Polycarp came from a covenant household and was a Christian all his 86 years—God had never done him wrong. It is a remarkable affirmation because when challenging times come, the tendency is to blame God for the troubles. In times of struggle thoughts like, “Everything was going so well, but you let me down God,” or, “It just isn’t fair God, it’s just not fair” might come to mind. Notice also that Polycarp calls God the King, showing clearly that Caesar is not his lord. Polycarp would be burned at the stake shortly after making this statement. 

Smyrna was located about thirty miles north of Ephesus situated at the point of a vee-shaped inlet where the city of Izmir is in modern Turkey. It was a significant port at the time of Polycarp and was possibly the greatest city within the Roman province of Asia. The climate could be pleasant because a wind would blow from the Aegean Sea into Smyrna from early afternoon into the evening. A contemporary of Polycarp named Aristides described the breeze as having an aroma like a fresh grove of trees. Smyrna was a key city of eastern Christianity having one of the seven churches addressed by the Lord in the book of Revelation. His message was one of encouragement to the congregation because they would face persecution (Rev 2:8-11). Smyrna with possibly as many as 100,000 residents is where Polycarp lived and ministered.
He was taught as a young man by the Apostle John. Polycarp’s only extant writing is Epistle to the Philippians (circa 125) which was sent by himself and “the elders (πρεσβύτεροι) who are with him” to “the church of Philippi.” It was a response to a letter from the Philippians asking him to forward some letters to the Syrian Church, and they requested that copies of some epistles by Ignatius be sent to Philippi. Polycarp’s Philippians is important for the New Testament because he quotes or alludes to passages in the gospels as well as epistles by Paul, Peter, and John, which shows that by early in the second century their writings were accepted as the Word of God. He also provides instruction to both the deacons and presbyters (πρεσβύτεροι) of the church.
One debate occurring during Polycarp’s life involved the date for celebrating Easter. The Quartodecimans (Fourteeners) lived primarily in Asia Minor, and they had a different way for determining the day for remembering the resurrection each year. They believed Easter should occur on the fourteenth day of the Jewish month of Nisan to parallel the Passover (Lev 23:5). One can see how this view would arise given the week of Jesus’ passion occurred at the time of Passover, but the Anti-Quartodecimans thought that setting the date for Easter using the Jewish calendar was wrong. Pope Victor (189-199) would overrule the Quartodecimans but they nevertheless continued their practice with waning influence as the years passed.
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‘Urban Legends of Theology’ is a profoundly useful book for a wide audience. Pastors and seasoned saints can, like I have, become overconfident that they wouldn’t fall prey to urban legends, especially if they’ve spent years in theological study. This book can also serve the church well as an early introduction to theological thinking. Newer believers and prospective teachers can observe the precision Wittmer uses in making arguments and thus learn to carefully approach challenging doctrinal questions.

“God will never give me more than I can handle.”
The grieving spouse sighed in resignation as we sat together preparing for a funeral.
The moment didn’t call for theological precision, so I turned the conversation to prayer; however, I left the room saddened by the reliance on a theological urban legend during a time of loss. God’s Word has so much more for us than these common misconceptions allow.
In Michael Wittmer’s book Urban Legends of Theology: 40 Common Misconceptions, he examines false beliefs in light of Scripture. As a pastor, professor, and author of many books, Wittmer brings a wealth of experience to the task.
The book covers an array of issues in four sections: (1) God and theological methods, (2) humanity and sin, (3) Jesus and salvation, (4) the church and last things. Wittmer’s consistent pastoral sensitivity guides his theological precision as he serves as both myth buster and caretaker of the soul.
Confronts Obvious Problems
According to Wittmer, an urban legend is “something popularly believed—in the church or culture or both—that is not true” (xi). Some of these legends rob us of peace and joy, while others have more damaging consequences for our souls.
Urban legends of theology range widely. Wittmer argues against heady assertions like “doctrine doesn’t matter” and more practical contentions like “God helps those who help themselves.” He undermines the culture’s rejection of shame and dismantles the myth that Jesus never addressed homosexuality.
Constructively, Wittmer weaves his robust theology of creation through the chapters. This positive work is necessary because many of the urban legends relate to the nature of this world and truths about death, heaven, and the new creation. Preachers and teachers will be helped to avoid errors common among evangelical believers.
Corrects Subtle Errors
As I read this book, my own theology didn’t escape correction. My heart experienced “oomph!” moments as I recognized urban legends that have accumulated in my theology.
For example, the book critiques the myth that Christians are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. As Wittmer writes, “Paul does not use the body metaphor to depict the church’s witness to the world (as the hands and feet of Jesus) but to describe our mutual belonging and interdependence” (226).
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If Christianity, the bedrock on which the natural law tradition was built, is destroyed, then the rule of law is destroyed alongside it. This permits the triumph of the will and the rule by arbitrary decree to take its place out of the ashes of that destruction.  

When discussing the American founding, it is common to hear that the Founding Fathers were not Christian and not influenced by Christian ideas. This is patently untrue.
Yet the anti-Christian scholarship of the past century, especially the past 50 years, has “downplayed or denied the degree to which the animating ideas of the American founding were deeply indebted to the Christian natural law tradition.”
In their new book, “The Classical and Christian Origins of American Politics,” published by Cambridge University Press, professors Kody W. Cooper and Justin Buckley Dyer return our attention to the fact that Christian ideas permeated the revolutionary generation.
Scholars have recently reemphasized the American founding’s reliance on political theology and classical virtue. Many books have challenged the de-theologizing of the American founding. Thomas Kidd’s biography of Thomas Jefferson, published by Yale University Press, restored the theological spirit of his political outlook. “First Principles,” a bestseller by Thomas Ricks, recovered the debt our Founding Fathers had to Greek and Roman thought.
Cooper and Dyer join this important and growing list of authors who returned to source material from the founding generation, which modernist scholars like to deliberately misinterpret or simply ignore. Beyond the Christian impact on the founding generation, Cooper and Dyer also reveal how the classical political tradition influenced the American Revolution. These two spirits of political theory were the common inheritance of colonial America.
“When John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail,” the authors wrote, “to report news of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the British North American colonists were not yet living in our secular age.”
Classical vs. Modern Political Philosophy
What is the classical political tradition and what distinguishes it from the modern political tradition?
Classical political philosophy starts with the assertion that humans have a nature that reason can discover, that freely and knowingly choosing to live in accordance with that nature offers freedom, and that the rule of law accords with man’s nature and freedom. The Anglo-American common law tradition was premised on the classical humanism of the Greeks and Romans and the Christian natural law tradition.
Modern political philosophy starts with the power of the will and the assertion that humans are creatures of desire who act on bodily impulses. To limit this will and its right to act upon its desires is tantamount to slavery.
Cooper and Dyer explain it in even simpler terms: “The classical political tradition begins with the rule of law, but the characteristic doctrine of modern political philosophy and the modern state is the arbitrary rule of will.”
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