on Isaiah, chapter 54, prepared by an unknown preacher, either of Rome or of Corinth, 135-140.

It is a rare homiletical relic of the age; natural, simple, and appropriate in style; somewhat marred by repetition, but of admirable spirit. Its theme is the duty of a moral life in gratitude for the gift of salvation.

The wrongly titled Second Epistle of Peter, 140-160, takes its true place among the Homilies. It is the work of one under the influence of Alexandria who prepared it as a warning against false prophets and gnostic heretics.

iii. RECORDS.

A few fragmentary Records can be traced during these early days. Among these are some precious but tantalising relics of the writings of PAPIAS of Hierapolis, 65-155. As a "hearer of John and an associate of Polycarp," his testimony concerning the evangelic tradition is of the highest

value. His chief work is a series of Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord, in five books. In the preface of this work he says:

I shall not hesitate to set down for you along with my interpretations, by way of confirming their truth, all that I carefully learned from the elders and carefully remembered. For I did not take pleasure, as so many do, in those who talk a great deal, but in those who teach the truth; nor in those who relate alien commandments, but in those who record such as were given by the Lord to the Faith and are derived from the truth itself.a

These Sayings of the Lord which PAPIAS interpreted, were The Testimonies which entered so largely into the composition of the Gospels.

Other fragments of his writings relate that "Matthew composed the Sayings in Hebrew, and every one interpreted them as he could"; that "Mark having become the interpreter of Peter wrote accurately everything that he remembered of the things that were either said or done by Christ": they also contain some extravagant apocryphal reports of the work and words of Jesus.

Among other Records are the important fragments of the Gospel of Peter, 110-130; an apocryphal work, of which an account of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus alone remains. This account is much longer than the corresponding sections of the Gospels, and it differs from them in many details.

The fragments begin with the hand-washing of Pilate:

But of the Jews none washed his hands, neither Herod nor any of His judges; and since they did not choose to wash them, Pilate rose up. And then Herod the king commandeth the Lord to be taken, saying Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, III., 39.