Cyprian:
“Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Assuredly, then, whoever believes in God and lives in faith is found righteous and is already blessed in faithful Abraham.”
Origen:
“The apostolic teaching is that the soul, . . . after its departure from the world, will be recompensed according to its deserts. It is destined to obtain either an inheritance of eternal life and blessedness (if its actions will have procured this for it) or to be delivered up to eternal fire and punishments – if the guilt of its crimes will have brought it down to this.”
Have you ever heard of Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Hermas, Papias, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, Mark Felix, Cyprian, or Lactantius? If not, why not? Were these men of no significance to Christianity? Did they leave no writings behind? Didn’t they grapple with the same issues that Christians face today? Why have their views been hidden to the point that most Christians don’t even know their names?
Explore the beliefs of the early Christians (before AD 325) and compare them to what the Bible says and to what most churches teach today. We think you will find the journey to be enlightening, disconcerting, troubling, alarming, and yet perhaps strangely reassuring. Begin by exploring this site to see if the early Christians can help provide some answers to your questions – answers from men who actually learned at the feet of the Apostles or their disciples.
Let your journey begin…