Tradition and the Church Fathers Pre-Servants Course
02.05.2013
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2 Tradition the handing down of information, beliefs, and
customs by word of mouth or by example or by writing from one
generation to another. 1 John 1:1-5 TRADITION
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3 Christ gave Apostles preached Church Fathers and Ecumenical
Councils preserved, protected and reaffirmed past traditions
Orthodox spirituality is meant to be passed down from generation to
generation. The Fathers writings help us to distinguish between the
important and the superficial in everything we read or hear. Their
experience is a common tradition for all of us.
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4 Church PREDATED the writing and compilation of Scripture and
serves as the authority of Holy Tradition TRADITION The Christians
lived their FAITH and had an EXPERIENCE with God Orthodox =
Tradition-Scripture Protected the faith from FALSE teaching
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5 Consensus patrum John 16:13-15 TRADITION How can I trust
tradition?
7 In ancient times, the term Father was applied to a teacher
because teachers are fathers of their students Initially the term
applied to the office of bishop but then extended to all the
ecclesiastical writers of the Church as long as they represented
the tradition of the Church As a result, PATROLOGY study of the
Church Fathers lives and teachings originated Church Fathers are
called the Doctors of the Church because they taught the doctrines
of the church WHO IS A CHURCH FATHER? For in Christ Jesus, through
the Gospel, I have begotten you 1 Cor 4, 15
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8 WHO IS A CHURCH FATHER? Four necessary qualifications to be
recognized as church father & HOLINESS ORTHODOXY CHURCH
ACCEPTANCE ANTIQUITY Examined church life w/o deviation from
orthodox doctrines Lived within the time period of the first to the
5th century Lived a life posterity can imitate in order to attain
the early churchs spirit (life has to imitate his faith) Writings
remained consistent with the churchs beliefs and doctrines
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9 CHURCH FATHERS BY LANGUAGE Greek regarded as the original
language But superseded by the following languages in the East
Syriac Coptic Armenian EAST WEST Displaced by Latin in the
West
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10 CHURCH FATHERS BY TIMELINE APOSTOLIC FATHERS 0 AD 100 AD 200
AD 300 AD APOLOGETI C FATHERS GOLDEN AGE FATHERS Came into personal
contact with the apostles or received instructions from their
disciples Defended the faith against paganism and Judaism Three
ecumenical councils the Church accepts occurred in this time period
as the fathers defended church doctrine from heresies 325 AD
Council of Nicea 431 AD Council of Ephesus 381 AD Council of
Constantinople 400 AD
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11 APOSTOLIC FATHERS THEMES STYLE Saw the second coming of
Christ as imminent Revealed a deep longing for Christ Provided a
unified doctrine that Christ is the Son of God, who is
pre-existent, and who collaborated in the creation of the world
Pastoral in character Closely related in style and content to the
New Testament writings, especially to the Epistles of the Apostles
Served as connecting links to the time of revelation and the time
of tradition and as very important witnesses to the faith
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12 APOSTOLIC FATHERS LOCATION Authors belonged to many
different regions of the Roman Empire Asia Minor, Syria and Rome
EXAMPLES St. Clement of Rome St. Ignatius of Antioch St. Polycarp
of Smyrna
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13 APOLOGETIC FATHERS THEMES STYLE Challenged paganism and
Judaism and the slanderous statements that the Church was a peril
to the State Stated the Christian faith was a dominant force for
the maintenance and welfare of the world Exposed the deception and
immoralities of pagan religions and demonstrated that the Christian
alone has a right understanding of God and universe Defended the
unity of God, monotheism, divinity of Christ and resurrection of
the body Rebutted philosophers claims for they relied on human
reason and contained errors and Christianity possessed absolute
truth Closely related to Greek rhetoric mainly dialogue
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14 APOLOGETIC FATHERS LOCATION EXAMPLES St. Justin the Martyr
St. Melito of Sardis Alexandria, Rome, Constantinople, Antioch,
Jerusalem
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15 GOLDEN AGE FATHERS THEMES STYLE Faced three major heresies
Arianism (against Christ divinity), Ifnomianism (denied the Holy
Spirit as God) and Nestorianism (rejected the Oneness of Christ)
Defended the doctrines of the Church and the proper way to
interpret Scripture Dogmatic books or letters developed creeds to
affirm the faith; some are dialogue, others in thesis format, while
still others were in letters or sermons, commentaries
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16 GOLDEN AGE FATHERS LOCATION EXAMPLES St. Athanasius St.
Cyril St. Chrysostom Widely Spread through Asia Minor, Europe with
Alexandria being the seat of high learning
