NativeSon wrote:
St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote:
Hey NativeSon,
I've not read that one, though I see it is highly rated in reviews on Amazon.com and have had my eyes on it. I have read a fair amount on early church history and the writings of the patristic era which is often dated from the end of the New Testament writings until the death of St. John Damascene (St. John of Damascus) in 749 AD, nearly the midpoint of the 8th century. I'm currently reading J.N.D. Kelly's Early Christian Doctrines. I've also read Henry Chadwick's The Early Church, a fairly short history. And I've got the first three volumes (of five) of Jaroslav Jan Pelikan's The Christian Tradition on my bookshelf, though I've only read Volume 1 and a bit more than half of Volume 2. Interestingly (to me, anyway), these three were all non-Catholic authors: I believe Kelly and Chadwick were Anglican; Pelikan was Lutheran and later converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, though I think he dedicated at least one of his books to a Catholic order. Reading these works, it is easy to see Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox beliefs (which are very similar) and practices (which are not quite so similar) in the early church, and not much Protestantism insofar as Protestantism disagrees doctrinally with Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
I've been through the entire three-volumes of Fr. William Jurgens' The Faith of the Early Fathers which is often required reading in Catholic seminaries and contains excerpts from not only the luminaries of the early church such as Tertullian (who is not a saint, may have been a Catholic priest and probably died outside the Catholic Church), Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome and Saint Chrysostom but also many of the minor authors and even some of the heretics.
Pope Benedict XVI wrote several popular works on the early church fathers. I read one and would like to pick up the others.
I've also got Johannes Quasten's four-volume set Patrology, though I've used it only as a reference and haven't scanned it all in.
And I read Peter Brown's five hundred plus page biography Augustine of Hippo. (Brown is yet another another Protestant. Having read quite a number of Protestant works on the early church, nobody can easily accuse me of being drunk on Catholic Kool-Aid or a victim of Catholic brainwashing.)
So, what do you think of Four Witnesses which you mentioned?
You've read a great deal bro.
For a long time, I wasn't into trying to understanding Christianity until a few years ago. I only used to attend mass and that was it!
As I tried to understand it, I realised that it was vast and very detailed and that not people even understand the History of Christianity and how it actually came about. I don't and can't claim to understand it wholly either (perhaps no one does) but I do have a working knowledge.
So, regarding the book, and many have been written on the subject, it was like several others, written by a Catholic convert.
The guy, Rod Bennett, a protestant evangelist was trying to understand the History of Christianity when he stumbled upon an old document in a Library that contained Christianity in the first 200 years (up to 200 AD!)
That is what made him write the book.
He basically dwells on the early (primitive Church ) in the first 300 years. He talks of how Eonceptions exist even today and have been believed by those opposed to the Church as the truth.
That said, according to him, for the first 600 years on Earth, the Church remained pure and undefiled and that this is something that was even acknowledged by Martin Luther and Calvin!
The book talks about four leaders of the Church:
1. Clement of Rome
2. Ignatious of Antioch
3. Justin Martyr
4. Irenaeus of Lyons
These FOUR SAINTS were all BISHOPS of the Church.
1. Clement of Rome-the Fourth Pope.
He wrote the epistle to the Corinthians at just about the same time that the Gospel of John was written.
He was consecrated as Bishop by St. Peter.
He is a student of St. Peter and St. Paul. He heard them preach the gospel through and through. HE is considered the first Father of the Church.
He was instrumental in converting many pagans. He died circa 100 AD.
His name is written in the book of life (Philippians) according to St. Paul the evangelist.
Yes, this guy was consecrated by St. Peter who was personally taught by Christ Jesus!
2. St. Ignatius of Antioch was the third bishop of Antioch after St. Evodius (who is believed to have coined the word 'CHRISTIAN' in reference to the disciples of Jesus) , who was the immediate successor of St. Peter.
It is said that St. Ignatius heard St. John preach when he was a boy and knew St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna.
St. Polycarp was a student of St. John- the Apostle whom the people referred to as the beloved because Christ Jesus loved him.
He wrote seven letters and was thorwn to the beasts at the Coliseum for his refusal to renounce his faith. He wrote his epistles around 107 AD (at or around the close of the Apostolic age) urging the Christians to hold firm to their faith.
3. Justin Martyr........wrote that the Church had spread across the world. It was around 150 AD.
In the book of Acts, Jesus had instructed his disciples to sperad his gospel across the world and they did amid lots of problems and risks.
He taught and defended Christianity in Asia Minor and was an apologist of the faith.
He lived in the second Century.
4. Irenaeus of Lyons ......His writings lay the groundwork of Christian theology. He also debunked the works of gnostics.
He wrote great works against heresies and heretics.
HE learnt at the feet of St. Polycarp, himself a student of St. John the Apostle (John the beloved).
It is said that most of the works of these great Saints who were all Bishops of the Church agree with the Didache.
So, Ignatius of Antioch (of let's run dot com),
In my opinion, this book is very good for beginners like me. I loved it and this Summer, I intend to read another one. I just don't know which.
May be you can suggest one for me........a simple book.
Sorry if I sound to disjointed. I feel bad that my team lost to France.