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Christianity Today, October (Web-only), 2007 |

Interview

A Higher Ecclesiology for Evangelicals

Bryan Litfin, author of Getting to Know the Church Fathers, says that we need to reclaim our spiritual heritage.

Interview by Susan Wunderink | posted 10/26/2007 09:32AM

Bryan Litfin's Getting to Know the Church Fathers, which has chapters on Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian, Perpetua, Origen, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Augustine, and ...

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Pastor Art

Posted: October 29, 2007 8:06 AM

In the Father’s the cultural and historic standards of eye witness viability give credence for our need to hear them. As for the battles they fought still being fought I think that is because most “evangelical” people think that the “Church” started at the Reformation. This has allowed the lies to be repeated because we are left without authoritative pronouncements from the past correcting heresies. Wesley learned from the Father’s and England was spared the fate happening on the Continent. What about us today?

Adam	Posted: October 28, 2007 7:25 PM

I'm disturbed to see the amount of misunderstanding displayed here. The Church Fathers are NOT distant relatives from a bygone age with fond memories of an early, out-of-date Church. They ARE the founders of our faith with, yes, Holy-Spirit-Inspired insight into a faith once and for all delivered to the saints. Their work may at times be difficult or suffer the inevitable complications of a fallen world or the intricacies of language, but it has conveyed Holy Tradition (which encompasses Scripture), giving us everything that we call the Christian Faith. It is arrogant and dangerous for us to presume that the Church Fathers had mostly a 'geographical' nearness to Christ. And, it's completely absurd to select writings from the Chruch Fathers á la carte outside of Holy Tradition. St. Ignatius of Antioch's life did overlap Christ's, and Ignatius wrote ardently for the Eucharist and authority of the bishop. Their very un-Evangelical pronouncements should not be ignored.

DONALD FAHRENKRUG

Posted: October 27, 2007 10:07 PM

As a conservative, Independent Lutheran, I think church history is important. However, the "Fathers" have to be read with great caution. Inspired they are not. In fact, just like theologians today, they contradict one another and some of them had some pretty wild ideas. That being said, I do admire some of them for the battles they fought against the various hersies, some of which we are still fighting against. But I do NOT agree that because they were closer to the beginning that that necessarily gives them better insight. Almost from the beginning the early Fathers wanted to mix the law and the gospel and bring in this whole idea that we have to "accept" Jesus or make a "decision" or Jesus or help God save us. The same old story that the whole entire church has basically gone to--incorrectly I might add. We need to stick to the written, inerrant Word of God and we would not get into so much screwy theology. As 1 cor 4:7 says, we have NOTHING we haven't received.

Ted	Posted: October 26, 2007 6:46 PM


AWESOME! its a beautful thing to see Christians understanding the fullness of the faith. i was alway told the early church was more protestant then catholic, but as you will discover, they were more catholic. i hope that we will all be one, as Christ prayed.

R & G Wunderink

Posted: October 26, 2007 1:50 PM


As people interested in Church history, we found your article interview so interesting that we will get the book to read more intensively into this. Enjoy your other on-line articles very much also.

Pastor Dave Poedel STS

Posted: October 26, 2007 1:45 PM

It is good that evangelicals are rediscovering the Church! Litfin makes an excellent point when he describes the Radical Reformation as the point where the "baby" was thrown out with the "bathwater". As a Lutheran, the Radical Reformation causes us a lot of heartburn. As a sacramental Church, we have less of a journey to recover the Church Fathers, but we are nonetheless on the same recovery journey. As some Lutherans are flirting with evangelicalism, perhaps more of us are returning to our Catholic roots. This book is welcome if only that it gets some of our Lutherans to discover the Church Fathers for today.

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