The work of the ECF's was foundational, and we absolutely depend on in in order to have a common understanding of the nature of God and the content of the Bible. For starters.
However- and this is not in any way intended to make light of their work, because it is the foundation we stand on- we have built on their work since then. At different points in the early history of the Church, it was a major struggle just to get the major theologians to agree on the divinity of Christ.
I am in no way saying we are better than them for being able to take that as a given and move on to other things. It is specifically because of them that we are able to do that. And when we do immediately affirm these things as a first step of many more, we are able to move on to a variety of other issues that are less central to the Gospel and to doctrine but still beneficial in the quest to better understand the nature of God, the teaching of Jesus and His followers, and the content of the Bible.
Honestly guys, if the ECF's had set out to impact the rest of Christian history for the better but managed to produce a modern generation of Christians that understand the Bible much less than they did, there must have been some serious screw-ups at both ends. But I don't think that happened. I think they set out to solidify key doctrine for the entirety of Christian history, and that was their life's work- make these things sure and allow future generations to work on other things.
They are the giants that we stand on in order to see far, and between the ECF's and us, there have been quite a few more giants building on the work of the first ones. To suggest that none of the great men from Irenaeus (as an example) down to our modern time managed to fully grasp their understanding of Scripture or add anything of value to that body of teaching- in fact, to suggest that they consistently managed to detract from it and made it worse when they were trying to build on it and make things better- I think that kind of suggestion is overly pessimistic and, quite frankly, not entirely accurate.
I think a great number of Godly men and women have built on the initial work of the ECF's and taken it to places that they would have gone if they had the opportunity, but they simply could not. Why? Because they hadn't played their own role yet. But once they did, no one else had to. For that, I am quite thankful.
It pains me a little to say this, simply because we owe so much of our current position to the work that they did. But we are in a better position to know and understand the Scriptures better than the ECF's. It's because of those men and all the giants of the faith that stand between us and them. God willing (and the creek don't rise), Christians 1,000 years from now will be in a better position to understand the Bible better than us, too.
However- and this is not in any way intended to make light of their work, because it is the foundation we stand on- we have built on their work since then. At different points in the early history of the Church, it was a major struggle just to get the major theologians to agree on the divinity of Christ.
I am in no way saying we are better than them for being able to take that as a given and move on to other things. It is specifically because of them that we are able to do that. And when we do immediately affirm these things as a first step of many more, we are able to move on to a variety of other issues that are less central to the Gospel and to doctrine but still beneficial in the quest to better understand the nature of God, the teaching of Jesus and His followers, and the content of the Bible.
Honestly guys, if the ECF's had set out to impact the rest of Christian history for the better but managed to produce a modern generation of Christians that understand the Bible much less than they did, there must have been some serious screw-ups at both ends. But I don't think that happened. I think they set out to solidify key doctrine for the entirety of Christian history, and that was their life's work- make these things sure and allow future generations to work on other things.
They are the giants that we stand on in order to see far, and between the ECF's and us, there have been quite a few more giants building on the work of the first ones. To suggest that none of the great men from Irenaeus (as an example) down to our modern time managed to fully grasp their understanding of Scripture or add anything of value to that body of teaching- in fact, to suggest that they consistently managed to detract from it and made it worse when they were trying to build on it and make things better- I think that kind of suggestion is overly pessimistic and, quite frankly, not entirely accurate.
I think a great number of Godly men and women have built on the initial work of the ECF's and taken it to places that they would have gone if they had the opportunity, but they simply could not. Why? Because they hadn't played their own role yet. But once they did, no one else had to. For that, I am quite thankful.
It pains me a little to say this, simply because we owe so much of our current position to the work that they did. But we are in a better position to know and understand the Scriptures better than the ECF's. It's because of those men and all the giants of the faith that stand between us and them. God willing (and the creek don't rise), Christians 1,000 years from now will be in a better position to understand the Bible better than us, too.
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