The Early Church Fathers Weigh In

I will sing of the mercies of the

LORD forever;

with my mouth will I make

known Your faithfulness to 

all generations.

For I have said, 'Mercy shall

be built up forever;

Your faithfulness You shall

establish in the very

heavens.

Psalm 89:1-2

     There has been much contention over the years between theologians and the Church fathers over faith in its various aspects; therefore for us we must wade through these contentions to be able to arrive at Biblical truth.  Why could not the early fathers do this?  Far too often a persons presuppositions override what is plainly taught in the Bible.  We must not allow our presupposition to do that for us and carefully examine their theologies and align them with the Bible.  It was the Greek fathers who conjoined religion and philosophy into harmony to form Christian Doctrines, and the Latins were inclined to represent the two as irreconcilable.  Why the Greeks and the Latins?  This blog is not giving a history lesson but the Church split into to factions, one being the Greeks at Constantinople, and the other the Latins (Rome where Latin was the language); this division is still apparent today.  Now, it was Tertullian (?200 A.D.), the man who first used the word Trinity and wrote against heresy asked these questions: "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?  The academy with the Church? What have heretics to do with Christians? Our instruction is from the porch of Solomon, who himself taught that the Lord was to be sought in the simplicity of the heart.... We need no seeking for truth after Christ; o research after the Gospel.  When we believe, we desire nothing beyond faith, because we believe that there is nothing else we should do.... to know nothing beyond is to know all things: (De Carne Christi, cap 5, Works (t. iii), p 555). The Latin Church would not go to this extreme of Tertullian, at least the most zealous  for Church Doctrines.  The denied reason, even the prerogative of judicial contradiction.  Why?  The were inclined and constrained to take this position because they need to defend Doctrines that contradicted not only reason by the senses.  One such Doctrine to be defended by the Latins was the consecrated wafer that they held as that the wafer was the real body of Christ; not just a symbol.  This they did when our senses pronounced the wafer to be bread.  Further, it was objected to on the grounds that it is impossible that a human body should be in heaven in all its totality and at the same time be on earth, or in that wafer.  How do they defend their Doctrine?  That the senses and reason are not to be trusted in the sphere of faith.  Moreover, what is false to reason and the senses may be true in religion. 

     I fear that form of reasoning and defense of a person's Doctrine that reason and senses are not to be trusted in the sphere of faith is used by those defending their non-Biblical actions, and even their Doctrines that are opposed to Scripture.  Just take it on faith, allow the Spirit to move in you, go with spiritual flow, and follow what we so eloquently propose and teach.  It feels good so it must be right.  We need to learn whether or not our senses and our reason is such that we can truth them.  Before I answer that there are still other Church fathers that have weighed in on this subject.  We must consider them and this will be done in the next blogs.  This is slow going but by taking time to assimilate this information and apply it as we move through this Doctrine you will come to the correct conclusion.  

The LORD is in His holy

     temple,

The LORD's throne is in

     heaven;

His eyes behold,

His eyelids test the sons of 

     men.

The LORD tests the righteous,

But the wicked and the one

     who loves violence His soul

Hates.

                               Psalm 11:4-5

May God lead you through your storms 

          of life.

Richard L. Crumb