Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction [Paperback]

Bryan M. Litfin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

Augustine. Tertullian. Origen. For too many Christians such names are abstract, one-dimensional legends, innocuous voices from antiquity no longer relevant to modern needs and concerns. However, a closer look at these church fathers reveals writers whose reflections on the apostolic teachings edify all generations of believers. Bryan Liftin helps readers understand the fathers as individuals who cared deeply about preserving the core tenets of the Christian faith, and debunks misconceptions about their religious status and treatment of Scripture. An unveiling of these ten personalities demonstrates how much the fathers can teach us about the doctrines of our faith and the enduring community of which we are a part.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"A lively and engaging introduction to the church's earliest and most venerable teachers for evangelical readers. Shattering the stereotypes of the church fathers, Litfin shows that they were animated by the Holy Scriptures and love for Christ. Getting to Know the Church Fathers challenges evangelicals to claim the great tradition of Christian thought as their own and invites them to embrace it as their story and their heritage, not solely that of Catholics and Orthodox."
--Robert Louis Wilken, University of Virginia

"A new generation of evangelicals is discovering the riches of the wider Christian tradition, including the wisdom of the early church fathers. Bryan Litfin's patristics primer is a perfect guide for those who are on this journey, and for others who would like to take the first steps. Well researched and well written, this is a gem of a book!"
--Timothy George, Beeson Divinity School

"Bryan Litfin has written a lively, extremely accessible introduction to the church fathers that students unfamiliar with the patristic world will find very helpful. Litfin is particularly gifted at helping evangelicals understand why the church fathers should be embraced as worthy members of the church's family."
--Chris Hall, Eastern University

"Litfin represents a new generation of evangelicals who have been trained in patristics and can make the ancient writers accessible to contemporary readers without sacrificing solid scholarship. This book, as the title suggests, offers a creative way to explain select works of the church fathers for Protestants whose religious traditions have long forgotten them."
--D. H. Williams, Baylor University

"Evangelicals' longstanding neglect of the writings of the early church has impoverished both their lives and their theology. Bryan Litfin is a wise and welcoming guide to a firsthand, attentive knowledge of these forebearers who enrich and guide our worship, service, and understanding. His thorough knowledge of these ancient Christian writings and the contemporary scholarship on them provides a winsome, accessible introduction and a sound foundation for further study."
--Stephen R. Spencer, Wheaton College

"An inviting, manageable, and devotional introduction to early Christianity's indispensable deposit of faith and practice. I hope it will inform and enrich the contemporary evangelical community."
--Jeffrey Bingham, Dallas Theological Seminary

About the Author

Bryan M. Litfin (PhD, University of Virginia) is associate professor of theology at Moody Bible Institute.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Brazos Press (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587431963
• ISBN-13: 978-1587431968
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

WWW.CHIVEIS.COM

Bryan Litfin grew up in Dallas, TX; Oxford, England; and Memphis, TN. He earned a degree in print journalism from the University of Tennessee, a master's degree in historical theology at Dallas Seminary, and a Ph.D. in the field of ancient church history at the University of Virginia. He now serves as Professor of Theology at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a brilliant broad swathe through the ancient Xtn fathers January 13, 2008

By musicnbooks

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Bryan Liftin has written a very inclusive and dynamic book about the early church fathers, an excellent narrative of historical, biographical and theological themes. Full disclosure: I am not an evangelical Christian so I cannot comment from that perspective whether the book fulfills a need for that community. However, as one studying more about Eastern Orthodox Christianity I can say without fear of contradiction that this book provides anyone interested in the origins and development of the Christian ideas and beliefs which are still current in modern times a broad and intelligent introduction. Liftin covers the trail blazed by the early Fathers in a linear approach, looking both at the history of the life of each one but also how each develops the important articles of faith and determination of the sacred texts from their predecessors. One can read how the theology of the Trinity,for example, accepted by almost all Christian faiths of today was painstakingly developed and resolved in a sometimes conflicting and contradictory manner. The reader is readily engaged by Lifkin in this pursuit and can follow a path made very clear despite so many fits and stumbles during those early days. You can easily see how dedicated the Fathers were to the insistence on truth and true knowledge and understanding of Christ as a living person and as the transcendent eternal son of the Father. All of us who have believed in Christianity owe a great debt to the precision and life-long dedication of these remarkable historical figures and their writings concerning the true faith. Lifkin spends very little time proselytizing about the evangelical Christian's perspective, which really adds much to the fact that I think anyone of Christian belief will find this work enlightening, well documented, and 'orthodox', meaning the one truth unchanged as it was given to the Fathers from the Apostles. There's no question that he is opening a new door for fundamentalist Christians by acceding to the idea that the tradition which was given to the Church and maintained through the early Fathers is extremely relevant to evangelicals as it is to Eastern Orthodox and the Church of Rome and its various off-shoots such as the Anglican, Lutheran and Calvinist faiths.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW - what a gem October 23, 2007

By PFN

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Dr. Bryan Litfin has crafted a real treasure here, and I commend it to you enthusiastically. I am NOT a biblical scholar or a devoted student of early-Church history, but that's the beauty of this work: It's highly accessible not only to the academic but also to the "average" Christian (if any such thing existed!) who realizes how richly beneficial a deeper understanding of our faith's family tree can be. Full disclosure: Bryan and I became friends back when we were undergrads at the University of Tennessee, so I'm a bit partial. But to be candid, I expected this book to read more like a scholarly, classroom text. Wrong! It certainly does brim with top-rate scholarship, but its pages also crackle with anecdotes, metaphors, modern-day parallels, and vivid language, all perfectly pitched. With this excellent work, Bryan's talents emerge from the Moody classroom and enter the larger arena of published study and discussion where they most definitely belong.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction to the Early Church Fathers! October 12, 2007

By Matthew Tibbenham

Format:Paperback

I was able to read this book in a pre-release version for Dr. Bryan Litfin's "Early Christian Thought" class and I was very impressed. I have read many introductions about the early church fathers and I have to say Litfin's work was the most interesting. It has an easy to follow format that grabs your attention by the telling stories of different church fathers. If this is a subject that you believe you will never have any interest in (or know nothing about), try reading this book before you make your final decision. It is a great introduction to at least 10 of the most famous church fathers; telling their stories and giving a short extract of some of their writings.

This book will hopefully peak the interest of many who have no idea what a "Tertullian" is and lead many to study the ancient roots of the Christian faith. I hope that Dr. Bryan Litfin continues to write such interesting books for beginners and more advanced readers. I look forward to reading more from him.