LOOKING BACK AT THE CHURCH FATHERS AND CHURCH HISTORY

 

"Church Fathers' Fellowship", Jeffrey C. Reynolds. Explanation below.

I hope you enjoyed the last two weeks looking at various church fathers. Maybe you've learned more about the first 500 years of church history than you previously known. Maybe you've been challenged and/or encouraged through this series. If so, please let me know.

We have a problem today with Biblical illiteracy. Add to that the fact that Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit and is in its entirety truth(2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 119:160; 2 Peter 1:21), and church history is not, and we can see why church history is overlooked. But should it be?

Paul urged the Corinthians to follow him as he followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Likewise, we should note how other believers follow Christ and imitate their obedience and faith (Philippians 3:17; Hebrews 6:11-12; 13:7). In this case, we can learn from the Church Fathers, from the Reformers, from godly pastors/evangelists/apologists/authors of the past and present, and even from pioneers of Christian music (which I would include Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley in that category).

In the book Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction, Bryan Litfin ended each chapter with some provocative questions concerning the church father covered. In the last chapter, the final two questions were more summary questions. 

He asks which of the twelve people he dealt with were your favorites and least favorites, and if there were any whom you felt connection to. My favorites were Tertullian, Athanasius, and John Chrysostom. The first two were in my list of heroes of the faith before I read this book; Chrysostom was not. Least favorite is easy, and if you've been faithful reading this series and have a memory of what you've read in the past three days, you'd know it's Cyril of Alexandria.

Do I relate to any? This took some thought, and I realized there were two. One was Irenaeus of Lyons, who worked to bring peace between the Bishop of Rome and some in the Middle East who disagreed with him on the dating of Easter, as well as standing against the false teaching of the Gnostics. The other was Ephrem the Syrian, between his use of poetry to teach truth and his encouragement of getting "the sisters" to sing by forming women's choirs. Some of you may know I used to be a songwriter, and a few might know that I've always liked hearing female vocalists. 

Litfin's last question of the readers is if their view of "church fathers" changed. At the beginning of the book, he mentioned some confused the catholic fathers with Roman Catholicism - whether you use a capital 'C' makes the difference.  Likewise, he stated some felt the Church fell into apostasy at some point (usually either with Constantine's rise to power or with Leo the Great raising the role of the Pope). My treatment is more abbreviated than Litfin's but it would be interesting if my series has affected your opinion of the church fathers in particular and church history in general.

So let me close to the few, the proud, those who read my blog daily for the last two weeks: Who are your favorites of the twelve Litfin (and I) have dealt with? Whose your least favorites? And do you connect with any of them? 

Explanation of Picture:

"Church Fathers' Fellowship".

In the center, seated, are Origen and John Chrysostom, debating over hermeneutics (Biblical interpretation, with Origen representing Alexandrian allegorism and Chrysostom representing Antiochene interpretation, more literal.

 

On the far left, you have Ignatius of Antioch with the lion he met at the Collesium; they're better friends now in glory. Seated is Ephrem the Syrian, trying to teach Perpetua a hymn he wrote - Ephrem encouraged women's choirs. Perpetua is with a heifer who she encountered at her martyrdom.

 

Behind Origen and Chrysostom are observing, left to right, Irenaeus of Lyons, Athanasius, Augustine, and Cyril of Alexandria. I'd love to hear their theological discussion.

 

On the far right, St. Patrick discussing the shamrock as an object lesson to philosopher/early apologist Justin Martyr (seated) and Tertullian (standing).

 

Artist's impression of the twelve church fathers in "Getting To Know The Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction," (2nd edition) by Bryan Litfin.

 

A HYMN WRITING APOLOGIST FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF JERUSALEM - A LOOK AT EPHREM THE SYRIAN

 

Jesus commanded His disciples to make disciples of all nations, to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and to be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the world. Yet we consider Christianity a Western religion, not reaching into Africa and Asia until the modern mission movement. Did the apostles fail to obey and ignored the lands to the East, or is our perception a bit off?

In this series (we're in part 9 of 13), I've been following Bryan Litfin's book Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction. The first edition included ten people from the first 500 years of the church, and the second edition added two more. One of these is Ephrem the Syrian. I had never heard of him before the second edition. My loss.

Litfin mentions that the Christianity that traveled East was more Jewish than the Western form. Some of it was orthodox, some wasn't. Also, in Edessa in Mesopotamia, there were other false teachings. Ephrem recognized that both the Eastern church he was a part of and the Western church were the same faith, serving the same Savior, and fought against the heresies of Ebionism (a Judaizing movement), Arianism (denying that Jesus was God in the flesh), Marcionism, and Manicheism (a form of Gnosticism). Ephrem's theology was so strong, it was praised by church leaders in the West, such as Augustine's contemporary Jerome.

One technique of the false groups like Arianism and Manicheism was to set their hereitical teachings to music. Ephrem decided the best way to fight fire was with fire, so he wrote hymns both to refute error and to proclaim truth. This helped him earn the nickname "the Harp of the Holy Spirit."

A topic for debate today is a woman's role in the church, particularly if women can preach. In Ephrem's day, there was no such debate - the answer was an across-the-board "No." However, Ephrem saw no prohibition on women singing. So he organized women's choirs, so the sisters can sing.

Have there been hymns or other Christian songs that have had an impact on you? Do you see music being used to defend the faith and teach doctrine much this day? If not, should it? (See Colossians 3:16)