Apostolic

The Greatest Reset was when Jesus told us to think differently and take the responsibility to seek the government of God and His righteousness. When Jesus fired the moneychangers as king of Judea he was resetting that government. When he commanded his disciples to make the people gather in the tens, hundreds and thousands in order to learn to share as John the Baptist said for us to do we had a chance to become doers of the word.
When he took the kingdom from the Pharisees and appointed to His Apostles there was a shift in both the economy and politics of the people which changed to course of history and mankind. We were warned about the pig returning to the mire, becoming merchandise again.

The Way | Righteousness | Kingdom of God | His Holy Church |
Great Reset | Building back | LIBERA NOS A MALO |
Resist not evil | Refuse | Dry bones | False religion | Apostasy |
Apostle | The Blessed Strategy | Pure Religion | Perfect law of liberty |

Along with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp is regarded as one of three chief Apostolic leaders of the early Church. The sole surviving work attributed to his authorship is his Letter to the Philippians; it is first recorded by Irenaeus of Lyons.

The Letter to the Philippians warns against a number of disorders in the church and against apostasy, and encourages the Christians to persevere in good works.

According to Eusebius, Polycrates of Ephesus cited the example of Polycarp in defense of local practices during the Quartodeciman Controversy.

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The Bible and other historical records of the apostolic era confirm that the original Christian Church continued to observe the same feasts and festivals Jesus observed.

The practice of observing these festivals continued into the fourth century.

With the new Christianity of Constantine, we see in 325 a debate over the Passover, known as the Quartodeciman controversy.

An Anti-Semitic sentiment of these new Constantinian Christians found a minority among real Christians agree to abandon the observance of the Passover at the Council of Nicea..

That choice was met with fierce opposition from the people in congregations and early Church leaders vigorously resisted rejecting the example and practice of Jesus and the apostles.

“But the bishops in Asia were led by Polycrates in persisting that it was necessary to keep the custom which had been handed down to them of old. Polycrates himself in a document which he addressed to Victor and the church of Rome expounds the tradition which had come to him as follows. ‘Therefore we keep the day undeviatingly, neither adding nor taking away, for in Asia great luminaries sleep, and they will rise on the day of the coming of the Lord, when he shall come with glory from heaven and seek out all the saints. Such were Philip of the twelve apostles … There is also John, who lay on the Lord’s breast … , and there is also Polycarp Smyrna, both bishop and martyr, and Thraseas, both bishop and martyr, from Eumenaea... [Also] Sagaris... Papirius... and Melito... All these kept the fourteenth day of the Passover according to the gospel, never swerving, but following according to the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, love according to the tradition of my kinsmen, and some of them have I followed. For seven of my family were bishops and I am the eighth, and my kinsmen ever kept the day when the people put away the leaven. Therefore, brethren, I who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord and conversed with brethren from every country, and have studied all holy Scripture, am not afraid of threats, for they have said, who were greater than I, 'It is better to obey God rather than men.' ”

Siricius (334 – 26 November 399) was a bishop of Rome from December 384 to his death. In response to inquiries from Bishop Himerius of Tarragona, Siricius issued the Directa decretal, containing decrees of baptism, church discipline and other matters.

Decretals (Latin: litterae decretales) are letters that formulate decisions in what has become known as ecclesiastical law. In a wider sense, the Latin term decretalis signifies a decretum, or decision by someone in authority.

In a narrower sense, it denotes a decision on a matter of discipline. In a church or ecclesiastical body commanded by its creator to not exercise authority one over the other, there can be no law-making by one over the other.

At the time these decretals were general laws, but over time this new office of "pope" ordered the recipient of his letter to communicate the papal answer as an ecclesiastical authority over a district. It became a duty then to act in conformity with that decree, contrary to the decrees of Christ.

Siricius' decrees are the oldest completely preserved decretals because truly christian bishops would never issue such decrees. He is sometimes said to have been the first bishop of Rome to call himself pope, but there is little evidence of that term even used in the present sense the Catholic church enjoys today.

Siricius was a bishop from December 384 to his death in 399. Emperor Valentinian II's confirmation of his election stilled any further objections, but this was clearly the history of the church of Constantine and elected by his new converts.

