TSO

§ 1. The concept of the church fathers § 2. Particular properties of the church fathers: in relation to the mind - Christian education § 3. In relation to the will - holiness § 4. Spiritual anointing and its limitations § 5. a) The attitude of the fathers towards St. Scripture § 6. b) Relationship to the Church § 7. Fatherly period: the difference between fathers and their difference from other persons § 8. The doctrine of the church fathers: its particular subjects: the lives of the fathers, a review of works § 9. The significance of the dogmatic teaching of the fathers in the historical teaching of the fathers. Consideration of the authenticity of writings § 10. Periods of the history of the fathers and general overviews § 11. The importance of the doctrine of the fathers § 12. A manual for the doctrine of the fathers In order to form an understanding of what the historical teaching of both church fathers is, it is necessary first to form an understanding of the very fathers of the church. At first glance, it is clear that the name father in the teaching about the fathers of the church is not a proper name. Even in ancient times, the respectful name of father was given to mentors and teachers of truth, and this meant more than just one honor. This expressed the fact that just as an ordinary son is lent to an ordinary father by physical life, a worthy student is lent to a worthy teacher by the birth of a life worthy of a person, the formation of the highest powers of the soul; this together expressed the image of the mutual relationship between teacher and student: the teacher called the student son - this was the voice of a sincere and loving soul; the student called the teacher father and thereby expressed his humble trust in the teacher, that power of attorney under the condition of which the student’s very education is carried out. We hear these names in the Old Testament revelation: Father, Father Elisha calls to the prophet-teacher departing to heaven (2 Kings 2:12). There we know the sons of the prophets - the disciples of the prophets. (2 Kings 4:1,14, 2:5,7,15, 4:38). Solomon expresses with particular fullness the profound meaning of father and son, the Wisdom of God in Solomon: Son, if you have hidden the word of my commandment within yourself, let your ear listen to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding: then you will understand the fear of the Lord and you will find the knowledge of God (Prov. 2:1,2,5, ff. 3:1). This use of the names father and son is also accepted in the Christian Church and is accepted in complete purity and breadth of meaning, since the thoughts and feelings associated with those names are sanctified in Christianity more than anywhere else. Υίος δε πᾶς ὀ παιδέυομενος καζ’ υπακοήν τϐ παιδέυοννος. “Anyone who learns with obedience to the teacher is a son,” says Clement of Alexandria. 1 Combining this concept of the father as a teacher with the thought of the Christian Church, we get the concept of the father as a mentor of the Church of Christ. The Church of Christ is the kingdom of truth and holiness, founded by Christ the Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit, acting through his elect, always alive in its members (1 Pet. 2:4,5; 2 Cor. 6:8; 1 Tim. 3:15; Eph. 2:20–22); and the high honor of being chosen instruments of the Spirit of God is given to the fathers of the church. Thus, the father of the Church is the one who teaches and forms under the influence of the Spirit of God, according to the rules given to the church by the Holy Spirit. Among the great leaders - fathers, the Apostles of Christ undoubtedly occupy the first place and Apostles. Paul himself called himself the father of the Corinthian church: even though there were many who preached about Christ, but there were not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I gave birth to the gospel. (1 Cor. 4:15). 2 But the Apostles not only established living churches of the living God with instructions in the hearts of their contemporaries, but their instructions, by the very fact that they were the direct will of Christ and they themselves were under the special control of the Spirit of the Comforter, constitute an immutable law for the entire church of Christ; therefore, they constitute a special, highest category of actors, with the special name of the messengers of Christ - the Apostles. (Eph.4:11; 1Cor.12:28). The fathers of the Christian Church are the teachers of the church who followed the Apostles and left their writings to subsequent times with the power to revive spiritual children in Christ; These are those successors of the apostolic spirit who, by the gifts of a God-enlightened mind, and who, by the grace-filled purity of their souls, were able to offer and offered in the scriptures the pure truth of Christ, the seed of God, working for salvation. Among other things, the wise Vasily V. spoke about this meaning of the father when he finds spiritual fathers in Christianity (πατερες πνευματικοι) and says: “whoever receives from someone an image of piety is, as it were, formed (διαπλαττεται) by him.” 3 In the general concept of the church fathers, it is not difficult to discern their particular features. Since the fathers of the church must give birth and educate the children of Christ for the truth, or what is also, elevate people to the highest degree of spiritual education: this shows that the highest degree of spiritual education is necessarily assumed in them, that they possess the spirit that they must communicate to others to a greater extent. The Savior compares both the Apostles and their successors with the light with which the world should be illuminated. (Matthew 5:14). How could the church fathers be such a