5 Minute Church History: Apostolic Fathers - Polycarp

[@jeffreyjkkelly2520]

Wasn't St. Stephen the first martyr?

[@TheThinkersBible]

Nice summary of the lifetime of Polycarp and the most interesting legends about him. He was a great church father whom Eusebius greatly admired and as you said, influenced all of church history. God bless.

[@davidanfinrud3438]

I love Church History. So much has been forgotten on our roots.

[@victormeza7859]

🔥 MOST. PRECIOUS BLOOD 🩸 OF JESUS CHRIST, SAVE US AND THE WHOLE WORLD 🌎

[@ralphowen3367]

Jesus said he did not pray for the world, but for those the Father had given him out of the world. He died for the world.

[@victormeza7859]

@@ralphowen3367 Jesus died FOR ALL HUMANITY. WE PRAY FOR ALL W/O CEASING as St Paul asks of US

[@ralphowen3367]

@@victormeza7859 Since Jesus said he did not pray for the world, Paul would say no different. We pray for those being called out of the world. Jesus ate with sinners who had the call to come out from among the world of the sinfully active in the world. The Old Testament says the same: Leave them be, for they are joined to their idols.

[@awfelia]

Seems Polycarp..according to Irenaeus.. travelled to Rome and debated the keeping of 'easter' as opposed to keeping Passover on 14th Nisan as both he and the Apostle John did. A very brave man and my 'hero' in church history ♡

[@GR65330]

He didn't go to debate the issue but to seek permission to celebrate Easter on the customary day. The Pope allowed this and Polycarp returned to Smyrna in good standing with his Pope.

[@manuelsanchezdeinigo3959]

@@GR65330 Negative, Polycarp & The Quartodecimans kept Torah like Jesus taught. Roman is deviant & has been deviant

[@richlopez5896]

@@manuelsanchezdeinigo3959 Those who keep the Torah rejected Christ and all 27 books of the New Testament. Rome kept the apostolic faith. “But since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the successions of all the churches, we shall confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether through self-satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul, that church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the apostles. “With this church, because of its superior origin, all churches must agree-that is, all the faithful in the whole world-and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition”(Against Heresies 3:3:1-2) [A.D. 189]).

[@manuelsanchezdeinigo3959]

@@richlopez5896 Guess all the Apostles & Christ himself rejected Christ according to you. Lol Rome was the last See, Jerusalem was the first and primary See because in Israel is where the church was born not Rome.

[@dougy6237]

@@manuelsanchezdeinigo3959 You have no organ of infallibility to decide so

[@drbel382]

By learning about the Apostolic fathers I pray you will come to acknowledge the faith and traditions they practiced which are passed in succession through the one true holy Catholic Apostolic church.

[@jacobstabler9138]

I believe in the catholic (universal) church, but I am not Roman Catholic

[@ralphowen3367]

Christians do not "practice"--check out the word out in a Strong's Concordance.

[@richlopez5896]

@@jacobstabler9138 Not all Catholics are Roman Catholic. I am Byzantine Catholic. There are other Eastern Catholic Rites. ALL are apostolic and all are in union with the Apostolic See(Rome). “The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.’ . . . On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all [the apostles] are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?”- St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; 1st edition [A.D. 251]). “There are many other things which most properly can keep me in her [the Catholic Church’s] bosom. The unanimity of peoples and nations keeps me here. Her authority, inaugurated in miracles, nourished by hope, augmented by love, and confirmed by her age, keeps me here. The succession of priests, from the very see of the apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after his resurrection, gave the charge of feeding his sheep [John 21:15-17], up to the present episcopate, keeps me here. And last, the very name Catholic, which, not without reason, belongs to this Church alone, in the face of so many heretics, so much so that, although all heretics want to be called ‘Catholic,’ when a stranger inquires where the Catholic Church meets, none of the heretics would dare to point out his own basilica or house”- St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo (Against the Letter of Mani Called “The Foundation” 4:5 [A.D. 397]).

[@PatrickInCayman]

St Ignatius is another worth talking about

[@ralphowen3367]

Rich Lopez: If you are for baptizing infants or believe a Christian still sins, or that God is multiple Persons, you are not apostolic in doctrine. Blessings.

[@Emmitt_Summers_3]

My confirmation Saint!

[@ralphjones5939]

These father's in the faith are to be held on to, anyone with eye's to see and ears to hear would not stray from their teachings as they were nearest to the fountain. Jesus said "go back to your first love" yet today we're just told to say a prayer and your good to go and not taught what these father's did to preserve the truth for us.

[@ralphowen3367]

Brother, this is because warring factions are each claiming apostolic roots, just about like Michael fought with the devil over the body of Moses, as it says in Jude.

[@JohnMark61355]

Did Polycarp have the same understanding of the Eucharist as current Roman Catholics?

[@wjm4268]

Yes.

[@JohnMark61355]

@@wjm4268 Thank you. What was Polycarp’s understanding of the Eucharist?

