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Understanding the writings of the Church fathers is not difficult if we consider similar hermeneutical principals to the interpretation of Scriptures. The same scholarly approach should be taken in understanding the works of the Church fathers.

First of all we are all relying on a translation of what the Fathers said. While translations from Latin into English are certainly more reliable than translations from Greek or from Hebrew there are still difficulties in conveying what.............
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-S6YMuFYyaa9ESBoW5DFwEjL_HhqA?p=175

2007-11-21 12:34:05 · 17 answers · asked by cristoiglesia 7 in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

Ryan H,

Obviously you know nothing about translating or the origins of language. English is a romance language coming from Latin and almost direct translations are possible as a result. Hebrew and Greek are totally different from each other and from Latin. Any person familiar with languages will attest to the difficulty translating some languages from others.

2007-11-21 12:57:50 · update #1

Many times translating from Greek or Hebrew into English one has to translate with approximations of meaning as there are no words in English that mean the same as the Greek or the Hebrew. Examples are anamnesis (G) to remembrance (E), “Anamnesis” means to make the past or future present through a miracle while “remembrance” is only to recall to memory something in the past. Also in Greek there is a problem translating verbs as there are more tenses in Greek than English such as Joh 3:16 the word often translated as believe, really means in Greek to continue to believe. Remember Scriptures are only infallible in their original languages.

2007-11-21 12:58:11 · update #2

17 answers

the writings and impact of the church fathers to christianity are immeasurable. if you want to know and practice what the early christians believed,knew and practiced become a member of the roman catholic church. these two sites may help
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/

see how catholic the early christians were, and may i further point out these writings preceed the dark ages,middle ages and any possibility of interverence from constantine, the catholic church has been consistent and has taught the same christian doctrines and truth for 2000 years. the material is available to prove it and if you love christ you owe it to him and to yourselves to seek him, you fill find the authentic christ only in the roman catholic church he established, "ignorance of scripture is ignorance of christ"(st.jerome who translated the scriptures), ignorance of church/salvation history is also ignorance of jesus christ. god bless.

thank you for the question, may your question and answers be fruitfull in bringing people to the truth.

2007-11-21 19:30:21 · answer #1 · answered by fenian1916 5 · 2 1

Absolutely! In fact, I would go one step further and say they should also be understood in the context of the point in time in which they were written. Very little scriptural content fits into today's modern, progressive, industrialized, nations like the United States and Europe. Oddly enough it is in these very nations that they are relied on so heavily. Hmmm? Think capitalism could have something to do with that? Of course, one must also bear in mind that many of the original writings of scripture, such as the letters witten by the Apostle Paul, no longer exist in original form. So for many of us cynics the question becomes; Do you trust all the copies and re-copies of these works and if so, why? It has been reported that the only rendition of the four Gospels actually written by the proclaimed author is the book of Luke.

2007-11-21 12:53:06 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Of course Scripture should be understood in the context of the early Church fathers. The Bible in its entirety was not given to the Apostles by Christ. It did not tumble fully-formed from the sky, complete with bonded leather binding, gilt-edged pages, and red lettering. The 72 books of the Bible were written and compiled over centuries of scholarship and Church formation. It's important to know the mindset of the people who had a role in the direction the early Church took as the Sacred Scriptures were being formalized. If we fail to consider the writings of the Church fathers, we are taking Scripture out of context. It would be like reading the last book of a trilogy and expecting not to have missed anything by skipping the first two.