light without a clear knowledge of the faith of Christ, without ways to answer everyone who asks about faith? The knowledge acquired by a private person from his own experience and only for himself may be somewhat sufficient for his own salvation: but in order to guide whole thousands to the truth of Christ, one must have a lot of information, read a lot and meditate a lot (1 Tim. 4:13-16). However, education, which is natural to assume in the father of the church, should actually relate to the matter of the truth of Christ. They would act completely contrary to the concept of the fathers of the church when they began to look at them only as writers, losing attention to the power of the Christian spirit: among the preachers of the cross of Christ, power is not in word, but in spirit; if there is strength of spirit, if there is a mind close to the mind of Christ, then there is an undoubted sign that such a mind is the mind of the father of the church. ( 2 Timothy 3:14–17 ). The breadth and firmness of knowledge for the student of the truth of Christ is more natural than for anyone else: but only in the sense that he studies the truth of Christ (2 Tim. 3:7). So is St. Cyril Alex. indicates the fathers in those men of the church who “are glorified by all for the correctness and firmness of their dogmas.” 4 Written works contain the spirit of the teacher and with this spirit they are revived for the church of children not of one, but of different times. Without them, subsequent times lose sight of the significance of the person as the father of the church. Let the example of life, let oral instruction have a powerful effect on contemporaries; but for posterity the latter is a lost treasure, and no biography of the former can be conveyed in such a way that the spirit of the mentor is expressed with all completeness and accuracy, while the example presents only private thoughts and rules. Thus, a necessary attribute of the father of the church is the spiritual education of the mind, which is revealed in written works. One cannot separate the thought of the father of the church from the thought of a man of holy life. The purity of the understanding of truth is in connection with the purity of life. The pure in heart see the Lord. And the teacher of the living truth of Christ, by the nature of truth itself, must be an example of a life animated by truth. It is also impossible that in such persons as the fathers of the church, the example of life should remain without influence on the success of the truth (Matthew 5:13). In addition, one must love the truth in order to teach the truth in all its purity: whoever lacks sincerity in relation to the truth, who is not able to sacrifice anything for the truth: of course, he will not hesitate to insult the truth, when either one must endure sorrow for the truth, or when one can acquire something in favor of the passions of one’s loved ones; the human heart is deceitful; you need to work hard on yourself so as not to allow secret passion to pronounce a decision on this or that subject. The apostolic spirit is as follows: “we instruct not only dreamy self-deception, not but unclean motives and not with guile: Thus we say, not just to please man, but to God who tempts our hearts (1 Thess. 2:3,4); and the apostolic spirit should, if possible, be expressed in the successors of the apostles, such as the fathers of the church (2 Tim. 2:3-5,15; 1 Tim. 4:12). “Neither persecution, nor torment, nor the threats of emperors, nor the cruelty of rulers, nor any other disaster or violence on the part of heretics can deviate us from the Orthodox faith, defined at the Council of Nicaea, which we advise you and all believers to follow”: this is what the fathers of the first ecumenical council wrote to the Western bishops. 5 This is the general character of the church fathers! If we combine both affiliations of the church fathers with spiritual enlightenment and spiritual life in one and the same person, then a new feature of the church fathers naturally opens up - the indwelling of the Spirit of God in them. Without the grace of the Comforter Spirit there can be neither spiritual enlightenment nor spiritual life in fallen man. Trace. if in the father of the church there must be both spiritual enlightenment and holy life, then there must also be the anointing of the Spirit. So the church calls the fathers divine, God-bearing, God-wise, God-speaking. 6 True, some prophets and apostles were under such direct influence of the Spirit of God that it was not they themselves who spoke, but the Spirit of the heavenly Father who spoke in them, and from this their writings - their writings - were inspired by God (Matt. 10:20; 2 Pet. 1:20,21). But God, says the Apostle, having appointed first apostles and prophets in the church, he also appointed shepherds and teachers (1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11). This means that the teachers of the church are also under the control of the Spirit of God, working to build up the body of Christ. It is only certain that the degree which, according to the Apostle, the teachers of the church occupy in the area illuminated by the Spirit of God is a lower degree in comparison with the apostolic degree. The apostolic teaching, explained by the experiences of history, shows that the spiritual enlightenment of the teachers of the church depended on their personal properties and talents and multiplied in their souls as they succeeded in spiritual life (2 Tim. 1:6,3,14); abiding in love, they abided in God and, purified by active love, became a dwelling place for God (1 John 4:16). The dwelling of the Holy Spirit in them was sometimes revealed even by extraordinary signs, but it was never predominant, as in