• Introduction
• Apostolic Fathers
• Sub-Apostolic Fathers
• Ante-Nicene Fathers
• Question Answered
• Bibliography

The Doctrine of Immortality in the Early Church

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by Dr. John H. Roller

THE SUB-APOSTOLIC FATHERS

THE SUB-APOSTOLIC FATHERS

As mentioned previously, the Sub-Apostolic Fathers who wrote on the subject of human immortality were:

Justin of Samaria (AD 106-165)

Tatian of Assyria (AD 110-180)

Theophilus of Antioch (AD 115-181)

Melito of Sardis (AD ?-190)

Athenagoras of Athens (AD 127-190)

Polycrates of Ephesus (AD 125-196)

Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 130-202)

Their writings cover approximately the second half of the second century AD.

JUSTIN OF SAMARIA

Flavius Justinus, popularly known as Justin Martyr (this nickname means "the Witness"), was born approximately AD 106 in Flavia Neapolis (formerly known as Shechem, now known as Nablus), in Samaria. As a young man, he studied in all of the major philosophical schools of the Greeks —Stoic, Aristotelian, Pythagorean, and Platonist. "These philosophies never satisfied him."⁴⁷ He was converted to Christianity around AD 130, but continued to wear the distinctive clothing of a philosopher, "as a token that he had attained the only true philosophy." He traveled extensively, eventually (by AD 150) settling in Rome, where he worked as a teacher. Justin "was really the first to strive to interpret Christianity from the Greek point of view." During this time, Christians were constantly being persecuted. Along with other Christians, Justin was interrogated by Q. Junius Rusticus, who was the prefect of the city of Rome. The Christians were ordered to renounce Christianity and offer sacrifices to the Roman gods. Along with Justin, they all refused to renounce their faith and were therefore beheaded for their profession of Christianity sometime between AD 163 and AD 167.

Justin's writings include his First Apology (AD 155), a Dialogue With Trypho (AD 158), and his Second Apology (AD 161), as well as several smaller and lesser-known treatises, such as Discourse to the Greeks , Address to the Greeks , On the Sole Government of God , and On the Resurrection.

In First Apology 8:2, Justin says, ."..impelled by the desire of the eternal and pure life, we [Christians] seek the abode that is with God, the Father and Creator of all, and hasten to confess our faith, persuaded and convinced as we are that they who have proved to God by their works that they followed Him, and loved to abide with Him where there is no sin to cause disturbance, can obtain these things." Dustin Smith (in his unpublished paper on Justin Martyr) comments, ."..eternal life...sounds like something that we do not have because it is something that we long for....eternal life is something that we can obtain."⁴⁸ But why would we desire – and why would we need to obtain – eternal life if we already possessed it by nature?

In First Apology 10:4, Justin says, ."..in the beginning [God] created us when we were not," and he goes on to argue, on this premise, "in like manner, those who choose what is pleasing to Him are ... deemed worthy of incorruption...." This argument would seem to imply that: 1) those who do not choose what is pleasing to Him are not deemed worthy of incorruption, or immortality; and 2) since the unsaved did not exist before being created, they will not exist when the saved are made immortal.

In First Apology 13:1, Justin presents one of several duties of a Christian as "to present before [God] petitions for our existing again in incorruption through faith in Him." If, however, souls (even of those who do not have faith in Him) are by nature incorruptible, as Plato had taught, why would such "petitions" need to be presented?

In First Apology 21:9, Justin says that "only those who have lived near to God are made immortal." Clearly, from his use of the word "made" in this context, he means to imply that they are not "automatically" immortal; also, from his use of the word "only," he certainly implies that those who have not "lived near to God" are not immortal.

Similarly, in Discourse to the Greeks 5:6, Justin says, "The [Divine] Word… makes mortals immortal,…." It seems like overstating the obvious to point out that "mortals" (by definition) are not "immortal" – and that it takes the miraculous intervention of God to "make" them so! Yet such an obvious statement is precisely what those who hold to Naturalism deny.

In First Apology 26:2-4, as part of a lengthy section on false prophets, Justin describes the career, and subsequent veneration, of Simon Magus (see Acts 8:9-24), going on (in verse 5) to describe Meander of Capparetea as "a disciple of Simon [Magus], and inspired by devils...." In verse 6, he informs us that Meander "persuaded those who adhered to him that they should never die...." —thus, by implication, affirming, as he does elsewhere, that the wicked do eventually die (as opposed to living forever in conscious torment).

