Program / Course 9: Christology and Pneumatology / Lesson 6.2
What you will learn
- Describe how second- and third-century writers spoke of the Spirit in baptism, prayer and prophecy.
- Explain the idea that the Son and Spirit are the two hands of God in Irenaeus.
- Describe Montanism and why it raised the question of the Spirit and prophecy.
- Explain why the early church did not yet have a settled doctrine of the Spirit’s relation to the Father and the Son.
The big idea
From the beginning Christians baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, prayed in the Spirit and expected the Spirit to speak in the church. But in the first three centuries their theological language about the Spirit was less developed than their language about the Son. Writers such as Justin, Irenaeus and Tertullian placed the Spirit with the Father and Son in worship, and some did so with great clarity. Others were uncertain about the Spirit’s status. The question was settled only after the dispute over Arius.
Key terms
- Didache
- A short early Christian manual, probably from the late first or early second century, that includes instructions for baptism in the threefold name.
- Rule of faith
- A summary of the church’s teaching, passed on in baptism and preaching in the second century, often with three parts: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
- Montanism
- A prophetic movement of the second century, begun in Phrygia by Montanus and two women, Prisca and Maximilla, who claimed new revelations of the Spirit.
- Modalism
- The view that Father, Son and Spirit are three modes or manifestations of one God rather than three distinct persons. Also called Sabellianism.
- Economy
- In early Trinitarian thought, God’s way of acting in history, in which Father, Son and Spirit have distinct roles.
- Prophetic Spirit
- A title for the Spirit as the one who spoke through the prophets, found in Justin and in the creed of 381.
- Pneumatomachi
- A name, meaning fighters against the Spirit, for fourth-century groups who denied that the Spirit is God.
Background
The early church did not first write about the Spirit in treatises. It prayed, baptized and prophesied. The earliest evidence is liturgical: baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Didache 7), and doxologies and creeds in three parts. The explicit theology of the Spirit grew from this practice.
The writers of these centuries were pastors and apologists, defending the faith against pagans, Jews and heretics. Their statements about the Spirit are sometimes brief or unclear by later standards, and modern scholars caution against reading the fourth-century doctrine back into them. They also caution against assuming they were mistaken in ways later writers were not.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The Apostolic Fathers and Justin
Clement of Rome, writing in the 90s, swears by God, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Ignatius speaks of the Spirit in his letters, and the Didache prescribes baptism in the threefold name. The Shepherd of Hermas, a popular early work, uses confusing language, at points speaking of the Holy Spirit as the pre-existent Son. Scholars debate what the author meant.
Justin Martyr, around the middle of the second century, describes Christian worship and says that Christians honor the Father, the Son and the prophetic Spirit, putting the Spirit in third rank. Justin’s wording is not fully clear, and scholars debate how far he thought of the Spirit as a person and how he understood the order. He attributes the words of the prophets to the Spirit.
Step 2: Irenaeus and Tertullian
Irenaeus, at the end of the second century, calls the Son and the Spirit the two hands of God, through whom God made and shapes the world. He insists that Father, Son and Spirit are at work in creation, revelation and salvation. For him the Spirit gives life, prepares the church to receive the Son and makes it possible to see God.
Tertullian, in North Africa around 200, is the first Latin writer to use the word Trinity and to speak of three persons in one substance. In writing against Praxeas, a modalist, he said that the Father, Son and Spirit are distinct, though of one being and power. He did not use the full later vocabulary, but he laid out terms that Latin theology used for centuries.
Step 3: Montanism and prophecy
About 170 in Phrygia (in modern Turkey), Montanus and the prophetesses Prisca and Maximilla claimed to speak by the Spirit, announced new demands of discipline and expected the heavenly Jerusalem to descend nearby. The movement was called the New Prophecy. Church leaders were divided. Many bishops judged it false, but Tertullian later joined it.
The movement raised a lasting question: how does the church test claims to speak for the Spirit? The church answered that the Spirit does not contradict the Scriptures and the rule of faith, and that prophecy is to be tested. It also reaffirmed the role of bishops. Historians note that the Montanists considered themselves orthodox in doctrine and that the evidence comes mostly from opponents.
Step 4: Origen and the uncertain status of the Spirit
Origen, in the early third century, taught that the Spirit is honored with the Father and the Son, but stated that it was not yet clear whether the Spirit is begotten or unbegotten, or a Son as well. He placed the Spirit third in the order and spoke of the Spirit as working in the saints. Later writers disagreed about how to read him.
The uncertainty was real. Some early writers appear to have spoken of the Spirit as an angel or a created power. Others stayed silent about the exact status. There was a common belief in worship and a variety of explanation. The dispute with Arius in the fourth century made the issue unavoidable.
Step 5: What the early period shows
Three points stand out. First, the Spirit was included from the start in baptism and worship alongside the Father and the Son. Second, the doctrine of the Spirit developed more slowly than that of the Son, because the controversies of the time concerned the Son. Third, the early church held that the Spirit speaks in Scripture and in the community, and also needs to be tested.