the Apostles, but always remained in connection with their moral state. Neither the high enlightenment of the mind, nor the high qualities of the heart in themselves, as the property of the son of Adam, free the highest people from opinions that usually arise from the weak human nature, and therefore do not always agree with the truth. Hence, the highest court of justice for ascertaining the undoubted fidelity of the thoughts of the church fathers remains the Word of God. It is like the Word of God, and not of man, the unflickering lamp of human ways, always a faithful teacher of truth (2 Peter 1:12); it, as the Word of God, always has the right to be the supreme judge of all human thoughts. It, as God’s word to people, faithfully depicts and invariably preserves the good and saving will of God for people. Henceforth, the church fathers themselves trusted their thoughts with the Word of God, and commanded others to trust them with the same Word of God. “And don’t believe me,” said St. Cyril of Jerusalem, “when I tell you simply, when you have no evidence for my words from the Scriptures; for the strength of our faith does not depend on chosen words, but on the evidence from Scripture.” 7 St. Chrysostom taught: “even if the dead were to rise, if even an angel were to descend from heaven: most of all one must believe the Scripture; for it was created by the Lord of angels, the Lord of the dead and the living.” 8 This is what Vasily V. taught. 9, Gregory of Nyssa 10, Augustine 11 and others. 12 After this, it is clear that the very service of the church fathers to people consists in the fact that they explain the Word of God in its true form, and not to reveal truths unknown to the Word of God. It is also clear that the spiritual anointing of the church fathers cannot but be commensurate with the fidelity of the teachings of their saints. Scripture: on the contrary, the more deeply the soul of one or another teacher is penetrated by the spirit of God’s instructions, the teaching of the Comforter Spirit, the more abundant the spiritual anointing is in it. § 6. B) Attitude to the Church How strange it would be if someone, calling himself the father of the church, raised children who could not be called children of the church: just as much, according to the very concept of the church, it is necessary to assume in the father of the church his dependence on the church. The Church, because it itself lives by the Spirit of God and is based on the teachings of the Prophets and Apostles, becomes a judge over those who belong to it. Attentive to the Word of God, through the experiences of centuries she discovers the meaning of the Word of God and, therefore, she is able to pronounce judgment on the gifts and wills of the mind of the teachers of the church. – Attentive to the will of the Spirit of God, she recognizes the holiness of this or that person when she sees the will of the Spirit of God, and not the will of people, and therefore her voice is a faithful witness to the moral qualities of the teacher of the church. - Thus, the internal communication of the teacher of the church with the Church of Christ - communication in faith and life - constitutes the belonging of the father of the church. In other words, an additional feature of the father of the church is his recognition as the father of the church by the church, recognition based on the certification of the Spirit of God. So there is no doubt for us that among the church fathers are all those church teachers who are recognized by the church as saints of God, as certified by the Lord. On the contrary, the opinions of private individuals about the dignity of teachers, despite the importance of witnesses, cannot have constant force in all cases. Such approvals to church officials, while showing some good qualities in them, do not always exclude shortcomings that are not befitting the high personality of the father of the church. The Fifth Ecumenical Council says: “It will not help the wicked (defenders of lies) if it happens that some have written something in their favor. And St. Basil wrote something similar about Apollinaris, but did not free him from condemnation.” 13 Likewise, the 2nd canon of the 6th Ecumenical Council approves of Theophilus and Timothy of Alexandria only as teachers of church deanery. But it is known how much trouble Theophilus caused to St. Churches, in the case of St. Chrysostom, and neither he nor Timothy are recognized by the church among the saints. If we say that for the dignity of the father of the church it is necessary to recognize him in this title by the church, then we do not limit such recognition to the calendars of the Greek or Slavic churches alone, since their incompleteness is very well known. There is no St. in the Greek calendar. Illary of Poatiersky: but also his life, and his writings, and reviews of history, including the review of the 5th Ecumenical. Council 14, place him among the great fathers of the church. Therefore, when asking whether the church recognizes this or that person as the father of the church, it is necessary to consult not only the Greek, Roman, Coptic, Syrian calendars, but also all the monuments of the church. Is it possible to set a limit beyond which the existence of the church fathers would not extend? If any can be appointed: then only the one who will end the existence of the militant Church of Christ; There was no other limit and there cannot be. The Holy Spirit always dwells in the church, always enlightens the minds and hearts of believers, always acts in chosen men, depending on the needs of the time. Therefore, there is one faith and one teaching, both among the ancient teachers and among the newest ones. “Time,” says St. Afanasy, makes no distinction between our teachers; the oldest are not at all more important than the later: they are all equally fathers.” 