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The Apostolic fathers viewed Scripture as containing
a complete pattern that must to be followed
A conservative, bible believing perspective!
God's providence gave us the 27 book New Testament Canon, not the church.
God, not men decided the canon. This providence does not mean that church
leaders were inspired in their selecting the canon, only that God had his
eye on the scriptures the whole time and brought about His will to form the
Bible we see today!
The Apostolic fathers viewed Scripture as containing a complete pattern that must to be followed.
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The Apostolic fathers viewed Scripture as containing a complete pattern
that must to be followed.
Introduction:
The earliest Christians were patternists. "Patternism" is a term
that is derived from Rom 617: "But thanks be to God that though you were
slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching
to which you were committed". The Greek word is "Morphe" which means a form
or mold into which molten material is poured to create an object.
Patternism is the act of following scripture so closely that you view it as
a mold or form, that we are to duplicate morally and doctrinally in our
lives.
Roman Catholics and Othodox leaders are anti-patternist. They refuse
to allow the Bible to govern their lives. They feel that man-made church
tradition can change the Bible. They fell the Bible is not a pattern or
form to be followed.
Earliest Christians, however, are at variance with Roman Catholics
and Othodox leaders, because the earliest Christians viewed scripture as a
pattern to be followed exactly. They quoted the New Testament to prove
their doctrine correct.
Discussion:
"Is there a plan within scripture (the rule of truth) by which
scripture is to be interpreted, or does one bring a plan from outside
scripture and rearrange its contents to fit that plan? Irenaeus and the
orthodox said there was a plan or plot within scripture itself. It is all
the more significant that this plot derived from placing the Christian
sources of authority alongside the Old Testament. Irenaeus, after
identifying the triple authority of prophets, Lord, and apostles as
"scriptures," used a graphic illustration from mosaic art to describe the
situation: 'Such, then, is their [disciples of Ptolemaeus] system, which
neither the prophets announced, nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles
delivered, but ... they gather their views from reading non-scriptural
writings .... while they endeavor to adapt with an air of probability to
their own peculiar assertions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the
prophets, and the words of the apostles in order that their scheme may not
seem altogether without support. In doing so, however, they disregard the
order and the connection [taxis kai heimon] of the scriptures, and so far
as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth.... Their manner of acting
is just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by
some skillful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness
of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems and so fit them
together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox and even that
but poorly executed; and should then maintain and declare that this was the
beautiful image of the king that the skillful artist constructed pointing
to the jewels that had been admirably fitted together by the first artist
to form the image of the king but have been with bad effect transferred by
the latter one to the shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels
should deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a king's form was
like and persuade them that the miserable likeness of the fox was in fact
the beautiful image of the king.' (Haer. 1.8.1)" (Lee Martin McDonald,
James A. Sanders, Editors: The Canon Debate; Everett Ferguson, Factors
Leading to the Selection and Closure of the New Testament Canon, p 313,
2002)
"Tertullian in his Prescription against Heretics disagrees
concerning who has the right to interpret the scriptures. 'They [heretics]
treat of the scriptures and recommend their opinions out of the scriptures.
To be sure, they do. From what other source could they derive arguments
concerning the things of the faith, except from the records of the faith?'
(ch. 14). He denies this right to the heretics because the scriptures
belong to the catholic Christians (ch. 15; 19). He charged Valentinus with
tampering with the scriptures "by his different expositions and
acknowledged emendations" (Praescr. 30). The gnostic controversy made
imperative a clarification of what writings accurately expressed apostolic
teaching and apostolic authority. Against the secret tradition claimed by
certain gnostic Christians, Irenaeus appealed to the public teaching of the
churches. This included the teaching of the scriptures, as can be seen by
Irenaeus's refutation in Books 3-5 of Adversus haereses. Irenaeus is
recognized as the first orthodox Christian author whose works argue from
scripture as a whole. After setting forth the views of the heretics (book
l) and giving a rational refutation (book 2), he declares that he will
devote a special book to the "scriptures of the Lord" (2.35.4), referring
to the immediately mentioned preaching and teaching of the apostles, Lord,
prophets, and law. As he begins to adduce "proofs from the scriptures" (3
praef.), he appeals to the gospel first proclaimed in canon, but William R.
Farmer has called attention to how suitable the New Testament canon was for
strengthening Christians facing martyrdom. (Lee Martin McDonald, James A.
Sanders, Editors: The Canon Debate; Everett Ferguson, Factors Leading to
the Selection and Closure of the New Testament Canon, p 314, 2002)
"Since therefore we have such proofs, it is not necessary to seek
the truth among others which it is easy to obtain from the Church; since
the apostles, like a rich man [depositing his money] in a bank, lodged in
her hands most copiously all things pertaining to the truth: so that every
man, whosoever will, can draw from her the water of life. For she is the
entrance to life; all others are thieves and robbers. On this account are
we bound to avoid them, but to make choice of the thing pertaining to the
Church with the utmost diligence, and to lay hold of the tradition of the
truth. For how stands the case? Suppose there arise a dispute relative to
some important question among us, should we not have recourse to the most
ancient Churches with which the apostles held constant intercourse, and
learn from them what is certain and clear in regard to the present
question? For how should it be if the apostles themselves had not left us
writings? Would it not be necessary, [in that case,] to follow the course
of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they did commit
the Churches?" (Irenaeus, book 3, Chapter IV.-The Truth is to Be Found
Nowhere Else But in the Catholic Church, the Sole Depository of Apostolical
Doctrine. Heresies are of Recent Formation, and Cannot Trace Their Origin
Up to the Apostles)
Augustine, in a large book where he teaches every Christian in the
pews, not the leaders as Roman Catholics would expect, about how they
should study the scriptures: "Accordingly, among the canonical Scriptures
he will judge according to the following standard: to prefer those that are
received by all the catholic churches to those which some do not receive.
Among those, again, which are not received by all, he will prefer such as
have the sanction of the greater number and those of greater authority, to
such as are held by the smaller number and those of less authority. If,
however, he shall find that some books are held by the greater number of
churches, and others by the churches of greater authority (though this is
not a very likely thing to happen), I think that in such a case the
authority on the two sides is to be looked upon as equal." (Augustine, Book
2, Chapter 8, The Canonical Books)
Of interest here is the fact that the community of faith, rather
than church authorities, were responsible for this process; what they
determined to be edifying and useful later found a place in the canon.
Church authorities only authorized or sanctioned what had already been in
use. (Lee Martin McDonald, James A. Sanders, Editors: The Canon Debate;
Kent D. Clarke, The Problem of Pseudonymity in Biblical Literature and Its
Implications for Canon Formation, p 467, 2002)
By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.
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