Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers Quotes

“What is most striking and troubling in the Enlightenment perspective, though, is its naive confidence that reason operates autonomously, largely free from the effects of personal disposition, social context, cultural background and religious community. Not only does postmodern philosophy and hermeneutics challenge this assertion, but classical Christianity doubts its fundamental viability.”
― Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers

“He was baptized as man—but he remitted sins as God. . . . He was tempted as man, but he conquered as God. . . . He hungered—but he fed thousands. . . . He was wearied, but he is the rest of them that are weary and heavy-laden. He was heavy with sleep, but he walked lightly over the sea. . . . He pays tribute, but it is out of a fish; yea, he is the king of those who demanded it. . . . He prays, but he hears prayer. He weeps, but he causes tears to cease. He asks where Lazarus was laid, for he was man; but he raises Lazarus, for he was God. He is sold, and very cheap, for it is only for thirty pieces of silver; but he redeems the world, and that at a great price, for the price was his blood. As a sheep he is led to the slaughter, but he is the shepherd of Israel, and now of the whole world also. . . . He is bruised and wounded, but he heals every disease and every infirmity. He is lifted up and nailed to the tree, but by the tree of life he restores us. He dies, but he gives life, and by his death he destroys death.49”
― Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers

“Second, Gregory reminded his audience that the knowledge of God is a gift to be reverently received and sweetly guarded. The Eunomians, by changing exegesis and theology into a kind of recreational sport practiced within any context, paraded holy things before people who could not hope to understand them. To use Jesus’ terms, they threw pearls to swine. Behind this critique was Gregory’s deep awareness that theology is a type of worship, a holy endeavor, one that blossoms in a context of prayer, devotion and adoration, but withers when transformed into an academic, speculative mind game.”
― Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers

“Origen himself warned that in “advanced matters of theology absolute confidence is possible only for two classes of people, saints and idiots.”
― Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers

“The fathers do affirm a broad set of theological propositions that have remained central to Christian orthodoxy across almost all denominational lines. Ramsey specifically lists belief in a triune God, the fully divine and fully human natures of Christ, the redemptive efficacy of Christ’s death on the cross, the absolute authority and infallibility of Scripture, the fallen condition of humanity, the significance of baptism and Holy Communion, and the vital importance of prayer and a disciplined spiritual life. “Belief in these things, which the fathers unanimously proclaimed, even if they proclaimed them in different ways, continues to be the distinguishing mark of Christianity to this day.”
― Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers

“Time removes us from all texts and subtexts and so cripples our ability to detect tacit references—which is why, as history marches on, annotated editions of the classics, including the Bible, become longer and longer.”
― Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers

“Learning to read the Bible through the eyes of Christians from a different time and place will readily reveal the distorting effect of our own cultural, historical, linguistic, philosophical and, yes, even theological lenses. This is not to assert that the fathers did not have their own warped perspectives and blind spots. Itis to argue, however, that we will not arrive at perspective and clarity regarding our own strengths and weaknesses if we refuse to look beyond our own theological and hermeneutical noses.”
― Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers

“Many conservative Protestant interpreters, though uncomfortable to find themselves slumbering with Enlightenment and postmodernist bedfellows, will fail to discern or acknowledge the necessity of studying the fathers. The deep-seated Protestant suspicion of tradition and its confidence in the ability of renewed reason alone to understand Scripture will lead many to shy away from investing time and energy in exploring patristic thought,”
― Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers

“Gregory’s words remain a sharp and timely rebuke to the continuing temptation to practice theology as though we could separate the exercise of our mind from the development of our character.”
― Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers