Way of the Fathers

In the third century, the heresy of the Ebionites evolved into a more general form of adoptionism, still denying the divinity of Christ, and now emphasizing his status as an anointed, but adopted, son of God, much like the kings and prophets of the Old Testament. Adoptionism is also known as “dynamic monarchianism,” in part for its claim that it was preserving the oneness (monarchy) of God by denying the divinity of Christ. Links For more information on Justin Martyr, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 9: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/justin-martyr-everything-good-is-ours/ To read Justin Martyr’s First Apology: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1610&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2368540 For more information on Irenaeus of Lyons, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 10: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/irenaeus-lyon-putting-smack-down-on-heresy/ To read Irenaeus of Lyons’ Demonstration of the Apostolic Teaching: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/irenaeus_02_proof.htm For more information on Tertullian, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 13: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/tertullian-and-theology-sarcasm/ and Episode 14: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/tertullian-man-who-forged-words-and-invented-freedoms/ To read Tertullian’s Against Praxeas: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1670&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2368544 Read the Vatican document, Instruction on Certain Aspects of the “Theology of Liberation”: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19840806_theology-liberation_en.html For more detail on the heresy of adoptionism, see the books:  Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/ and The Earliest Christologies: Five Images of Christ in the Post-Apostolic Age: https://www.ivpress.com/the-earliest-christologies   SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio   To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com   Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/

For the second heresy, Dr. Papandrea examines the opposite extreme from the first: these are the Docetics, including the most famous docetic teacher, Marcion and his followers. They concluded that Christ was a god, not necessarily different from the many other gods or demigods in the Greco-Roman pantheon, but that he was not really a human.  Links For more information on Polycarp of Smyrna, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 5: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-5-st-polycarp-and-social-network/ To read Polycarp of Smyrna’s Letter to the Philippians: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1626&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2365055 To listen to Polycarp of Smyrna’s Letter to the Philippians: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-polycarp-letter-to-philippians/ For more information on Ignatius of Antioch, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 4: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-ignatius-antioch-to-know-jesus-christ-our-god/ To read Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Smyrnaeans: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1633&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2365056 To listen to Ignatius of Antioch’s Letters to the Smyrnaeans: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-ignatius-antioch-letter-to-smyrnaeans/ For more information on Irenaeus of Lyons, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 10: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/irenaeus-lyon-putting-smack-down-on-heresy/ For more detail on the heresy of docetism and the Marcionites, see the book: Reading the Early Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/

Is Jesus Christ God? Is he a man? Is he both? Spoiler alert: the mainstream Church answered with the both/and, but the factions on the fringes tended to choose one or the other. For our first heresy, we take a look at the Ebionites, and their New Testament-era predecessors, the so-called Judaizers. These concluded that Jesus Christ was a mere human. A human who became a prophet perhaps, but just a human. Links For more information on Ignatius of Antioch, see Mike Aquilina’s Episode 4: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-ignatius-antioch-to-know-jesus-christ-our-god/ To read Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Magnesians: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1629&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2351277   To listen to Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Magnesians: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-ignatius-antioch-letter-to-magnesians/ For more information on Irenaeus of Lyons, see Mike Aquilina’s Episode 10: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/irenaeus-lyon-putting-smack-down-on-heresy/ For more detail on the Ebionite heresy, see the book:  The Earliest Christologies: Five Images of Christ in the Post-Apostolic Age https://www.ivpress.com/the-earliest-christologies SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/

I am honored to be picking up the Way of the Fathers podcast where my good friend, Mike Aquilina, left off. In season 4 of The Way of the Fathers, we’ll be looking at the heresies of the early Church, and how the Church fathers confronted and refuted them. This first episode is the introduction to the series, where I define some terms and tell you what you can expect as we trace through the early centuries of Christianity, tracking chronologically the alternatives to orthodoxy that were proposed, debated, and shown to be inconsistent with Scripture and prior tradition.  Links For more detail on the Church fathers and the heresies of the early Church, see my book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine, from Sophia Institute Press (2022) https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, on YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/

After 99 wonderful episodes by Mike Aquilina, Way of the Fathers is getting a new host! We are sad to see Mike go, but excited about his hand-picked successor, Jim Papandrea. In this conversation, Mike introduces Jim to the listeners and these two friends and collaborators talk about their love for all things Patristic. Please help CatholicCulture.org - and Way of the Fathers - to continue in the new year. Donate now and your gift will be matched! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Jim Papandrea's website https://jimpapandrea.wordpress.com/bio/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters

Christianity conquered cities one by one, not by arms or propaganda, but by the quiet witness of ordinary lives well lived. Worldly power yielded before the prayers of the saints and the blood of the martyrs. What can we learn from the first evangelization as we work our witness today? Links Mike Aquilina, Rabbles, Riots, and Ruins: Twelve Ancient Cities and How They Were Evangelized https://www.amazon.com/Rabbles-Riots-Ruins-Ancient-Evangelized/dp/1621646785/ Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Christianity-Marginal-Religious-Centuries/dp/0060677015/ Rodney Stark, Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome https://www.amazon.com/Cities-God-Christianity-Movement-Conquered/dp/0061349887/ Wayne Meeks, The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul https://www.amazon.com/First-Urban-Christians-Social-Apostle/dp/0300098618 Thomas A. Robinson, Who Were the First Christians? Dismantling the Urban Thesis https://global.oup.com/academic/product/who-were-the-first-christians-9780190620547 Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com/ Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/ Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org/ Please donate to this podcast: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate/audio/

