The Fathers of Church- What a Resource

I will try to tone down the political post for the rest of today:). In starting this blog I knew that combining the politcal with religion would turn some people off. However, you can't be all things to all people. Both are huge facets of my life in which this blog is partly about. So if you are a person that thinks George Bush is the anti Christ, knew about 9/11 and planned it, and that Republicans are evil please come back and visit me. I still love your poor misguided deluded soul :). Just ignore the posts that cause you "fits".

Also as to the post on religion, if you disagree with me please engage me. That is one reason why I started this blog.

When I start posting a occasional post about for instance LSU football and you happen to be a Alabama fan just remember this.





Rare pic of Coach Saban of The University of Alabama


Coach Nick Saban is indeed the devil himself(otherwise known as Satan,Diabolos ,Belzeboub, "The dragon" and "the old serpent") and LSU is God's team in the SEC :). Save your poor soul and root for LSU. All your time is wiped out in purgatory if you do. Trust me on that. I got a link on that someplace.

On to the Church Fathers!!!!

Christians seems to be talking alot about the Fathers of the Church in early Christianity. It is a vast resource that people are discovering in huge ways. We see this from Catholicism/Orthodoxy to the emergent Church movement to evangelicals. It is all pretty exciting. The writings of the Fathers are not just dry historical records. They are insights into how early Christians interpreted and prayed scriptture. You find the same ole errors we fight today being fought then. You see tales of great saints and great sinners. It is our Catholic Patrimony and we need to reclaim it. In fact it is vital to reclaim it. One place that is a great resource is called the The Way of the Fathers It is a site I visit each day and their link section is great.

Mike Aquilina who runs that site gave a great interview here whiche gives sort of a "Church Fathers for Dummies" introduction.

It is a really a short read and I hope you read the interview. But there is a segment I wanted to point out. When I talk about the Church fathers to those outside a Catholic tradition people start putting up roadblocks. Basically the response is " That is not in the Bible so it is not important". Well, I diasgree. But I think there is a misconception among certain Christians as to how we catholics view the writings of the fathers. From the interview:
Yes, the Fathers are important theologians, historical figures and even great intercessors. But the works of the Fathers, unlike the books of the Bible, are neither inspired nor inerrant; and, unlike the popes, the Fathers do not teach infallibly.

In fact, they often disagree with one another, and some of them didn’t get along very well. St. Jerome argued against St. John Chrysostom; St. Jerome argued with St. Augustine; St. Jerome accused St. Ambrose of plagiarism. In fact, St. Jerome had disagreements with almost everyone he met.

But the Council of Trent declared that, when there is a “consensus of the Fathers” on a particular doctrine or interpretation of Scripture, then the position of the Fathers must be held as true.

Cardinal Newman described the Fathers as “honest informants” who bear authority, but not a sufficient authority in themselves. Their words bear testimony to something that precedes them, something greater than them, a patrimony that they wanted to safeguard for the next generation

So no we don't put the writings of the Church Fathers on par with scripture.

Also I think it is important that as to Sacred Tradition, that which has been passed now to us that we see the proper connection.
The Catechism (n. 688) describes the Fathers as “always timely witnesses” to Tradition. We don’t say that their writings “are” the Tradition. Their writings witness to the Gospel that is unwritten, but passed down in the Church. They’re witnesses in the court of history.

For example, we want to be faithful and to worship in the way that Christians have always worshipped. Well, how do we know anything about ancient Christian worship? And how do we know that it was anything like our worship today? We know because the Fathers bear witness to it.

The same goes for the way we divide up labor and recognize authority within the Church. We want to be faithful and live as our ancestors did, going all the way back to the apostles.

Patristics is going to be a big part of what I shall be writing about on this blog. I have not exactly figured out how I am going to tackle that. I am considering going through the Wednesday audiences of Pope Beendict where is touching on this subject EACH WEEK. All those wonderful talks are on the web If the Pope is spending his main public appearance to teach on this I think we should take note. I think his insight would be a wonderful guide and jumping off point as we tackle these ancestors of our faith.

After Dinner tonight I shall post some of my favorite links here as to the fathers and patristics in general