It has been presented in various sources as having been the first to bear the title Pontifex Maximus. He was elected as a Bishop of Rome and was the first to issue decretals and would later be called the Pope.

His first was the Directa decretal which claimed apostolic origin for clerical celibacy.

These Decretals were a departure from the Doctrines of Jesus regarding exercising authority one over the other.

The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr.

Hippolytus of Rome

Hippolytus of Rome (170 – 235 AD) is considered the most important 3rd-century theologian in the Christian Church in Rome.

Photios I of Constantinople describes Hippolytus in his Bibliotheca (cod. 121) as a disciple of Irenaeus, who was said to be a disciple of Polycarp, a disciple of Apostle John.

The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome was composed in approximately 215 in Rome. It appears to preserve older second century practices. Hippolytus, was clearly opposed to the idea of a pope which was already creeping into the thinking and practices of some.

He continued in this position in the rules of Callistus successors, Urban and Pontius, and was exiled to Sardinia where he and Pontianus were both forced to work the mines where they died in 235.

Most of Hippolytus' works are lost. The Apostolic Tradition itself is partly preserved in a Latin palmpsest, and in several oriental versions. The Greek original is wholly lost, but for fragments in the heavily edited excerpts in The Apostolic Constitutions which has been said to be an authoritative pseudo-apostolic prescriptions on moral conduct, liturgy and Church organization.

But the apostles were told not to exercise authority one over the other.

https://preparingyou.com/wiki/index.php?title=Deacon&action=edit&section=8

REFERENCES IN THE APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS

(Apostolic Constitutions (Book II...) dating from the 4th century, incorporating earlier material)

2.25. These [bishops] are your high priests, as the presbyters are your priests, and your present deacons instead of your Levites; as are also your readers, your singers, your porters, your deasconesses, your widows, your virgins, and your orphans: but he who is above all these is the High Priest.

2.26. For let the bishop preside over you as one honoured with the authority of God.... But let the deacon minister to him, as Christ does to his Father; and let him serve him unblameably in all things, as Christ does nothing of himself, but does always those things that please his Father. Let also the deaconesses be honoured by you in the place of the Holy Ghost, and not do or say anything without the deacon; as neither does the comforter say or do anything of himself, but gives glory to Christ by waiting for his pleasure. And as we cannot believe on Christ without the teaching of the Spirit, so let not any woman address herself to the deacon or bishop without the deaconess.

2.28. If any determine to invite elder women to an entertainment of love, or a feast, as our Saviour calls it, let them most frequently send to such a one whom the deacons know to be in distress.

2.28. Let [the laity] not on all occasions trouble their governor, but let them signify their desires by those who minister to him, that is, by the deacons, with whom they may be more free. For neither may we address ourselves to Almighty God, but only by Christ.

2.30. For now the deacon is to you Aaron, and the bishop Moses. If therefore Moses was called a god by the Lord, let the bishop be honored among you as a god, and the deacon as his prophet.

2.32. If therefore, O deacon, thou knowest anyone to be in destress, put the bishop in mind of him, and so give to him

2.44. Let the deacon refer all things to the bishop, as Christ does to his Father. But let him order such things as he is able by himself, receiving power from the bishop, as the Lord did from His Father the power of creation and of providence. But the weighty matters let the bishop judge; but let the deacon be the bishop's ear, and eye, and mouth, and heart, and soul, that the bishop may not be distracted with many cares, but with such only as are more considerable, as Jethro did appoint for Moses, and his counsel was received.

2.57. While the Gospel is read, let all the presbyters and deacons, and all the people, stand up in great silence;...Let the deaconesses also stand at [the entries] of the women, like shipman.

2.57. But if any one be found sitting out of his place, let him be rebuked by the deacon, as a manager of a foreship, and be removed into the place proper for him. ... Let the deacon be the disposer of the places, that every one of those that comes in may go to his proper place, and may not sit at the entrance. In like manner, let th edeacon oversee the people, that nobody may whisper, nor slumber, nor laugh, nor nod; for all ought in the church to stand wisely, and soberly, and attentively, having their attention fixed upon the word of the Lord.

