The Early Church Fathers on the Scriptures: Reading Scripture with the Early Church...[Ecumenical]

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[Salvation]

The Early Church Fathers on the Scriptures

 
Introduction: Reading Scripture with the Early Church Fathers 

What can the early church fathers teach us about Scripture?
Why read the early church fathers and what can they teach us about the scriptures? It is easy to underestimate the contributions of the past and to exaggerate the wisdom of the present. Can we trust the Christian teachers of  the early church period? Did they read the scriptures well? Did their own cultural and religious blind spots prevent them from understanding the heart of the gospel? Today there is renewed interest in the writings of the early church fathers among Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox. Many are rediscovering the rich treasure of wisdom and insight of the early church scholars, pastors, and teachers who devoted their lives to the study of the scriptures. The early fathers had a tremendous zeal for God and the Scriptures. What we see from a distance of some 2000 years, they saw close-up because of their access to the teachings of the apostles and the disciples of the apostles who also passed on their wisdom and insight. 

Who are the early church fathers?
The age of the church fathers begins with the apostles and the first disciples who had the privilege of personal contact with the Lord Jesus. They are the hearers of the Incarnate Word who kept and handed on the words of the Word. The age of the apostles ends with the death of John the Evangelist at the close of the first century. 

The patristic period began with some of the fathers who remembered the apostles John or Peter personally. They did not see Jesus in the flesh, but they had a personal share in the transmission of the apostles' testimony. 

The golden period of the fathers runs from the fourth to the sixth century.  Most date the end of the age of the Fathers of the West with the death of Isidore of Seville in 636, and the age of the Fathers of the East with the death of John Damascene in 749. 

What characterizes a father of the church?
What qualified someone to be recognized as a "father of the church"?  There are four key characteristics. First, their antiquity. The first church father is Clement of Rome, who wrote his letter around the year 96 AD. The early fathers lived and breathed the scriptures and the teachings of the apostles. They were the disciples of—and the disciples of the disciples of—the apostles. They demonstrate how Christ is present in all the Scriptures, from Genesis through Revelations.  [See How the Scriptures are one book in Christ.] 

A second characteristic of the church fathers is their holiness of life. They studied, meditated, and lived as faithful witnesses of the gospel. And they exhibited a tremendous zeal for God and the Scriptures. They have much to teach us about reverence for God's word and for study and meditation upon it. 

A third characteristic is their orthodox doctrine. Their teaching is recognized as sound within the bounds of Scripture and church tradition. They affirm the central truths of the faith, such as belief in the triune God, that Christ was fully divine and fully human, the redemptive efficacy of Christ's death on the cross, the absolute authority and infallibility of Scripture, the fallen condition of humanity, the significance of baptism, the vital importance of prayer and of the disciplined spiritual life. They were not just theologians, but pastors of the church.  Most of the early fathers were bishops. As shepherds of the church they spoke to the hearts and needs of those in their care. 

The fourth characteristic is ecclesiastical approval. They were affirmed as such by the church itself. Within the broader classification of "Church Fathers" eight are designated as "Doctors of the Church": Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine and Gregory the Great in the West; Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Athanasius and John Chrysostom in the East. They are eminent among the fathers for the depth of their learning. 

Reading Scripture is a spiritual activity
How did the early church fathers approach the reading of the Bible? They show us that it's not just an intellectual activity, but more importantly a spiritual one. In fact we need to prepare our hearts and minds for the fruitful study and meditation of the Scriptures. 

Listen to what the early fathers say about reading the Scriptures: 

Origen, who lived between 185-254 AD,  wrote: "The Word of God is in your heart. The Word digs in this soil so that the spring may gush out." 

Jerome, who lived between 342-419 AD, wrote: "You are reading? No.Your betrothed is talking to you. It is your betrothed, that is, Christ, who is united with you. He tears you away from the solitude of the desert and brings you into his home, saying to you, 'Enter into the joy of your Master.'" 

John Chrysostom, who lived between 347-407 AD, wrote: "Listen carefully to me..Procure books [of the Bible] that will be medicines for the soul. At least get a copy of the New Testament, the Apostle's epistles, the Acts, the Gospels, for your constant teachers. If you encounter grief, dive into them as into a chest of medicines; take from them comfort for your trouble, whether it be loss, or death, or bereavement over the loss of relations. Don't simply dive into them. Swim in them. Keep them constantly in your mind. The cause of all evils is the failure to know the Scriptures well."

The reading of the Bible should impact daily living. The Scriptures must be put into practice and translated into daily experience. We must be living testimonies of the Word of God. Reading the church fathers can be very rewarding, but it requires some serious effort. We have to transcend our modern culture and way of looking at things in order to understand the mind and culture of the early church and its way of thinking. If we are willing to hunt and dig a little in our study, then we will find a rich treasure of wisdom and inspiration from the writings of early fathers on the Scriptures.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

what we do know for sure is they all were in the same Body of Christ as you and i, which gives us all reason to Praise the Lord for His Love, Mercy and Grace!! Amen!

