Summary
The Watchtower Society (Jehovahs Witnesses) claims to
be the sole religious group faithful to the teachings of Christ and the apostles today.
The Witnesses believe that the Christian church, which they refer to as
"Christendom," fell into a great apostasy after the death of the apostles and
became corrupted with the doctrines and ideas of Greek paganism and philosophy. Among the
doctrines corrupted was the nature of Christ, whom they maintain was the first creation of
Jehovah God. The Witnesses further claim that there has always existed, since the time of
the apostles, a group of faithful, anointed men who taught and believed as they do today.
They often cite passages from the early church fathers to demonstrate that these men held
the same beliefs as contemporary Jehovahs Witnesses. However, examination of the
writings of the early church fathers provides no evidence to substantiate the claim that a
great apostasy occurred in the church following the death of the apostles. Moreover, the
church fathers refute rather than support Watchtower teachings about Jesus Christ.
From the very establishment of the Christian church by Jesus
Christ and His apostles, alternative formulations of the faith have been proposed by
countless individuals and sects. Such groups have often adopted the language and concepts
of New Testament Christianity, while amalgamating them with ideas and beliefs from secular
society, philosophy, or non-Christian religions. This trend manifests itself today in the
contemporary scene, much as it did many centuries ago. It is especially evident in groups
such as the Mormon church and the Jehovahs Witnesses, both of which claim to be the
only true expression of Christianity in the present age.
In order to validate their claim to be the true bearers of
the Christian faith, such sects usually assert that orthodox Christianity lost its way and
became "apostate" in early church history. Thus, both the Mormons and the
Jehovahs Witnesses interpret their doctrinal differences from historic Christian
teachings as a restoration of the apostolic faith, long ago lost by the apostasy of
"Christendom." They often point to the relatively late development of the
doctrine of the Trinity, and the affirmation of doctrine by church councils, as evidence
that Christendom lost the true gospel by absorbing Greek paganism and philosophy.
The claim that the true Christian faith has been lost for 18
centuries does pose some rather severe difficulties, however. One significant problem has
to do with establishing a historical link between the sect and apostolic Christianity. The
Mormons attempt to bypass this issue by claiming new revelation the angel Moroni
revealed the restored Christian faith to Joseph Smith. Jehovahs Witnesses, on the
other hand, try to maintain a historical link with the apostolic church. They hold that
since the death of the apostles, there has always existed a "faithful and discrete
servant" class a group of 144,000 anointed Christians (which began with the 12
apostles and reached 144,000 in 1935) who are Jehovahs appointed channel for
understanding and interpreting the Scriptures. This group is now embodied in the rapidly
dwindling Governing Body of the Watchtower Society (those who became a part of this class
during or prior to 1935 are dying of old age).
The Watchtower Society turns frequently to the Christian
literature of the postapostolic period those writers commonly known as the church
fathers to bolster their claim to be the true restoration of apostolic
Christianity. This twopart series will review the evidence for their position by
examining the early church literature pertaining to the central doctrines of the Christian
faith.
THE CHURCH FATHERS
In the first few centuries after the death of the apostles,
the literary efforts of certain esteemed leaders and teachers of the church served to
communicate and defend the faith. These writings were held in high regard, often being
circulated with copies of the Scriptures themselves. They became an integral part of the
spiritual literature of the growing Christian communities, and were frequently utilized in
worship. The authors, generally known as the apostolic or church fathers, provide us with
valuable understanding of the history and development of Christian life, beliefs, and
doctrine in the postapostolic age.
These writings were prompted by a number of circumstances.
Some were written to explain and defend Christianity to pagan authorities (e.g., kings) in
an attempt to deflect persecution. Others were intended to encourage, teach, and correct
wayward churches. Many were written to defend the church against heresies from inside and
outside the Christian community.
Some of the most valuable insights from these writings relate
to the formation of orthodox Christian doctrine, particularly as it developed in response
to heresy. Study of the history and development of orthodox Christian doctrine reveals
that several very important doctrines, such as the Trinity and the nature of Christ, were
refined over an extended period. These teachings were to some extent implicitly understood
by the early church, and later were more explicitly defined. Since false teachers
distorted these and other doctrines, church fathers directed much of their attention to
refuting them with apostolic teaching based on Scripture. Hence, the writings of the
church fathers provide an important resource for determining what Christians believed in
the first few centuries after the apostles.
