Are there any early church fathers mentioned in the bible aside from the 12, perhaps any of the 72, or? I think it would be awesome to be able to study this, if so.
TY!
Philippians 4:3 Yes, and I ask you also, my true yokemate, to help them, for they have struggled at my side in promoting the gospel, along with Clement and my other co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Paul sends greetings to “Hermas” in his epistle to the Romans. And the Church fathers’ text “The Shepherd of Hermas” does say for Clement to spread the Shepherd’s message abroad because it is his duty, apparently referring to his first century papacy. But the Catholic Encyclopedia notes that the Muratorian canon remarks that “The Shepherd” was written under Pope Pius I (140-155 AD), and suggests that the text is faking the reference to Clement’s papacy in order to make “The Shepherd” look like it comes from the Biblical Hermas.
A reader could argue with the Encyclopedia and insist that “The Shepherd” wouldn’t mislead readers into thinking that it is written by a Biblical figure. But on the other hand:
There has been a genre of literary fiction and parables (eg. Dante’s Divine Comedy).
The text presents major theological challenges, such as its contrast between prophets with divine spirits and those with false spirits. It says: A) A true prophets with a Divine Spirit comes into an assembly and the Divine Spirit can speak, but the Divine Spirit does not answer questions. B) “But the spirit which is questioned and speaks according to the lusts of man is earthly and light, and has no power, and it does not speak at all unless it be questioned.”
I respect your opinions, so I want to see if you agree with statements A and B above. It seems like from a Catholic perspective that there have been times when false prophets have come into assemblies and their false spirits have made false statements without being questioned.
It is good to recall that the Apostles and disciples believed that the Parousia was imminent, thus much of what they did, taught and believed is simply not recorded in scripture or even in apocryphal works.
Personally I do not take a literal interpretation of The Shepherd with respect to the Spirits. It is cirrect that in most cases the false spirit speaks only when questioned and for a profit, while the divine spirit compels the person to speak. I do not see a problem, just my take.
Dan,
I think that you are saying that most of the time false prophets’ false spirits don’t make declarations, they only answer questions.
Personally, I don’t expect that Catholic theologians would agree. If you go into an assembly of people claiming falsely to have holy spirits, I think that usually the false preachers rely on making declarations instead of going through a Question and Answer format.
But I do appreciate you trying to answer the question, Dan. I haven’t gotten replies on the thread that I created about it.
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