Early Christian Writings Matter... Don't They?

The first thing that comes to mind when someone refers to early Christian writings is the New Testament of the Holy Bible. The writings that are included in the New Testament canon are said to have been written by some of the earliest Christians of the first century. These books or letters are the most popular writings available to us today from early Christianity, but what about the other writings that were not included in the canon of the New Testament? What about those writings written later in the first century and into the following centuries? What happened to those and do they have something in them that may also be of some value to us today?

 The early Christian writings provide for us today an expanded look at what it was like to live as a Christian during the early Christian centuries. Early Christian writings provide a look at what the early Christians believed, how the early Christians worshiped, how the early Christian belief was spread, who was trusted to spread that Christian belief, how the early Christians prayed, and much more. Through these writings, we are given information that may not be found in the New Testament itself or things that expand upon or give us a better understanding of what we do find in the New Testament.

This is important because we see that many people come to different understandings or different interpretations of what certain passages in the Bible mean leading to a vast array of contradicting doctrines. As with any other course of study, if there is information that can help clarify our understanding of a topic at hand, it would do us well to seek out that information and put it to good use. This extra information after all could perhaps be the factor that leads to a unified understanding or unified interpretation of certain Biblical passages and the messages they convey.

Many would make the claim that the Bible is more than enough to give Christians of this century the context of what it meant to be a Christian in the first few centuries after the death of Christ. To this claim I would answer that if we are to accept the Bible for what it is, we must understand that the Bible was never meant to be an all encompassing book of what it means to be a Christian or what Christianity as a belief system entails.

This point becomes even more evident when history reveals that the Bible was not canonized (put into the list or order) as we know it today until about three centuries after the death of Christ. That’s at least three hundred years after the death of Christ! Mind blowing I know. How did Christians before this know what to believe and how to practice their faith!?! We also see that to this very day, not all Christians share a common canon (list/order) of books that are considered divinely inspired by God (some Bibles containing 66 books and others containing 73 books). If we are to accept the Bible as all that is needed to come to a complete understanding of Christianity (past, present, and future), we must then ask who gets to decide what books should and should not be included in the official Christian canon of the Bible. What then happens if some Christians reject the final outcome? The question becomes a subjective matter instead of what it should be which is an objective, authoritative matter that only those that are given authority by God should be addressing.

Don’t get me wrong; I by no means am suggesting that these other early Christian writings should be elevated onto a pedestal that is equal with those writings currently included in the Bible as we know it today. That would be nonsense for various reasons! I am however suggesting that these other early Christian writings should at least be taken into consideration for perhaps some contextual information they may have to offer. Many of the early Christian writings available to us today are believed to have been written by many of those people that were either alive and in communication with the apostles themselves or alive and in communication with those that were closely associated with the apostles themselves. Other early Christian writings were by those that were specifically chosen as successors to the people that were first entrusted by the apostles.

If anything, these early Christian writings may help people compare how Christianity today compares to the Christianity of about two thousand years ago and how we got from point A to point B. To some Christians of today it will feel completely foreign and possibly even unchristian in their view, and for others it will be a welcomed affirmation of what they have always believed to be the message Christ wanted to spread to the entire world. 

My answer to the question of whether Early Christian Writings Matter would be an absolute Yes!

 2 Thes 2:15 “So then, Brethren, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.”

God Bless everyone in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, AMEN!