THE ALLEGED "APOSTASY" OF
CHRISTENDOM
A recent Watchtower magazine expounds the Jehovahs
Witnesses view that orthodox Christianity ("Christendom") underwent a
great apostasy after the death of the apostles: "The death of the apostles removed a
restraining influence, allowing a widespread apostasy to develop. (2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8)
An organization grew up that unworthily professed to be Gods congregation. It
falsely claimed to be the holy nation anointed with Gods spirit to rule with
Jesus."1
The Witnesses believe that the influx of pagan converts
brought in doctrines and concepts from Greek philosophy and religion which were then
integrated into the Christian faith, resulting in such "false" teachings as the
Trinity, the deity of Christ, the immortality of the soul, and eternal punishment in hell.
According to the Watchtower Society, Christendom lived in darkness for 18 centuries after
this apostasy. Yet they believe there were always individuals who were faithful to divine
truth a truth more fully unveiled when their founder, Charles Russell, began to
study the Bible in earnest in the 1870s. To support this view, Watchtower literature
regularly cites passages from the church fathers to demonstrate that, even after the
apostasy, there were some who believed as Jehovahs Witnesses do today.
In light of this line of argumentation, it is worthwhile to
examine the writings of the early church fathers. If indeed such writings reveal that
early Christians believed as Jehovahs Witnesses do today, then surely a reevaluation
of orthodox Christian teachings is needed. If these writings fail to support Watchtower
claims, however, then one must conclude that Jehovahs Witnesses represent a new
religious tradition of the late 19th century, with no historical connection to apostolic
Christianity.
The body of literature of the postapostolic church is
substantial, and a full review would be outside of the scope of a limited survey such as
this. The most critical period is that prior to the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, because
it is historically closest to the apostles. Part One of this series will examine writings
from this period that relate to the question of whether the church underwent a great
apostasy. It will also investigate what the church fathers say about one of the most
critical doctrines of the Christian faith the divine nature of Christ. Part Two
will review other important doctrines of the faith, such as the nature of the Holy Spirit,
the soul, and the fate of the wicked.
Did a Great Apostasy Occur?
Was the true faith taught by the apostles lost or corrupted
within the first generation after the apostles? If so, then the true faith was not
successfully transmitted anywhere in the evangelized world of the first and second
centuries including churches established by the apostles, with leadership appointed
personally by them. A "great apostasy" would require an extraordinary event: the
simultaneous loss of faith by an entire generation of Christians throughout the civilized
world. Included in this apostasy would be disciples of the apostles themselves, as well as
those who witnessed the thousands of martyrs who, just a short time previously, refused to
deny Christ, either explicitly or by worshiping pagan gods.
A great apostasy, wherein the doctrines of Greek pagan
philosophy replaced apostolic teaching, would most likely have begun in areas where the
church was accepting a large number of converts with backgrounds in Greek religion and
philosophy, such as Alexandria, Egypt. The prominent western churches established directly
by the apostles, such as those in Rome and Antioch, would likely have fallen into heresy
more slowly. But the historical facts do not support this (or any other) scenario of a
"great apostasy." Had a great apostasy begun immediately after the death of the
apostles, as the Watchtower claims, a mixture of "true Christianity" (i.e.,
Watchtowertype teachings) and "pagan heresy" (i.e., orthodox Christian
teachings) would be discernible in the literature of the early church, which was
widespread in its geographical points of origin.
Is it possible that all the writings of the followers of the
"true faith" were completely destroyed by the paganized church? Such a view is
highly improbable. Many manuscripts have survived from Gnosticism (a widespread religious
movement of this period which combined elements of Greek paganism and eastern mystery
religions), despite several centuries of concerted attack and condemnation by the church.
Yet not a single document exists pointing to a group who believed as the Jehovahs
Witnesses do today.
