Summary and Evaluation of the Pastor of Hermas

The Shepherd (or Pastor) of Hermas is considered one of the important Pre-Nicene pieces of Christian literature.  The work comprises five visions, twelve mandates, and ten parables. It relies on allegory and pays special attention to the Church, calling the faithful to repent of the sins that have harmed it.

A summary of these major divisions are in this Blog starting with the Introduction and ending with the final Parable.    Hermas was a slave who was sold at Rome to a Christian lady, named Rhode, who soon set him free. He then applied himself to the business of the world but also became negligent of his responsibilities as a father and husband.  When the persecution came, he and his wife repented.  Hermas who was indifferent became fervent in his pursuit of holiness.  He was to take the message of repentance to others and make amends for his past failures.

One of the issues that runs through the writing is the issue of sin after baptism.  Apparently this issue at the time had two sides.  One was that it was possible to live a perfect life after baptism and the other that if one sinned after baptism they could not repent.  The message of Hermas was that there was still forgiveness after baptism -- but only once!

The 9th Parable is the longest and gives somewhat a confusing picture of the Church.  The meaning appears to be that Hermas learns that the rock and the door are the Son of God.  The rock is old, because the Son of God is older.  He was the Creator.  The door is new because it was only manifested in latter times that He is the One by whom all enter into the Kingdom.

The aforementioned place of Christ, the Son of God is the only Gospel implication.  This writing appears to be very moralistic, lacking in any true understanding of the Gospel.  Apart from the odd vague ideas it could almost be accused of being non-Christian.   It has an Old Covenant feel of "do or die."   The latter part of Deuteronomy where the reader is called to obey to find life is obvious in this literature. 

There are other concerns (besides the issues of sinless perfection; eternal security, that includes the efficacy of the Cross; and the lack of New Covenant realities) that I have including some apparent confusion about the Trinity and massive confusion about how one is included in the Church, namely through the New Birth, by the Holy Spirit.  In the 9th Parable the fourth tier of stones included the Apostles, which of course included Peter.  We clearly see Peter was only one amongst forty such stones described.  It is not Peter that the Church is built on, but on the entire apostolic authority.

On a positive note, the main theme being repentance was important especially in our day when it is so rarely the topic of literature.  A second positive was the clear and important teaching that true faith is accompanied by good works. However there appears to be a clear allusion to purgatory as some stones were removed and made clean for future installation.   Stones representing people that come from the pit must go through Baptism prior to becoming part of the structure. It is there they receive the Spirit.  Again this point to the false teaching of baptismal regeneration.

This was a challenging, confusing read for me, which left me with serious questions about the doctrinal understanding of the author.  The absence of the Gospel is a huge concern to me.  Men and women need to hear the Gospel to be saved; and we need the Gospel to be sanctified. Quite frankly I find it difficult to understand how the early Church might have considered this material worthy of the Canon.