GETTING INTO THE CHURCH FATHERS

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

GETTING INTO THE CHURCH FATHERS

The Church Fathers deserve to be better known than they are among contemporary Christians. Patristic works are the "classics" of Christian theology, as with other classics, though they are regularly lauded but rarely read. Admittedly, working through the whole of Patristic literature would be as daunting task: J.P. Migne’s Patrology runs to some four hundred volumes, with more than a hundred thousand pages of dense Greek and Latin text. However, one can manage a solid acquaintance with the Church Fathers without navigating the seven seas of Migne: some good series have made works of the major (and some of the minor) Church Fathers available in English translation…

The Designation "Church Father"

Those who have come to be known as "Church Fathers" led Christianity during the first centuries of its existence also the Apostles. Not everyone who lived and wrote during that period qualified as a Church Father, though. The designation is an honorific, bestowed at some point subsequent to the author’s death. One only qualified as a "Church Father" if he met four tests: ANTIQUITY, HOLINESS OF LIFE, ORTHODOX TEACHING, AND ECCLESIASTICAL APPROVAL. These tests distinguished those ancient Christian writers who had been and could be trusted as faithful witnesses to TO GENUINE CHRISTIAN LIFE AND TEACHING. Being accorded the designation "Church Father" was a stamp of approval; it assured that the author’s works could be read with confidence and profit.

Why Read the Church Fathers?

Some contemporary Christians might question the value of reading the work of Christian authors from so long ago, but reading the Church Fathers offers many benefits to Christians today. For one thing, the works of the Church Fathers give us access to the Christianity that emerged fresh from the Apostles’ lives and labors. Patristic literature thus offers us A WINDOW ON WHAT THE EARLY CHURCH HAD LEARNED FROM THE APOSTLES. For the many today who naively believe that their particular denomination or congregation practices New Testament Christianity, pure and simple, Patristic literature can be at once humbling and enlightening.

In addition, whether we today recognize it or not, the Patristic era was a critical period for Christianity. WE TRUSTED FOR THE DELIMITATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity we profess was articulated by the Church Fathers, as against several heresies. In embracing the teaching that Jesus Christ had two natures–ONE DIVINE AND ONE HUMAN–in ONE PERSON, we take terminology refined by the Church Fathers to confess faith in the Savior. If we follow the architectural metaphor of Saint Paul, according to which the Apostles and Prophets ARE THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH, with Jesus Christ THE CORNERSTONE [Ephesians 2:20], then the Patristic period erected the first story of the building–THAT ECCLESIASTICAL EDIFICE IN WHICH CHRISTIANS STILL LIVE.

The Church Fathers long ago UNFOLDED WHAT IT MEANS TO THINK AND LIVE AS CHRISTIANS; as the third millennium begins, we can still learn much from them about Christia thought and life. Their times were, of course, much different from the present day; even so, the Church Fathers lived in periods of great social and cultural dislocation, in which momentous changes were afoot–similar enough to our contemporary postmodern (and even post-Christian) situation to make it worthwhile to give them a hearing…So getting to know the Church Fathers is not just as exercise in antiquarianism; IT HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT PRACTICAL BENEFITS FOR CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANS…

Another good reason for reading the works of the Church Fathers is that their writings are not esoteric pieces intended only for those professionally initiated in theology–quite the contrary, in fact! The Church Fathers WROTE FOR THE FAITHFUL, NOT FOR SCHOLARS. They addressed the needs of the Church in their days for INSTRUCTION, EDIFICATION, AND EXHORTATION. Consequently, much of Patristic literature comes to us IN SERMONS OR CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION; APART FROM REFERENCES TO SPECIFIC CULTURAL SETTINGS THAT HAVE CHANGED IN THE MEANWHILE, SUCH MATERIAL USUALLY REMAINS ACCESSIBLE TO CONTEMPORARY READERS.

