Second Century

Expansion, Persecution, Heresy

The Church continued to its expansion throughout the world. Its strongest centers were in Asia Minor, North Africa, and Rome. The Roman emperors (Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius) persecuted its members forcing them in Rome to go underground in the catacombs. While a common creed was being formulated many heresies arose which presented a variety of strange beliefs related to the Trinity and to the Divinity of Jesus. The role of bishop became stronger to continue ministry, resist persecution, oppose heretical teachings, and spread the word. Great apologists (those who defend the doctrine and teachings of the Church against heresy) such as Irenaeus and Justin Martyr wrote extensively to defend the Church. Bishops, such as Ignatius of Antioch, instructed, admonished, and comforted fellow Christians, as they faced persecution and martyrdom. The Church was not legal in the Roman Empire and had no public forum or church buildings. Local persecution could break out at any time. A profound public witness emerged as Christians were put to death because they would not deny the faith at any cost. Examples: Martyrdom of 84-year-old bishop Polycarp (AD 155) and a whole group mercilessly tortured at Lyons in AD 177. The church continued its amazing spread reaching all classes, particularly the lower. Callistus--a former slave--actually became bishop of Rome and made claims for special importance of the Roman bishop. Justin Martyr wrote his Apology and gave a description of the Sunday service, nearly identical in basic content to today’s Mass. 

The writings of the Fathers of the Church filled the void formed by the absence of any formal Church Council, decrees, or catechism. These writings include the Didache (80-100), Clement (97), Pseudo-Barnabas (96-98), Ignatius (110-117), Polycarp (110-120), Hermas (150), Papias (150), Justin Martyr (160), Irenaeus (190).

All eleven Popes of the Second Century are honored as saints, most of them martyrs.

Saints

Saint Irenaeus, Martyr: bishop of Lyons and saint.

St. Philomena, Martyr: preferred death to losing her virginity
Saint Justin, Martyr: scourged and beheaded for not sacrificing to idols 
Saint Polycarp, Martyr: the 86 old man was burned to death because he refused allegiance to “Caesar as Lord,” and to curse Christ.
Saint Clement of Rome, Martyr: tied by the neck to an anchor and was cast into the sea
Saint Ignatius, of Antioch: devoured by wild beasts in the amphitheater

Heresies

 Marcionites: Founded by Marcion (110), a Gnostic, who taught the existence of two gods, the evil one of the Old Testament and the good one taught by Jesus; denied the Incarnation of Christ, that Jesus died on the cross, and that Jesus is the Messiah.

Ebionites: Denied the divinity of Christ; believed that Jesus is human, the son of God, but not God; considered St. Paul a heretic, and practiced free-love.

Montanism: Montanus, a priest of Cybele who became a Christian, in 156 had a ‘revelation of the Spirit’ and his teachings were above those of the Church, he spoke in ecstatic visions and urged their followers to fast and pray, so that they might share the personal revelations. His believed that the Trinity consisted of only a single person. He proclaimed that everybody in the Church must be perfect and the Christians who fell from grace could not be redeemed. The most widely known defender of Montanists was undoubtedly Tertullian, a champion of orthodox belief, who believed that the new prophecy was genuinely motivated and began to fall out of step. The sect also was convinced that the end of the world was imminent and that Christ was to return in the immediate future.

Monarchians, 190, denied the Mystery of the Trinity, God is one person, God the Father and God the Son were one and the same person. Monarchians were divided into two main groups, the dynamic monarchians and the modal monarchians.  Dynamic Monarchianism teaches that God is the Father and that Jesus is only a man, denied the personal subsistence of the Logos and taught that the Holy Spirit was a force or presence of God the Father. Additionally, some ancient dynamic monarchianists were also known as Adoptionists who taught that Jesus was tested by God and after passing this test and upon His baptism, He was granted supernatural powers by God and adopted as the Son. Modal monarchianism teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are just modes of the single person who is God.  In other words, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not simultaneous and separate persons, but consecutive modes of one person.

 
Tritheism: There are three Gods, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Modalism:  Modalism is probably the most common theological error concerning the nature of God.  It is a denial of the Trinity which states that God is a single person who, throughout biblical history, has revealed Himself in three consecutive modes, or forms.  Thus, God is a single person who first manifested himself in the mode of the Father in Old Testament times.  At the incarnation, the mode was the Son.  After Jesus' ascension, the mode is the Holy Spirit.  These modes are consecutive and never simultaneous.  In other words, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit never all exist at the same time, only one after another.  Modalism denies the distinctiveness of the three persons in the Trinity even though it retains the divinity of Christ.

Basidilians: So-called after Basilides, a native of Alexandria who flourished under the Emperors Hadrian and Antonius Pius from about 120 to 140. The Basilidians rejected Revelation and claimed the God of the Jews to be only an angel; held that angels created the world; denied the humanity and miracles of Jesus; denied the resurrection of the body, and believed that Simon of Cyrene was crucified in place of Christ who returned to His Father unharmed.

Carpocratians: Followers of Carpoerates, an Alexandrian philosopher, who flourished during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian (117-138). They are also called "gnostics”, that is, learned or enlightened. The Carpocratians held that everyone has two souls; believed in the transmigration of souls; maintained that the world was created by angels; denied the divinity of Christ, and advocated the practice of immorality as a means of union with God.