In First Apology 39:10, comparing the loyalty of Roman soldiers to the Roman Emperor with the loyalty of Christians to Christ, Justin says, "if the soldiers enrolled by you, and who have taken the military oath, prefer their allegiance [to you] to their own life...though you can offer them nothing incorruptible, it were verily ridiculous if we, who earnestly long for incorruption, should not endure all things (e.g. persecution, torture, death), in order to obtain what we desire (i.e., incorruption, or immortality) from Him (i.e., God) who is able to grant it." Why would Christians "earnestly long" to "obtain" immortality from "Him who is able to grant it" if they already possessed it by nature?

First Apology 42:5 reads, "Jesus Christ, being crucified and dead, rose again, and having ascended to heaven, reigned; and by those things which were published in His name among all nations by the apostles, there is joy afforded to those who expect the immortality promised by Him." Why would Christians be said to "expect" an immortality "promised" them by Jesus if all human beings already possessed immortality by nature?

In First Apology 44:8 Justin says that "the sword of God is fire, of which they who choose to do wickedly become the fuel." In what theory of physics or chemistry does fire's "fuel" burn forever and never burn up?

Again, in First Apology 54:3, Justin says that "the ungodly among men [are] to be punished by fire."

Before his conversion, Justin, like all Greek philosophers, must have believed in Natural Immortality. In the first chapter of his Dialogue With Trypho he describes Platonists as those who have "supposed the soul to be immortal" and therefore believe in the soul's (inherent) immortality. It is all the more instructive, therefore, to observe how vigorously he espoused Conditionalism after becoming a Christian.

The early chapters of Dialogue With Trypho contain Justin's testimony of how he became a Christian. After describing his previous studies in (Greek) philosophy, Justin tells of his encounter with "a certain old man" (Dialogue With Trypho 3:2) who shared the Gospel of Christ with him. At one point during that discussion, the "old man" asked Justin, "Is the soul…immortal…?" (Dialogue With Trypho 4:7). "Assuredly," Justin replied (4:9). The entire following chapter (Dialogue With Trypho 5) is then devoted to the theme, "The Soul Is Not In Its Own Nature Immortal." In the ninth verse of this chapter, the old man asks, "They (i.e., souls) are not, then, immortal?" Driven to the only logical conclusion (after what has been said in the first eight verses), Justin replies, "No."⁴⁹

In the following chapter (Dialogue With Trypho 6:7-8), the old man says, "The soul partakes of life, since God wills it to live. Thus, then, it will not even partake [of life] when God does not will it to live.... Whenever the soul must cease to exist, the spirit of life is removed from it, and there is no more soul."

In Dialogue With Trypho 12:1, Justin quotes Isaiah 55:3 as saying, "Hear My words, and your soul shall live" (this is an accurate quotation of the Septuagint text; the Massoretic text simply reads, "hear, and your soul shall live"). Either way, the point is the same: "if a person does not listen then their soul will not live. Because [they believe] it is possible for a soul to 'not live'...it sounds as if Justin and Isaiah are not Naturalists but clearly Conditionalists."⁵⁰

In Dialogue With Trypho 39:11, Justin refers to "the wicked and deceitful spirit, the serpent" (Satan), and states that he "will not cease putting to death and persecuting those who confess the name of Christ until He come again, and destroy them all, and render to each his deserts." Dustin Smith comments, "Here Justin is telling us that Jesus is going to return and then judge the people.... those who are judged in the negative way...are to be destroyed.... the soul...can in fact die, and therefore is not immortal by nature."⁵¹

In Dialogue With Trypho 46:15, Justin says, "we [Christians]… rejoice in death, believing that God will raise us up by His Christ, and will make us… immortal…." It would be unnecessary for God to "make" an immortal soul "immortal"!

Similarly, in Dialogue With Trypho 69:18, Justin asserts that "if anyone be… an observer of the doctrines delivered by [Jesus], He shall raise him up at His second advent perfectly sound, after He has made him immortal…." Again, it would be unnecessary for Jesus to "make" an immortal soul "immortal."

So strongly, in fact, did Justin hold this belief, that he told his Jewish friend, "If you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this [truth], and venture to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; do not imagine that they are Christians" (Dialogue With Trypho 80:9). This is much stronger language than most modern Conditionalists would use!

In Dialogue With Trypho 100:10, Justin states, "God destroys both the serpent [i.e., Satan] and those angels [i.e., demons] and men [i.e., human beings] who are like him [Satan]; but works deliverance from death to those who repent of their wickedness [i.e., Christians] and believe upon Him [i.e., Jesus]." Notice how "death" is equated with "destruction" – and how the latter (destruction) is the punishment of sinners, while the saints are "delivered" from the former (death, not eternal torment).

