WHAT EVANGELICALS AND LIBERALS CAN LEARN FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar 2006 by Hall, Christopher A

The focus of wise and devout study is not an ambiguous mystery revealed only to a select few. The Gnostic tendency to find hidden, esoteric meanings in Jesus' parables, for instance, violates a devout, sound hermeneutic. It leads to a hermeneutical free-for-all in which each individual touts the mysteries he or she alone has discovered. "For in this way," Irenaeus comments, "no one will possess the rule of truth; but in accordance with the number of persons who explain the parables will be found the various systems of truth, in mutual opposition to each other, and setting forth antagonistic doctrines."13

Wise Christians, Irenaeus advises, will always center their attention upon the Scripture but will rebuke the fallen tendency to focus on esoteric passages at the expense of the Scripture's plain teaching on a vast array of issues, including creation and the nature of God. Here, indeed, were two key areas where Gnostic teachers had wandered far from the truth, precisely because of the skewed belief that the mysterious should be the grid by which to interpret the clear and unambiguous, rather than vice versa.

Allow what is clear in the Scripture to shed light on what is foggy, Irenaeus coaches. If one does so, soon the melodies and harmonies of Scripture will reach the reader's ears. Despite the diversity of Scripture, "there shall be heard one harmonious melody in us, praising in hymns that God who created all things."

It is important to observe at this juncture that Irenaeus refuses to separate the authority of the Scripture and the task of biblical interpretation from the community of the Church itself. According to Irenaeus, the Gnostics err, not only because they fail to read the Bible well, but because they refuse to join "themselves to the Church." Instead, their highly individualistic interpretations of the Bible lead to doctrinal confusion and ethical disaster. They "defraud themselves of life through their perverse opinions and infamous behavior."14

The Gnostics remain confused in both their doctrine of God and in their understanding of theology, because they ignore "the beginning, the middle, and the end," that is, the testimony of the OT Scriptures, the witness of Christ and his apostles, and the continuing guidance of Christ's Church in Irenaeus's own day. Irenaeus believes that in his response to Gnosticism he is simply preserving the gospel he and all Christians have received from previous generations of Christians. Through the preserving ministry of the Holy Spirit, the "entire dispensation of God" has been passed on faithfully over the years. As Irenaeus explains, "this gift of God has been entrusted to the Church, as breath was to the first created man, for this purpose, that all the members receiving it may be vivified; and the [means of] communion with Christ has been distributed throughout it, that is, the Holy Spirit. . . the means of confirming our faith, and the ladder of ascent to God."15

Because the Gnostics deserted the Church in their quest for "knowledge," Irenaeus states that they are bereft of the Spirit and the life of Christ. Christ, the Spirit, and Christ's body on earth, the Church, are inseparable: "For where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church.. . ."16