A fair summary is that the early church had the practice and the pattern of the later doctrine, but not its settled vocabulary. Whether this is development or change is a matter on which traditions and historians differ.
- What does the practice of baptizing in the threefold name suggest about early belief?
- Why might the Shepherd of Hermas have used language about the Spirit that later seemed confused?
- What is the meaning of the image of the two hands of God?
- How did the church respond to the claims of Montanus?
- Why was the status of the Spirit left less clear than that of the Son?
- How should a student judge whether a second-century writer would have agreed with the creed of 381?
Examples
The Didache on baptism
The Didache says to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, preferably in running water. It is among the earliest evidence for the threefold name outside the New Testament.
The martyr Polycarp
In the account of his martyrdom, Polycarp prays and gives glory to the Father with the Son and the Holy Spirit. The prayer shows the pattern of worship in the second century, and the threefold doxology that later became standard.
A constructed discussion
A student asks how the church could baptize in the name of the Spirit if it did not know who the Spirit was. The teacher replies that worship came first and language later, as in many areas of life. (A constructed example.)
Different perspectives
Catholic
Catholic theology holds that the faith about the Spirit was present from the apostles and became explicit through the councils. It reads second-century writers as witnesses to the rule of faith, even where their vocabulary was unsettled.
Orthodox
Orthodox writers stress that the Spirit was known in the life of the church before being defined, and they treat the liturgy as the primary witness. They honor Irenaeus and Origen with qualifications.
Protestant
Protestants usually hold that the doctrine rests on Scripture and that the early period shows the church working to state it. Some stress that early authors’ unclear language shows the need to test tradition against Scripture.
Pentecostal and charismatic
Pentecostal Christians point to Montanism and other early movements as evidence of continuing prophecy, though they rarely adopt Montanist claims. Many historians note the parallels and the differences.
Historians
Historians stress that early Christian ideas on the Spirit were varied. Some find more development than continuity. Others hold that the early texts show a stable underlying pattern. Ancient sources are limited and often come from opponents.
Why it matters
The early period shows that the doctrine of the Spirit grew from worship and Scripture, not from speculation alone. It also shows why the church set standards for testing prophecy, which matters for later lessons on gifts and discernment.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: The early church had no belief in the Spirit until the fourth century.
Correction: The Spirit was named in baptism and worship from the start. What developed was the explicit teaching on the Spirit’s status and relation to the Father and Son.
Misunderstanding: Montanism was condemned for believing in prophecy.
Correction: The church did not reject prophecy. It judged that the New Prophecy’s claims and demands did not fit the rule of faith and the order of the church. The details are disputed.
Misunderstanding: Tertullian taught the full doctrine of the Trinity as later defined.
Correction: He provided key terms and ideas, but his language was not that of the later councils. His writings are a step in the development.
Knowledge check
What evidence shows that the Spirit was included in worship from the start?
Matthew 28:19 and the Didache prescribe baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and early prayers such as Polycarp’s end with glory to the Father with the Son and the Holy Spirit. Creeds were threefold in form. Worship came before settled theology.
What did Irenaeus mean by the two hands of God?
He used the image to say that God made and shapes the world through the Son and the Spirit, who are not distant from God but are his own agents. It stresses that all three are at work in creation and salvation and that the Spirit is not a lesser being.
Why was Montanism important?
It raised the question of how to test claims to speak by the Spirit and how new prophecy relates to apostolic teaching. The church responded that prophecy must agree with the rule of faith and Scripture and be tested by the community and its bishops. Montanists saw themselves as faithful.
Why was the doctrine of the Spirit less developed than that of the Son?
The early controversies concerned the Son: his relation to the Father, and the union of divinity and humanity. The Spirit was included in worship but not yet argued over. Writers such as Origen openly said that the matter was unsettled. The dispute with Arius made it necessary to clarify.
Think it through
- How much does worship shape doctrine, and how much doctrine shapes worship?
- What tests would you use to judge a claim to speak for the Spirit?
- Why might a movement like Montanism be both attractive and troubling?
- How should a student read early writers whose language is less precise than later creeds?
Independent assignment
Reading the early witnesses
In your own notebook, write 500 to 700 words. Read the passages on the Spirit in the Didache, Justin’s First Apology and Irenaeus, using the library. Note what each says about the Spirit. Then write a paragraph on what is clear and what is unclear, and a second on how you would explain the development to a friend. Do not send this to anyone.
Further study
- J. B. Lightfoot, ed., The Apostolic Fathers Read the Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas for early language about the Spirit.
- Justin Martyr, The First Apology Read the passages on the worship of the Father, the Son and the Spirit.
- Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies Read for the image of the two hands of God.
- Tertullian, The Prescription Against Heretics Read for the rule of faith and the test of true teaching.
- J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines Read the chapters on the Spirit in the early centuries.
- Matthew 28:19 Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
- 1 John 4:1 Try the spirits whether they are of God.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:20 Despise not prophesyings.