01 - Calvinism: Absent Among Pre-Nicene Christians
Calvinism: Absent Among Pre-Nicene Christians The early Christians were fluent in New Testament Greek for the first several centuries A.D. The studied the scriptures diligently, and they loved to teach the doctrines of God’s grace and man’s freedom to choose. Some Calvinists, such as John Gill and ..., maintain early Christians were doctrinally Calvinistic on these issues. However, a large body of writing from the early Church Fathers exists, and demonstrates early Christians were definitely non-Calvinist. Examine the following quotations, and see that they are not reconcilable with the view that the early church fathers were Calvinistic. One cannot affirm 5-point Calvinism and teach Unbelievers have free will to do good or respond to God, Christ died for all people, We have the power to turn ourselves to Christ, or We can lose our salvation. The format of the references is Vol::PageNo.
Clement bishop of Rome 97/98 A.D. (justified all men) 1:13 “...being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever.” First Clement 32.
Epistle of Barnabas 100 A.D. 1:139 (losing salvation) “Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as those who are the called [of God], we should fall asleep in our sins, and the wicked prince, acquiring power over us, should thrust us away from the kingdom of the Lord.” 1:139 (chap. 4) “This means that the man perishes justly, who, having a knowledge of the way of righteousness, rushes off into the way of darkness. (chap. 5) (Presumably the way of righteousness is open to him).
Ignatius, disciple of John & bishop of Antioch 107 A.D. ~1:88 “Only you must pray for them, if by any means they may be brought back to repentance.” Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 4.
Mathetes 130 A.D. 1:25 “Come, then after you have freed [or purified] yourself from all prejudices possessing your mind” 1:29 “having been a disciple of the Apostles...” To Diognetus 2, 10.
“as a Savior He sent Him, and as seeking to persuade, not to compel us; for violence has no place in the character of God.” chapter 7
Polycarp, John’s disciple, bishop of Smyrna 100-150 A.D. 1:33 “But He who raised Him up from the dead will raise up us also, if we do His will, and walk in His commandments, and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness...” Philip. 2.
Shepherd of Hermas 160 A.D. 2:36 “...and reflecting on the commandments, that they are excellent, and powerful, and glorious, and able to save a man’s soul” Shepherd of Hermas 6:1.
Justin Martyr wrote 135-165 A.D. 1:177 “And again, unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions...” 1:177 “The words cited above, David uttered 1500 years before Christ... But lest some suppose, from what has been said by us, that we say that whatever happens, happens by a fatal necessity, because it is foretold as known beforehand, this too we explain.” 1:177 most of the page. The First Apology of Justin 43, 44.
Athenagoras 177 A.D. 2:142 “Just as with men, who have freedom of choice as to both virtue and vice (for you would not either honour the good or punish the bad, unless and vice and virtue were in their own power” A Plea for Christians 24
Theophilus bishop of Antioch after Ignatius 168-181 A.D. 2:91 “And this is your condition, because of the blindness of your soul, and the hardness of your heart. But, if you will, you may be healed. Entrust yourself to the Physician [God], and He will couch the eyes of your soul and of your heart.” To Autolycus 7.
Tatian (later turned heretic) 110-172 A.D. “brought to perfection in men through their freedom of choice, in order that the bad man may be justly punished, having become depraved through his own fault, but the just man be deservedly praised for his virtuous deeds, since in the exercise of this free choice he refrained from transgressing the will of God.” … “And the power of the Logos, having in itself a faculty to foresee future events, not as fated, but as taking place by the choice of free agents...” Address of Tatian to the Greeks ch.7 p.67-68.
Irenaeus, disciple of Polycarp & bishop of Lyons (177-202 A.D.) 1:347 “they [unbelievers] despise the workmanship of God, speaking against their own salvation.”, 1:455 “[God] did indeed show Himself to be long-suffering in the matter of the correction of man and the probation of all” 1:456 “indicating that eternal fire was not originally prepared for man, but for him [Satan] who beguiled man, and caused him to offend” Against Heresies Book 1 ch.22.
Minucius Felix 210 A.D. 4:195 “determines also the fates for us according to the deserts and qualities of individuals.” The Octavius of Minucius Felix 36.
Clement of Alexandria 193-217 A.D. 2:319 “Now the devil, being possessed of freewill, was able both to repent and to steal;” 2:239 “So in no respect is God the author of evil. But since free choice and inclination originate sins” Stromata Book 1 ch.17. vol.2:239 “For to take fever is involuntary; but when one takes fever through his own fault, from excess, we blame him. Inasmuch, then as evil is involuntary, -for no one prefers evil as evil;...such being the case, to free ourselves from ignorance, and from evil and voluptuous choice, and above all, to withhold our assent from those delusive phantasies, depends on ourselves.” The Instructor 2:1. also last chapter.