15 – Just as the Church of Christ will exist until the end of the world, so until the end of the world the chosen instruments of the Spirit of God will appear in it for the needs of the church. By allowing the spirit of the world to act in the world, the Spirit of God allows this spirit to change its goals and means; but together he sends his strong help according to the needs of the time. By his power, the properties and gifts of the chosen men are purified and improved in the tribulations of time, they receive an education appropriate to the times, and those aspects of the truth devoted to the church, which, due to the attacks of the spirit of the times, require a clearer presentation and more tangible firmness, receive both through the labors of the chosen teachers of the church. Thus, in all centuries there may be men with the qualities necessary for the fathers of the church, and human opinions, assigning either the sixth or the thirteenth century 16, have no basis in the subject. But were all the church fathers adorned with the same advantages? Of course they all acted under the influence of the same spirit and presented the same truth of Christ. But the Spirit of God acted in his chosen ones, on the one hand, according to the needs of the church, and on the other, according to the dispositions of the teachers. From here on, differences could not help but arise between the church fathers. The first times of Christianity are distinguished by a special abundance of spiritual gifts. And the teachers of those times had an advantage that others did not have - closeness to the inspired preachers of the truth. – In subsequent times, the Spirit of God did not impart His gifts to the same extent; the experience of previous centuries became a mentor for subsequent ones, and the natural aids of reason obedient to faith became more necessary. The Spirit of God, without acting irresistibly in anyone and without destroying personal strengths and talents in anyone, as always, especially in the times following the first times of Christianity, allowed the degree of success in spiritual life and the degree of enlightenment of the mind with various aids to be a measure of the personal importance of this or that teacher. Henceforth it happened that many great men of the church appeared at the same time; but one of them was great in one respect, the other in another; one had especially abundant information that the other and the third did not have. It was by these qualities that the church fathers and their contemporaries were distinguished and the centuries that followed. By the essential features of a high fatherly personality, we can recognize in one person or another the father of the church and distinguish the fathers of the church from other persons more or less respected in history. Since the most significant feature in the person of the father of the church is the power of his words that revives him to spiritual life, which appears not only to his contemporaries, but also to subsequent centuries, it would be strange to see among the fathers of the church those who did not leave any scripture strong for revival to spiritual life. 17 On the other hand, those ancient teachers in whom history has not distinguished any special virtues, and the writings do not show the closeness of their mind to the mind of Christ, should in fairness be called only church writers, but not church fathers. Their writings may be important as evidence of the thoughts of the church of one or another time: but shortcomings in purity of life and purity of mind show that just as they themselves were not fully regenerated for the spiritual life, they are so little able to regenerate others for the same life. However, we must not forget that in relation to some persons of the church, not enough time has passed in order to find out the will of God about them, glorifying its saints at its own discretion. Therefore, if the high qualities of famous persons, their high education and ascetic life, are not subject to doubt and they enjoy the respect of the church, although not among the saints: then, without allowing yourself to call them saints without the will of the Spirit of God. fathers, we must recognize them as the most famous teachers of the church, otherwise, following the example of the church, we must call them blessed teachers, blessed fathers and place them after St. fathers. - These are, for example: P. Photius, Theophylact of Bulgaria, Mark of Ephesus. Having thus formed a concept of the subject that should be dealt with by the historical teaching about the fathers of the church, we can easily form a concept of the teaching itself. The historical teaching about the fathers of the church offers information about those successors to the apostolic title who, by the gifts of a God-enlightened mind, could, and, by the grace-filled purity of their souls, wanted to offer and did offer Christian teaching in their writings. The first particular subject of this teaching, otherwise called Patristics, is the life of the father. The life of a writer explains his writings: the external circumstances and internal dispositions of the writer not only impart a special character to the presentation of the work, but sometimes also determine the content of the work. This general law, with the conditional dependence of the fathers on the action of grace, extends to the fathers. On the other hand, the way of life is included, as has been seen, in the title of church fathers and so on. the father's life cannot be ignored in Patristics. But a) the particular circumstances of this or that life are