Western Christianity—Latin Christianity—began in Africa and made its way across the sea to Italy. All the great orthodox Latin writers of the first through third centuries were African. The distinctive western liturgy was likely a product of Roman Africa. Christianity came to Africa at a time of literary renaissance, and the Church is still the beneficiary of that particular Christian culture. Links Mike Aquilina, Rabbles, Riots, and Ruins: Twelve Ancient Cities and How They Were Evangelized https://www.amazon.com/Rabbles-Riots-Ruins-Ancient-Evangelized/dp/1621646785/ Mike Aquilina, Africa and the Early Church: The Almost-Forgotten Roots of Catholic Christianity https://catholicbooksdirect.com/products/africa-and-the-early-church-the-almost-forgotten-roots-of-catholic-christianity J. Patout Burns Jr., Robin M. Jensen, Christianity in Roman Africa: The Development of Its Practices and Beliefs https://www.amazon.com/Christianity-Roman-Africa-Development-Practices/dp/0802869319 Thomas Oden, How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity https://www.amazon.com/Africa-Shaped-Christian-Mind-Rediscovering/dp/0830837051/ Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com/ Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/ Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org/ Please donate to this podcast: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate/audio/

From Rome to Milan to Ravenna, the Western capital moved—searching for the site least vulnerable to barbarian incursion. And wherever the capital moved, money followed. And where there’s money, there’s monumental art, science, and literary culture. In Ravenna there were great figures such as Galla Placidia and Peter Chrysologus. Today, the early Christian art and architecture of Ravenna are among the world’s great treasures. It’s one of the few places on earth where you can walk into a church and have almost the same experience one of the Fathers of the Church would have had. Links Mike Aquilina, Rabbles, Riots, and Ruins: Twelve Ancient Cities and How They Were Evangelized https://www.amazon.com/Rabbles-Riots-Ruins-Ancient-Evangelized/dp/1621646785/ Judith Herrin, Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe https://www.amazon.com/Ravenna-8211-Capital-Late-Antiqui/dp/0691153434/ Fr. Félix López, S.H.M., “Mary in the writings of St. Peter Chrysologus” https://www.homeofthemother.org/en/resources/virgin-mary/fathers/10150-mary-in-the-writings-of-st-peter-chrysologus Peter Chrysologus, “Each One of Us Is Called To Be Both a Sacrifice To God and His Priest” https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=173 Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com/ Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/ Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org/ Please donate to this podcast: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate/audio/

In a short span of time, in the fourth century, Byzantium made the leap from a relatively insignificant harbor city to the de facto capital of the world. Constantine moved there from Rome and gave his empire a new (and Christian) founding. He also laid the foundations for a political milieu that made “Byzantine” a byword meaning complicated, bureaucratic, and corrupt. Constantinople’s laws, for better and worse, circumscribed the movements and actions of many of the later Fathers. Links Mike Aquilina, Rabbles, Riots, and Ruins: Twelve Ancient Cities and How They Were Evangelized https://www.amazon.com/Rabbles-Riots-Ruins-Ancient-Evangelized/dp/1621646785/ Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3.54 https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2881 Socrates Scholasticus, The Ecclesiastical History 1.16 https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2884 John Julius Norwich, A Short History of Byzantium https://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Byzantium-Julius-Norwich/dp/0679772693/ Thomas Madden, Istanbul: City of Majesty at the Crossroads of the World https://www.amazon.com/Istanbul-City-Majesty-Crossroads-World/dp/0670016608 They Might Be Giants, “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” https://youtu.be/0XlO39kCQ-8?si=MvE92tpEJcFeYDlx Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com/ Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/ Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org/ Please donate to this podcast: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate/audio/

As if an interest in patristics isn’t strange enough, in this episode we’re getting still more exotic. We’re entering the world of Armenian patristics. We’re visiting the ancient city of Ejmiatsin—leaping over the barriers of language (and even alphabet) to encounter the heroes too often neglected in the histories. This is the story of St. Gregory the Illuminator and his contemporaries, and the Church they founded. Armenia also became a great center of learning and so houses translations of many Greek and Syriac works that would otherwise be lost. LINKS Mike Aquilina, Rabbles, Riots, and Ruins: Twelve Ancient Cities and How They Were Evangelized https://www.amazon.com/Rabbles-Riots-Ruins-Ancient-Evangelized/dp/1621646785/ Mike Aquilina, “Ancient Christian capital rises again in stunning New York exhibit” https://angelusnews.com/voices/ancient-christian-capital-rises-again-in-stunning-new-york-exhibit/ Helen C. Evans, ed., Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Armenia_Art_Religion_and_Trade_in_the_Middle_Ages Society for Armenian Studies, Digital Resources https://societyforarmenianstudies.com/2018/02/12/armenian-studies-digital-resources/ Robert W. Thomson, Five Studies in Armenian Patristics https://archive.org/details/thomson-studies-1964-1982 Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com/ Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/ Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org/ Please donate to this podcast: http://www.CatholicCulture.org/donate/audio/