Why the Church Fathers are Awesome

November 11, 2020

What happens when a Presbyterian pastor, an Orthodox layperson, and a Catholic rector record a podcast? Don’t worry, there’s no punchline ahead, just plenty of conversation both enlightening and entertaining. In this episode, Adam introduces season three’s guests, and they immediately dive into what the patristics have to offer twenty-first century believers.

This season, Adam isn’t the lone Presbyterian; he’s joined by Joey Sherrard, an Associate Pastor at Signal Mountain Presbyterian who has a PhD in systematic theology from the University of St. Andrews. Although he’s no longer a pastor (and no longer Baptist), Keith Kettenring also has a PhD in educational studies from Biola University in California. Finally, returning to A Beautiful Church podcast is Father David Carter, rector of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, who is, among other things, licensed in Canon Law.

Together, these ministry leaders set up the rest of this season by discussing why it’s important to study Christianity’s theological foundations as crafted by the church fathers, the reliability and applicability of the patristics, and how these writings fulfil both an intellectual and a spiritual need. Listen to this episode to hear more about why this group has chosen to read the church fathers and why you should too.

 

Jump Through the Conversation

  • [0:29] Introduction: Pastor Dr. Joey Sherrard

  • [0:55] Introduction: Dr. Keith Kettenring

  • [2:01] Introduction: Father David Carter

  • [3:05] Patristics and Prayer group

  • [4:09] Why should we study patristics?

    • Unity

    • Return to foundational beliefs

    • Patristic writings are closer in time to when Scripture was written

    • Connection between early AD unchurched audience and modern post-Christian audience

    • Useful for evangelism

  • [11:54] More on historical scholarship

  • [15:26] Why modern scholarship isn’t necessarily better

  • [18:12] On the continuity of Christianity

  • [20:17] Patristic writings address mind and heart simultaneously

  • [23:50] The importance of revisiting the fundamentals

 

Links and Resources

 

A resource of the Chattanooga House of Prayer