In a world full of
commentaries by modern evangelical theologians/pastors (such as John MacArthur,
Warren Wiersbe, John Philips, J. Vernon McGee, Jon Courson, and the list goes
on), and top notch publishers (such as IVP, Baker, Crossway, and Eerdmans), something
has been sorely lacking on the Commentary shelves of LifeWay, Family, and
Mardel Christian Stores across the county: The writings of the Early Church
Fathers.
To answer these
questions we will first go back to the earliest days of the Christian Church. In
the early First Century the 11 Apostles of Jesus Christ (and possibly the 120
“brethren” mentioned in Acts 1) stood on a hill and watched as the Lord of
Glory ascended into heaven before their very eyes. Christ had promised them
that He would send the spirit to them from the Father and that they would reach
out to all the world and spread the news of the defeat of death and the life of
Christ. From this point forward, witnesses to this event - as well as those who
knew those who were witnesses - began to do just that: spread the Good News
around the word, proclaiming that the scriptures had been fulfilled. They began
to set up communities and write letters to each other for encouragement, as
well as to kings and emperors trying to explain to them what all the ruckus was
about.
Many of these letters
and writings later on became recognized as divinely inspired to such a point as
to be considered Scripture and became what we know of today as the New
Testament (NT). Other writings did not become part of the NT, but were none the
less read for spiritual encouragement and edification. Some non-canonical
letters were written to encourage believers to endure till the end, such as the
letters of Ignatius; others were written to rebuke disorder, instruct new
believers, and to build up the body of Christ, such as the letter known as 1
Clement and the Didache.
Traditionally, the
“Church Fathers” are considered those Christians, Priests, Bishops, and Monks who
played a major role in the development and defense of the faith through
pastoral leadership, writings, or martyrdom up until the Seventh Ecumenical
Council (about the first 800 years of the Church). They are usually divided
into eras: The Apostolic Fathers (those trained and taught by the Apostles
themselves), Anti-Nicene Fathers (pre-325), and Nicene & Post-Nicene
Fathers (Post-325). Most of the writings we will be discovering will at first
involve the first two categories. We may reference some from the Post-Nicene
Fathers occasionally, and hopefully move on to greater things in the future.
These
image can show us just how close some of the Apostolic Fathers lived in
conjunction with the Apostles themselves. This is why their writings
are of great interest to us.
Why is it important for Christians to learn about the Early Church Fathers and their writings?
The answer is two-fold.
First, because WE ARE NOT SPIRITUAL ORPHANS! As a Christian you have a heritage
that reaches back 2000 years. Think about it. Were any of your relatives –
grandparents, great-grandparents – Christians? Were they preachers?
Missionaries? My Great-Great-Grandfather was an Assemblies of God preacher in Missouri.
This had an interesting historical impact on my family. Our heritage is
important, and when we become Christians we usually use language like “welcome
to the family of God!” However, we forget – or were never told – that part of
that family are those who have lived and died for Christ 100, 300, 800, 1500,
2000 years ago! And guess what! They aren’t dead! They are standing before the
throne room of God worshiping and praying as we speak. What an amazing family
we have. We are not spiritual orphans.
Secondly, the writings
of the Early Church Fathers gives us as Christians (and church historians,
theologians, and pastors) the ability to peer back in time and not only see
what it was like to be one of those first Christians in the First Century, but
to see and understand how they acted, talked, believed, loved, grew, prayed,
worshiped, fasted, read scripture, died, lived… in essence, we get a first
glimpse at what it meant to BE a Christian. What did the Apostles teach a
Christian was? What did they teach about how to act, worship, pray, all the
things listed above? We have some writings in the NT from them (keep in mind,
mostly from Paul, but there were 12 others), but we don’t have everything written
down that they ever spoke. We do however have writings from people who were
disciples of these Apostles (as mentioned before, called Apostolic Fathers);
more about this in later posts. These two things can really impact how we view
those who have gone before us, and how we can improve our Christian walk today.
Well, for one, I am a
Church Historian and I LOVE Historical Theology (The study of doctrinal changes
over time). Secondly, reading the Early Church Fathers changed my own personal
devotion to Christ in very significant ways; and I hope to share them with you
along the way. And lastly, there has been a steadily increasing interest in the
area of Patristic Studies (what we’ve been talking about this whole time) in
Evangelical circles and Colleges over the past 10 to 15 years, if not more. You
do not have to be Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox to gain wisdom and appreciation
from the Church Fathers; remember, this is our common Christian Heritage (there
were no denominations during the patristic era, just one Church). I would also
like to make it clear, that though I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian, This
blog is in no way designed to trick you into the Orthodox Tradition. As I have
stated, many other Christian traditions are beginning to see the value in
Patristic studies, and I want to help because I love the Church Fathers, and so
does my Tradition – so we have a lot to offer.
I may start with
posting every other Sunday, but if it works out I would push that up to every Sunday. Not all posts will be as long as this one - Promise!
I am not a professional blogger, but I do enjoy learning and helping others
with resources needed. I will be re-reading the Church Fathers alongside you as
we take this journey together. I will do my best to post helpful resources for
you to follow along. To start with, here is a very good project going on by a
few fellows. These folks have divided up the readings of the Church Fathers in
such a way that if you read each daily devotional according to their calendar,
you will read the entirety of the Church Father’s writings in 7 years. That
sounds like a long time, but when you consider how many books and letters there
really are, this is amazing. This will also allow you free access to all the
writings of the Church fathers. It’s a great tool, and it’s FREE!!!
http://readthefathers.org/
http://readthefathers.org/
Here is another great resource: http://www.ccel.org/
Hope you will join me
in this journey, and have fun discovering our Christian Heritage. Next post we
will discuss the importance of NT Canon, and why the Church Fathers are not
included in Canon. Then we will dig into our first writings (possibly the
Didache and The Shepherd of Hermas).
Blessings,
Devin (Athanasios) Green
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