I recently had the pleasure of hosting my friend and fellow convert Rod Bennett on the podcast to talk about the Early Church.
Rod has written extensively on this—his first book, Four Witnesses, is a bestseller and one of the most popular books out there on the Early Church Fathers, the disciples of the apostles who were some of the very first Christians.
It was a great conversation but culminated in a fantastic question from Rod, posed to those Evangelical listeners in the audience,
Would the Early Church Fathers be welcomed at your Evangelical church?
The question, according to Rod, is an important. I agree, because the Early Church Fathers, in the thousands of pages we have of their collected writings, say a lot of things that sound Evangelical—that may fit in an Evangelical context. But they also say a lot of things that sound very Catholic, too. Things about the Eucharist (the body and blood of Jesus), how Baptism actually saves (it’s not just a symbol), and about confession, saints, and even relics.
How very Catholic indeed.
It’s a great question, and the subject of my latest video on YouTube too.
Have a watch and if you’re interested, listen to the whole interview too. It’s a doozy!
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