Volume 1 / Book 1 — CHAPTER I
Neil Buchanan translation
HISTORICAL SURVEY
The first century of the existence of Gentile Christian communities is particularly characterised by the following features:
V. The want of a fixed doctrinal form in relation to the abstract statement of the faith, and the corresponding variety and freedom of Christian preaching on the basis of clear formulæ and an increasingly rich tradition.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · Footnote 140: (return) This fact must have been apparent as early as the year 100. The first direct evidence of it is in Justin (Apol. I. 53Note 2 · Footnote 141: (return) Every individual was, or at least should have been conscious, as a Christian, of having received the πνευμα θεου, thoNote 3 · Footnote 142: (return) The hope of the approaching end of the world and the glorious kingdom of Christ still determined men's hearts; thoughNote 4 · Footnote 143: (return) There was a strong consciousness that the Christian Church is, above all, a union for a holy life, as well as a conscNote 5 · Footnote 144: (return) The existing authorities (Old Testament, sayings of the Lord, words of Apostles) did not necessarily require to be taNote 6 · Footnote 145: (return) Zahn remarks (Ignatius, v. A. p. VII.): "I do not believe it to be the business of that province of historical investNote 7 · Footnote 146: (return) See the important essay of Overbeck: Ueber die Anfänge d. patrist. Litteratur (Hist. Ztschr. N. F. Bd. XII pp. 417-47Note 8 · Footnote 147: (return) The writings of men of the Apostolic period, and that immediately succeeding, attained in part a wide circulation, anNote 9 · Footnote 148: (return) That which is here mentioned is of the greatest importance; it is not a mere reference to the so-called Gnostics. TheNote 10 · Footnote 149: (return) We should not over-estimate the extent of early Christian literature. It is very probable that we know, so far as theNote 11 · Footnote 150: (return) It is therefore important to note the locality in which a document originates, and the more so the earlier the documeNote 12 · Footnote 151: (return) The history of the genesis of the four Canonical Gospels, or the comparison of them, is instructive on this point. ThNote 13 · I. The rapid disappearance of Jewish Christianity.140Note 14 · II. The enthusiastic character of the religious temper; the Charismatic teachers and the appeal to the Spirit.141Note 15 · III. The strength of the hopes for the future, Chiliasm.142Note 16 · IV. The rigorous endeavour to fulfil the moral precepts of Christ, and truly represent the holy and heavenly community of God in abstinence Note 17 · VI. The want of a clearly defined external authority in the communities, sure in its application, and the corresponding independence and freNote 18 · VII. The want of a fixed political union of the several communities with each other—every ecclesia is an image complete in itself, and an emNote 19 · VIII. A quite unique literature in which were manufactured facts for the past and for the future, and which did not submit to the usual liteNote 20 · IX. The reproduction of particular sayings and arguments of Apostolic Teachers with an uncertain understanding of them.147Note 21 · X. The rise of tendencies which endeavoured to hasten in every respect the inevitable process of fusing the Gospel with the spiritual and reNote 22 · The sources for this period are few, as there was not much written, and the following period did not lay itself out for preserving a great pNote 23 · Supplement.—The main features of the message concerning Christ, of the matter of the Evangelic history, were fixed in the first and second g