Category Archives: Early Church Fathers

Justification by Faith Alone (Pre-Reformation)

Posted on by
Reply

TurretinFan answers the question, why didn’t anyone realize it before the Protestant Reformers?”

The answer is that while the Reformers may have better systematized, organized, and rendered consistent the doctrines known under the umbrella of “sola fide,” or justification by faith alone, they were not in uncharted territory.

That is not to say that the church fathers were consistent or that they all taught the same thing. Nevertheless, the idea of justification by faith alone certainly wasn’t new to the Reformers.

Chrysostom (349-407): Attend to this, ye who come to baptism at the close of life, for we indeed pray that after baptism ye may have also this deportment, but thou art seeking and doing thy utmost to depart without it. For, what though thou be justified: yet is it of faith only. But we pray that thou shouldest have as well the confidence that cometh of good works. NPNF1: Vol. XIII, On the Second Epistle of St. Paul The Apostle to the Corinthians, Homily 2, §8.

What is interesting about the above is that Chrysostom is denying the necessity of baptism for justification. He’s saying that good works provide confidence but that nevertheless one can be justified by faith alone.

Chrysostom (349-407): That those who were enemies, and sinners, neither justified by the law, nor by works, should immediately through faith alone be advanced to the highest favor. Upon this head accordingly Paul has discoursed at length in his Epistle to the Romans, and here again at length. “This is a faithful saying,” he says, “and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” As the Jews were chiefly attracted by this, he persuades them not to give heed to the law, since they could not attain salvation by it without faith. Against this he contends; for it seemed to them incredible, that a man who had mis-spent all his former life in vain and wicked actions, should afterwards be saved by his faith alone. On this account he says, “It is a saying to be believed.” But some not only disbelieved but even objected, as the Greeks do now. “Let us then do evil, that good may come.” This was the consequence they drew in derision of our faith, from his words, “Where sin abounded grace did much more abound.” NPNF1: Vol. XIII, Homilies on First Timothy, Homily 4, 1 Timothy 1:15, 16.

One reason to include the quotation above is the fact that it refers to salvation by faith alone, and this is explicitly contrasted with good works. Continue reading →

Pillars of Grace

Posted on by
1

GROUNDBREAKING OVERVIEW OF THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE IN CHURCH HISTORY

I wish every Christian would watch this video below to gain a sense of history when it comes to the doctrines of grace. It would be extremely enlightening to so many people.

The fact is, Calvinism did not begin with John Calvin. There was very little in the teachings of Calvin that was not first in Martin Luther (Calvin was merely the one who taught the doctrines in a structured and systematic way). Furthermore, it would be a huge mistake to think that the doctrines of grace started with the Magisterial Reformers. The concept of God’s Sovereignty in grace and redemption has been the constant declaration of the people of God throughout the history of the Church. Yet very few seem to be aware of this.

At a short session at the recent Ligonier 2011 National Conference, Dr. Steve Lawson was asked to talk about his new book. There’s good reason he was asked to do so. The book is the second in a series, the first being “Foundations of Grace” which articulates just about every Scripture verse in the Bible that deals with the doctrines of grace, starting with Genesis and ending in Revelation. I am not aware of another book of its kind.

Now, Dr. Lawson has produced another ground breaking work in “Pillars of Grace.” It is ground breaking because it combines four years of study, delving deeply into the writings of the great gifts of the ascended Christ to His Church through the centuries, men of God who taught the precious doctrines we hold dear.

I cannot recommend this video highly enough. I really hope you can carve out 23 minutes of your time to watch it. For every Reformed Christian who embraces the precious doctrines of grace, it will do your heart and soul much good.

Steven Lawson: “Pillars of Grace” from Ligonier on Vimeo.

UPDATE: Readers of this “EFFECTUAL GRACE” blog are now allowed an EXCLUSIVE 10% discount on ALL purchases at Ligonier. When you place your order online, simply type in the coupon code EGRACE10

For those wishing to purchase the book you can do so by typing in the words “Pillars of Grace” in the “Search Store” feature at the top right of the page at this link: Ligonier Ministries Online Store

Ignatius of Antioch in Context

Posted on by
Reply

Back in the year 2004, I attended a seminary class taught by Dr. James White on the Early Church Fathers (also known as Patristics). It was fascinating to read the writings of precious men of God from the first few centuries who hold to the same faith as I do. Yet it has to be said, the Early Church Fathers were indeed a mixed bag.

Just as if you or I would go to a Christian bookstore today, we would find good books, scholarly books, and books that propagate shoddy scholarship and even false doctrine; so it was in the Early Church. Yet in studying their writings we learn a great deal about how the early Christians worshipped, what was important to them, what the issues were that were causing controversy and of course, what they believed about a whole host of issues.

I have a Roman Catholic friend named Steve. He told me some years back that he was considering quitting his full time job to seek training so that he might one day enter the Roman Catholic priesthood. As you might imagine, he and I have often had lively debate with each other, centering mostly on the subject of justification by faith alone, but on other issues too.

Just today Steve wrote to me challenging me to deal with the subject of Ignatius, an Early Church Father, who was discipled by the Apostle John. Because of his direct link to John, Ignatius is one of the most important Church Fathers.

The apologists of Rome often make the claim that Ignatius taught the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist (the term “eucharist” simply means “the giving of thanks”) and of transubstantiation (that when the priest consecrates the bread and wine, it becomes the literal blood, body and divinity of Jesus Christ). But is this true? Did Ignatius actually teach this? Or have Ignatius’ words been taken out of context?

Because the issue of Ignatius is an oft repeated claim of Rome, Dr. White put some of his class (dealing with Ignatius specifically) onto YouTube videos. Because of time restraints (each video lasts only a few minutes) there are five videos. They are well worth the effort to watch them. I recommend them very highly.

Continue reading →