Getting to Know the Church Fathers An Evangelical Introduction

9781587431968

1587431963

"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