[@JeP-lz4ti]

​@@JohnMark61355 The answer is actually no. Sorry you received bad information. There is no evidence Polycarp or any other early church father had any holdings of "transubstantiation." Such a thing was developed well over a millennium after the church fathers. However, the early church most certainly did refer to the Eucharist as having real presence.

[@SebastianHernandez-gt3rj]

​@@JeP-lz4ti And only the Catholic church has the real presence, the only church with Eucharistic miracles

[@ralphowen3367]

@@SebastianHernandez-gt3rj The R.C.C. needs miracles because of the mix of truth and error in their teachings.

[@PokerMonkey]

Thanks for showing the great Bishops of the Catholic Church, created by Jesus. Remember Cardinal John Newman, an Anglican priest who set out to "prove" the Catholic Church "wrong". He became a Catholic Priest, and said, "To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant". All Protestant denominations are man made and 500 years old or less.

[@ralphowen3367]

If Mr. Neumann fell back and joined the Papists, it is because Anglicans are half Catholic anyway, and Jesus would just as soon prefer full apostasy as to be lukewarm. No offense meant, none taken.

[@PokerMonkey]

@@ralphowen3367 I’m not clear about what you said. Which Protestant denomination do you belong to?

[@ralphowen3367]

@@PokerMonkey Church in the Wilderness Of See More Light.

[@PokerMonkey]

@@ralphowen3367 I see. A smart aleck. Good answer. You can’t dialog or debate. I get it.

[@ralphowen3367]

@@PokerMonkey I do not interact with higher critics who swing from trees and gamble

[@drheinous2797]

This is a great idea for a series, but you told us nothing of Polycarp's acts or contributions to the faith that would lead us to appreciate him.

[@leeveronie7850]

The Didache' was not written by Irenaus .... Great Scholars agree in both Catholicism and Protestants alike say that this Small Catechism, was a Teaching Aid that was written around 50 to 60 AD...

[@JeP-lz4ti]

To be honest, it could have been written as late as the 2nd century. We don't actually know for certain.

[@JordanBrown-km5kf]

​@@JeP-lz4tiit was published in the first century.

[@JR-rs5qs]

You can't really say Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp. He heard Polycarp speak when he was "yet a boy". That's not even remotely the same as being a disciple of Polycarp. We don't know who wrote the Didache and it's just as possible it was written far too early for Irenaeus to even potentially have written it. Polycarp was not even remotely near being the first martyr.

[@clydebailliff]

Polycarp was martyred before Deacon Stephan?

[@ralphowen3367]

After.

[@Wayne5455]

Does Bishop = pastor? Or is it a Catholic thing only?

[@ralphowen3367]

Overseer.

[@ivankrushensky]

If you read Apostolic fathers' epistles, it sounds very Catholic/Orthodox. Look into Clement and Ignatius as well. At the time, there was no "other way". Protestantism didn't come about for another 1500 years.

[@ralphowen3367]

@@ivankrushensky Your input on this is seen through your Trinitarian glasses. The Protestant Reformation was a partial restoral of early Christian beliefs. Polycarp of Smyrna and Ignatius of Antioch would not have been received by the trinity theory that was gradually creeping into sound Christian original teaching because of what apostasy Paul predicted in Acts 20:29.

[@ivankrushensky]

​@@ralphowen3367 have you actually read Acts? Have you read epistles of Ignatius? Polycarp? Please show me any "early Christian belief" that sounds anything like Protestantism. It amazes me the number of Protestants that believe religion was practiced in a sola scriptura or sola fide manner "in the beginning". Find me an "old church" you speak of? Or documentation of anyone practicing their faith in such a manner for the first 1400 years of Christianity.

[@brianbannon6746]

1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 1 John 4:10

[@ralphowen3367]

Play the man, Polycarp.

[@ralphowen3367]

Yes, bro, the little I know about him was so inspiring, it turned into "knowing". He said that Jesus Christ was the visible of the invisible. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one Spirit. And God has only one mind--Job 23:?. There is one 1⃣ time a believer needs to repent for salvation. Ignatius was near enough to the time of Jesus that he was not fooled by the emerging Greek theories of more than one Being in God. He, like Polycarp after him invited torture at the hands of his killers. Michael Servitus was also defiant to the pressure at his martyrdom when told to call on the eternal son of God. He instead called upon the son of the eternal God, showing that he also was not trinity infected

[@manuelsanchezdeinigo3959]

Polycarp Bishop of Symerna and the Quartodecimans where Pre Roman Catholics, Polycarp Bishop of Symerna & the Quartodecimans kept Torah like Jesus Christ taught by Jesus Christ himself & the Apostles. The Roman Church has gone astray.

[@TheMenghi1]

Right, and i suppose that Ignatius, Iranaeus and the other Apostolic Fathers had also gone astray.

