Patristics expert Mike Aquilina explains how the early Church Fathers faced many of the same battles Christians fight today, from abortion and euthanasia to religious freedom and arguments over the liturgy. Drawing on his new book The Church Fathers for Our Time, he shows how the first Christians reached a clear consensus on human dignity by staying faithful to apostolic tradition. Mike also explains why the Church needs to recover the meaning of suffering and why there was never a "golden age" free of debate over the Mass.
Mike Aquilina, author of more than 70 books on Catholic history, doctrine, and devotion and co-founder, with Scott Hahn, of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, joins Deacon Mark Campbell to talk about his new book, The Church Fathers for Our Time (Emmaus Road Publishing).
Mike explains that the Gospel has always been a countercultural message. The early Christians were persecuted and often challenged the authorities, even after the Roman Empire became Christian. Abortion, contraception, and euthanasia were already common in pagan society, and the Church formed a strong consensus on them very early. The Fathers, some of them disciples of the apostles themselves, weren't trying to innovate; they were trying to hand on the faith faithfully, just as St. Paul did when he corrected the Corinthians on how to celebrate the Eucharist.
On euthanasia, Mike warns that we're losing our sense of the value of suffering and of conformity to Christ in his Passion. If we teach one generation to end life early when times get hard, the next generation learns to do it sooner. The answer, he says, is the Paschal mystery, and he points to the deep peace and wisdom he's witnessed in people who have suffered much.
Mike also takes on the liturgy wars: the Mass has been the center of Christian life from the very beginning, and Christians have complained about it just as long, from St. John Chrysostom on down. There were no golden ages, he says, only eras when disputes produced great creativity. That we care so much about the Mass is a sign of how central it is.
Get The Church Fathers for Our Time from the St. Paul Center, or, as Mike encourages, order it through your local Catholic bookstore.
Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.
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