included in the teaching about the fathers to the extent that they relate to the main character of the fathers as teachers of the church. Therefore, actions and circumstances that were part of the teacher’s life and had an impact on his writings should be the subject of primary attention in Patristics and, conversely, those that remained without a trace for the title of teacher can be passed over in silence. b) Since there is a difference between the fathers of the church, determined by their personal qualities and advantages, then in the historical teaching about the fathers it is necessary to pay attention to the characteristic features of life and teaching that distinguish one teacher from another. The history of persons without personal characters is not the history of persons, but the colorless history of some unknown person; and in the history of fathers, the personal qualities and advantages determine the importance of this or that teacher among other teachers, and explain the extent and type of influence they have on others. c) We must not forget that incorrect information about historical figures does not say anything about their glory, no matter how magnificent they may be; such information only offends the sense of truth; whereas truth in itself is sufficient for the glory of great men. The significance of historical science requires that its information be not only correct, but also clear. Therefore, in the teaching about the fathers, information about their lives must be protected by true testimonies, so that they cannot be subject to doubts or reproaches of gullibility. The biography of the father should be followed by a review of his works. These are obvious from the concept of the father of the church. What should a review of the father's writings contain? First of all, it is necessary to show the types to which my father’s writings belong. Such a division of works will in itself show what can be learned from this or that teacher and what cannot be found from him? If in the teaching about the church fathers we presented only a list of their works, then this would not provide much food for simple curiosity; Meanwhile, the church fathers wrote essays not for idle curiosity, but for the edification of the mind and heart in salvation. Therefore, in accordance with the significance of the father’s works, it is necessary to pay attention to the meaning of this or that work and mainly to the meaning of those that identify the father of the church in the writer. In particular, when reviewing the patristic interpretations of Scripture, it is impossible, as is obvious from the nature of the work, to go into a detailed presentation of their content. Here the spirit and direction of the interpreter, the means he had for interpretation, and his success in his work should be shown. A similar thing remains to be observed when reviewing oratorical works. When it is necessary to consider in one person or another a teacher of faith and piety, then it is necessary to show the content and qualities of his most important works. What to do when you need to review brief thoughts, instructions, conversations, letters of fathers? Subjecting each of them to detailed analysis is tedious and, moreover, fruitless work; it would not lead to clarity of the teacher’s spirit, but would only obscure his image with many unimportant details. In order to understand the spirit of the one who wrote them, it is enough to present in precise order the teaching contained in all the small works, keeping the teacher’s own words, or to extract such passages that especially express the spirit of the teacher. They say: “the main task of Patristics is to explore and reveal: 1) the life of each father, 2) his writings and 3) his dogmatic teaching.” 18 But to consider the dogmatic teaching of the fathers to be the same special part of Patristics as the study of writings or life means not to understand its subject. The Fathers of the Church cared as much for the church about the purity of faith as about piety, sometimes offering the latter in the instructions of history - and for faith and piety they zealously occupied themselves with the explanation of Holy Scripture. Therefore, that Patristics, which pays exclusive attention to the dogmatic teaching of the fathers, losing sight of the interpretation of Scripture and instructions in piety, distorts the concept of the fathers of the church, does not present them in their exact form. On the other hand, after reviewing the content of dogmatic works, offering the father’s dogmatic teaching separately means either that they are incriminating themselves in incorrectly showing the content of the works or repeating the same thing in defiance of correct reasoning about the matter. – Thus, the dogmatic teaching of the fathers should take the place in Patristics that indicates correct logical thinking. Let it occupy more attention in terms of the importance of the subject than any historical subject: but it should not exclude other subjects of the patristic writings or occupy as much space as the life of the father of the church. In Patristics, in addition to life and a review of works, there is another subject to which attention should rightly be paid. As a historical teaching, Patristics must recognize this or that work as the property of the father of the church only if it is established on solid grounds. The judgment on the authenticity and integrity of ancient writings belongs primarily to archaeological criticism. But Patristics would also change the nature of history if everything known under the name of this or that father, without any verification, was passed off as his composition. The latter cannot be allowed for another important reason. Forged works