2.57. As to the deacons, after the prayer is over, let some of them attend upon the oblation of the Eucharist, ministering to the lord's body with fear. Let others of them watch the multitude,a nd keep them silent. But let that deacon who is at the high prienst's hand say to the peope, Let no one have any quarrel against another; let no one come in hypocrisy.

3.15. Let not therefore either a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, defile his tongue with calumny.

3.15. O bishop, do thou ordain thy fellow-workers, the labourers for life and for righteousness, such deacons as are pleasing to God, such whom thou provest to be worthy among all the people, and such as shall be ready for the necessities of their ministration. Ordain also a deaconess who is faithful and holy, for the ministrations towards women. For sometimes he cannot send a deacon, who is a man, to the women, on account of unbelievers. Thou shalt therefore send a woman, a deaconess, on account of the imaginations of the bad. For we stand in need of a woman, a deaconess, for many necessities; and first in the baptism of women, the deacon shall anoint only their forehead with the holy oil, and after him the deaconess shall anoint them: for there is no necessity that the women should be seen by the men...

3.19. Let the deacons be in all things unspotted, as the bishop himself is to be, only more active; in number according to the largeness of the church, that they many minister to the infirm as workmen that are not ashamed. And let the deaconess be diligent in taking care of the women; but both of them ready to carry messages, to travel about, to minister, and to serve. ... It is your duty who are deacons to visit all those who stand in need of visitation.

3.20. The presbyter is only to teach, to offer, to baptize, to bless the people, and the deacon is to minister to the bishop, and to the presbyters, that is, to do the office of a ministering deacon, but not to meddle with the other offices.

6.17. A bishop, a presbyter and a deacon, when they are constituted, must be but once married, whether their wives be alive or whether they be dead; and that it is not lawful for them, if they are unmarried when they are ordained, to be married afterwards...

8.17-21. [Prayers to be made by the bishop when he ordains deasons, deaconess, and sub-deacons.]

8.28. A deacon does no bless, does not give the blessing, but receives it from the bishop and presbyter: he does not baptize, he does not offer; but when a bishop or presbyter has offered, he distributes to the people, not as a priest, but as one that ministers to the priests. ... A deaconess does not bless, nor perform anything belonging to the office of presbyters or deacons, but only is to keep the doors, and to minister to the presbyters in the baptizing of women, on account of decency.

Ignatius 250 AD

Ignatius, Magnesians 6.1 250 AD

Be ye zealous to do all things in godly concord, the bishop presiding after the likeness of God and the presbyters after the likeness of the council of the Apostles, with the deacons also, who are most dear to me, having been entrusted with the diaconate of Jesus Christ.

Ignatius, Trallians 3.1 250 AD

Let all men respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as they should respect the bishop as being a type of the Father and the presbyters as the council of God and as the college of Apostles. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church.

Ignatius, Philadelphians 10 250 AD

Seeing...that the church which is in Antioch of Syria hath peace, it is becoming for you, as a church of God, to appoint a deacon to go thither as God's ambassador, that he may congratulate them when they are assembled together, and may glorify the Name.

Ignatius, Smyrnaeans 12 250 AD

I salute your godly bishop and your venerable presbytery and my fellow-servants the deacons, and all of you severally and in a body...

Other

“The deacons, or tithingmen, presided over ten families, and the centenarii over one hundred families; both administered justice in all petty causes that were not presentable to the county courts." Page 50, See Walafridus Strabo circa 500 a.d. An Entire and Complete History, Political and Personal, of the Buroughs of Great Britton, Volume 1, By Thomas Hinton Burley Oldfield

2842 ~κοινωνία~ koinonia \@koy-nohn-ee’-ah\@ from 2844 partaker ; TDNT-3:797,447; {See TDNT 395} n f AV-fellowship 12, communion 4, communication 1, distribution 1, contribution 1, to communicate 1; 20

1) fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse

1a) the share which one has in anything, participation

1b) intercourse, fellowship, intimacy

1b1) the right hand as a sign and pledge of fellowship (in fulfilling the apostolic office)

1c) a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution, as exhibiting an embodiment and proof of fellowship