Similarly, in Second Apology 7:1, Justin says that "the wicked angels and demons and men shall cease to exist" in the "destruction of the whole world." Dustin Smith comments, "Justin goes to great [lengths] to show us [that] there will be a time in the future when [wicked] angels, demons, and men will cease to exist. Yet according to [Naturalists] this is impossible because the soul is immortal and will live on forever either in heaven or [hell].... Justin believes that the soul...is not immortal."⁵²

In Dialogue With Trypho 117:6, Justin states, "He [God] shall raise all men from the dead, and appoint some [i.e., Christians] to be incorruptible, immortal, and free from sorrow in the everlasting and imperishable kingdom; but shall send others [i.e., non-Christians] away to the everlasting punishment of fire." Notice how the latter "punishment" is contrasted with the former "appointment": implying that those who are sent to the "fire" are not "immortal" whereas those who are appointed to the "kingdom" are.

In Dialogue With Trypho 121:11, Justin says that "on His glorious advent" Jesus will "destroy by all means all those who hated Him, and who unrighteously departed from Him…." ("Destroy," not "preserve alive in torment"!)

In Address to the Greeks 35:4, Justin urges his readers to "learn" from the Bible "what will give you life everlasting" – implying, of course, that if they do not learn this information, they will not have everlasting life.

There is a lengthy discussion of this topic in Justin's treatise On the Resurrection , which includes statements such as the following:

"...the Word...came to us...giving to us in Himself...eternal life..." (1:11) (implying that we did not already possess eternal life "in ourselves").

"Plato says...that neither can anything be produced from what is not in being, nor anything be destroyed or dissolved into what has not any being," (6:3-4) (in contrast to Justin's own belief that such things are possible, with God).

"For as in the case of a yoke of oxen, if one or other is loosed from the yoke, neither of them can plough alone; so neither can soul or body alone effect anything," (such as continuing to live for even a moment, let alone forever!) "if they be unyoked from their communion." (8:4)

"God has called man to life and resurrection...." (8:18) (if "man" has to be "called" to life and resurrection, he must not be destined to them apart from such a "call").

"...those who say, that...it would not immediately follow that [the body] has the promise of the resurrection...say...the soul is incorruptible..." (8:7,24) (in contrast to Justin's own belief that the body does have "the promise of the resurrection" to which to look forward, and that the soul is "corruptible").

"...why do we any longer endure those unbelieving and dangerous arguments, and fail to see that we are retrograding when we listen to such an argument as this: that the soul is immortal,...? For this we used to hear from Pythagoras and Plato (who believed in Natural Immortality),...before we learned the truth (i.e., that the soul is mortal)." (10:6-7)

Dustin Smith concludes, "[Justin] says many things to show that he does not believe that the soul is immortal. He also quotes passages from the Bible that show that souls can die and that the true hope of a believer is in the future realization of the Kingdom of God. Justin's writings span over 150 pages and [he is] considered to be one of the major contributors of the Sub-Apostolic Fathers."⁵³

Although some scholars have attempted to find traces of Neo-Platonic Naturalism in Justin's writings (admittedly with a measure of success, and this, not surprisingly, considering his early education), it is the conclusion of an impressive list⁵⁴ that he was, indeed, as I have presented him as being, an outspoken Conditionalist.

TATIAN OF ASSYRIA

Tatian the Apologist was born approximately AD 110 in Assyria. At first he was an eager student of heathen literature and devoted himself to the study of philosophy.⁵⁵ Then he became a pupil of Justin Martyr and was converted to Christianity. After the death of his illustrious mentor (in AD 165), Tatian returned to his homeland and founded an ascetic sect called the Encratites (which means "the self-controlled ones"), which was later condemned as heretical. But Tatian himself died long before that happened, in AD 180.

Of his numerous writings, the only ones that have survived are his famous Diatessaron (a Harmony of the Four Gospels, written about AD 175), and an Address to the Greeks which is commonly referred to as the Oratio .

