Early Christian Writings

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LadyCalvinist

Puritan Board Junior
I purchased Early Christian Writings published by Penguin Classics and I am now reading it now. It includes Letter of Clement to Corinthians, 7 letters of Ignatius, Letters of Polycarp and Barnabas, and the Didache. What I am concerned about is that I have heard some early Christian writings are good, some weird, and some heretical. What say ye of these works?
 
I purchased Early Christian Writings published by Penguin Classics and I am now reading it now. It includes Letter of Clement to Corinthians, 7 letters of Ignatius, Letters of Polycarp and Barnabas, and the Didache. What I am concerned about is that I have heard some early Christian writings are good, some weird, and some heretical. What say ye of these works?

Read them as a historical expression of faith. Keep the biblical, reject the heretical, just as you would any other theological book. Also keep in mind that we know so little of their specific context and many of their allusions and categories of thought are hard to apprehend or understand. They are Christians trying to work out their salvation in their own time. They have not asked all the questions yet that we have asked, so try to appreciate the way they do seek to answer the questions of their own day from a Christian perspective. Consider them like the Reformers did as witnesses to the faith, not as authoritative expositions of the faith (like Rome and EO treat them) :2cents:
 
Read them as a historical expression of faith. Keep the biblical, reject the heretical, just as you would any other theological book. Also keep in mind that we know so little of their specific context and many of their allusions and categories of thought are hard to apprehend or understand. They are Christians trying to work out their salvation in their own time. They have not asked all the questions yet that we have asked, so try to appreciate the way they do seek to answer the questions of their own day from a Christian perspective. Consider them like the Reformers did as witnesses to the faith, not as authoritative expositions of the faith (like Rome and EO treat them) :2cents:

Sound advice!

DTK
 
clarity

I purchased Early Christian Writings published by Penguin Classics and I am now reading it now. It includes Letter of Clement to Corinthians, 7 letters of Ignatius, Letters of Polycarp and Barnabas, and the Didache. What I am concerned about is that I have heard some early Christian writings are good, some weird, and some heretical. What say ye of these works?

The issue becomes one of clarity. Some of the writings are not as sharp as the reformers. I have seen
Roman catholic apologists appeal to these writings as they would the apocrypha. Because the writings are not as clear,they can put their own spin on them,. One RC pointed me to this link;

Early Christian Writings: New Testament, Apocrypha, Gnostics, Church Fathers
 
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