Day 4: ANF09 1.10-12 or FC80 1.44-74

[Nemo]

Previously, we've learned what is the gospel, now we explore deeper: Who is, or are, the Gospel?

1. In how many ways is Jesus the Good thing for man?
2. In what way are the Apostles (and believers) also the Gospel?
3. In what way are everyone (part of) the Gospel?

[John]

One of the reasons I love reading the patristics as a whole is the perspective they offer. Maybe it’s their worldview or just their long study of the scripture (or maybe it’s that they didn’t have cable tv…lol).

An example of what I’m talking about is in chapter 71, in which Origen states that persecuting the Apostles is the same as persecuting Jesus, and then he quotes Acts and the conversion of St. Paul. I’d never thought of that passage that way, I’d always read it that Jesus wanted Saul to stop persecuting the name of Jesus, but that revelation is more about the church and body (community) then the name.

Thanks Origen!

[Nemo]

John Angerer wrote: "One of the reasons I love reading the patristics as a whole is the perspective they offer. ..."

That's also the main reason I read the Fathers. I've benefited and continue to benefit from their perspectives. I also find that Christian life in the first three centuries very similar in some way to our time. For one thing, the Church Fathers had to deal with all kinds of conflicts, including intellectual challenges and persecutions. Critical thinking is not a skill for them, it is a necessity.