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proved to have been extremely precise in his report of the doctrines he rejected. The oldest lists of bishops also
were countermeasures against the Gnostics, who said that they possessed a secret oral tradition from Jesus himself.
Against such statements Irenaeus maintains that the bishops in different cities are known as far back as the Apostles
- and none of them was a Gnostic - and that the bishops provided the only safe guide to the interpretation of the
Scriptures. With these lists of bishops the later doctrine of "the apostolic succession" of the bishops could be linked.
Hippolytus of Rome (170-235 A.D.) - Photios I of Constantinople
describes him in his Bibliotheca (cod. 121) as a disciple of Irenaeus,
who was said to be a disciple of Polycarp a disciple of the Apostle
John
Hippolytus of Rome (170 - 235) was the most important 3rd-century theologian in the Christian Church in Rome,
where he was probably born. Photios I of Constantinople describes him in his Bibliotheca (cod. 121) as a disciple of
Irenaeus, who was said to be a disciple of Polycarp, and from the context of this passage it is supposed that he
suggested that Hippolytus himself so styled himself. However, this assertion is doubtful. He came into conflict with
the popes of his time and seems to have headed a schismatic group as a rival bishop of Rome. For that reason he is
sometimes considered the first Antipope. He opposed the Roman bishops who softened the penitential system to
accommodate the large number of new pagan converts. However, he was very probably reconciled to the Church
when he died as a martyr. He is the person usually understood to be meant by Saint Hippolytus. Starting in the 4th
century, various legends arose about him, identifying him as a priest of the Novatianist Schism or as a soldier
converted by Saint Laurence. He has also been confused with another martyr of the same name.
Tertullian.org: The 'Noddy' guide to Tertullian - Tertullian lived in the
ancient city of Carthage [North Africa] in what is now Tunisia,
sometime around 200 A.D. - Tertullian was the first Christian writer to
write in Latin - He was deeply conscious of his own failings, and had a
burning desire for truth and integrity - His most important work is the
Apologeticum, in defense of the Christians - Running it close must be
Adversus Praxean, in which the doctrine of the Trinity comes into clear
focus for the first time, in response to a heretic who was twisting the
biblical balance between the persons of the Godhead - In this work, he
created most of the terminology with which this doctrine was to be
referred and is still, such as Trinitas (Trinity), etc. - Tertullian had
grown angry at what looked like compromise creeping into the church -
unwillingness to be martyred, willingness to forgive more serious
public sins - and aligned himself with the Montanists - It is unclear
whether this involved actually leaving the church - As such he was not
recognised as a Saint, despite his orthodoxy, and his works were all
marked as condemned in the 6th Century Decretum Gelasianum
Tertullian lived in the ancient city of Carthage in what is now Tunisia, sometime around 200 AD. Very little is
known about his life - that little comes either from writers two centuries later, or from the scanty personal notes in
his works. Much of it has been asserted to be untrue anyway by some modern writers. He was born a member of the
educated classes, and clearly gained a good education. Life in his times wasn't very different in some ways to the
http://www.basicchristian.org/blog_History_Study_Complete.rss[1/16/2012 7:38:03 AM]