In Oratio 6:4, Tatian says, "just as, not existing before I was born, I knew not who I was, and only existed in the potentiality of fleshly matter, but being born, after a former state of nothingness, I have obtained through my birth a certainty of my existence; in the same way, having been born, and through death existing no longer, and seen no longer, I shall exist again (i.e., after the Resurrection)."⁵⁶

According to Tatian, "the Father who begat Him made man an image of immortality, so that, as incorruption is with God, in like manner, man, sharing in a part of God, might have the immortal principle also" (Oratio 7:1)⁵⁷ —but, at the Fall, man was "separated from him" and became "mortal" (Oratio 7:7).⁵⁸Consequently, sinful man is "fated to...die"(Oratio 11:10).⁵⁹

Discussing pagan mythology about astronomy, Tatian asserts that "men, perjuring themselves for hire,... say... that kings have ascended into heaven..." (Oratio 10:10). Clearly, if Tatian did not believe that "kings" go to heaven when they die, he did not assume that other "men" would. Later in the same chapter (Oratio 10:19), in discussing the story of "the daughter of Tyndarus," he contrasts the expression "gifted with immortality" with the expression "put to death," demonstrating again his belief that anyone who dies obviously does not possess immortality.

Oratio 13:1 makes this clear statement: "The soul is not in itself immortal, O Greeks, but mortal."⁶⁰

That Tatian did not believe in any kind of existence for disembodied souls is clear from his statement, in Oratio 15:2, that, "The human soul... could [never] appear by itself without the body."

In Oratio 15:14, Tatian refers to the condition of men "after the loss of immortality." (If immortality has been "lost," men obviously no longer possess it.) Two verses later, in Orati 15:16, Tatian says, "men long for immortality." (But people don't "long for" something they already possess!)

Oratio 16:3 adds, "It is difficult to conceive that the immortal soul, which is impeded by the members of the body, should become more intelligent when it has migrated from it"⁶¹ —thus ridiculing the common belief of those Greek philosophers, to whom Tatian was speaking, who held to the Natural Immortality doctrine. Two verses later, in Oratio 16:5, Tatian refers to "the divine...power that makes souls immortal" —it would, of course, not require any "power" to "make souls immortal" if, by nature, they already were.

Referring to the final destiny of an unbeliever, Tatian says, in Oratio 17:2, "he... will be delivered up in the day of consummation as fuel for the eternal fire." Fire, of course, completely destroys whatever is "delivered up" to it as "fuel." This statement is immediately followed by Tatian's warning to his reader(s), in Oratio 17:3, "And you... will gain the same punishment...."

Later in the same chapter (Oratio 17:14-15), ridiculing the idea that "relics" of deceased saints can perform miracles, Tatian asks, "how comes it to pass that when alive I was in no wise evil, but that now I am dead and can do nothing, my remains, which are incapable of motion or even sense, should effect something cognizable by the senses? And how shall he who has died by the most miserable death be able to assist in avenging any one?"

Certainly, at least at the time he wrote the Oratio , Tatian, like his famous tutor, was a Conditionalist.

THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH

Theophilus was born approximately AD 115 in Mesopotamia. He may have been named after the Theophilus to whom the Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles were addressed (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1). At any rate, he was a pupil of Polycarp of Smyrna, and served as the sixth Bishop of Antioch AD 168-180.⁶² He died in Antioch in AD 181.

Theophilus wrote three letters to a pagan friend of his, named Autolycus, which I will refer to as 1 Autolycus , 2 Autolycus , and 3 Autolycus . He also wrote several other books which have since been lost.

There are many references to the subject of human immortality in the brief writings of Theophilus which we possess. For example:

1 Autolycus 7:12-13 says, "When you shall have put off the mortal, and put on incorruption, then shall you see God worthily. For God will raise your flesh immortal with your soul; and then, having become immortal, you shall see the Immortal, if now you believe on Him."⁶³ This is clearly Conditionalist teaching.

In 1 Autolycus 14:7, Theophilus quotes Romans 2:7 (a favorite verse of many modern Conditionalists) as saying, "To those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek immortality, he will give life everlasting."⁶⁴ This is a substantially accurate quotation.

In 2 Autolycus 15:6-7, Theophilus makes this interesting analogy: "As the sun remains ever full, never becoming less, so does God always abide perfect, being full of all power, and understanding, and wisdom, and immortality, and all good. But the moon wanes monthly, and in a manner dies, being a type of man; then it is born again, and is crescent, for a pattern of the future resurrection."

2 Autolycus 24:11 presents the doctrine that "man had been made a middle nature, neither wholly mortal, nor altogether immortal, but capable of either"⁶⁵ —a teaching, again, which is favored by many Conditionalists, but is certainly not accepted by Naturalists.