The absence of such early "Watchtower" literature
causes one to doubt the existence of the so-called "faithful and discrete servant
class." After all, the stated purpose of these 144,000 anointed servants in
Jehovahs plan is to provide "meat in due season" that is,
literature that imparts "accurate knowledge" about the Bible. If these early
Jehovahs Witnesses were true to the kingdom gospel, handed down to them by the
apostles, they would have written sufficiently to provide the faithful with an
understanding of the Scriptures. Keep in mind that the Watchtower Society teaches that the
Scriptures cannot be properly understood without such aids.2 Yet where is the
Watchtower literature of the first and second centuries or for that matter, of any
century prior to the 1870s? Its absence is most telling, and highly damaging to the claim
of a general apostasy with just a few of the dedicated faithful surviving.
Perhaps the most compelling argument against a universal
early apostasy may be found in the commissioning and empowering of the apostles
themselves. If a universal apostasy occurred immediately after the death of the apostles,
we would have to judge the apostles as incompetent or negligent evangelists who utterly
failed to accomplish Jesus commission to make disciples. Such an apostasy would
reflect poorly on Jehovah God as well, whose "holy spirit" was unable to
preserve His followers for even a single generation.
There is, therefore, no reason to believe that a great
apostasy occurred following the death of the apostles, with the resulting loss of the
"true" Christian faith for over 1800 years. This conclusion seems undeniable in
view of the Great Commission, the power of the Holy Spirit, the absence of literary
evidence for an alternative group of believers with a gospel similar to that preached by
Jehovahs Witnesses, and the implausibility of the required simultaneous loss of
faith by an entire generation of geographically dispersed Christians.
THE CHURCH FATHERS AND THE DEITY OF CHRIST
Jehovahs Witnesses deny that Jesus Christ is YHWH (or
Jehovah) in the flesh, maintaining that he is the first creation of Jehovah. The Witness
book used for instruction of potential converts, You Can Live Forever in Paradise on
Earth, explains: "Did Jesus ever say that he was God? No, he never did. Rather,
in the Bible he is called Gods Son. And he said, The Father is
greater than I am. (John 10:34-36; 14:28)
Thus the Almighty God and Jesus are
clearly two separate persons. Even after his death and resurrection and ascension to
heaven, Jesus was still not equal to his Father."3
The Witnesses further claim that Jesus was not raised bodily
from the dead, but was raised as a spirit creature who assumed different material bodies
after his resurrection when interacting with the disciples: "Since the apostle Thomas
was able to put his hand into a hole in Jesus side, does that not show that Jesus
was raised from the dead in the same body that was nailed to the stake? No, for Jesus
simply materialized or took on a fleshly body, as angels had done in the past."4
Watchtower teaching regarding the time and manner of
Christs return also differs markedly from historical Christian teaching. Witnesses
believe that Christ established an invisible "presence" on earth in the year
1914, seen only by those with "eyes of understanding" that is, those who
understand and follow the divine truths and Bible teaching put forth by the "faithful
and discrete servant" of the Watchtower Society. We read in Paradise on Earth:
"What was the manner of Jesus leaving?
The departing Jesus, therefore,
became invisible to [the disciples]
Thus his return also would be invisible, in a
spiritual body."5
The Watchtower often insists that the church fathers believed
as they do on such doctrines. For example, in their booklet Should You Believe in the
Trinity?6 they cite several early Christian fathers, claiming that they did
not believe Jesus was God, but rather was a created being. An examination of the patristic
literature (i.e., writings of the church fathers) will reveal whether such claims are
true.
The Fathers and Apostolic Authority
We begin with the recognition that the church fathers
frequently pointed to apostolic teaching as the source of their faith. Many patristic
writers stressed the importance placed by the early church on gathering and preserving
every teaching and saying of Jesus and the apostles. They constantly maintained that their
beliefs originated from these sources. Furthermore, such claims did not occur in a vacuum.
The early Christian fathers wrote in an environment where many were already familiar with
apostolic teaching; many had been taught by disciples of the apostles or even the apostles
themselves. Hence, the introduction of nonapostolic doctrine would undoubtedly have raised
much opposition from those who knew the truth firsthand.