“Everything then, which did not hinder a man’s choice from being free, He made and rendered auxiliary to virtue,” Stromata 7:2
“And how is He Saviour and Lord, if not the Saviour and Lord of all? But He is the Saviour of those who have believed, because of their wishing to know; and the Lord of those who have not believed, till, being enabled to confess him, they obtain the peculiar and appropriate boon which comes by Him.” (Stromata 7:2)
Bardaisan of Syria 154-222 A.D. “But God, in His benignity, chose not so to make man; but by freedom He exalted him above many of His creatures. fragments quoted from Forster & Marston
Hippolytus, disciple of Irenaeus and Bishop of Portus 220-236 A.D. 5:152 “[Jesus] might exhibit His own manhood as an aim for all men. And that by Himself in person He might prove that God made nothing evil, and that man possesses the capacity of self-determination, inasmuch as he is able to will and not to will, and is endued with the power to do both.” Refutat. of All Heresies 10:29
Tertullian 200-240 A.D. 3:220 (against total depravity) “Still there is a portion of good in the soul, of that original, divine, and genuine good, which is its proper nature. For that which is derived from God is rather obscured than extinguished.” 3:301 “Therefore it was proper that (he who is) the image and likeness of God should be formed with a free will and a mastery of himself; so that this very thing - namely, freedom of will and self-command - might be reckoned as the image and likeness of God in him.” 3:308 “Behold, they [Marcionites] say, how He acknowledges Himself to be the creator of evil in the passage, ‘It is I who created evil.’ They take a word whose one form reduces to confusion and ambiguity two kinds of evils (because both sins and punishments are called evils), and will have Him in every passage to be understood as the creator of all evil things, in order that He may be designated the author of evil.” Against Marcion chap. 14.
Commodianus North African bishop 240 A.D. 4:210 “If you wish to live, surrender yourselves to the second law. Avoid the worship of temples, the oracles of demons; turn yourselves to Christ, and ye shall be associates with God.” Instruction of Commodianus 35.
Origen (strange teacher) 230-254 A.D. 4:240 “This also is clearly defined in the teaching of the Church, that every rational soul is possessed of free-will and volition;” De Principiis Preface 5.
Novatian (turned schismatic) 254-256 A.D. 5:646 “For in reprobating what He [God] has made, He will appear to have condemned His own works, which He had approved as good; and He will be designated as seeming capricious in both cases, as the heretics indeed would have it;” On the Jewish Meats 2.
Cyprian, bishop of Carthage and martyr 248-258 A.D. ~5:317 “watch against the snares of the devil, and, taking care for you own salvation, be diligently on your guard against this death-bearing fallacy.” 5:357 “Keep discipline, lest haply the Lord be angry, and ye perish from the right way, when His anger shall quickly burn against you.” 5:358 Nor let them think that the way of life or of salvation is still open to them, if they have refused to obey the bishops and priests..” Epistle 61.
Archelaus 277 A.D. 6:187 “none of these things can be attributed to the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour, but that we must take Satan to be the cause of all our ills.” Disputat. with Manes 13
Theonas of Alexandria 300 A.D. ~6:159 “Therefore you ought to strive to the utmost of your power not to fall into a base or dishonourable, not to say an absolutely flagitious way of thinking...” Epistle to Licianus the Chief Chamberlain 2.
Second Clement 100-300 A.D. 7:522 -lose salvation. Chapter 17
Alexander of Lycopolis 301 A.D. 6:247 “But man, being able to perceive and to judge, and being potentially wise, -for he has the power to become so -when he has received what is peculiar to himself, treads it under foot.” Of the Manichaeans chap. 15.
Arnobius 297-303 A.D. 6:458-459 “To all, He says, the fountain of life is open, and no one is hindered or kept back from drinking. If you are so fastidious as to spurn the kindly offered gift” 6:458-459 “Nay, my opponent says, if God is powerful, merciful, willing to save us, let Him change our dispositions, and compel us to trust in His promises. This, then is violence, not kindness nor the bounty of the Supreme God, but a childish and vain strife in seeking to get the mastery. For what is so unjust as to force men who are reluctant and unwilling, to reverse their inclinations, to impress forcibly on their minds what they are unwilling to receive,” Against the Heathen 2:64,65.
Methodius bishop of Olympus, Patara, and Tyre, martyr 260-312 A.D. 6:356-363 Wrote a whole work: Concerning Free Will.
Lactantius, disciple of Arnobius: 260-330 A.D. 7:272 “First of all, when evils befall them, men in their dejected state for the most part have recourse to God; they appease and entreat Him” A Treatise on the Anger of God chapter 16.
Venantius: 7:330 “Who seeing that the human race was plunged in the depth of misery, that Thou mightest rescue man, didst Thyself also become man.” Poem on Easter.
Constitutions of the 12 Apostles 4th century 7:489 “...reconciled Thee to the world, and freed all men from the wrath to come” “... and deliver mankind from his deceit.” Book 7.
Pre-Nicene Authors Who Were Silent on Calvinism
Alexander bishop of Alexandria (313-326), Alexander bishop of Cappadocia, then Jerusalem (233-250), Anatolius bishop of Laodicea (270-280), Aristides, Asterius Urbanus, The Didache (147), Dionysius bishop of Alexandria (200-265), Dionysius of Rome, Gregory Thaumaturgus (240-265), Julius Africanus (232-245), Peter bishop of Alexandria (310), Victorinus, Liturgy of James, Liturgy of the Blessed Apostles, Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs, Treatise Against Novatian, Treatise on Re-Baptism, and the Councils of Ancyra (314), Neocaesarea (315), Nicea (325). Fragments of Papias (70-155), Caius (180-217), Theognostus (265), Pierius (300), Phileas (307), and Pamphilus (309).
Conclusion
Perhaps we can all agree on Calvinist Loraine Boettner’s words: “It may occasion some surprise to discover that the doctrine of Predestination was not made a matter of special study until near the end of the fourth century. ... They of course taught that salvation was through Christ; yet they assumed that man had full power to accept or reject the gospel. Some of their writings contain passages in which the sovereignty of God is recognized; yet along side of those are others which teach the absolute freedom of the human will. ... They taught a kind of synergism in which there was a cooperation between grace and free will.” The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination p.365.