Church Father's

  • Thread starter Thread starter Craisin
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Craisin

Guest
Hello,

I’ve noticed that many Catholics and Orthodox quote the Church Father’s for backing up their teachings and faith. I have a fair idea of the definition of the Catholic Church (being founded by Christ, holy and aposolitic teachings that are infallible). My question is, are the Church Father’s writings and teachings considered infallible to Catholic Church? What makes a person a “Church Father”? Were they all bishops or priests? Thank you!
 
Craisin said:
Hello,

I’ve noticed that many Catholics and Orthodox quote the Church Father’s for backing up their teachings and faith. I have a fair idea of the definition of the Catholic Church (being founded by Christ, holy and aposolitic teachings that are infallible). My question is, are the Church Father’s writings and teachings considered infallible to Catholic Church? What makes a person a “Church Father”? Were they all bishops or priests? Thank you!
Click to expand...
Church fathers are not considered infallible or any such thing. They aren’t like Scripture, either.

What they are is folks who lived in the very early years of Christianity, and who therefore can tell us what was believed and what was taught in those early years. They help us to see how close our doctrine and our practices are to those of the very first Christians. Typically, the fathers are considered those who lived up until about 700, with the more important ones obviously coming earlier.

In other words, these are guys that were living within a few generations of Christ Himself. A father that lived in the year 300 lived only about 4 or 5 generations from Jesus. A person that lived in the year 200 lived only about 3 or 4 generations.

So for example, take this chart:

http://soladeiverbum.com/ecf.jpg

Ignatius of Antioch learned directly from the Apostles Peter and John! Irenaeus was alive while the Apostle John was, and learned from John’s very desciple! If we read something from St. Ignatius, or from St. Polycarp, then, we can be pretty darn sure they learned it from the Apostles themselves. 👍
 
Also, what constitutes a tradition the Church can learn by examining the organs of tradition. Foremost among these are the Fathers of the Church, the ecclesiastical writers of the first eight centuries who have been approved by the Church for their holiness and orthodox doctrine. God raised them up to be witnesses and teachers of the faith. The practically unanimous agreement of the Fathers, that a doctrine must be believed by the faithful, is a sure argument for its divinely revealed character.
 
Craisin said:
Hello,

I’ve noticed that many Catholics and Orthodox quote the Church Father’s for backing up their teachings and faith. I have a fair idea of the definition of the Catholic Church (being founded by Christ, holy and aposolitic teachings that are infallible). My question is, are the Church Father’s writings and teachings considered infallible to Catholic Church? What makes a person a “Church Father”? Were they all bishops or priests? Thank you!
Click to expand...
Lazerlike42 gives a good answer. I think it can be easy for some Protestants to get confused by the use of the Early Church Fathers, especially regarding the Catholic belief in Scripture and Tradition. Protestants know that Catholics believe in Scripture AND Tradition, so sometimes they mistakenly conclude that, for Catholics, the Bible = Sacred Scripture and the writings of the Early Church Fathers = Sacred Tradition. Then, they pull out the quotes from this or that Father that contradicts another Father or Catholic teaching as a means to “disprove” the infallibility of Sacred Tradition. The writings of the Early Church Fathers are not equivalent to the Catholic idea of Tradition. Their writings also do not form some sort of second Scripture. As Lazerlike42 pointed out, they give us evidence of what the earliest Christians really believed.

I’m not sure the exact criteria to be a “Church Father”, other than the fact that they were Christian writers of the first several centuries after Christ who were not heretics. 🙂 I’m not sure if they were all priests and bishops, but, offhand, I can’t think of any that were not. You might find this article on the Fathers of the Church helpful. This paragrapgh might go towards answering this question:
It follows that, as our own Fathers are the predecessors who have taught us, so the Fathers of the whole Church are especially the earlier teachers, who instructed her in the teaching of the Apostles, during her infancy and first growth. It is difficult to define the first age of the Church, or the age of the Fathers. It is a common habit to stop the study of the early Church at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. “The Fathers” must undoubtedly include, in the West, St. Gregory the Great (d. 604), and in the East, St. John Damascene (d. about 754). It is frequently said that St. Bernard (d. 1153) was the last of the Fathers, and Migne’s “Patrologia Latina” extends to Innocent III, halting only on the verge of the thirteenth century, while his “Patrologia Graeca” goes as far as the Council of Florence (1438-9). These limits are evidently too wide, It will be best to consider that the great merit of St. Bernard as a writer lies in his resemblance in style and matter to the greatest among the Fathers, in spite of the difference of period. St. Isidore of Seville (d. 636) and the Venerable Bede (d. 735) are to be classed among the Fathers, but they may be said to have been born out of due time, as St. Theodore the Studite was in the East.
Click to expand...
Here’s some good websites that have the writings of the Church Fathers:
New Advent is good because, in addition to finding the works of the Church Fathers, you can also click on their name and it takes you to their entry in the 1909 Catholic Encyclopedia. That might be helpful to you if you’re looking for some biographical info on a particular Father.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top