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I was specifically thinking in the area of discernment. Since I do not agree patently with everything that Calvin and Luther said, I cannot say that their gifts of discernment were better on every issue than "all Protestants". However, I could say that in general terms their gifts of discernment were greater than mine. I mean, I "could" have studied all the languages and read the texts to the degree they did, but I really doubt that I would have come up with writings as profound as theirs. For me, it would be the same with medicine or rocket science. I could try with all my might, but it wouldn't "happen".

I think you are confusing a gift of the Holy Spirit, discernment, with a human ability, say, knowledge and ability to read foreign languages. The two are NOT the same thing. The former is from the Spirit, a supernatural gift, not dependent on the intellectual level of the recipient. The most profound writings have often come from the simplest of people - I believe our Orthodox friends would comply with that. Discernment, while aided by our natural gifts of intellect, is not dependent upon them. It is the Spirit that gives life - and light - to whom He wills. To the Church, He has promised to infallibly guide it. He does this through the Bishops and the Magesterium.

However, since you do agree with many of their other writings, would you not say that, in general, they had a higher level of this gift? Why else would these Saints be held up so high?

One of the "requirements" of being considered a "Church Father" was holiness. Holiness not only from the level of their writings, but in their actions. This made their writings more authoritative. One must experience the Risen Lord to write about Him! Many Bible "scholars" are quite knowledgeable about the Scriptures in the natural sense. But by not praying them daily, they often miss the deeper spiritual meanings that the Church Fathers were able to mine and deliver to the people. It was the gift of the Holy Spirit during prayer (Lectio Divina, esp.) that enabled them to discern the Spirit in the Scriptures.

Regards

The former is from the Spirit, a supernatural gift, not dependent on the intellectual level of the recipient. The most profound writings have often come from the simplest of people - I believe our Orthodox friends would comply with that

Absolutely! That's the backbone of Orthodoxy, firmly established as such by +Gregory Palamas, and manifested by the Hesychastic and Chappadocian and Desert Fathers.

FK: "I was specifically thinking in the area of discernment. Since I do not agree patently with everything that Calvin and Luther said, I cannot say that their gifts of discernment were better on every issue than "all Protestants".

I think you are confusing a gift of the Holy Spirit, discernment, with a human ability, say, knowledge and ability to read foreign languages. The two are NOT the same thing.

I agree with you that they are not the same thing. But does this mean you are saying that God might grace people differently on whether they are any good at reading foreign languages, but that God graces everyone equally with things like discernment? If so, that doesn't make sense to me. If that's true then what do bishops have that we don't have? :)

One of the "requirements" of being considered a "Church Father" was holiness. Holiness not only from the level of their writings, but in their actions. This made their writings more authoritative.

Well, since we know that even many Fathers had problems with the consensus, is holiness something that comes and goes? And assuming you say "yes", then this holiness is really only recognized through the voting process, at any particular time, right?