This idea is developed further in 2 Autolycus 27:1-10, which reads, "But someone will say to us, Was man made by nature mortal? Certainly not. Was he, then, immortal? Neither do we affirm this. But one will say, Was he, then, Nothing? Not even this hits the mark. He was by nature neither mortal nor immortal. For, if He had made him immortal from the beginning, He would have made him God. Again, if He had made him mortal, God would seem to be the cause of his death. Neither, then, immortal, nor yet mortal, did He make him, but, as we have said above, capable of both; so that if he should incline to the things of immortality, keeping the commandment of God, he should receive as reward from Him immortality, and should become [as] God [is]; but if, on the other hand, he should turn to the things of death, disobeying God, he should himself be the cause of death to himself."⁶⁶

Finally, in 3 Autolycus 7:9-10, Theophilus quotes Plato as "asserting that the soul is immortal" and asks, "How can his doctrine fail to seem dreadful and monstrous —to those at least who have any judgment?"⁶⁷

So there is no doubt at all but that Theophilus of Antioch was a Conditionalist.

MELITO OF SARDIS

Melito the Philosopher was born early in the second century; we do not know where. He served as Bishop of Sardis AD 160-177. He died around AD 190.⁶⁸

Melito was a prolific writer; however, most of his treatises are known only from scanty fragments. He is best known for his Apology to Antoninus Caesar , written around AD 170, and for his Homily on the Passover , which was discovered in AD 1940.

In Apology 7:2, Melito urges the Emperor, "Believe in Him who is in reality God, and to Him lay open your mind, and to Him commit your soul, and He is able to give you immortal life⁶⁹"—in verse 4, he adds, "if you constantly serve Him."⁷⁰

And in Apology 12:5 he says, "If you follow after evil, you shall be condemned for your evil deeds; but...if after goodness, you shall receive from Him abundant good, together with immortal life."⁷¹

In Apology 17:14, Melito urges the Emperor, "Fear Him...who can make Himself like a fire, and consume all things."

Apology 18:13-14 concludes, "At the last time, there shall be a flood of fire, and the earth shall be burnt up, together with its mountains; and mankind shall be burnt up, along with the idols which they have made, and the carved images which they have worshipped; and the sea shall be burnt up, together with its islands; but the just shall be preserved from wrath, like as were their fellows of the ark from the waters of the deluge. And then shall those who have not known God, and those who have made them idols, bemoan themselves, when they shall see those idols of theirs being burnt up, together with themselves, and nothing shall be found to help them."⁷²

Also, in his Homily , Melito explains that the heritage Adam left mankind was "not immortality but corruption...not life but death...."

Clearly, what little we know of the teaching of Melito leads us to believe that he, too, was a Conditionalist.

ATHENAGORAS OF ATHENS

Athenagoras was born in AD 127 in Athens. As a young philosopher, he espoused Platonism (which, of course, included the doctrine of Natural Immortality) and tried to refute the claims of Christianity. In order to do so, he studied Christian teaching in great depth. This led to his conversion. He died around AD 190.

The only book we now have, which we are sure was written by Athenagoras, is A Plea for the Christians , published in AD 177.⁷³ Another book, A Treatise on the Resurrection of the Dead , "is usually ascribed to him," but "some scholars have regarded it as...written in the third, or even the fourth, century."⁷⁴

The Plea makes it clear that Athenagoras was a Naturalist, even after his conversion. Part of Chapter 31 reads, "We are persuaded that when we are removed from the present life we shall live another life...as heavenly spirit.... or, falling with the rest, a worse one and in fire; for God has not made us...that we should perish and be annihilated." Notice that Athenagoras specifically denies that the destiny of unbelievers is to "perish," which is something that Conditionalist writers frequently affirm.

As mentioned above, we are not sure whether the Treatise was actually written by the same man, but clearly it reflects the same views. Treatise 15:2 says, "The whole nature of men in general is composed of an immortal soul and a body which was fitted to it in the creation."⁷⁵ And Treatise 15:10 adds, "Man, therefore, who consists of the two parts, must continue [to exist] forever."⁷⁶

As far as we have been able to determine, Athenagoras was the very first Christian writer to teach the doctrine of Natural Immortality —some 75 years after the death of the Apostle John!⁷⁷ Considering his background (before his conversion), it would seem appropriate to conclude that the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul was literally "imported" into Christianity from Platonism, rather than being any part of ancient Christian theology, as the doctrine of Conditional Immortality evidently was.

POLYCRATES OF EPHESUS

Polycrates was born approximately AD 125, probably in Ephesus. He was the eighth man in his family to serve as a Bishop, and was Bishop of Ephesus in AD 190, when he was excommunicated by the Bishop of Rome (Victor I) because of his stand in the Quartodeciman controversy. ⁷⁸ This had nothing to do with the subject we are discussing in this book; it was a quarrel over the proper date for the celebration of Easter. Polycrates died around AD 196.

