Book Review: Bryan M. Litfin, Getting to Know the Church Fathers. An Evangelical Introduction

Book Review: Bryan M. Litfin, Getting to Know the Church Fathers. An Evangelical Introduction

Introduction

Bryan Litfin (Ph.D., University of Virginia), associate professor of theology at Moody Bible Institute, provides a much needed introduction to the church fathers for evangelical Christians. Burdened by the fact that many evangelicals lack any kind of connection to the rich history of the church, Litfin writes so that Christians will learn to think of the fathers as those who can play a guiding role for the faith today (p. 18). Every Christian should find himself on the path of orthodoxy—a path the fathers labored to create (p. 29). When Christians get to know the church fathers and what they believed, they will “begin to understand something of the grandeur of the community to which we belong…the 'communion of saints'” (p. 29).

Discussion

In his introduction, Litfin explains how one is considered a church father: he/she must be “ancient, orthodox in doctrine, holy in life, and approved by other Christians” (p. 19). He then highlights three common misconceptions evangelicals have about these giants of the faith: 1) the church fathers were not biblical; 2) the church fathers were Roman Catholics; and 3) the church fathers represent the “fall” of Christianity (pp. 20-27). Perhaps the second is the most widely held misconception. Unfortunately, evangelicals have equated “catholic” with “Roman Catholic” and have thus been robbed of their rightful spiritual heritage (p. 22). “Catholic,” as it relates to the fathers, writes Litfin, “referred to the unified community of all true believers in the world: those whose loyalty was given to the risen Christ” (p. 23).

In each of the ten chapters, Litfin covers the life and influence of a church father. It is difficult to coalesce the themes of the fathers (which rightly includes one woman, Perpetua), for each had many different themes associated with their lives and eras. Nevertheless, Litfin masterfully communicates his main idea: church fathers matter because they are people whom God used at a critical time in history to defend and continue the spread of the gospel. This means that present-day evangelicals are part of something much greater than their own relationship with God (p. 264).

Three areas of strength in Litfin's book are noteworthy. First, Litfin's writing style is engaging. He makes ancient history accessible and compelling as he begins each chapter with a modern story that will help connect the reader with the church father's life and work. His devotional style moves the reader toward worshiping God for what he has done in history more than the average biographical work. Each chapter includes reflection questions and a few resources to “dig deeper” into the particular father's life. Litfin also provides a select portion of writing from each father to close the chapters.

Second, modern day theological controversies continually rise to the surface in each chapter. This may seem obvious (there is nothing new under the sun), but Litfin helps today's Christian understand where controversies ...