Issue 80 The First Bible Teachers

Interesting and unusual facts about the church’s first Bible interpreters.

Among the least-known figures of history are the early church fathers.

What we can learn from the church fathers that will enrich our own Bible study.

The reformers wanted their teachings to be in harmony with the church fathers.

A century after Christ’s death, a literalist and a spiritualizer forced the church to choose how it would read the Scriptures it inherited from the Jews.

Irenaeus identified the books of the New Testament, then showed the church how they fit with the Old.

By turns bizarre and insightful, Origen’s allegorical forays remain fascinating reading today.

By turns bizarre and insightful, Origen's allegorical forays remain fascinating reading today.

Origen could not believe the Song of Songs was a hymn to erotic love. So what did it mean?

Traditions in Bible Reading

The scholars at Antioch rejected allegory in favor of history. But their interpretive method led some into heresy.

To achieve holiness, believed the early monks, you must soak in the moral sense of the Word.

Tracing a link from Egyptian monks, Nesteros, Origen, John Cassian, and the Benedictines.

The Cappadocian Fathers brought the best gift of all: a powerful scriptural defense of the Trinity and Christ’s divinity against the Arian heretics.

The Church Fathers faced two big questions: “What is Scripture?” and “How should we read it?”

What the church fathers heard in Homer and Virgil tuned them to the harmonies of Scripture.

The West’s foremost theologian offered a single principle by which even the unlearned could unlock Scripture’s meaning.

Why he was so fond of spiritual Scripture interpretation.

Here are several good guides to early exegesis, along with some of the best editions of the early interpreters’ own writings.