A short excerpt from his Epistle to Victor and the Roman Church Concerning the Day of Keeping the Passover is all we have of this author's writings.

The excerpt from this letter is full of references to saints of past ages as now "gone to their rest," being "laid to rest," "reposing," "resting," "lying," etc., "at" or "in" the places where they died; for example, the Apostle Philip, at Hierapolis; the Apostle John, at Ephesus; Thraseas of Eumenia, at Smyrna; Sagaris, at Laodicea; Melito, at Sardis; etc. Melito, in particular, is described as "awaiting the visitation from heaven, when he shall rise again from the dead."⁷⁹ The whole group thus described "shall rise again in the day of the coming of the Lord, when he comes with glory from heaven and shall raise again all the saints."⁸⁰ These are certainly phrases typically used by those who hold to a Conditionalist, not a Naturalist, view of immortality. Not a word is said of any of these "great luminaries"⁸¹ having "gone to heaven" or "continuing to live on, in the spirit world," since their death. I conclude that Polycrates of Ephesus was certainly a Conditionalist.

IRENAEUS OF LYONS

Irenaeus was born sometime before AD 130 in Smyrna. He was a pupil of Polycarp of Smyrna and served as Bishop of Lyons, in Gaul (i.e., what is now known as France), from AD 178 until his death. Irenaeus has been described as a "second-century Fundamentalist" who believed "that Christianity can nevertheless never be a mere philosophy, that it rests rather on revelation and sacred traditions, that it acts in the Holy Spirit and is transmitted only by the Catholic (i.e., universal) Church and its apostolic word."⁸² He died in AD 202.⁸³

In AD 185, Irenaeus published a five-volume treatise titled A Refutation and Subversion of Knowledge Falsely So Called . This work is commonly known as Against Heresies ; I will refer to its five Books as 1 Heresies , 2 Heresies , 3 Heresies , 4 Heresies , and 5 Heresies , respectively, for the purposes of this book.

The book is full of references to the topic of human immortality. In most of these passages Irenaeus is arguing against the Gnostic idea that the saved will live eternally as disembodied spirits; hence he strongly emphasizes the resurrection and immortality of the body, opposing, in the process, the idea of the innate immortality of the soul. Irenaeus also introduces the expression "confer immortality" (to describe God's action, which results in that which is mortal changing into that which is immortal), an expression which clearly contradicts the Gnostic idea of innate immortality. For example:

In 1 Heresies 10:1, in a passage that may be described as "the Irenaean Creed," he states that God will "confer immortality on the righteous...."

In 2 Heresies 11:1, he states that the "adoption of sons...which is eternal life...takes place through [Jesus] Himself, conferring it [i.e., eternal life] on all the righteous." (But not , it seems to me he implies, on the unrighteous).

In 2 Heresies 29:2, he says, "God, when He resuscitates our mortal bodies which preserved righteousness, will render them [i.e., our bodies] incorruptible and immortal."⁸⁴

And, "souls and spirits... endure as long as God wills that they should have an existence and continuance" since "life does not arise from us, nor from our own nature; but it is bestowed according to the grace of God. And therefore he who shall preserve the life bestowed upon him, and give thanks to Him who imparted it, shall receive also length of days forever and ever. But he who shall reject it, and prove himself ungrateful to his Maker, inasmuch as he has been created, and has not recognized Him who bestowed [the gift upon him], deprives himself of [the privilege of] continuance forever and ever" (2 Heresies 34:3).⁸⁵ This is a pretty clear statement of the conditional nature of human immortality.

Similarly, speaking of the Gnostics, Irenaeus states, "these men... cannot receive... immortality." (4 Heresies 37:6)

Here is another such statement: "This, therefore, was the [object of the] long-suffering of God, that man... may know himself, how mortal and weak he is; while he also understands respecting God, that He is immortal and powerful to such a degree as to confer immortality upon what is mortal and eternity upon what is temporal; and may understand also" that "man, who had been disobedient to God" was "cast off from immortality." (3 Heresies 20:2)

And another: "He grants to those who follow and serve Him life and incorruption and eternal glory," (4 Heresies 14:1).

And another: "The Father, too, confers [upon man] incorruption" (4 Heresies 20:5).