2007-11-22 01:34:21 · answer #3 · answered by nardhelain 5 · 0 0

Acts 7:2; 22:a million,a million John 2:13 - elders of the Church are talked approximately as "fathers." for this reason, we'd desire to constantly ask the question, "Why do no longer Protestants call their pastors "father?" i assume Paul additionally did no longer get the memo a million Cor. 4:15 - “for I grew to grow to be your father in Christ Jesus for the duration of the gospel” The Catholic Church's relationship to the Bible is as follows: a million. The Church chosen which books could be in the Bible. those books are divinely inspired. The Bible's fact is infallible. 2. The Bible asserts that the Church and its custom is valid: 2 Thessalonians 2: 15 "So then, brethren, stand organization and carry to the traditions which you have been taught by making use of us, the two by making use of word of mouth or by making use of letter." 2 Thessalonians 3:6 “We teach you, brothers, in the call of (our) Lord Jesus Christ,to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not in accordance to the custom they gained from us.” a million Corinthians 11:2 “I compliment you because you keep in mind me in each and every thing and carry quickly to the traditions, purely as I exceeded them directly to you.” a million Tim 3: 15 "If i'm in the back of schedule, you may understand how one might desire to act in the important different and childrens of God, that's the church of the residing God, the pillar and bulwark of the actuality." relationship with different Christian religions: They incorporate fairly some the actuality, yet no longer the fullness of the actuality. We artwork to sell information and save open communicate. some Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran church homes specially have rejoined the Catholic Church. there is often wish for reunification.

2016-09-29 23:37:49 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

I think the conclusion of your article was right on: "men are often fooled by their writings believing that their truth is the only truth". The same principle can be applied to any human understanding of truth. All our perspectives are conditioned by human limitations. I think we should look at the understanding of the church fathers; in many cases we need to recover portions of their understanding which have been lost or corrupted. But we shouldn't set the Church fathers up as the ultimate authority either. In the end, we ought to realize that "our truth" can never be "the truth", it can only be a partial and limited perspective.

Peace to you.

2007-11-21 12:46:31 · answer #5 · answered by Orpheus Rising 5 · 3 0

Yes. Becoming "cafeteria Christians" is a serious danger. If we are Bible-only believers, we increase our likelihood of ratifying the faith that is comfortable rather than embracing actual Christianity.

A case in point: What does Jesus mean when he says, ""I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit"?

Without the Fathers, we can speculate forever on what that means. Born of water might be physical birth, birth in the Holy Spirit might be an ecstatic experience that is manifested in glossolalia.

Except that's not what the Fathers understood.

Justin Martyr: "For, in the name of God, the Father . . . and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, ‘Unless you are born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:3]" (First Apology 61 [A.D. 151]).

Irenaeus: "‘For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as newborn babes, even as the Lord has declared: ‘Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’" (Fragment 34 [A.D. 190]).

Tertullian: "[N]o one can attain salvation without baptism, especially in view of the declaration of the Lord, who says, ‘Unless a man shall be born of water, he shall not have life’" (Baptism 12:1 [A.D. 203]).

The Fathers of the Church were the disciples of the disciples. They asked questions and got the answers Jesus gave. We should do likewise.

Cheers,
Bruce

2007-11-21 15:27:53 · answer #6 · answered by Bruce 7 · 1 0

Excellent, and difficult question, with no proper answer, I think when dealing with founding principles, we must deal with them just as we do with the Bible, prayer and opening ourselves to God's will. While translations of the bible from the hebrew and greek and inherently flawed due to connotation, we deal with this by opening ourselves to the will of God and hoping we do so honestly enough to recieve his proper direction. Likewise, while the Church founders likely had better understanding of the bible than we do, they were human, thus impefect and like us, open to misinterpretation, or superimposing thier beliefs and wishes onto God's will. So, again, we must pray over these teachings and take from them what God intended. What we I feel must remember is that God is the ultimate source for answers, and only by listening to him openly and with utmost humility can we hope to understand his desire, will and plan for us.

2007-11-21 12:55:11 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4 0

How would our church and Bible scholars interpret scripture written from the God Yahweh's knowledge of the germ theory and other fields of microbiology before mankind invented the microscope. Such as in Leviticus. Not knowing how to interpret it as science they would be forced to interpret it in the best way they can to make sense out of it's meaning. The name of that misinterpretation is what we call and evolved into; "Religion".

2007-11-21 12:43:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0 3

I like what Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote when he said that he would not be amiss in saying that if one unlettered soul can attain salvation through grace, then all the libraries of theology books can be counted as vast impertinence :)

2007-11-21 12:38:54 · answer #9 · answered by arewethereyet 7 · 2 1

No because systematic theologians of today have identified many hermeneutical errors in the teachings of the church fathers. http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=402

2007-11-21 12:52:12 · answer #10 · answered by Martin S 7 · 0 1

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