or false parts of works, decorated either by malicious will or by short-sighted simplicity, with the names of great teachers, can change the concept of this or that teacher, and what is even more important, can lead the unwary into dangerous errors. Therefore, Patristics, in order not to communicate a false concept about the father and not to arouse harmful thoughts, has no right to shirk the hard work of examining the authenticity of ancient writings. “Every Christian, says the Ecumenical Council, when he happens to listen to or read any counterfeit books, must reject them.” 19 However, the reasons shown for considering the authenticity of the works also determine the limits of the consideration itself. According to the concept of the church fathers, the history of the fathers embraces the series of times until the very latest time. Just as each of the church fathers has his own special qualities that distinguish him from others, so there must be differences in which one series of fathers must turn out to be dissimilar from either the previous or the subsequent series of teachers. The Spirit of God acted in the church, as already noted, according to the needs of the time. In the history of the fathers, the differences between its periods are determined partly by the special subjects of studying the truth of Christ, partly by special methods of study; otherwise, they depend on circumstances, which force me to pay special attention to known truths and be content with a certain measure of enlightenment. The church fathers could not be as detached from the spirit of their times as the Apostles were. The general direction of minds and morals, touching them, aroused in them either sympathy or opposition. For holy purposes they used the best thoughts of contemporary philosophy and all the methods of modern enlightenment. If they exposed well-known errors and vices, then they were aroused by what they saw and heard around them. On the other hand, their activities were connected not only with the progress of human education, but also with the state of political societies. That is why, after eras that are most fruitful in the works of the divinely enlightened mind, there are eras that are less fruitful, where only occasionally there appear works worthy of the great teachers of the church. The enemies of the church are ready to point to these eras of low fruitfulness as a reproach to the Church of Christ. The task of the history of the fathers in explaining this lack of fruitfulness is to point to the state of general education of that time and to the political circumstances and thereby show that they are unfairly attributing to the church what does not belong to it. The following periods are distinguished in the history of the church fathers: the first period covers the fathers from 70 to 312, the closest successors of the apostolic tradition, who labored primarily against paganism and Judaism; here the apostolic disciples must be distinguished from the teachers who followed them: by their closeness to the Apostles and by the spirit taken from them, they, with the name of the apostolic men, occupy first place in the church after the Apostles. The second period embraces those who, from 312 to 620, defended the revealed teaching about the Son of God and St. against human self-will. Spirit; here the fourth century (312–420) differs sharply from all subsequent ones: this is the century of the greatest luminaries of the church. The state then gave freedom to the church and high enlightenment opened as a consequence of the struggle between paganism and Christianity; the fifth and sixth centuries were already students and imitators of the golden age of Christian enlightenment. The third period includes the fathers of 620–850, who were to defend the faithful truths against the Mohammedans and iconoclasts. The fight against the latter forced us to pay special attention to the structure of worship, while the barbarity of the followers of Mohammed devastated many of the seedbeds of enlightenment. In the fourth period, 850–1450, or before the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, the struggle against the self-will of Rome and the Paulicians. This is a time of gradual exhaustion of the Greek empire, weakened as much by the military successes of Islamism as by the hostile actions of papism. In the fifth there are denunciations against the again revived heresies of the first centuries and schismatics. A review of the characteristics of each period or era of the fathers should precede the private study of the teachers. This will contribute to a correct understanding of the activities and writings of the fathers; and, on the other hand, it will save you from trouble in a private study of the fathers speaking several times about the same circumstances of the time. A general overview of a period or era should include an indication of the needs of the time that stimulated the activity of church teachers, of the methods of education that modernity provided; and for both cases it should, as necessary, explain the current state of the church. The direct consequence of all this will be to determine the importance of the teachers of that time. The importance of the teaching about the fathers of the church is clear: the fathers of the church left in their writings a pure, clear teaching about faith and holy life, close to the mind and heart. In addition to the teaching about faith and morality, their writings contain many deep studies on contemplative subjects, a lot of information on various sciences, and a lot of holy art in words. Many of them were superior in mental gifts and knowledge to all their learned contemporaries. That is why, since the 5th century, they began to compile