The Church Fathers and the New Testament - What Did They See That We Don't See?

i'm just finishing up a book entitled the wood between the worlds. It's a book on the cross. And all day long i've been hunting down quotes from the first 400 years of christianity, listening to them. How did they understand the cross? How did they talk about it? And so what did they see that we don't see? Because you're not alone in looking at the patristics. I mean, we've had john marcomer on and others, and at rich valodis. But neither am i going to accept that everything prior to whatever pic, whatever date, everything that isn't the 20 first century isn't valid.