Early Church fathers

Jesus Christ died on the cross in 32 A.D. According to the Bible, he rose on the third day and spent weeks with his Apostles before ascending into Heaven. His Apostles took over where he left off and started the early Church.

Marty Matula spoke to the Adult lecture series at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Shelby County about the early Church fathers who spread the Gospel in the decades after Jesus and the generations that came after the Apostles passed on.

Matula is with Guadalupe radio who operates four radio stations in Alabama.

https://www.grnonline.com/

"We have two radio stations in the Birmingham area (1480 AM and 97.9 FM)," said Matula. "We are the EWTN radio affiliate. EWTN provides most of our content. We also produce some of our own shows. We have a station in Cullman (88.3 FM) as well as a station past Springville towards Gadsden (88.7 FM)."

"I would recommend that you get our app so that you can stream us wherever you go," Matula said. "Our station in Alabama all broadcast in English; but if you want Spanish radio you can get to our Spanish stations broadcasting in Texas through the ap."

"Before I got into radio, I was a theology teacher," said Matulla. "My wife is originally from Texas. We moved here from Texas. We have been here in Alabama for four years."

Matulla said that there are a number of Church fathers that contributed to the history of the Church in its first centuries. One of these is St. Augustine.

"You would think that St. Thomas Aquinas would be the most quoted Church Father in the Vatican II (global conference during the 1960s). Actually St. Augustine is the most quoted Church father quoted in Vatican II. He and St. Thomas Aquinas are the two rock stars of theology."

"The first era were the apostolic age – the era of the Church where the leaders knew the Apostles," explained Matula. The Gospels were written in the Apostolic era.

"We know the Gospel of John was the last one written," said Matula. "That was put together in the nineties. There is some division on which Gospel was written first, Matthew or Mark. The majority of scholars believe Mark was first. Matthew was the most quoted gospel of the first Church fathers."

Matula explained that the Era of the Church Fathers was from 95 to 636 A.D.

"It took time," Matula said. "There were all of these heresies that they had to do with dealing with Christology – the nature of Christ," Matula explained. "Most of the early Church Fathers were Saints and most of them were martyrs. There were two who were not saints: Origen and Tertullian. Both of them were geniuses who brought a lot to theology; but they has some issues; which is why they are not saints and we will get into that."

Matula explained that during the age of the Apostolic Fathers the Romans originally saw Christianity as a sect of Judaism. They didn't understand it; but they generally left the Jews alone. That changed Beginning in the 60s with Nero. Then there was the Jewish Revolt in 70 AD and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. When that changed is when they recognized Christianity as a separate religion."

The other thing that was happening in the era of the Church Fathers was the Church Councils:

"The Council of Nicaea in 325 is dealing with the nature of Christ," said Matula. It developed the Nicene Creed that we still use today. Then there was the Council of Constantinople in 381.

Issues that the Councils grappled with included: God became man so that we can experience divine life. There was also Mary being the Mother of God. If Jesus is divine and became flesh what was the role of Mary? This was a major controversy.

"Most of these heresies dealt with Christology – the nature of Christ," said Matula "The first of these was Arianism – that Christ was made and that there was an era where he was not divine. The prologue of the Gospel of John is so important because it establishes the nature of who Christ was."

A lot has changed geographically since the Roman Empire.

"Antioch was the third largest city in the Empire, Alexandria was the second largest city in the Empire, Constantinople was a new city created by the Emperors. You have to understand how important philosophy was to this age. Athens was the center of learning and knowledge. Paul did not have a lot of success there; but the next generation of Church fathers will and this was a key factor in spreading Christianity. The persecution had a great effect because the Romans saw that these people were willing to die for what they believe so they said that made then take notice."

"Once (the Emperor) Constantine becomes Christian in the Fourth Century that created a new problem with people becoming Christian for political reasons."

"Clement of Rome was essentially the second Pope," said Matula. "He knew Peter quite well he knew Peter and Paul. He also knew John. A few issues that Clement was going to clarify. First that the Church is universal. Catholic means universal Christian Chruch. The Church was not just in Antioch or Jerusalem. At this time it was not clear that Rome was going to become the center of the Church. Clement is writing from Rome to several churches. These letters are meant to get around. Everything has to be hand delivered. He becomes a martyr. Most of these early Church fathers became martyrs."

"The 'Didache' was lost for centuries," said Matula. "It was on a shelf in some monastery before some monk found it and realized the importance of it. It was an early catechism. It was written in the 90s. It reflects the teaching of the Lord according to the 12 Apostles. We don't know who wrote it. We think (the Apostle) John was influential in the Didache. There is a lot of moral teachings in the Didache."

"Abortion is not new. Romans were well known for infanticide. If they had a child they did want, they left it exposed on a hillside until the wolves came to get it. There was also a form of birth control. The Church had to deal with this issue from the very beginning.

"Infant baptism as right there from the beginning," after the first wave of baptisms. It is discussed in the Didache.

"'When the Church was Young: the History of the Early Fathers' it is an excellent book and 'Crossing the Tiber: Evangelical Christians Discover the Early Church."

Two issues that Protestants get hung up on when looking at the Catholic Church are Mary and baptizing infants.

Matula explained that the Didache shows the growing divisions between Christian practices and Judaism. Fasting was on Wednesdays and Fridays. In Judaism fasting was on Tuesdays and Thursdays. What we see in the Didache is the emergence of Church leaders. Presbytrs which became our priests and the elders which became our bishops. This is written in the end of the first century. In the Didache what we see is the emergence of Sunday. That begins to replace Saturday as the important day of Worship. We also see the emergence of a moral teaching based on the Ten Commandments.

The next early Church Father is St. Ignatius of Antioch – a martyr. He was writing on his way to be martyred in 110 AD. He wrote in Greek not Latin. He writes a letter to the Church and he is talking about his impending martyrdom and that he is looking forward to it. He writes these seven letters to the different churches. He uses the word Catholic for the first time and writes about unity of faith and apostolic succession.

"Many times when I speak to converts their conversion was an intellection process; whete they got to know the Church fathers and they came to the realization that the early Church was a Catholic Church," said Matula. "If it weren't for the Catholic Church there would be no Bible."

This will be continued next week at 9:15 a.m.