extracts from the patristic writings for general edification. Some of these extracts contained interpretations of St. scripture (Catenae Patrum, συραι). Others contained the thoughts of the fathers about some dogma of faith and especially against the Monophysites or against the Monothelites. St. Damascene drew up parallels, collecting passages from the writings of the fathers corresponding to the sayings of St. scriptures. No matter how useful all such extracts were, it is not always possible to see the writer’s exact thought in a passage, and you can even encounter inconsistency with topics where it is not intended by the writer; Only in connection does thought receive a clear and definite image. When reading fragmentary passages, questions remain unanswerable: do the words really belong to the writer whose name they are given? Are they presented in an accurate form? Under what circumstances and for what reasons was the essay written? Who is the writer? To what extent was he educated? It is much better to study the works of our fathers by their creations themselves, than by extracts. But this is not possible for everyone, since not everyone has access to editions of their original text and even translations. Moreover, how much time is needed, how much labor is needed to read all the works of even one Chrysostom teacher! What can we say about all the writings of all the church fathers? Therefore, it means a lot when the teaching about the fathers of the church in a limited volume presents to us what, when and how was revealed by the fathers of the church: it provides all the necessary information about the personality of each of them, about his creations, and depicts with possible accuracy the spirit and direction of the teacher of the church. As important and useful as the teaching about the Church Fathers is, it is equally difficult to present this teaching in a completely satisfactory form. How much information and how varied the information that should be included in it! Until now, scientists have managed to develop several materials on Patristics, have written several books either for the first three centuries 20, or for the first six centuries 21: but there is not a single complete Patristic yet. The aids that remain to be used when studying the fathers of the church are limited almost exclusively to works on church literature. Here are the best ones: 1) After the History of Eusebius, in which there is news about some teachers of the time preceding him and passages from several works of the fathers are given, a catalog of church writers - the work of Blessed. Jerome - there is the first manual. The catalog lists 135 writers of the first four centuries, showing their works. This is the first experience and therefore the experience was not entirely satisfying and blissful. Augustine. 22 Gennadius of Marseilles and Isidore of Seville continued Jerome's catalog until the 7th century; but their works are of little use for Patristics, partly because their information is too brief, and more because they deal mainly with Western writers. 23 2) The library of P. Photius speaks of almost 300 works. 24 In it, the learned teacher shows the content of the essay, gives feedback on the merits of the essay, and sometimes discusses the authenticity or integrity of the essay. This is not a chronological overview of writers, but notes about the works that Photius read. - All scientists salute the criticism of Photius. 3) Roman writers worked a lot on the history of church literature. The best works: a) Elie Dupin “new Library of Church Writers” 25; in a lively and light style describes, in addition to their lives, the content and dignity of the works; the criticism is bold and even-handed in regard to popery, but sometimes erroneous in other respects. b) Remy Cellier “History of Sacred and Ecclesiastical Writers.” 26 Written in order to contrast it with Dupin's story. And indeed, it complements and corrects a lot in Dupin; It is especially remarkable in that it shows the content of almost every work: but the writer lacked Dupin’s talents. 4) Works of Protestants - Kava “History of Church Writers” with sound criticism, but not rich in information 27; Udina "Commentary on the Writers of the Church" 28 to 17 centuries, complements Cava, but with criticism erroneous where the Protestant speaks; Fabricius "Greek Library" 29: a precious work especially in relation to the teachers of the Greek Church of the 7th and subsequent centuries, about whom everyone else says so little, but here is only a list of works. 5) Galland's Library of the Fathers 30, in addition to the works of the fathers, contains historical and critical information about the fathers and their writings. It is also found in some individual editions of the works of one or another church father. 6) The Chetya-Minea of ​​St. Demetrius, who for his three books used the learned work of the Bollandists 31, constitute the only domestic manual for the study of the church fathers, but almost only for the study of their lives. St. Irenaeus also called the Apostles fathers. adv. haer. lib. 3. c. 1. Or. T.I.r. 130 and here too T. 3. r. 308. Аpol. ad orient. de anathem. 8 Op. T. 2. r. 73. Theodorit c. And. book 5. Ch. 9 See services per week. St. fathers, per week fathers are universed. cathedrals Chrysostom 4 Demon. about Lazar. He is also in the explanation of Psalm 99 Vasily V. Alexander believed the thoughts of Gregory the Wonderworker and Dionysius. and wrote: “one must believe in the scriptures what the teachers say and accept what is in agreement with the scriptures, and reject what does not agree and in every possible way turn away those who adhere to such teachings.” (Mobile work on faith). St. Gregory of Nyssa: “The writings of Basil are rare and are not inferior to any monuments except the New Testament, which was written under the guidance of the Spirit of God.” On Shestodnev; sl. on the psalms tract. 