The preeminence of apostolic authority and teaching is seen
throughout the patristic literature. For example, Irenaeus, speaking of Clement of Rome,
said, "He had seen the apostles and associated with them, and still had their
preaching sounding in his ears and their tradition before his eyes and not he
alone, for there were many still left in his time who had been taught by the
apostles."7 Matthetes, speaking to Diognetus, said, "I am not
speaking of things that are strange to me...for I have been a disciple of apostles, and
now I am becoming a teacher of the Gentiles."8 Irenaeus declared,
"Now the Church, although scattered over the whole civilized world to the end of the
earth, received from the apostles and their disciples its faith in one God, the Father
Almighty
and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made flesh for our
salvation, and in the Holy Spirit."9 Origen affirmed, "The holy
Apostles, in preaching the faith of Christ, treated with the utmost clarity certain
matters which they believed to be of absolute necessity to all believers."10
It is reasonable to assume, in view of the above, that, when
it comes to the essentials of the Christian faith, the church fathers are a good source
for discerning apostolic teaching and doctrine. Hence, one may look to them for insight as
to what the firstcentury church believed about Jesus Christ. We will now consider
the anteNicene church fathers treatment of Christ as the Author of Scripture,
their explicit statements about His deity, their defense of His uncreated and eternal
nature, and their beliefs about His return.
Christ as the Author of Scripture
Early Christians took from their Jewish heritage the
conviction that the Old Testament Scriptures were inspired and authored by YHWH, through
His Holy Spirit. Yet the apostolic fathers often attributed the authorship of Scripture to
Christ. By so doing they demonstrated their conviction about Christs deity. In 1
Clement, for example, we read, "For this is how Christ addresses us through his Holy
Spirit: Come, my children, listen to Me, I will teach you the fear of the
Lord."11 In 2d Clement we read, "But how do we acknowledge
Him?
By honoring Him [Christ] not only with our lips, but with all our mind and our
heart. And He says in Isaiah as well, This people honors me with their lips but
their heart is far from me."12 Likewise, Irenaeus said, "The
Scriptures are certainly perfect, since they were spoken by the Word of God [Christ] and
by His Spirit."13 Such attribution would be inconceivable if the patristic
writers had not believed that Jesus is God.
The patristic writers also directly identified Christ with
YHWH. This they did by interpreting many passages of the Septuagint (the Greek translation
of the Hebrew Old Testament) that speak of YHWH as references to the preincarnate Christ.
Justin Martyr, a converted philosopher of the early second century, exemplifies this
approach: "Although the Jews were always of the opinion that it was the Father of all
who had spoken to Moses, it was in fact the Son of God...who spoke to him
They who
assert that the Son is the Father are proved to know neither the Father, nor that the
Father of all has a Son, who is both the first-born Word of God and is God."14
Moreover, Justin said, "What was said out of the bush to Moses, I am He who is,
the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and the God of your
fathers, was an indication that they though dead still existed and were
Christs own men."15 Hence, the early Christian writers not only
attributed the words of Scripture to Christ, but specifically identified Him with the YHWH
of the Old Testament.
Explicit Statements about the Deity of
Christ
As we saw with Justin Martyr above, the church fathers also
explicitly declared the divine nature of Jesus Christ. Ignatius, a prominent martyr of the
early second century, wrote seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor that are replete
with statements affirming that Jesus is God: "The source of your unity and election
is genuine suffering which you undergo by the will of the Father and of Jesus Christ our
God."16 "There is one only physician of flesh yet spiritual,
born yet unbegotten, God incarnate, genuine life in the midst of death, sprung from Mary
as well as God
Jesus Christ our Lord."17 "For our God, Jesus the
Christ, was conceived in the womb by Mary
of the Holy Ghost."18
Such direct statements about Christs deity were not
unique to Ignatius, but can be seen in other early church literature. Polycarp, a direct
disciple of the apostle John, declared: "May He grant unto you a lot and a portion
among His saints
who shall believe in our Lord and God Jesus Christ and in His Father
that raised Him from the dead."19 Irenaeus likewise declared, "He is
Himself in His own right God and Lord and Eternal King and Only begotten and Incarnate
Word, proclaimed as such by all the Prophets and by the Apostles and by the Spirit
Himself
The Scriptures would not have borne witness to these things concerning Him,
if, like everyone else, He were mere man."20 Mellito of Sardis similarly
affirmed, "The activities of Christ after His Baptism
gave indication and
assurance to the world of the Deity hidden in His flesh. Being God and likewise perfect
man, He gave positive indications of His two natures
He concealed the signs of His
Deity, although He was the true God existing before the ages."21
Hippolytus added, "Only His Word is from Himself, and is therefore also God, becoming
the substance of God."22 And Tertullian affirmed, "God alone is
without sin. The only man without sin is Christ; for Christ is also God."23
Examples such as these abound. There can be no doubt that the
early church, well before the Council of Nicea and indeed beginning with disciples of the
apostles themselves, believed that Jesus Christ possessed the very same nature and
substance as God.
