The Shepherd of Hermas - The Commandments

The Pastor of Hermas Book Second.—Commandments

In obedience to Hermas’ Shepherd (Fifth Vision), Hermas hears these Commandments and writes them down.

First Commandment:  Have faith in God and fear God.  Exercise self-control and put on righteousness.

Second Commandment: Avoid evil speaking and give alms in simplicity. “Practice goodness; and from the rewards of your labors, which God gives you, give to all the needy in simplicity, not hesitating as to whom you are to give or not to give.” 1  Simplicity implies without deceit or with true sincerity.

Third Commandment: Avoid falsehood.  Hermas confesses to concealing the truth in the past and is told that since his has now heard the commandment, he must be truthful going forward.

Fourth Commandment: On divorcing one’s wife for adultery.  ““I charge you,” said he, “to guard your chastity, and let no thought enter your heart of another man’s wife, or of fornication, or of similar iniquities; for by doing this you commit a great sin.”2 It is acceptable to put away (i.e. divorce) an adulterous wife, but to then marry another is adultery. The repentant wife should be taken back, but not frequently. This applies in reverse too – men and women should be treated the same way. To marry again after the death of a spouse is not a sin, but it is better to remain unmarried. Repentance is wisdom. Some taught that baptism was the only time of repentance (“I heard, sir, some teachers maintain that there is no other repentance than that which takes place, when we descended3 into the water and received remission of our former sins.”4   But the Shepherd responds:

“And therefore I say to you, that if any one is tempted by the devil, and sins after that great and holy calling in which the Lord has called His people to everlasting life, he has opportunity to repent but once.”5 [Is this really what is being understood here?  Is there no on-going process of living a repentant life?]

 

Another issue is seen in the statement of Hermas that if he keeps the commandments he will be assured that he  “. . .  shall be saved, if in future[he]I sin no more.”6  Is Hermas suggesting that he is saved by obedience?

 

Fifth Commandment. Of sadness of heart and patience.  Anger pollutes patience.  ““If you do not guard yourself against it, you and your house lose all hope of salvation.”7

Anger does not turn away those full of faith.  Those that entertain anger and doubt cause the departure of the Holy Spirit.  There might be a hint of justification in Christ.  The Shepherd affirms, “Guard yourself, therefore, against it. For I am with you, and all will depart from it who repent with their whole heart. For I will be with them, and I will save them all. For all are justified by the most holy angel.”8  The editor notes:
 

“ Are received into the number of the just by the most holy angel (or messenger. . . but the superlative here used seems to identify this angel with that of the covenant (Mal. iii. 1); i.e., the meritorious cause, “the Lord.”]9

Sixth Commandment. How to recognize the two spirits in each man.  Two angels dwell with every man: one of righteousness and one of iniquity. Obviously, you need to listen to the former and ignore the latter.

Seventh Commandment. Fear God and not the Devil. The one who has power is feared and his work performed by those who fear him.
 

“For if you keep the commandments of God, you will be powerful in every action, and every one of your actions will be incomparable. For, fearing the Lord, you will do all things well. This is the fear which you ought to have, that you may be saved. But fear not the devil; for, fearing the Lord, you will have dominion over the devil, for there is no power in him. But he in whom there is no power ought on no account to be an object of fear; but He in whom there is glorious power is truly to be feared.”10 [Emphasis mine]

Again we have this language that equates obedience to salvation.

Eighth Commandment.  Shun evil; and do what is good. “All who act thus will live to God. And, again, if you refuse to do evil, and restrain yourself from it, you will live to God.”11

Examples of good works are listed in this Commandment.  They tend to helping widows, to hospitality, encouraging the sick, and so on.

Ninth Commandment. Pray over all things and with confidence. Doubt, which is from the devil, is a lack of faith, which is from God.  “But those who are perfect in faith ask everything, trusting in the Lord; and they obtain, because they ask nothing doubting, and not being double-souled.”12

Tenth Commandment.  Do not grieve the Spirit. Grief from doubt “crushes out” the Holy Spirit, but grief that results from the actions arising from anger leads to repentance and salvation.

Eleventh Commandment. Test the Spirit and the prophets by their works. True prophets are meek and humble, speaking only when and what God wishes them to speak. False prophets are proud and talkative, speaking only when they have something to gain.

Twelfth Commandment.   ““Put away from you all wicked desire, and clothe yourself with good and chaste desire; for clothed with this desire you will hate wicked desire . . ..”13

“Now I say to you, If you do not keep them, but neglect them, you will not be saved, nor your children, nor your house, since you have already determined for yourself that these commandments cannot be kept by man.”14

The commandments from the Shepherd are derived from much Wisdom literature of the Old Testament and practical Christianity such as taught by James. He relies on the Gospels, the Letters of John and Paul’s letter to Ephesus.  I wasn’t aware of any Apocryphal literature. Some of the questions I have and concerns (which may in part be my misinterpretation) include the emphasize on obedience for salvation.  It seems to be a “legalistic” book, if I have understood it correctly.  There is also the issue of repentance.  I’m not sure that I understand it but there seems to be a sense of perfectionism that avoids any consideration that the life of the Christian is a life of continual confession of sin. 

 

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1 Schaff, Philip (2009-06-08). Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 2 - Enhanced Version (Early Church Fathers) (Kindle Locations 977-978). Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Kindle Edition.
2 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1033-1034).
3 Note the implication of baptism by immersion
4 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1068-1070).
5 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1077-1079).
6 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1081-1082).
7 Ibid, (Kindle Location 1147
8 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1147-1150).
9 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1184-1187).
10 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1247-1250).
11 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1298-1299).
12 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1324-1325).
13 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1464-1466).
14 Ibid, (Kindle Locations 1494-1496).