And another: "Some, not knowing the power and promise of God, may oppose their own salvation, deeming it impossible for God, who raises up the dead, to have power to confer upon them eternal duration, yet the skepticism of men of this stamp shall not render the faithfulness of God of none effect." (5 Heresies 5:3)

And another: "Conferring upon them immortality also..., He is shown to be the only God who accomplishes these things, and as Himself the good Father, benevolently conferring life upon those who have not life from themselves." (5 Heresies 15:1)

And another: "[man] receives incorruptibility not of himself, but by the free gift of God." (5 Heresies 21:3)

Arguing against the heresy of the Valentinians, Irenaeus says, "they maintain... that God... cannot impart immortality to what is mortal..." (2 Heresies 14:4). Obviously, his own position is that "what is mortal" (a human being) only becomes immortal when God "imparts" immortality to it.

Again, referring to the Apostle Paul, Irenaeus says, "This able wrestler, therefore, exhorts us to the struggle for immortality, that we may be crowned, and may deem the crown precious, namely, that which is acquired by our struggle, but which does not encircle us of its own accord." (4 Heresies 37:7) Clearly, this somewhat poetic language expresses Irenaeus' belief that immortality is conditional, not natural.

In a very long sentence (4 Heresies 11:4), Irenaeus says (among other things) that, ."..to scoffers, and to those not subject to God, ...to those who... are full of... wickedness, has He assigned everlasting perdition by cutting them off from life."

Similarly, in another lengthy passage (5 Heresies 27:2), Irenaeus says, "separation from God is death" (not "everlasting conscious torment"!) "and separation from God consists in the loss of all the benefits which He has in store." (One of those benefits, of course, is "eternal life"; so Irenaeus is clearly saying that "separation from God" equals "death" equals "the loss of eternal life.") Furthermore, he adds, "good things are eternal and without end with God, and therefore the loss of these is also eternal and never-ending." So, according to Irenaeus, the punishment of "those...who cast away" God's "benefits" will be a "never-ending" loss of eternal life.

Arguing with a putative questioner who asks, "Could not God have exhibited man as perfect from the beginning?," Irenaeus argues, in 4 Heresies 38:1, that Christ "might easily have come to us in His immortal glory, but in that case we could never have endured the greatness of the glory; and therefore it was that He, who was the perfect bread of the Father, offered Himself to us as milk, [because we were] as infants. He did this when He appeared as a man, that we, being nourished, as it were, from the breast of His flesh, and having, by such a course of milk-nourishment, become accustomed to eat and drink the Word of God, may be able also to contain in ourselves the Bread of immortality, which is the Spirit of the Father" —clearly implying, of course, that those who are not so "nourished" (that is, those who do not receive Christ as Savior) are not able to "contain" in themselves the "Bread" of immortality.

Later in the same chapter (4 Heresies 38:3), Irenaeus refers to "the gratuitous bestowal of eternal existence upon [believers] by God" and states that "being in subjection to God is continuance in immortality" and that "the beholding of God is productive of immortality" (implying that rebellion against God, and failure to "behold" God, lead to the opposite of immortality, continuance in nonexistence).

In 5 Heresies 29:1, Irenaeus describes the process of being "saved" as a "ripening for immortality" —obviously, fruits do not "ripen" into a condition in which they already exist. Put another way, it could be said that a Naturalist would be unlikely to use such an expression.

Irenaeus also uses the typically Conditionalist words "destroy" and "destruction" (specifically, "by fire") to describe the destiny of the unsaved. For example:

In 2 Heresies 32:2, speaking of those Gnostics who, believing "that it is incumbent on them to have experience of every kind of work; but, turning aside to voluptuousness, and lust, and abominable actions...stand...condemned," he says, "since they are destitute of all those [virtues] which have been mentioned [i.e., earlier in the passage], they will [of necessity] pass into the destruction of fire."

Similarly, "Those who do these things, since they do indeed walk after the flesh, have not the power of living unto God... Man goes to destruction, if he has continued to live after the flesh." (5 Heresies 11:1)

Interestingly, however, in quoting 2 Thessalonians 1:9, in 4 Heresies 33:11, Irenaeus substitutes the word "death" for the word usually translated as "destruction" – rendering 2 Thessalonians 1:9 as, "Who shall be punished with everlasting death from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His power,."

In another interesting quotation (quoting 2 Corinthians 5:4, in 4 Heresies 36:6), Irenaeus substitutes the word "immortality" for the word usually translated as "life" – rendering 2 Corinthians 5:4 as, "Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up by immortality."

In still another (quoting John 3:36, in 4 Heresies 37:5), Irenaeus —significantly, it would seem —inserts the word "eternal" in a place where it is not found in the Biblical text, rendering John 3:36 as, "he that believeth in Him has eternal life; while he who believeth not the Son hath not eternal life, but the wrath of God shall remain upon him." This could be said to be a very "Conditionalist" way of "interpreting" the actual text of John 3:36.