Jesus Not Created, Nor an Angel
The Jehovahs Witnesses idea that Jesus was a
created being and an angel was common to pagan and Gnostic religions, and the early
Christian apologists made a point of explicitly refuting it. For example, in The Epistle
of Barnabus we read, "God himself, who from heaven established the truth, and the
holy, incomprehensible word among men
Nor, as one might suppose, did he do this by
sending to men some subordinate an angel, or principality
Rather he sent the
Designer and Maker of the universe Himself
God sent him to men."24
Athenagorus likewise affirmed, "The Son of God is the Word of the Father
the
Father and the Son being one.
The Son
is the First-begotten of the Father, not
as having been produced for from the beginning God had the Word in Himself..."25
Irenaeus in like manner said, "[The Gnostics] transfer the generation of the uttered
word of men to the eternal Word of God, attributing to Him a beginning of utterance and a
coming into being in a manner like to that of their own word. In what manner, then, would
the Word of God indeed, the great God Himself, since He is the Word differ
from the word of man, were He to have the same order and process of generation?"26
Tertullian similarly wrote, "But Christ, they say, also bore the
nature of an angel. For what reason? And why did He take human nature?
Christ
bore human nature in order to be mans salvation.
There was no such reason why
Christ would take upon Himself angelic nature."27 And Origen declared,
"Although He was God, He took flesh; and having been made man, He remained what He
was, God.
For we do not hold...that some part of the substance of God was converted
into the Son, or that the Son was procreated by the Father from nonexistent substances,
that is, from a substance outside Himself, so that there were a time when He did not
exist."28
While Witnesses assert that pagan influences produced the
doctrine of Christs deity so forcefully stated at the Council of Nicea, it was in
fact the pagans, not the Christians, who claimed He was created. The origins of Watchtower
Christology are found not in apostolic teaching, but rather in Gnostic speculation.
The Return of Christ
There is likewise no support in early Christian literature
for the idea that Jesus would return in some invisible, spiritual manner. As with the idea
that Jesus was a created angel, the notion of a "spiritual" postresurrection
body of Christ was prominent in Gnosticism. The Gnostics viewed the flesh as inherently
evil. The fathers, in contrast, expressed the hope that the church held from the time of
the apostles, that Jesus would return in the flesh, in a glorious and triumphant manner.
The Epistle of Barnabus, written shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, expressed
this common hope of all Christians: "Set your hope on Him who is about to be
manifested to you in the flesh, even Jesus.
For they shall see Him in that day
wearing the long scarlet robe about His flesh, and shall say, Is this not He, Whom
we once crucified and regarded as nothing and spat upon; verily this was He."29
The patristic literature makes no mention of an invisible
"presence" of Jesus a central doctrine of Witness theology and
chronology. This Watchtower teaching does not derive from the writings of the early
church, and must be judged as originating far outside of apostolic Christianity.
The Fathers Denied That Christ Is a
Created, Lesser God
Witnesses often attack the doctrine of the Trinity, asserting
that the belief in three Persons in one God goes against reason. While Christianity holds
that the Trinity accurately describes the self-revealed nature of God, the tension between
the distinctness of the Persons and the unity of God has always presented a challenge to
those who reason about the nature of God. The early Christian apologists frequently had to
explain and defend the fact that Christ is divine by nature and yet personally distinct
from the Father. Those who challenged them both those coming from the polytheistic
background of Greek philosophy and religion, and those whose amalgamation of philosophy
and Christianity led them astray often resorted to a formulation in which Christ
was a created, lesser god. Hence, in many ways the early Christian writers faced a similar
situation as those evangelizing Jehovahs Witnesses today.
