Restoring Apostolic Faith

Repentance, the Tower, and the Cost of Discipleship in the Shepherd of Hermas

Among the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament, few were as influential—or as unsettling—as the Shepherd of Hermas.

Composed in Rome sometime between the early and mid-second century (often dated ca. AD 130–150), the Shepherd circulated widely, was read publicly in churches, and was treated by many early Christians as scripture-like. It appears in Codex Sinaiticus, and figures such as Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, and even Tertullian (before his Montanist phase) cite it respectfully.

Hermas is not an apostle, nor does he claim apostolic authorship. His revelations come through visionary encounters mediated by angelic figures. For that reason, the Shepherd was never finally canonized.

But to dismiss it would be a mistake.

The Shepherd of Hermas gives us something rare and invaluable:

a window into how the immediate post-apostolic church understood repentance, faith, obedience, and communal discipleship—before later theological flattening set in.

What Kind of Document Is the Shepherd of Hermas?

Hermas, likely a freedman in the Roman church (possibly the Hermas mentioned in Romans 16:14, though this is debated), writes not systematic theology but pastoral apocalypse—visions, commandments, and parables meant to correct, restore, and warn a complacent Christian community.

The work is traditionally divided into three sections:

1. Visions (1–5) – The Church, personified as a woman, reveals its condition

2. Mandates (12) – Ethical commands delivered by the Shepherd (angelic guide)

3. Similitudes (Parables, 10) – Symbolic teachings on repentance, the Church, and judgment

Across all three sections, one theme dominates:

Repentance is possible—but it is costly, urgent, and not infinite.

That conviction tells us a great deal about how early Christians heard the apostles.

1. Repentance (Metanoia) as a Serious, Time-Bound Reality

The heart of Hermas’ theology is repentance—especially post-baptismal repentance.

The Roman church, like many early communities, had wrestled with a pressing pastoral question:

What happens when baptized believers fall into serious sin?

Hermas’ answer is sobering:

• There is an opportunity for repentance after baptism

• But it is not endless

• It must be taken now, before the final judgment

This “second repentance” is not cheap grace. It is described as a last act of divine mercy before the tower is completed and the door closes.

This makes sense only in a world already shaped by apostolic teaching:

• repentance as turning, not regret,

• judgment as real,

• and discipleship as consequential.

Hermas is not inventing urgency. He is intensifying apostolic logic for a sleepy church.

2. The Two Ways and Moral Vigilance

Like the Didache, the Shepherd presupposes the ancient Two Ways framework—life versus death, righteousness versus corruption.

In the Mandates, Hermas speaks of:

• the angel of righteousness and

• the angel of wickedness

competing for each person’s allegiance.

This is not metaphysical speculation. It is moral realism.

Discipleship is portrayed as daily vigilance, where choices matter, habits form character, and double-mindedness is lethal.

This continuity matters: Hermas did not invent the Two Ways ethic. He inherited it from Jewish moral tradition filtered through Jesus and the apostles.

3. Faith as Allegiance, Shown in Obedience

Throughout the Shepherd, faith (pistis) is never reduced to belief about God.

It is consistently paired with:

• obedience

• patience

• self-control

• sexual purity

• generosity

• endurance

For example:

• Mandate 1: “Believe in God… and fear Him.”

• Mandate 6: “Trust in the Lord, do good works, and you will live.”

Faith that does not reshape life is not treated as incomplete faith—it is treated as false allegiance.

On this point, Hermas sounds far closer to James than to later Protestant slogans.

4. The Tower: Corporate Discipleship Made Visible

The most famous image in the Shepherd is the tower under construction.

The Church is depicted as a great tower built of living stones:

• some stones are immediately fit,

• others must be reshaped,

• many are rejected because of persistent sin.

Sins named repeatedly include:

• sexual immorality

• anger

• deceit

• love of wealth

• double-mindedness

The Shepherd oversees the construction, ensuring that only those who repent and are re-formed are integrated.

This is not individualistic spirituality.

It is corporate discipleship:

the integrity of the whole church depends on the obedience of its members.

That vision flows directly from Pauline and Johannine ecclesiology—one body, many members, accountable to Christ.

5. Wealth, Double-Mindedness, and Social Sin

One of Hermas’ most sustained critiques is directed not at heresy, but at Christians compromised by prosperity.

Business entanglements, love of wealth, and neglect of the poor are treated as spiritually dangerous forms of divided allegiance.

The parable of the elm and the vine (Similitude 2) makes the point starkly:

• the rich support the poor,

• the poor pray for the rich,

• together they bear fruit—or neither does.

Again, this is Acts, James, and Jesus read straight, without insulation.

6. Eschatological Urgency: The Clock Is Ticking

Hermas’ moral seriousness is driven by a clear eschatology.

The tower must be finished.

The window for repentance is closing.

The end approaches.

This sense of urgency did not come from paranoia. It came from reading Jesus and the apostles as if they meant what they said.

What the Shepherd of Hermas Tells Us About Apostolic Christianity

Hermas does not soften the apostles.

He sharpens them.

The Shepherd shows us that second-generation Christians understood apostolic teaching to mean:

• repentance is essential

• obedience is expected

• faith is allegiance

• community bears responsibility

• grace is real but not trivial

• judgment is coming

This is not a detour from apostolic faith.

It is apostolic faith received, extended, and applied.

A Necessary Clarification

Hermas is not Scripture.

He is not infallible.

He should not be elevated above the apostles.

But he is a faithful witness to how early Christians heard the apostles—before later theological systems reduced faith to mental assent and obedience to optional gratitude.

In Hermas, we still hear the echo of Jesus’ words:

“Strive to enter through the narrow door.”

And we see what that striving looked like in real communities.

The Takeaway

If modern Christianity struggles with thinness, Hermas helps explain why.

Early Christians believed repentance was urgent.

Discipleship was costly.

Obedience was non-negotiable.

And faith was something you lived under, not merely believed.

The Shepherd of Hermas does not give us a new gospel.

It gives us a sobering mirror—showing what the early church thought the apostles had actually taught.

And the reflection is unmistakable.