Early Christianity

For awhile I've read bits and pieces of early Christian writings. I love reading early teachings, from well before we had the canon of the Bible, and seeing how truly Catholic they are.

Lately I've been reading Four Witnesses: The Early Church In Her Own Words. The author, Rod Bennett, joined the Catholic church after undertaking his own study of early Christianity. He fought it at first. Like many people, he had several misconceptions about Catholicism and misconceptions about early Christianity.

This book has been quite enjoyable. Reading what people who learned from the apostles said in their own words (he quotes documents they wrote) is revealing.

If you are Catholic, don't believe it when people tell you we have strayed from the original Church teachings. This book will give you a start, but there are also others on early teaching that are much more comprehensive.

You will also find a few books that try to make the case that what I've just said is not true. Look at them carefully, though, and you'll see that the authors take isolated statements out of context. You'll also find that in reader comments sometimes, though I suspect it's more from lack of understanding than anything. For example, in a review of one book on the early writings, a reader wrote: For instance, the writings of Clement include his statements on salvation as a free gift of God, independent of works (p. 30). This, of course, is said to have anticipated the sola fideo position of the Reformation.

But salvation as a free gift of God is not just from the reformation. It has always been Catholic teaching.

There was also this:

The Fathers also believed that baptism washes away sins. However, Tertullian rejected infant baptism (p. 145).

I haven' read Turtullian's opinion, but the reviewer fails to mention that infant baptism was clearly the practice of the early church.

Obviously early writers sometimes disagreed. Yet, taken as a whole, you will find agreement with each other and you will see what early practices were, practices began in the days of the Apostles, in the days when the Gospels were still referred to as the "memoirs of the Apostles." The end of Four Witnesses correlates what the Church always taught with what it teaches now.

If you are truly looking for the early teachings, you will find them to be Catholic.