Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers [Paperback]

Christopher A. Hall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 1998

Many Christians today long to become reacquainted with their ancient ancestors in the faith. They see a deeper worship and devotion in the prayers and hymns of the early church. And they believe that the writings of the early church can shed new light on their understanding of Scripture.

But where and how do we begin? Our first encounter with the writings of the church fathers may seem like visiting a far country where the language, assumptions, concerns and conclusions are completely unfamiliar to us.

In Christopher Hall helps us through this cultural confusion, introducing us to the early church, its unique world, and the sights and sounds of Scripture that are highlighted for them. As Hall points out, the ancient fathers hear music in Scripture where we remain tone-deaf. Despite their occasional eccentricities, theirs is a hearing refined through long listening in song, worship, teaching, meditation and oral reading. And like true masters they challenge and correct our modern assumptions as they invite us to tune our ears to hear the divine melodies of the Bible.

is an exceptional guide. Hall provides a warm, winsome, informative and indispensable introcution to who these leaders and scholars were, how they read and interpreted Scripture, and how we might read Scripture with them for all its worth.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These are the first two volumes published in the "Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture" series intended for educated laity and the clergy, which aims to introduce the reader to the church fathers and their exegesis of the Bible. The scope of Mark is impressive and the format generally easy to use. It presents the gospel in its entirety in the Revised Standard Version, with each passage followed by an overview of selected comments from the church fathers of the first seven centuries and then by the full comments themselves. To find these comments, the editors ran computerized searches of the whole body of patristic literature in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Coptic; comments are limited to the church fathers, including nothing from the Arians or Gnostics, for example. Individual passages are fully referenced for easy location in the original, but while there is a list of writers at the end, there is no list of their works. From the appendix, it appears that far more passages were omitted than included, and a list of omitted passages would have been useful. Hall (biblical and theological studies, Eastern Coll.) has written a useful introduction to the series. He discusses the methods used by the church fathers in their exegesis of scripture, concentrating on Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, and John Chrysostom in the East and Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great in the West, then moving back in time to their predecessors. Again, no references are made to those outside mainstream Christianity. Little is said about rabbinic or philosophical influences on the church fathers' methods, and one might wish that the influence of the New Testament, and its use of the Old, had been more fully explored. Nevertheless, this book is thorough and informative on the methods and controversies of the church fathers. For public, academic, and church libraries.?Michael S. Borries, CUNY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Christopher A. Hall is chancellor of Eastern University and dean of the Templeton Honors College. He is also associate editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 223 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic; First Paperback Edition edition (August 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830815007
• ISBN-13: 978-0830815005
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, not really scholarly October 12, 2006

By Adam Baker

Format:Paperback

This is a good book for getting people interested in the church fathers. I recommend it for that purpose. Beyond that, it comes across as a bit shallow. The major theme of the book is the controversy between allegorical and non-allegorical interpretation of Scripture. In a book written by Protestants to Protestants we expect the non-allegorical camp to win, but the reasons for this are not really thought through in the book. Do Origen's allegorical hemeneutics eventually lead to contradictions? The danger of this is acknowledged, but there are no examples given. This and similar inadequacies of the exposition make this a frustrating book. I am encouraged, however, to seek out the primary literature to find out for myself, however.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Necessary Reading for All Protestants (& Orthodox) March 8, 2007

By Harry E. Gray

Format:Paperback

I very seldom believe that a book is a "must read," but this is one of those times. Over the past year-and-a-half I have been examining the Orthodox Faith. Coming from the Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ (Restoration or Stone-Campbell Movement), I was well-versed in Alexander Campbell's writings. The Church Fathers were looked at only to reinforce the Movement's views. Even any writer between Luther and Campbell was suspect.

This book helps to set right the overlooked Church Fathers. Mr. Hall helps open the doors in a very readable way for Protestants. With the strong basics he presents, the reader will be drawn to further study. I wish that I had used this book first in my studies on Orthodoxy.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An Invitation to Share Patristic Interpretation of Scripture May 30, 2004

By Didaskalex TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

"The study of the Church Fathers is central to an understanding of and appreciation for the history and content of Orthodox Christianity. ... It was these that produced the Scriptures, the formulations of the Councils,..." An Introduction to Patristics, Monachos.Net

Ancient study of scripture:

The study of the scripture with the company of early church fathers, is a great project, invigorating patristic hopes, that Nottingham's patrologist Dr. George Bebawi has proposed to translate the series into Arabic for the benefit of Christian readers in the Middle East. Chris. Hall, the coeditor of "Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture" has written a pleasant and useful introduction to the Commentary series and to patristic studies of scripture, in general, targeted for the curious American reader. He discusses in a logical sequence expected queries of the postmodern western mind, "why pursue an abandoned Eastern Church tradition, when they no more read the scripture, let alone studying it?" Hall uses here the authority of Robert Wilken and Thomas Oden's own journey home to the Fathers through PaleoOrthodoxy, to prove his case to patrology seekers. The desert fathers, says Burton-Christie, needed only scripture to sustain their spiritual life.

