← LineageEra Spotlight for · Monday, 2 September 2024
This week
Ante-Nicene
AD 200 – 325 · Bishops define orthodoxy under persecution. Ends with the Council of Nicaea.
The two centuries before Constantine are when Christianity stops being a fringe movement and becomes a durable institution. Three things drive the period: persecution, theological consolidation, and the rise of the great catechetical schools.
Why it matters
- ·Trinitarian and Christological vocabulary (persona, substantia, hypostasis) takes shape.
- ·Apostolic succession + rule of faith + scripture are the three-legged stool of orthodoxy.
- ·The Son is homoousios — of the same substance as the Father (Nicaea, against Arius).
- ·Easter date partially standardised at Nicaea.
Irenaeus of Lyons
130–202
Bishop of Lyons, disciple of Polycarp, and author of Against Heresies, the foundational anti-Gnostic work. Bridge between apostolic and ante-Nicene eras.
Clement of Alexandria
150–215
Successor to Pantaenus at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Author of Protrepticus, Paedagogus, and Stromateis. Teacher of Origen.
Tertullian
155–220
First major Latin Christian author; coined much of Western theological vocabulary (trinitas, persona, substantia). Apologeticus, Adv. Marcionem, De Praescriptione. Later joined the New Prophecy (Montanism).
Hippolytus of Rome
170–235
Roman presbyter (and possibly antipope) who wrote the Refutation of All Heresies and the Apostolic Tradition. Exiled to Sardinia under Maximinus Thrax. Some scholars split this figure into two; tradition treats him as one.
Daily reading
Book of the day
Against Heresies
Irenaeus of LyonsA reading pick tied to today's figure, quote, era, or event. The key text for public apostolic tradition, anti-gnostic argument, and the chain from John to Polycarp to Irenaeus.
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