Essay

For years the early church fathers have been neglected in our churches. Most believers are oblivious as to who they are or what they have done for us modern day believers. The question remains, why don’t we study the church fathers? One of the big reasons that Evangelicals do not learn about the church fathers in Sunday school is because of the belief that they all belong to the Roman Catholic Church. This misconception rubs us of our heritage and the precious lives that where sacrifice so that we could know the truth today. The word Catholic comes from the Greek word Katholicos which means pertaining to the whole or universal. When used to describe the Christian church referred to the unified group of believers in the world; having nothing to do with the Roman Catholic Church. To better appreciate our faith we must learn about our church fathers. We must learn about the great persecutions that they went through and the lives that were lost for the sake of sound doctrine. We must realize that believer at that time where willing to be martyred for their faith. Some of them where put into leather bags with scorpions and snakes then thrown into the ocean. Some where burn at the stake or had their eyes burned out so they couldn’t read their Bible. But, this didn’t stop them the word was in their hearts. I believe that a lack of respect for God and our faith derives from our lack of respect for anything now days. People now leave their church because the music style changed or because they changed the carpet to a wrong color. People leave church and go from one to another until they find one that fits. This would be fine except that we are not in church for carpet or music; we are in it for the word and to grow in our walk with Christ. Some of the church fathers include Ignatius of Antioch which battled the legalistic Jews confusing the Christians. Also, Antioch was the first city where the term Christian was used to describe a Christ follower: Justin Martyr, the first apologist; Iraneus of Lyons who unified believers into a unified Christianity; Tertullian, the first Christian to write in Latin; Athanasius, who protected sound doctrine from the Arians; and Augustine, often referred to as the Theologian of grace. He gave us his testimony of his struggles with sin called Confessions. He stood be the belief that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and that by grace (Jesus’ sacrifice we were saved). If we were to study this amazing individuals who lived and died for Christ we would better appreciate our faith and stop taking it for granted. The church fathers focused unity with the body of Christ. They forgot about themselves and focused on preserving and living out a life pleasing to God. If we were to united and stand together we would be able to fight all those new ideas and religion that are confusing and lying to people everyday. A new movement called the Charismatic movement has plagued our country and the world into believing that a Christian must by rich and healthy to fully show salvation. This movement can be compared to Arianism, in the fact that neither had sound doctrine. Athanasius fought until his death to maintain sound doctrine for the people. Athanasius lived and died for Christ, if he could then we should be able to as well. Today Christianity is separated into denominations because of preference such as music, etc. The church fathers deemed it necessary to die for their faith and to set an example for future believers. We as the decedents of these courageous men and women should continue their legacy as protectors of truth and go against not the people but the doctrines that are deceiving them. By studying the early church fathers we can learn how they struggled and also learn their faithfulness through those struggles. Their main focus was on God and His will for their lives. Most believers desire God will for their lives, but give up when things get hard. By following their example we set the example for the future generations to come.