"The Fathers made me Catholic, and I am not going to kick down the ladder by which I ascended into the Church."
"To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant." - John Henry Newman
“Therefore I entreat the people of God, the holy nation, to cling to the traditions of the Church. For just as the removal of one of the stones of a building will quickly bring ruin to that building, so will the removal, ever so little, of what has been handed down.” - St. John of Damascus
“[I]t is most important thus to cut every generation off from all others, for where learning makes a free commerce between the ages there is always the danger that the characteristic errors of one may be corrected by the characteristic truths of another." - C. S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters
“No Catholic today can afford to be ignorant of the past: neither of his glorious heritage, nor of its occasional less glorious moments.” - W. A. Jurgens
“The
most dangerous men in
Christianity
were the Fathers of the Church.”
- Karl Keating<
What do you think?
John 12:16, Proverbs 22:28
The fathers are recognized by the church under 4 general marks: 1) Othodoxy in doctrine, 2) Sanctity in life, 3) Antiquity, and 4) Approval/Recognition by the church. The fathers are categorized by their time frames. Those who were associates/contemporaries of the Apostles are called the Apostolic Fathers. Those prior to the council of Nicea (AD 325) are referred to as the Ante-Nicene Fathers. After the Nicea Council, the Post Nicene Fathers. The time of the fathers, or the “patristic age,” is roughly dated in the west to have ended with the death of St. Isidore of Seville (AD 636), and in the east with the death of St. John Damascene (AD 749).
We will start with one piece of early church writing. After that, we could just concentrate on each of the books individually in turn – or, we could take a topical approach and then take selections from various church fathers to cover the topic. Which do you prefer?
Didache [did-ah-kay] is the greek word for “the teaching” and was a tool for instructing new converts in the early church.
It is likely based on a previous Jewish document that was used to instruct gentile converts in Judaism. The early church adopted it and added to it. The Jewish document is often referred to as the “Two Ways Document” taken from the opening lines of the book. Before its rediscovery in 1883, there were many references to it in other manuscripts and so its existence was not forgotten but only excerpts in other works were available. Since its discovery, more excerpts have been found so it appears to be have been a widely distributed and respected document in the early church.
Author: Uknown, some have speculated it to be a summary of the Apostles' teaching. In fact, many references to the didache in other writings refer to it as “The Teachings of the Apostles.”
Date: Originally written in its Christian form in the late first or early second century. It was more recently published after being discovered in an 11th century manuscript in 1883.
Before beginning your study of the Didache, meditate on the scripture, Deuteronomy 30:19.
As you read, think of the didache as organized into 3 major sections:
The Two Ways (The portion of primarily Jewish origin)
The rituals of the church
The ministry and vocations
Take notes as you read so you can share your thoughts in class. Note, for instance, how much is similar or dissimilar to our practices today.
Be sure to take a look at some of the online resources that are available as well. The Catholic Encyclopedia at the New Advent website has a nice little article on the Didache for some further background.
My information: Mark Hord,
Theology for Beginners by F. J. Sheed.
The best introduction around. Even if you have a solid theological background already, this is a good one for going back and examining the foundations.
Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers (Penguin Classics) translation by Maxwell Staniforth.
Penguin classics are an
affordable way to obtain many of the ancient classics. This volume is
a respected translation that contains the Didache, Clement's
epistle to the Corinthians, 7 epistles of Ignatius, the epistle of
Polycarp to the Phillipians, the martyrdom of Polycarp, and the
epistles of Diognetus and Barnabas.
The
Apostolic Fathers
translated by J. B. Lightfoot.
This is also generally very affordable and it is a well-respected
translation in its own right. It contains all that the Penguin
Classic Apostolic Fathers contains plus The Shepherd of Hermas and
the fragments of St Papias (sometimes called "An Explanation on
the Sayings of the Lord").
The
Faith of the Early Fathers
by William Jurgens.
This is a three volume collection of early church writings along
with extensive notes along with scriptural and doctrinal indexes. Get
all three volumes if you can but at least get the first. The
first volume contains all that the other two Apostolic Fathers
(Staniforth or Lightfoot) contains plus a lot more - the most value
for your money. If you keep a look out, you can often find
individual volumes on sale through used-book distributors.
Buying all three together will be a little under $50.
The
History of the Church: From Christ to Constantine
(Penguin Classics) by Eusebius.
Still the definitive history of the early church. A must have.
From
Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity
(The Great Courses, Part 1 & 2) (Audio CD) Dr. Bart Ehrman.
Dr. Ehrman is a fantastic teacher and is very highly respected in
the academic community. This course is very good. He is, however, a
former Protestant turned agnostic. His agnosticism is not of the more
virulent strain and he is able to treat church history quite fairly.
In fact, when I first listened to the course, I did not detect any
hint of his spiritual slant. The good thing about this course is that
Dr. Ehrman is such a good teacher and this course is available
through mid-continent public library. I think I have listened to all
the courses available from Dr. Ehrman - some are better than others -
this is, I think, his best. It is a good way to get a
college/seminary level course for the cost of a library card. For
more titles (all of them are available through the library), see the
Teaching Company website.
Our Lady of Zeitun Bible Website (http://www.zeitun-eg.org/)
A collection of Bible Study tools that includes free downloads of the “complete” church fathers collection.
New Advent (http://www.newadvent.org/)
Good translations of the early fathers in a clean, very readable format with scripture references not included in the originals (copyrighted). Also includes many other good tools for Bible study – including even St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa.
Early Church Fathers (http://www.earlychurchfathers.org/)
The stated intent of the site is to trace Catholic doctrines to the early church so the text of the early fathers is organized by belief/doctrine and not as complete works. This is a great resource for the roots of those doctrines.
Early Christian Writings (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/)
A collection of many early writings including those deemed heretical later on such as the Gnostic writings. But most of the writings are provided in various translations and many have extensive comparative commentaries to dig a little deeper and see where scholars debate the significance of their content.
The Crossroads Initiative (http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com)
Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio provides a few courses on CD concerning the Early Church Fathers. I have not heard them myself but have heard good things about them. The courses are an audo collection of an EWTN program Dr. D'Ambrosio hosted.
The Teaching Company (www.teach12.com)
Provides courses in audio and video on many topics from high school to college level. The courses on church history are quite good and all seem to be available through the library.