To be sure, THE CHURCH FATHERS ALSO WROTE TO DEFEND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH AGAINST PAGAN OPPONENTS OR HERETICS, IN BOTH CASES, THOUGH, THEY SOUGHT A CLARITY THAT WOULD GUIDE READERS TO TRUTH, RATHER THAN A SCHOLARLY PROFUNDITY THAT MIGHT ENLIGHTEN ONLY AN ACADEMIC FEW. Even so, the needs of argument to such conflicts sometimes forced the Church Fathers to wrestle over terminology or to articulate careful responses, to complicated alternative positions; these Patristic works admittedly make special demands on readers…

Further, Patristic literature is not dry and detached; rather, the Church Fathers’ works show authors passionately involved with important questions. In Patristic literature, a reader can hear the heartbeat in every sentence; in some theological literature in later centuries (e.g. in medieval scholasticism and Protestant scholasticism–but not only there!}, it is at times difficult even to detect a pulse. The Christian faith matters profoundly and obviously to the Church Fathers; of that, no reader will have any question.

A Holy Father is known for the holiness and great virtue of his life, he teaches the True Faith, explains correctly and unerringly the Holy Scripture, he gives witness to it by both his life and works, he is enlighten by the grace of the Holy Spirit and has dedicated his whole life to the service of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and Divine Head of the Church. They are among the greatest Saints of the Orthodox Church. Holy Fathers like Saint James the holy Apostle who wrote, structured, and introduced the Divine Liturgy named after him to the Church. He was followed by Saint Basil the Great and Saint John Chrysostom and thus the Orthodox Church has a truly a most heavenly and God-inspired worship service for her faithful. Many of the Holy Fathers of the Church experienced, exile, imprisonment, torture, slander and some gave their lives for the Faith. It was also the Holy Fathers that defended the belief that the Church of Christ is ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH and UNDIVIDED!

The Holy Fathers of the Church were more than great scholars and brilliant in the sciences and rhetoric, BUT WHO ABANDONED THE UNIVERSITIES, DISTRIBUTED THEIR WEALTH TO THE POUR AND BECAME MONKS AND LIVED ASCETIC LIVES WITH HUMILITY, MEEKNESS AND GLORIOUS MARTYRDOM. They were holy men who were Spirit-filled and who lived ascetic lives and who became true spiritual beacons of the Orthodox Faith. They were inspired by the Holy Spirit and became the authentic Christian teachers and defenders of Orthodox Christianity and were profound and insightful. They fought heresy and expelled the heretics. They preserved the Apostolic tradition and legacy and were exceptional preachers of the word. They were conscious of having received the Christian faith from the Holy Apostles and of the necessity of preserving that faith inviolate. They were known for their austere fasting, and spiritual discipline and love for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His Church. They were distinguished for caring and providing the essentials for the poor, widows and orphans. Their life was one of unceasing prayer and doing good works. They had bestowed theosis (deification) and clairvoyance. They offer insights, teachings, and perspectives on the Christian faith that open up how to live faithfully before God of everyday life. They performed miracles and healing to those who were entrusted to them. They were constantly engaged with the Holy Scripture and offered commentaries on them. For the Holy Fathers of the Church, Doctrine is to be experienced , not just talked about. They had no room for the dichotomy between the "head" (i.e., intellectual understanding of doctrine) and the "heart" (i.e. personal, existential appropriation of truth) to which Christians have become accustomed in the subsequent history of the Church. For the Holy Fathers, DOCTRINE AFFECTS AND CHANGES LIFE, OR IT IS NOT TRUE DOCTRINE. For them, not only is all truth interrelated, it also inevitably affects life. Patristic literature is always engaged with the reader, seeking to lead him or her into more faithful Christian discipleship. The Holy Fathers of the Church participated in the Church’s Seven Ecumenical Councils and the formulation of the Orthodox Creed and Doctrine that can never be altered by anyone.

I strongly recommend that those interested in learning and in growing spiritually, turn not only to the sacred writings or works of the Holy Fathers of the Church but to their God-inspired and holy lives. I promise you by doing so your lives will be greatly enriched and edified. Christianity currently needs to turn its attention to the Holy Fathers of the Church since there is a plethora of heresies, confusion, division, unethical and perverse practices, apostasy, and blasphemous innovations introduced as being Christian. The Holy Fathers of the Church can show the contemporary Christians the true way and path to the Authentic Church of Christ, the Holy Orthodox Church. [Source: A Patristic Treasury.  Early Church Wisdom for Today by James R. Payton, Jr.]

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos, one of the great Holy Fathers of the Church.
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George