Fathers of the Church:

The Church Fathers are; "Ecclesiastical leaders and teachers who are accepted as authorities in matters of doctrine. In the early Church, Orthodoxy was determined by the so-called consensus patrum that showed general agreement among a set of Christian leaders distinguished by purity of faith, holiness of life, approval of the church, and antiquity." Nelson's New Christian Dictionary

None of first and second century fathers could make it to Hall's list of Church Fathers, neither Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Clement of Alexandria, Justin, Irenaeus, nor Polycarp. The master of all exegetes, Origen (6000 works) was covered only as representative of the Alexandrine school, and Dionysius the Great, pioneer of textual & redaction criticism was totally ignored.

Reading with the 'Doctors':

When evangelical biblical scholars discovered that their exegetical memory was far from adequate, they searched to confirm what the experts of Vatican II have learned about ancient Church leading figures; and their masterful command of Scriptural sense. In his 'Theology Reader,' Alister McGrath edited writings within a proposed study panel on interpretation of scripture (panel 5) that included: Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus, Origen, Augustine, and Bernard of Clairvaux, latest of the Fathers. Hall is also reading the scripture with the eight church teachers, including a sampler of their contributions to the early Church biblical thought, and Hermeneutical views. He also presents a birds eye view of the patristic thought on: allegory in the scripture, Christology, development of scripture, prayer, etc. He treated fairly well the basic church exegetical traditions in Alexandrian allegory and the Antiochene sticking to historical facts and moral interpreting methodology.

Father's Comparative deductions:

"When we trace the development of patristic literature we discover something of how the intellectuals thought," says RPC Hanson, who in his 'Introduction: Historical Theology,' reminded us of the fact that, "The Fathers placed the Bible in the context of the Christian life"

Dr. Hall seems to have intentionally avoided a systematic and extensive discussion of biblical exegesis, in favor of introducing the novice reader to a group of patristic figures defined by the Roman Church canons, as Doctors of the Church.

Even if recognized as exemplary in their approach to interpret the Bible devotionally, ecclesiastically, and morally (Chrysostom), works of great Biblical interpreters, including Cyril of Alexandria, who wrote the best on the Gospel of Luke, and Doctor of the Catholic Church, and Cyril of Jerusalem was left out.

While Dr. C. Hall gave enhancing applications, he could have elaborated on comparing Golden mouth with the brilliant reading of Gregory on priesthood, as masterfully exposed by Dr. Yanney, the founder of the first patristic review in North America; "Priesthood between St. Gregory and St. Chrysostom, Coptic Church Review, vol. 20, No. 4.

Dr. Chris Hall decided honestly that the meager exegetical crop of early Christian 'mothers' does not sustain the anti chauvinist title of "church mothers"

What do Patrologists say?

Dr. Chris Hall was reluctant to mention any of the contemporary masters of patristic studies: Bettenson, Sebastian Brock, H. Chadwick, Crouzel, Daniellou, De Lubac, or Hanson, let alone Sidney Griffith. Borrowing Fr. Griffith words, "One does not mean to complain immoderately, nor to appear ungrateful for what is on its own term a good study of a timely and an important topic; nor does one want to review a book the author never intended to write," adding there is room to expand this good introductory study. The best defense in favor for patristic studies is its overwhelming influence in restoring the Roman Church to Catholic originals by the above 'Nouvelle theologie' through the writings of the Church Fathers. I hope when he edits his reader friendly essay, that he may not overlook the recent monumental work by Charles Kannengiesser; "Handbook of Patristic Exegesis: The Bible in Ancient Christianity", April 2004

A Qualified Book Review:

"Few observers would contest that the exegesis of the Bible has now fully entered a postcritical moment. The rules of the venerable historical-critical method no longer reign supreme, even in the academy. Readers lay and scholarly recognize that the text of the Scriptures is polyvalent and multicontextual, and that communities of readers to some extent determine its meaning." Robin D.Young