156AD Christian Missions History Musings (CMHM). Second and Third Century Missions
As the apostles (vocational church planters) faded out in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, the local churches became the lead missionary entities. This had a positive aspect as the Christian faith slowly spread out from major Roman and Near East cities into the surrounding regions. Negatively, there seems to be less leaps of the faith across national boundaries and cultural groups.
This is not to say that there was no missionaries during this time. Addai and Mari were probably missionaries during the 2nd centuries. They were described as apostles, but the writing placed them as being part of The Seventy (or Seventy-Two). As I said, they were probably 2nd century missionaries, and if the writer identified them that way they PROBABLY would not have described them with that title. Those recognized as serving as missionaries after the first century tended to be described as Evangelists or “Teachers of Christianity.” More on this in my paper on Apostles– .
But outward movement and growth of the church did happen. As amazing as the growth of the church was during the first century, any tangible impact would end up being visualized as little dots on the big map of the Roman Empire and surrounding lands. The growing of those dots into regional influence occurred during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Such growth occurred through many people.
A. Martyrs. As is well-known, the term “martyr” is from the Greek meaning “witness.” The ultimate witness of one’s faith is to be willing to be tortured and to die for it. Christians set up humility as an ideal— a concept no generally seen as a virtue in the Greco-Roman culture. If anything, it was more a sign of weakness. Christians of that time were generally pacifists— another sign of weakness in the militaristic empire. So when Christians would self-sacrifice for their faith, their church family, and for their god, this must have been extremely hard to reconcile. Much of Greco-Roman paganism was transactional in the here and now. Do something to add to one’s luck, ward off evil, or achieve one’s ambitions. This level of devotion to their god and faith community, demonstrated through courage rarely seen outside of the battlefield must have been very inspiring. One of the most famous martyrs, the bishop Polycarp, was publicly killed in or near 156AD. His story was one of many that was shared through the churches as an ideal. In fact, it was seen as such an ideal that some looked to create opportunities to be martyred. (I would argue that a colleague of Polycarp, Ignatius of Antioch, did just that… seeking martyrdom just a bit too much.) This led to guidelines some guidance among the members to seek to be living witnesses as long as one can… only being a dying witness (martyr) if one must. I have a post on this— Polycarp and Persecution.
B. Apologists. Apologists or defenders of the faith were literate and theologically trained Christians that interacted intellectually with those outside the faith. Despite the fact that they may have seen their role as primarily inter-religious, their greatest strength was probably (much like apologists today) in confirming the faith of Christians, or gain a clearer understanding of the bounds of orthodoxy. Still, the apologists could be of value when communicating with Greco-Roman pagans. They could challenge popular misconceptions of the populace— such as Christians being atheists, incestuous, cannibals. They could respond to polemics of others (such as responding to the charges of Celsus against Christianity). They could also write their apologies for evangelistic purposes. I suspect that these apologies rarely led to conversion (much like apologetics today) but likely did promote understanding that likely “softened the soil” for later germination and fruitfulness. Today, an awful lot of what we know about early Christianity comes from the considerable output Apologists like Aristides, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Irenaeus, and more.
C. Sacrificial Love. I have long argued that the three-fold encounter of modern missiology is flawed. Truth, Power, and Allegiance encounters are important. However, I see little evidence that Power Encounter deserves to be in the top three. For those who speak of six encounters, I think power encounter barely deserves to be in the top six. Up with Truth and Allegiance should be Love Encounter. When people see Christian love, expressed in part by love for God, part by love for members within the faith, and part by love for people outside the faith. This SHOULD contrast sharply to love as evidenced by those outside of the faith. In the early church. While martyrdom may demonstrate love for God and those within the church, the love for those outside of the church was demonstrated most clearly during the plagues that would ravage the empire. Rather than going over this at length, I would recommend reading my post, “The Church and ‘Pandemic Love’.“
D. Everyone as Evangelists or Local Missionaries. In its early years, the Christianity was very much a religion of the people— the people of the masses. It was not like the mystery cults— a religion of the elite or of a profession. It was not like many of the pagan cults where there was a small set of devotees and then large crowds that utilized their services. The charge that Christianity was the religion of the poor and the enslaved may have been true— but that means that it was the faith of the largest demographics of Roman society. As such, its “E-1” mission field was vast. That seems to be the main reason for its high growth rate in the first three centuries.
Adolf Von Harnack said it well regarding missions in this time.
It was characteristic of this religion that everyone who seriously confessed the faith proved of service to its propaganda. Christians are to “let their light shine, that pagans may see their good works and glorify the Father in heaven.” If this dominated all their life, and if they lived according to the precepts of their religion, they could not be hidden at all; by their very mode of living they could not fail to preach their faith plainly and audibly. …
We cannot hesitate to believe that the great mission of Christianity was in reality accomplished by means of informal missionaries. Justin says so quite explicitly. What won him over was the impression made by the moral life which he found among Christians in general.