10. Augustine: “I have learned to give only the honor to the books of Holy Scripture in order to believe in their infallibility, but I read other books with the thought that no matter how holy and teaching their authors were, I do not consider it to be true for one reason that they thought and wrote so.” Er. XVIII ad Hieronymum p. l. n. 3. He wrote: “Who does not know that the canonical Holy Scripture is so much preferred to all subsequent writings of bishops that disputes and doubts about it are completely inappropriate - is it true, is it right, what is recognized to be in it? And the epistles of bishops, if there is any deviation from the truth in them, can be denounced with a wiser word, with greater importance of other bishops, councils... The most complete councils (plenaria) of the previous time are corrected by subsequent ones, when through the experience of things they reveal what was hidden and discover what was hidden until then - without disputes of envy, with holy humility, in universal peace, with Christian love.” De baptismo cont. Donatistas 2, 3. St. Ambrose Er. 47. T. 3. r. 152. P. Photius in a letter to the Aquileian apxbishop: “You never know there were difficult situations that forced many fathers to express themselves partly inaccurately (τα μεν παραφϧεγξασϧαι), partly to speak according to the circumstances when attacked by enemies, and other times due to human ignorance, to which they also fell... If while others did not speak accurately (παραφϧεγξαντο), or for a reason unknown to us even deviated from the path, but there was no research and no one called them to find out the truth; we leave them among the fathers in the same way, no matter how they say it, we leave them partly for the celebrity of their lives and the glory of their virtues, partly for the integrity of their faith in other respects, but we do not follow their words where they sinned.” Labbaei Concil. T. 5. r. 489. In the third meeting the fifth universe. the cathedral said: “We follow St. fathers and teachers of the church: Athanasius, Hilary, Basil, Gregory theologian, Gregory of Nyssa, Ambrose, Augustine, Theophilus, John Constant, Cyril, Leo, Proclus. We accept everything that they proposed about the right faith, in condemnation of heretics. We also accept other saints and Orthodox fathers who immaculately preached the right faith in the holy Church of God until the end of their lives.” Labbaei Concil. T. 5. r. 435. Er. de Cons. Rimin. r. 757. The sixth century was designated as the limit of the Protestants, and the 13th century. - papists. We see this strangeness in Permaneder. He places the 4th–7th centuries among the fathers of many popes. eg: Siritia, Joan I, Boniface, Simplicia (Patrologia. P. I. pp. 20, 22, 29, 30, 33), while they hardly knew how to write. He also classifies St. among the church writers, but not among the fathers. Sophronia P., Feofan Ave., St. Nikephoros II. These oddities depend on the fact that they do not take the trouble to accurately determine the essential features of the church fathers. In Christ. Thurs. 1846. 7, 2 article: “A look at Patristics as a science.” This article speaks about everything in the most decisive tone: but at the same time, it is filled with errors of all kinds. In relation to the subjects of Patristics, she repeats the mistakes of others. Permaneder, Lumper, Mehler also separate a special part in Patristics for presenting the doctrine of dogma. Why? This has been the case since the times of the unpeaceful Scholasticism and its successor – the Reformation! In the essence of the subject there is no reason for this! Acts 7 universes. cathedral near Labbey T. 7. r. 476. Lumperi Historia theologico-critica de vitls, scriplis S. Patrum, Aug. Vindel. 1783–1799, tonu 1–13. 8. Möhler Patrologie, Regensburg 1810. Permanederi Bibliothek, T. 1–2 Landshuti 1811–1815. Winter Geschichte der Ältesten Zeugen u. Lehrer des Christenthums, Munich 1814. Dan. Tobenz Institutiones, usus et doctrina Patrum, Vindoh. 1779 ed. auct. 1814, Walch Bibliotheca Patristica ed. nov. Ienae 1834. Locherer Lehrbuch d. Patrologie, Mainz. 1836. Annegarn Handbuch d. Patrologie, Münster 1839. Goldwitzer Patrologie verbunden mit Patristik, Nürnb. 1834. Fessler institutions Patrologiae, Beniponte, t. 1, 2. 1841. Op. Augustini T. 2. b. 86. All three catalogs (Jerome, Gennadius and Isidore) with critical and historical comments were published by Fabricius: Bibliotheca ecclesiastica, Hamburg 1718. Photii Bibliotheca, grae. lat. cum scholils A. Schotti, Genev. 1613. ed nov. gr. ex rec. Beckeri Berolini 1824. Ellies Du Pin des autres ecclésiastiques, Par. 1686–1714 in 47 vol. 8. Remy Cellier Histoire générale des autres sacres el ecclésiastiques, Par. 1744–763 in 24 vol. 4. Cave Historia litteraria script. ecceles. recogn. et emend. Basil. 1741. f. Casimiri Ovdiui Commentarius de scriptoribus ecclesiae, Lipsiae 1722 in 3 volumes. f. Alb. Fabricii Biblioteca graeca ed. nov. cura Harlesii Hambur. 1790–1809. T. I-XII. 4. And. Gallandi Bibliotheca vet. Patr. antiquorumq. scriptorum Venet. 1755. T. 1–12 f. Supplementum, venet. 1781 f. The work is extremely useful, but unfortunately unfinished due to the death of the author. Since 1845, the “Complete Course of Patrologists” (Patrologiae cursus completus), a new publication of church fathers and writers, with rich manuals for Patristics, which should contain up to 300 volumes in 8°, began to be published in Paris. Bollandi et societatis Acta Sanctorum, quot toto orbe coluntur. Antwerpiae 1643–1794. LIII tomi f. You might be interested in: