Here us yet another Church Father, writing on the heels of Apostles, illustrating clearly that the doctrine of the Trinity clearly a part of the Apostle’s Doctrine and Teaching, to which the church devoted itself to teach and preach. It is only in response to the heresies (like opposition to the Trinity) that the later Council of Nicaea declares as doctrine the Trinity. Prior to the rise of the heretics opposing the Trinity, it’s acceptance was not questioned.
Ignatius of Antioch (died 98/117). Bishop of Antioch.
“We have as a Physician the Lord our God Jesus the Christ the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For ‘the Word was made flesh.’ Being incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible, He was in a passable body; being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life, He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts.”
(Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The ante-Nicene Fathers, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975 rpt., Vol. 1, p. 52, Ephesians 7.)
THE ANTE-NICENE FATHERS: The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325 Volume I – The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus
publisher: Cosimo Classics, published: 2007-05-01
ASIN: 1602064695
EAN: 9781602064690
sales rank: 1002788
price: $23.99 (new), $22.95 (used)
“One of the first great events in Christian history was the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, convened to organize Christian sects and beliefs into a unified doctrine. The great Christian clergymen who wrote before this famous event are referred to as the Ante-Nicenes and the Apostolic Fathers, and their writings are collected here in a ten-volume set. The Ante-Nicenes lived so close to the time of Christ that their interpretations of the New Testament are considered more authentic than modern voices. But they are also real and flawed men, who are more like their fellow Christians than they are like the Apostles, making their words echo in the ears of spiritual seekers. In Volume I of the 10-volume collected works of the Ante-Nicenes first published between 1885 and 1896, readers will find the writings of: ¿ Clement of Rome, the fourth pope, who was supposedly martyred by being tied to an anchor and tossed overboard ¿ Mathetes, an anonymous writer considered the first Christian apologist ¿ Polycarp, a Christian bishop who was stabbed to death after he failed to burn at the stake ¿ Ignatius, a student of John the Apostle, who was Bishop of Antioch before he was killed ¿ Barnabas, an anonymous writer given the name of Saint Barnabas ¿ Papias, author of Interpretations of the Sayings of the Lord, a textbook on quotes from Jesus ¿ Justin Martyr, a Christian apologist and accomplished philosopher, and ¿ Irenaeus, disciple of Polycarp, apologist, and bishop of Lugdunum.”