[Salvation]

Oh, those typos:

OK, I givr

OK, I give

[Jvette]

Just as in their own lifetimes, the Fathers of the Church are bringing people to faith, to know and love Jesus, to accept Him and His church and to believe in salvation through His sacrifice.

How many protestant ministers who began reading the Fathers came home because of what they found?

The Holy Spirit works through them even today, hundreds of years after their death.

[johngrace]

The Early Church Fathers
Their Relationship to the Apostles

Click here for a printable version of this page

The early Church fathers are the men who were thee first leaders of the Church. They left behind volumes and volumes of writings from which it is possible to see exactly what the practices and beliefs of the early Church were. These men lived in the earliest times of the Church before centuries of time had passed and the teachings of the apostles could be lost or forgotten. Of course there were false teachers in the early days of Christianity just as much as there are today. It is important to take into account which men were orthodox and which were early heretics. Though much more could be said on the topic, this is a simple chart which shows the relationship of some of the earliest fathers to the apostles. It helps to show why these men are accepted to be the leaders of the early Church, and not the dissenters. Above all is the fact that many of these men were ordained by the apostles, and they in turn ordained others. It is by this succession that Gnosticism is rejected as a true form of early Christianity where others are not. This succession, beginning with the apostles themselves, is the basis for orthodoxy among early writers was so from the earliest days of the Church:

“Our apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry.” - Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians 44:1-3; 80-96AD

“And we are in a position to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the apostles and their successors down to our own times, men who neither knew nor taught anything like what these heretics rave about” - Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:3:1; 110-189 AD

“Wherefore it is incumbent to obey the presbyters who are in the Church, — those who, as I have shown, possess the succession from the apostles; those who, together with the succession of the episcopate, have received the certain gift of truth, according to the good pleasure of the Father. But [it is also incumbent] to hold in suspicion others who depart from the primitive succession, and assemble themselves together in any place whatsoever, [looking upon them] either as heretics of perverse minds, or as schismatics puffed up and self-pleasing, or again as hypocrites, acting thus for the sake of lucre and vainglory. For all these have fallen from the truth.” – Irenaues, Against Heresies 4:26:2; 110-189 AD

“But if there be any (heresies) which are bold enough to plant themselves in the midst Of the apostolic age, that they may thereby seem to have been handed down by the apostles, because they existed in the time of the apostles, we can say: Let them produce the original records of their churches; let them unfold the roll of their bishops, running down in due succession from the beginning in such a manner that [that first bishop of theirs] bishop shall be able to show for his ordainer and predecessor some one of the apostles or of apostolic men, - a man, moreover, who continued stedfast with the apostles. For this is the manner in which the apostolic churches transmit their registers: as the church of Smyrna, which records that Polycarp was placed therein by John; as also the church of Rome, which makes Clement to have been ordained in like manner by Peter. In exactly the same way the other churches likewise exhibit (their several worthies), whom, as having been appointed to their episcopal places by apostles, they regard as transmitters of the apostolic seed. Let the heretics contrive something of the same kind. For after their blasphemy, what is there that is unlawful for them (to attempt)? But should they even effect the contrivance, they will not advance a step. For their very doctrine, after comparison with that of the apostles, will declare, by its own diversity and contrariety, that it had for its author neither an apostle nor an apostolic man; because, as the apostles would never have taught things which were self-contradictory, so the apostolic men would not have inculcated teaching different from the apostles, unless they who received their instruction from the apostles went and preached in a contrary manner. To this test, therefore will they be submitted for proof by those churches, who, although they derive not their founder from apostles or apostolic men (as being of much later date, for they are in fact being founded daily), yet, since they agree in the same faith, they are accounted as not less apostolic because they are akin in doctrine. Then let all the heresies, when challenged to these two tests by our apostolic church, offer their proof of how they deem themselves to be apostolic. But in truth they neither are so, nor are they able to prove themselves to be what they are not. Nor are they admitted to peaceful relations and communion by such churches as are in any way connected with apostles, inasmuch as they are in no sense themselves apostolic because of their diversity as to the mysteries of the faith.” – Tertullian, Prescription against Heresies 32; 200 AD

[johngrace]

http://www.soladeiverbum.com/ecf.shtml

[johngrace]

http://www.soladeiverbum.com/ecf.jpg

[sayuncledave]

I have this book, one of my absolute favorites:
http://books.google.com/books?id=UH4dKfiCcWEC&pg=PA1&dq=the+faith+of+Catholics+rev.+joseph+berington&hl=en&ei=J4v4TcDWLOX20gG1hf2KCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
Also found here:
http://www.amazon.com/Faith-Catholics-Controversy-confirmed-Scripture/dp/1907436022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1308134350&sr=8-1

Each section starts with a given element of the Faith, then shows the writings of the Church Fathers upon that subject. It inspires one to want to read more from them.