[@manuelsanchezdeinigo3959]

@TheMenghi1 They were closer to Acts 24:14 The Way but the Roman Church has deviated as well as Orthodoxy

[@ralphowen3367]

Jesus taught the Jews to keep Torah because he knew they would be obliged to. He did not teach (and neither did the apostles) the non- Jews to keep the Law of Moses. Galatians and Acts 15:8-10 especially teach so.

[@ralphowen3367]

@@manuelsanchezdeinigo3959 The R.C.C. was founded on a mix of truth and error and have been fairly consistent ever since in that wise.

[@ConquerorofJerusalem]

If you want to listen to these special Fathers, than become Catholic, not Lutheran. The Lutheran Church was started in the 16 century, meanwhile we Catholics we’re started 2,000 years ago.

[@ivankrushensky]

The history of the Church is great. I noticed he gave an overview of his life, but he doesn't mention any epistles or what Apostolic fathers actually taught or believed (Clement and Ignatius as well). To do so, Protestantism would go out the window.

[@soteriology400]

We have to exercise discernment when reading history, typically people who study and talk about people who have been labeled as “church fathers” do not exercise discernment. Polycarp could not have possibly been a disciple of John, this was written to make it appear there was apostolic succession by Eusibius. John could not have been alive after September 22, AD73, since this was the house of Israel’s last day. Polycarp would have been 4 years old at the time John left earth, if Polycarp was born in AD69. John was out with the house of Israel’s gathering, which he would have been too from April 11, AD70 to September 22, AD73. Polycarp would not have been there. Also in AD69, the stick of Judah were going through there 1335 day prophecy of Daniel 12, and John being a disciples of the Jews, would have been going through the 1335 day prophecy in Jerusalem which was from August 15 of AD66 to April 10, AD70. Eusibius wrote at a time there was no separation of church vs state. Keep that in mind. Also, the statement made by Irenaeus that has caused so many to think Irenaeus was referring to either John or the book of revelation was seen towards the end of Domitians reign, when reading both paragraphs carefully, he was actually referring to Titan seen towards the end of the reign of Domitian. Titan was the one in Irenaeus mind, who was fulfilling the prophecy Irenaeus was talking about. Irenaeus only mentioned John, because he wrote the book of revelation whom might know positively who the singular Antichrist was. But Irenaeus is overlooking the basic rules of grammar of John’s epistles. John corrected them in their day, there were many Antichrist’s.

[@TheMenghi1]

Yes, and I suppose that the Catholic Church doesn't predate the Edict of Milan in 318? Why can't people accept and admire what history shows us?

[@davidgomez1187]

These early fathers were Catholics..

[@albusai]

😂 no infant baptism no rosary 📿 to lady Carmel to get souls out of purgatory

[@davidgomez1187]

@@albusai educate yourself before saying something you don't know. The Catholic church is the real and only church Jesus founded.. all others are man made..all the Apostles are buried in Catholic churches. Look up your church and see who founded it and in what year... Catholic church has 2000 years and still going.

[@davidgomez1187]

@@kerisutt7579 you are so wrong, sorry to tell you that.. the Catholic church is the same church that was already existing. One of these early Church fathers was the one to name it the existing church Catholic in the first century. His name was.. Ignatius of antioch.. please study and learn more. Ask God to help you see the truth.. you will find that it's the only real Church.. the beautiful Catholic church of Jesus Christ ❤

[@donsavinsky2251]

I WAS RESCUED FROM THE CATHOLIC ORGANIZATION BY THE LOVE AND TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD AND HIS SPIRIT! I AM FREE NOW IN CHRIST! THANK YOU LORD!

[@simoncruz9343]

@@donsavinsky2251 Good !!! Now you can go start your own church like the rest of the 30,000 Protestant churches out there , Jesus told Peter here's the key to my church he didn't say my churches, Only one true church and that's the Catholic Church Sir.

[@AD-in6qp]

This guy was definitely an evangelical Protestant

[@TheMenghi1]

For him to be "protestant," sixteen centuries would have to pass.

[@joesanmiguel9682]

The body of Christ, or the True Church that was started by the Lord and Savior began in Jerusalem in the book of Acts. Jesus didn’t create a Pope to rule the church, that was man made doctrines. You have the five fold ministry and everyone else is a saint of the church. Catholic is a word that the so called Roman Denomination created. The True Church of Jesus Christ is first Apostolic in doctrine and Pentecostal by the baptism of the Holy Ghost experience. The Catholic Church is a false weapon of Satan. No one gets saved through their religious manmade doctrines. We are in the end times and God is going to save billions of souls by the True Gospel the Apostles preached.

[@trishfevens9297]

I agree!!!!!!

[@mikepennn]

The only thing that can be said about the real church father's, Paul, Peter, John, etc, is Christ crucified, the beginning and ending of your faith

[@britviking5960]

Thought st Stephen was first martyr

[@johnwilliams9424]

Had to shut it off can't hear you. Audio is terrible

[@Humble.Servant]

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[@cb738]

Is this a system of pickpocket grandmasters?