Other "Conditionalist" statements by Irenaeus are as follows:

"Men... are... mortal...." (2 Heresies 7:1)

"...the soul,...while...sharing life with the body,...does not...cease to live." (2 Heresies 33:4) – implying, it seems, that when the body ceases to live, the soul also ceases to live.

"...the unbelieving...shall not inherit...life..." (3 Heresies 7:2)

"Those who... are in a state of death... are deprived of His gift, which is eternal life;... they remain... mortal." (3 Heresies 19:1)

"Man should never adopt an opposite opinion with regard to God, supposing that the incorruptibility which belongs to him is his own naturally, and by thus not holding the truth, should boast with empty superciliousness, as if he were naturally like to God." (3 Heresies 20:1)

"those who...are outside the kingdom of God...are disinherited from [the gift of] incorruption...." (4 Heresies 8:1)

"But the Word of God did not accept of the friendship of Abraham, as though He stood in need of it, for He was perfect from the beginning ("Before Abraham was," He says, "I am"), but that He in His goodness might bestow eternal life upon Abraham himself, inasmuch as the friendship of God imparts immortality to those who embrace it." (4 Heresies 13:4)

"God has always preserved freedom, and the power of self-government in man, while at the same time He issued His own exhortations, in order that those who do not obey Him should be righteously judged (condemned) because they have not obeyed Him; and that those who have obeyed and believed on Him should be honored with immortality." (4 Heresies 15:2)

"...thus man might attain to immortality...." (4 Heresies 20:2)

"Those, therefore, who see God, do receive life. And for this reason, He, [although] beyond comprehension, and boundless and invisible, rendered Himself visible, and comprehensible, and within the capacity of those who believe, that He might vivify those who receive and behold Him through faith.... He bestows life upon those who see Him. It is not possible to live apart from life, and the means of life is found in fellowship with God;" (4 Heresies 20:5).

"Men therefore shall see God, that they may live, being made immortal by that sight," (4 Heresies 20:6).

"...man, falling away from God altogether, [will] cease to exist." (4 Heresies 20:7).

"...they who believe in Him shall be incorruptible...." (4 Heresies 24:2)

"...they all received a penny each man, having [stamped upon it] the royal image and superscription, the knowledge of the Son of God, which is immortality." (4 Heresies 36:7)

"It is good to obey God, and to believe in Him, and to keep His commandment, and this is the life of man; as not to obey God is evil, and this is his death... it is an evil thing which deprives him of life, that is, disobedience to God... what preserves his life, namely, obedience to God, is good... How, again, can he be immortal, who in his mortal nature did not obey his Maker?...If you, being obstinately hardened, do reject the operation of His skill, and show yourself ungrateful towards Him, because you were created a [mere] man, by becoming thus ungrateful to God, you have at once lost both His workmanship and life." (4 Heresies 39:1-2)

"But when they should be converted and come to repentance, and cease from evil, they should have power to become the sons of God, and to receive the inheritance of immortality which is given by Him." (4 Heresies 41:3)

"The Father... gives to this mortal immortality, and to this corruptible incorruption... in order that we may never become puffed up, as if we had life from ourselves, and exalted against God, our minds becoming ungrateful; but learning by experience that we possess eternal duration from the excelling power of this Being, not from our own nature." (5 Heresies 2:3)

"Man... is... mortal by nature." (5 Heresies 3:1)

"Incorruption... is a blissful and never-ending life" which is "granted by God." (5 Heresies 3:3)

"He cuts away the lusts of the flesh, those which bring death upon a man." (5 Heresies 10:2)

The "works of the flesh... bring death [upon their doers]." (5 Heresies 11:2)

"Death brings mortality." (5 Heresies 12:1)

"God is He who gives...immortality." (5 Heresies 13:3)

"Carnal deeds..., perverting man to sin, deprive him of life." (5 Heresies 14:4)

There is no question but that Irenaeus of Lyons was a "champion"⁸⁶ of Conditionalism. We see, then, that the age of the Sub-Apostolic Fathers comes to its conclusion at a point in time prior to which only one Christian writer (Athenagoras) has espoused the doctrine of Natural Immortality, all the others (of whom we have studied a total of seventeen) having held, more or less demonstrably, to Conditionalism.

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For more information, contact: Dr. John H. Roller 5847 Brookstone Dr. Concord, NC, USA 28027-2535 704-782-9574

johnroller@faithbiblechristian.com