[Bed_Zeppelin]

Thanks for this thread and all the links. As Jesus told the Ephesian church in Revelation 2, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent."

[paladin1_dcs]

And just think of it. Most of them knew the apostles, knew the Blessed Virgin Mary, knew the disciples — maybe they even were some of the first disciples. And some people doubt them?

Without getting into the "most, many, some, few" debate I'd like to point out a slight distinction that I and most/many/some/a few other Fundamentalists see.

While we don't outright doubt the early Church Fathers, we also don't extend the idea of infallibility to them either. Only the Apostles have that cloak, and then only in matters where the Holy Spirit was guiding them. We actually have an example of an Apostle acting outside of the Holy Spirit's guiding in Galatians 2:11 where Peter and Barnabas were guided by peer pressure from the Jewish converts to shun Gentile believers.

Now that's not to say that the Holy Spirit couldn't and didn't work through the early Church Fathers, since it was by His guidance that we were given the Canon of Scripture, but discernment becomes of the utmost importance due to their lack of a first hand knowledge of the events surrounding Christ's life, crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

Simply put, we hold to the idea that Reagan put so succinctly as "Trust, but Verify". I personally find it very enlightening and rewarding to read what some of the early Church Fathers have written, as it gives a great insight to what they went through to help spread the Gospel in those early years.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Unfortunately, according to today’s Catholic and Orthodox churches, the fathers were ignoramuses whenever they endorsed a literal reading of Genesis because they were “men of their time.” On everything else they were experts, but on Genesis they were idiots.

[paladin1_dcs]

Unfortunately that's a symptom all too common across most denominations of Christianity as well as portions of Judaism as well. Often modern man is enthralled with the idea that his generation, whenever that generation may be in time, is the most advanced and wisest of all time and only they can rightly judge these documents. It never occurs to them that maybe, just maybe, there's an intellect far beyond their own who designed us and our surroundings and it's we who are catching up to His understanding of the written record and not the other way around.

[Salvation]

**How many protestant ministers who began reading the Fathers came home because of what they found?**

Amen to that. It happens again and again.

[Salvation]

**While we don’t outright doubt the early Church Fathers, we also don’t extend the idea of infallibility to them either.**

This is a new area for me, but I believe the Early Church Fathers did NOT agree on everything.

[Salvation]

Wow! Look at this!

 

[paladin1_dcs]

While I am most closely identified as a Fundamentalist, I most gladly admit that much of what I found in the early Church writings has strengthened my belief that the Scriptures are whole and without error. That is not to say that there has been anything to weaken that faith, just that not everything that I read pertained to reinforcing the idea of the infallibility of Canon. If anything, it’s drawn me into a deeper understanding of the Faith and drawn me closer to Christ.

[Not gonna take it anymore]

Nice chart. Thanks.

[johngrace]

Thanks-I do not know how to do images or charts on our freeper site. It looks beautiful. If a picture speaks a thousand words this chart speaks volumes! Amen!

[KC Burke]

This is a new area for me, but I believe the Early Church Fathers did NOT agree on everything.

How very true, but the discussions and disagreements we have today are a mean reflection of the millions of hours of thought, study, dedication and scholarship that the early church fathers devoted to the faith and therefore we have much to gain from going over what they battled so hard over -- it means we don't have to do it today -- there is little new or original.

It is almost a conceit we show today in thinking our enominational and doctrinal arguements are original since they were likely settled through the centuries.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Unfortunately that's a symptom all too common across most denominations of Christianity as well as portions of Judaism as well. Often modern man is enthralled with the idea that his generation, whenever that generation may be in time, is the most advanced and wisest of all time and only they can rightly judge these documents. It never occurs to them that maybe, just maybe, there's an intellect far beyond their own who designed us and our surroundings and it's we who are catching up to His understanding of the written record and not the other way around.

True. I have never understood how these champions of modernity and rationality justify their support and celebration of non-western, non-modern, non-rational "indigenous pipples."

[Zionist Conspirator]

While I am most closely identified as a Fundamentalist, I most gladly admit that much of what I found in the early Church writings has strengthened my belief that the Scriptures are whole and without error.

Yes but today "we know better."

I'll never understand it. Catholics and Orthodox will cite the fathers to "prove" something, but if you quote a father who believes Genesis actually happened just as it is written they'll say "they didn't know any better back then."