This is going to make me sound super-nerdy, but I found this cool website the other day.

In 1844 a guy called Constatin von Tischendorf found a 4thC copy of the entire Bible in a monastery in Sinai. Since then it – the Codex Sinaiticus – has ended up in 3 parts in various libraries and museums in Europe. It’s interesting because it’s an important example of how the Bible was put together when there wasn’t yet an agreement on which books were canonical. It’s full mistakes and corrections as the three scribes who worked on it tried to get it right. Now you can check out the 1600 year old document for yourself, because they’ve scanned in the pages and put them on a website!

John Dickson and Greg Clarke discuss the Codex on their CPX website, including some of the controversies surrounding it. It’s pretty easy just to live in the moment, but looking at the pages of the Codex is a good reminder of the rich Christian history we’re a part of and how much we have to thank God for.

interesting fact: The Codex is made from pages of goat skin – apparently over 300 goats were ‘harmed’ in it’s making.

Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley

This book takes you through the whole history of the church in one volume, from the days of Paul right through to the present. As the (somewhat hokey) title suggests, it’s extremely easy to read and easy to understand. While it looks like a brick at almost 600 pages, the writing is so light you could actually knock it over in a few sittings. And at the end you’ll have a solid grasp of where the church has come from. Sometimes it feels like you’re listening to an old Southern grandpa – Shelley like to call people ‘folks’ and present them speaking in homey dialogues – but if you can get past the ‘plain language’, it’s a very worthwhile read.

The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez

While it isn’t an academic work, this one’s a bit more in-depth. Gonzalez’s Story of Christianity is in two volumes: the first from the Apostles to the Reformation, and the second bringing the story up to the present. For my money, this is the best general church history you could read. Gonzalez’s history is accomplished and thorough. He is a brilliant writer – he’s very easy to understand, but doesn’t sacrifice subtlety for simplicity. Gonzalez has worked hard to present the history of Christianity as a coherent narrative, with important characters and events, conflicts and tensions. He therefore takes a sweeping overview of church history, punctuated by occasional dives into short biographies of influential Christians and crucial events. It’s one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this year.

Both of these books are on the shelves at Koorong, or follow the links to Amazon.

But how did the churches know whether a certain books should be included in the New Testament? We often say that the books in the New Testament are “inspired” (“breathed out” by God), and that’s what sets them apart. This is true, but only in hindsight. We often imagine this to mean that God handed these books to us already written, as if Paul’s hand was moved for him as he wrote things he barely understood. As we saw at Hub, this definitely wasn’t the case. Paul wrote what he thought for people he knew.

The Catholic Church has a different take. It says that the books are in the New Testament because the church said they would be. That is, the early Christians decided which books they would trust, and that’s why we trust them now. This is even more problematic than the ‘handed down’ idea. If the books are only in the New Testament because the early Christians liked them, why should they be any better than other books?

The books in the New Testament weren’t handed down to us, nor were they chosen by the early Christians. The New Testament formed as of the early church recognised the authority of the apostles and their writings, and placed itself under their teaching. The books in the New Testament are there because the church recognised that these were the books with the most trustworthy teaching about Jesus, what he did, and what it means for us.

And we’re still doing it. We recognise that the books in the New Testament tell us the truth about the gospel. So we read them, study them, and work out what they’re saying, so we can know more about Jesus and live better lives in response to him.

For over fifty years, Polycarp showed that he had listened to Ignatius’s advice. He served the church and preached the gospel unceasingly. His great pupil, Irenaeus, tells us that Polycarp was a gifted teacher, “a man who was of much greater weight, and a more steadfast witness of truth, than … all the heretics.” His teaching was extremely important and influential at a time when the church was working out what it should believe and fighting a range of false teachings.

When Polycarp was eighty-six, the Romans began and large-scale persecution of Christians in Smyrna. Germanicus, an elderly Christian in Smyrna, was one of the first to be tried. When he refused to deny Christ, he was thrown to wild animals for the Romans’ enjoyment. But the crowd wasn’t satisfied, and called for the church leader, Polycarp, to be executed as well.

Polycarp went into hiding, but he was soon found, and willingly went before the Roman authorities. When Polycarp refused to worship the emperor, the judge ordered him to cry, “Out with the atheists!” But Polycarp, turning and pointing at the crowd, replied, “Yes, out with the atheists!” Romans called Christians ‘atheists’ because they didn’t believe in the Roman gods, but Polycarp pointed out that it was the Romans who didn’t believe in God.

The judge threatened to burn him alive at the stake, but Polycarp just answered that while the judge’s fire would last only a few minutes, the eternal fire would never go out. “Eighty-six years I have served him, and he has done me no evil,” Polycarp said, “How could I curse my king, who saved me?”

As he was tied to the stake and kindling was piled around he feet, Polycarp pubicly thanked God that he was allowed to share in Christ’s sufferings. His godly example would inspire Christians for centuries to come.

Other dead guys who dominate: Ignatius

At the time of Ignatius’s arrest, big festivals were being planned in Rome. So the authorities decided to take Ignatius to Rome and make his execution a part of the entertainment. On the way to Rome, Ignatius wrote seven letters to various churches and church leaders around the ancient world. These letters are some of the earliest Christian documents outside the New Testament that survive to us. They therefore give us some important insights into what the early church was like and the issues it was talking about.

Ignatius was born around AD 30 or 35, so he was well over seventy when he was arrested. Not much is known about his life, but in his letters he often refers to himself as Theophorus, or “the bearer of God”, which may have been his nickname. This indicates that Ignatius was an influential and respected leader in the church. From his letters it is clear that he tenaciously opposed various false teachings popular in Antioch at the time.

On the way to Rome, a number of Christian leaders wanted to meet Ignatius as he traveled past their towns. With these leaders he sent letters of encouragement and teaching back to their churches. In the letters, Ignatius emphasized the importance of communion and good church leadership, among other things.

While he was traveling, news came to Ignatius that a group of Christians in Rome were hatching a plan to free him. But he was determined to die as a martyr, and show the Romans that he was willing to die for Christ, who had died for him less than a hundred years earlier. So Ignatius wrote a letter to the Christians at Rome asking them not to go through with their plan.

Ignatius believed, like Paul, that his suffering would “fill up in [his] flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions” (Colossians 1:24). In his letter to the Roman Christians, he wrote:

I am dying willingly for God’s sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you, do not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which are my way of reaching to God. I am God’s wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ.

Soon after, Ignatius was executed in Rome. He probably was probably torn apart by wild animals in front of a crowd of cheering of Roman revelers. Just as his Lord had suffered and died for him, he was willing to die a horribly bloody death as a witness to his Lord.

If you want to check out Ignatius’s letters, search for Ignatius at CCEL.

Photo by vgm8383 via Flickr.