The early postapostolic church strongly held that Christ was
of the very substance of God, and was not a lesser, created god. Athenagorus, a Christian
philosopher of the second century, addressed this issue in a manner typical of many of the
early fathers: "If, moreover, it is claimed that, just as hand, eye, and foot are
constituent parts of a single body, so Gods unity is made up from two or more gods,
this is equally false.
But God is uncreated, impassible, and indivisible. He does
not, therefore, consist of parts."30 Moreover, "The Son
is the
first offspring of the Father. I do not mean that he was created, for since God is eternal
mind, he had his Word within himself from the beginning, being eternally wise
Who,
then, would not be astonished to hear those called atheists who admit God the Father, God
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and who teach their unity in power and their distinction in
rank?"31 As with other aspects of the Watchtower doctrine of Christ, there
is no support in the literature of these early Christian authors for a Christ who was a
lesser, created god, the first creation of Jehovah.
An Absence of Evidence
The Watchtower Society has selectively quoted the literature
of the early church fathers in an attempt to demonstrate that, while the church fell into
apostasy at an early date, nonetheless many early Christians believed as they do today.
When the literature of this period is examined in depth, however, it becomes clear that
there is virtually no evidence that a great global apostasy occurred immediately following
the death of the apostles. Furthermore, there is no evidence that a group preaching the
preeminence of Jehovahs name went doortodoor distributing the writings
of a small body of anointed men, while proclaiming the invisible presence of Christ and a
coming earthy kingdom. The Witnesses claim to be the sole bearers of true apostolic
Christianity does not stand.
The writings of the early fathers explicitly and repeatedly
refute the Christ of the Watchtower, and confidently assert His deity and uncreated
nature. The created angelic deity of the Watchtower bears much resemblance to the
speculations of Gnosticism and Greek paganism, but has no resemblance to the incarnate
Word of God preached by the apostles.
What of the other important teachings of the faith? In Part
Two I will examine such doctrines as the Holy Spirit, the nature of the soul, the
Resurrection, and the destiny of the righteous and wicked. As in the present article,
Watchtower teachings will be compared and contrasted with those of the ante-Nicene church
fathers to test their validity and historical accuracy.
Robert U. Finnerty, M.D., is a practicing physician in Tacoma, WA and is the author
of Jehovahs Witnesses on Trial: The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers
(P&R Publishing, 1993). He may be reached "online" via the internet at
73707.3645@compuserve.com.
NOTES
1The Watchtower, 15 June 1992, 19.
2The Watchtower Society, while claiming to use the Bible alone, actually
teaches that the Bible cannot be understood without the aid of the "meat in due
season," the literature provided by the Society its interpretation of
Scripture being the only valid one. See The Watchtower, 15 September 1910, 298; 15
August 1981, 28.
3You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible
and Tract Society of New York, 1982), 3940.
4Ibid., 144.
5Ibid., 14546.
6Should You Believe in the Trinity? (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society of New York, 1989).
7Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.3.3, in Cyril C. Richardson, Early
Christian Fathers (New York: Macmillan, 1970).
8Ibid., 11.
9Ibid., 1.10.1.
10Origen, Fundamental Doctrines, 1. Pref. 34; 1.2.1; 4.4.1, in W.
A. Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers, vol. 1 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical
Press, 1979).
11Ibid., 22.
12Ibid., 3.
13Ibid., 2.28.2.
14Ibid., 63.
15Ibid.
16Ignatius, Ephesians, 1. In Richardson.
17Ibid., 7.
18Ibid., 18, in J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer, The Apostolic Fathers
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984).
19Ibid., 12.
20Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.19, 12, in Jurgens, vol. 1.
21Melito, Guide, 13, in ibid.
22Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, 10.33, in ibid.
23Tertullian, The Soul, 41.3, in ibid.
24The Epistle to Diognetus, 7, in Richardson.
25Athenagoras, Intercession on Behalf of the Christians, 10, in Jurgens,
vol. 1.
26Ibid., 2.13.8.
27Ibid., 14.1.
28Origen, Fundamental Doctrines, 1, pref. 34; 1.2.1; 4.4.1, in
ibid.
29Epistle of Barnabas, 6.7, in Lightfoot and Harmer.
30Ibid., 8, in Richardson.
31Ibid., 10, in Richardson. |