I. CLEMENT OF ROME
Read pgs. 43-73, Clement's Letter of the Church of Rome to the Church of Corinth
According to the Introduction (pg. 33), what is the date of the writing of the letter? According to pg. 37, who might Clement have been?
pg. 43, beginning of the letter: Who is the letter from, and to whom is it addressed?
Chaps. 1, 44, 46 (chapter numbers are the bold numerals in the margins): What were the particular sins with which the Corinthians are charged? What passages in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians does this sound like?
Chaps. 63, 65: What can we learn about the messengers of this letter:
Why are Old Testament passages quoted so extensively as opposed to New Testament ones in this letter?
Chap. 25: What is his purpose in talking about the phoenix?
Chap. 41: Think about what he says here, then remember the year of Jerusalem's destruction under Titus (A.D. 70), then look back at the first part of question #1 ... Do you see a problem here? What is it? How could this be solved?
Chap. 58: Note this important passage for very early clear teaching on the Trinity.
Chaps. 59-61: What is the point of this prayer?
Background of Clement:
-Traditionally considered and mentioned by Paul as a fellow-worker in Rome (Phil. 4:3)
-Bishop of Rome 92-101, under Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan
-Introductory article from The Ante-Nicene Fathers in the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
-In-depth article from The Catholic Encyclopedia
II. IGNATIUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH
Read pgs. 87-120, Ignatius's Letters
pgs. 74-75: Who was Ignatius and what were the circumstances of the writing of these letters?
What is Ignatius's main concern about himself in all these letters?
What is Ignatius's attitude toward the churches he writes to?
III. POLYCARP, BISHOP OF SMYRNA
Read pgs. 131-137, The Letter of Polycarp to the Philippians
What is the main point, and what is the tone, of this letter?
IV. THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP
Read pgs. 149-158
How did Polycarp conduct himself before his execution?
What peculiar things happened, according to this legend, during Polycarp's execution?
V. THE DIDACHE
Read pgs. 171-179
What kinds of things does the Didache talk about?
What is its vision of the godly Christian life?
More information about a Christian take on the phoenix:
Many early Christians believed the story of the phoenix was sanctioned by Psalm 92:12: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree", because in the LXX (Septuagint, the Greek translation of the O.T. completed long before Christ's time) the word for "palm" is "phoenix," the same word for the weird bird. In the LXX (also in the Latin Vulgate) it's chapter 91 (not 92), verse 12: "dikaios ws phoinix anthhsei" (DEE-ke-ohs ohs PHOI-nix an-THEE-see). "The righteous like the phoenix shall flourish." Cool, huh?
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