Posted on 01/27/2007 6:12:35 AM PST by NYer
The Early Church Fathers were the leaders and teachers of the early Church. They lived and wrote during the first eight centuries of Church history. Some of their writings were composed to instruct and / or to encourage the faithful. Other writings were composed to explain or defend the faith when it was attacked or questioned. The writings of the Early Fathers are widely available and studied. They are accepted by Catholic and non Catholic scholars alike. Thus they provide common ground in establishing the beliefs and practices of the early Church.
The earliest of the fathers are known as the Apostolic Fathers. Their writings come to us from the first two centuries of Church History. They were the immediate successors of the Apostles. Three of them were disciples of one or more of the Apostles. Clement of Rome was a disciple of the apostles Peter and Paul. Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna were disciples of the Apostle John. Naturally we would expect that those who were taught directly by the Apostles would themselves believe and teach correctly.
Protestantism is based on the allegation that the Catholic Church became corrupt shortly after 312 AD. That’s when the emperor Constantine converted and made Christianity the state religion. It is alleged that pagan converts came into the Church bringing with them many of their pagan beliefs and practices. According to Protestant historians the pagan practices that were brought into the Church became the distinctive doctrines of Catholicism. Thus the Catholic Church was born and true Christianity was lost until the Reformation. But history tells us a different story.
Shortly after the death of the apostle John, his disciple, Ignatius of Antioch, referred to the Church as the Catholic Church. In his Letter to the Smyrnaeans he wrote: "Where the bishop is present, there is the Catholic Church" (8:2 [A.D. 107]).
In reading the Early Fathers we see a Church with bishops in authority over priests and deacons. We see a church that baptized infants and believed in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. We see a Church that believed in the primacy of Rome, the intercession of the saints in heaven and the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Thus we are lead to the inescapable conclusion that the early Church was the Catholic Church.
As you can see, the writings of the Early Fathers are especially helpful in refuting the Protestant claim that many Catholic doctrines were invented in later years. Although they are wrong concerning the age of Catholic doctrines their reasoning is sound. If a teaching appears after the apostolic age without evidence of previous support it must be false. Curiously enough though, they abandon this line of reasoning when it comes to many of their own beliefs such as the doctrine of Scripture Alone (mid 1500’s), The Rapture (late 1800’s), the licitness of artificial contraception (1930) and many others.
It is important to note that some doctrines existed in a primitive form during the early years. These doctrines would develop over time. One example is the Doctrine of the Trinity. All of its elements were present at the beginning but it wasn’t clearly defined the way it is today. It wasn’t until later that it was fully understood. This would not make it a late teaching as all of the information was there from the beginning. Other doctrines were developed in this same way.
Also worthy of note is the fact that the Early Fathers occasionally disagreed on minor issues that were not yet settled by the Church. This does not present us with a problem as we do not claim that the Fathers were infallible. While they were not infallible they were unmistakably Catholic. They clearly illustrate the fact that the early Church had no resemblance to Protestantism.
John Henry Newman was one of the more famous converts to Catholicism. After studying the Early Fathers he wrote: "The Christianity of history is not Protestantism. If ever there were a safe truth it is this, and Protestantism has ever felt it so; to be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant" (An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine).
Christianity was started by Christ 2000 years ago and it has existed for 2000 years. It didn’t go away for 1200 years and come back. Indeed that would have rendered Jesus’ words impotent. In Matthew 16:18 as He was establishing His Church Jesus gave us a guarantee. He said: "I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." If the Protestant hypothesis is correct, the gates of hell did some serious prevailing and Jesus Christ is a liar. But of course such is not the case.
Don't even get me started on that one Chappy!
At least they aren't calling the Muslims Protestant.
"They never were sure what to do with the Orthodox."
LOL! That figures! Who does? My Dad's two favorite priests were both chaplains; one Latin, a rear admiral, the other Orthodox and a four striper; both Navy.
I've seen so-called "Mormon Protestants," "7th Day Adventist Protestants," "Church of Scientology Protestants," etc., etc.
It's enough to make a Christian gag.
Meant to add that our fellow Freeper pachomius73 is now at the GOA seminary at Brookline, Ma. Went there after his return from a tour in Iraq. He has re-upped and when he is ordained in three years, he will be an Orthodox chaplain in the Army National Guard.
Congrats, pachomius73.
If you're not already a Chaplain Candidate, become one. You get to train and get retirement points.
Discuss the issues, but do NOT make it personal.
"Congrats, pachomius73.
If you're not already a Chaplain Candidate, become one. You get to train and get retirement points."
Back at the parish we are VERY, VERY PROUD of him, sinfully so, I'm afraid! :) (We miss him and his wife and kids too, the oldest of whom is my goddaughter!)
While in ROTC I was in the Simultaneous Membership Program. Basically it put non-scholarship cadets into the Guard or Reserve, (I missed the graduation requirement age by 6 months, came in to late) and gave us E5 pay, drill time, and GI bill money.
The one thing it didn't do was count towards was pay and retirement. Anyway, back in 94(?) I saw an Army Times headline that read: Some Officers Get Pay Raise." That caught my eye and as I read the article I saw that the SMP grads would have their time count for pay.
Instant pay raise!
We need good Chaplains.
When will he graduate? Hopefully before I retire. (No idea when that will be)
That wasn't a Catholic nun.
It was a protestant pimp nun.
"We need good Chaplains.
When will he graduate? Hopefully before I retire. (No idea when that will be)"
2010, I believe. he got back from Iraq last spring and entered the seminary last August. He had doubts about re-upping, but some of us old bulls, a couple of young priests and a Metropolitan got to him!
He'll make a wonderful chaplain. Because he spent time in a Protestant theological school before becoming Orthodox, he has an excellent grasp of scripture (we call him our walking concordance) and a better understanding of the American mindset than many born Orthodox priests, in my opinion.
For the sake of this discussion, sure. I am still waiting for an answer.
The question really should be, why are they, children of God, doing that and why are they enabled by other children of God?
I thought I did.
As an Evangelical Protestant, I have no problem learning from their great-great-grandchildren, such as Thomas Aquinas, G.K. Chesterton, and so forth. I'm also looking forward to reading B16's upcoming book.
Make no mistake: I have severe disagreements with Catholicism, and I am aware of them when I read them. But those disagreements are not where the battle of today is. The battle is not amongst those who have good-faith differences about the authority of the Church, the Communion of the Saints, the Sacraments, and so forth. No, the real battle today is against secular post-modernists who want to break people of their faith, against a world that wants to distract us with its baubles, and against an errant heart that wants to buy into the lies of the world so I can do what I know I should hate.
My enemies are not other Christians. It's the world, the flesh and the devil.
Who is enabling them?
I've already explained what's going on here.
Where are their priests?
The problem is not what you listed. When Trent anathematized Sola Fide we parted ways.
Oh, that part.
No
I talking big picture here, not your individual situation, which you have already clarified.
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