A large body of early Christian literature was concerned
specifically with matters of church practice, discipline, and doc-
trine. Among Cyprian’s other writings are treatises On the Unity
of the Catholic ChurchandOn Baptism. Many early Christians
wrote works condemning as heretics those individuals and groups
who subscribed to doctrines that the church came to regard as
unorthodox. Important examples include Irenaeus of Lyons’ tract
against the Gnostics from the late second century, various writ-
ings produced a little later by the north African Tertullian, and
a work Against Heresieswritten in the early third century by
Hippolytus of Rome. Disputes about the nature of true doctrine
also prompted works of biblical interpretation: the third-century
Alexandrian scholar Origen was responsible for an extensive
output of commentaries on books of scripture, covering both the
Old Testament and the New.
Numerous other works reflect further internal concerns of
individual Christians and their communities. Prophecy and reve-
lation were not limited to the New Testament and the apocrypha:
from early second-century Rome survives the Shepherd of
Hermas which recounts the visions experienced by its author. The
celebration of Christian worship is reflected in texts such as the
Didache [Teaching]of the Twelve Apostlesand Melito of Sardis’
On the Pasch, both works of the second century. Since many
Christians placed considerable store by tradition and the handing
down of ‘true’ teachings from Jesus’ time to their own day, there
soon developed an interest in tracing the history of the church.
Irenaeus of Lyons’ polemic against the Gnostics included an
account of the succession of bishops at Rome (see chapter 5). In
the third century, Hippolytus of Rome and Sextus Julius Africanus
(a native of Palestine, in spite of his name) composed chronicles
recounting Christian views of history. The climax of early
Christian historical scholarship came in the age of the emperors
Diocletian and Constantine with the ChronicleandEcclesiastical
Historyof Eusebius of Caesarea.
As Christianity expanded into the Roman empire, Christians
were compelled to assess the nature of their engagement with theSOURCES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION
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