Baptists and Protestants Rediscovering the Church Fathers
Here's a funny meme by Cool Catholics Facebook page. Unlike my old Papal Busters page (which is full of retired research), I decided to look into the rich history of the church fathers. As I thought about it, it's a good thing I stopped reading Chick Publications and Jesus-is-Savior. The conflict between the two pages should've already told me to stop reading both! I learned more about the church fathers from Grace to You and Ligonier Ministries.
The first time I realized Martin Luther consulted Augustine of Hippo, was in the book The Gospel According to Jesus, by Dr. John F. MacArthur.
The expression "righteousness of God" was like a thunderbolt in my heart… I hated Paul with all my heart when I read that the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel [Romans 1:16-17]. Only afterward, when I saw the words that follow–namely that it’s written that the righteous shall live through faith [Romans 1:17] – and in addition I consulted Augustine, I was cheered. When I learned that the righteousness of God is His mercy, and that He makes us righteous through it, a remedy was offered to me in my affliction. (Martin Luther, Table Talk)
As I read through it, I realized that I needed to rediscover the history of the Church Fathers, outside the conspiracy world of Chick Publications. It pays to know one's history. In fact, John Calvin in a debate with a Catholic cardinal named Jacobo Sadoleto, also wrote this:
Our agreement with antiquity is far closer than yours. All we have attempted has been to renew that ancient form of the church, which was at first besmirched and distorted by uneducated men of undistinguished character, and afterwards disgracefully mangled and almost destroyed by the Roman pope and his faction. I will not press you so closely as to call you back to that form of the church which the apostles instituted (though it presents us with a unique pattern of a true church, and deviation from that pattern, even slightly, involves us in error). But to indulge you so far, I beg you to place before your eyes that ancient form of the church, such as it is shown to have been during those times in the writings of Chrysostom and Basil among the Greeks, and Cyprian, Ambrose, and Augustine among the Latins.
Ligonier Ministries even invites the rediscovery of the church fathers, as a Baptist or a Protestant:
If we are Protestants, that very fact should give us a bias toward knowing the early church fathers. We are simply doing what the original theologians of the Reformation did. They considered the fathers to be much better interpreters of the gospel than the medieval theologians were. In a careful study of the fathers, they found weighty historical testimonies to the supremacy of Scripture and justification by faith, the twin pillars of the Reformation.
But who exactly were the early church fathers? It is a name we give to the significant leaders and writers of the first few centuries of Christianity. Different historians suggest different timeframes, anywhere from the first three hundred years to the first six hundred. However, the name “father” isn’t automatically given to every Christian figure from this early period. It is normally reserved for those who came to be recognized as sound, reliable teachers. This means that the two most famous and influential theologians of the third century, Tertullian of Carthage and Origen of Alexandria, are often not acknowledged as “fathers,” owing to some of the more questionable aspects of their theology. This, incidentally, is the same reason they were never granted the status of “saint” by the Roman Catholic Church.
In all of these, Mystery Babylon hasn't only claimed Peter as her supposed first Pope, didn't only claim the Lord Jesus Christ as her founder (despite her heresies), claimed that she compiled the Bible centuries later--she has also claimed the church fathers that belong to those who only want to be biblical. In a desperate attempt to stop the Reformation, Mystery Babylon called those who protested, as Protestants. The name Protestant was given because these Christians protested against the unbiblical teachings of Roman Catholicism! Fortunately, the writings of the church fathers have also given the reformers tools to defend the truth at all costs!
Mystery Babylon holds the gold cup, a symbol of authority. Mystery Babylon pretends to be the true Church in 33 A.D., but her doctrines have mingled truth with error. Mystery Babylon has committed spiritual fornication with the people of the Earth, living deliciously, and sits as queen. However, God has already marked the Vatican for judgment, along with every false religion, for her blasphemy. However, God has called the Elect out of Babylon in Revelation 18:4. A certain people chosen for salvation are still in Babylon. These people are the wheat inside Babylon. These people will obey the call of salvation, while the rest will remain in Mystery Babylon! The wheat must one day be separated from the tares. When that time comes, the wheat is harvested while the tares are burned. Such is the fate for people inside Babylon.