“Learning Theology with the Church Fathers”, a book written by “Christopher A. Hall” is a body of work that seeks to uncover the veil of Biblical interpretation that was prevalent in the early history of the Church. During this book review we will be looking at how Christopher A. Hall goes about the business of giving readers an appreciation for the unfolding of events that led to the formulation of various doctrines by delving into the minds of Apostolic Fathers such as; Augustine and the question of “what is the true relationship of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit”, related to the Trinity, Athanasius and his defense of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit being unbegotten from everlasting to everlasting, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega and finally, Basil and his position that no syllable or letter is of trivial concern when it comes to interpreting scripture (related to doxologies used in Traditional Greek speaking Churches and non Greek speaking Churches).
AUGUSTINE
One of Augustine’s most significant contributions to the faith is found in the lessons that he taught on the relationship of “God the Father” to “God the Son” and “God the Holy Spirit” which can be found in the body of work entitled; “The Trinity”. This body of work can be both [1] “illuminating and intimidating which has daunted and discouraged more than one reader”. The time frame in which Augustine’s theology on the Trinity was formulated consisted of uncertainty regarding the relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [2] Augustine used the Baptism of Jesus, by John, in the Jordan as an example of the three persons of the Trinity being present at once; “Here then we have the Trinity in a certain sort distinguished. The Father in the Voice,–the Son in the Man,–the Holy Spirit in the Dove…. The notice of the Trinity is here conveyed to us plainly and without leaving room for doubt or hesitation.” While Augustine takes the position that there is nothing that the Father can do that the Son cannot and that the Father does nothing without the Son and the Son without the Father, which may have been derived from biblical text as found within John 5:19: “So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”, he also makes it clear that the Trinity consists of Three distinguishable personalities that together make up the God who created the Universe and provides the salvation of mankind through Jesus Christ.
ATHANASIUS
In response to the assault on the relationship of the Son and the Holy Spirit to the Father, by Arius and his followers, who claimed that there existed a hierarchy beginning with the Father implying the Son and the Holy Spirit were subordinate and begotten, Athanasius took up the cause to defend the authority and place of the Son and the Holy Spirit as being equal to that of the Father by making the argument [3] “An eternal Father, in short, demands an eternal Son”. Athanasius used the example of the Sun and it’s radiance to illustrate the point that at any time that the Father existed, typified by the sun, that the Son had to exist, typified by the radiance of the sun by pointing out that when there is a sun in existence there never ceases to be a radiance from it from the time of it’s very inception. Once the Son has been established as being begotten , and by implication subordinate to the Father, it would not be a stretch of the imagination to place the Holy Spirit in a position below the Son creating a Hierarchy which according to Athanasius would not be supported by scripture.
Athanasius believed that Arius and his followers err in their theology when they tend to think of the relationship between God the Father and God the Son in time and space as we find is the case between a human father and his biological son, however, Athanasius argues, God is not governed by the same rules and laws that we are governed by on this earth. [4] “The Arians are guilty of a serious category error. They have applied human categories to God in an inappropriate and illogical fashion. “God”, Athanasius insists, “is not like man.” In sum Athanasius believes that the Arians err when they began to ask such questions as: [5] “Why is the Word of God not like our word? How is the Word of God from God? How is he God’s radiance? How does God beget? and what is the manner of his begetting? Which is unlike asking questions: Where is God? Why does God exist and What is the nature of the Father?” All of which can be considered displays of reckless impiety and borderline blasphemy.
BASIL
Basil was an Apostolic Father who felt that the very letters that make up a word were subject to scrutiny and that it was not of an insignificant or petty nature, when it came to forming theological positions, if we were to examine them; [6] “We can frame the basic problem Basil addresses as a controversy over doxologies, a disagreement that at first glance seems to be theological nitpicking but that, on closer examination, reveals key theological presuppositions about the nature of Christ and the Spirit.” The theological position of Basil that [7] even the small seemingly insignificant steps of exegetical and theological reasoning, built on key grammatical distinctions, are of significance because it is through these “key grammatical distinctions” that issues are framed from that determine doctrines.
Initially the controversy began because Basil introduced a doxology in the church at Caesarea that was not familiar to the Greek speaking Church, namely the replacement of the more traditional doxology “Glory to the Father through [dia] the Son in [en] the Holy Spirit” with the unfamiliar doxology “Glory to the Father with [meta] the Son together with [syn] the Holy Spirit”, because of the latter’s more accurate use of grammar in describing the relationship between the members of the Trinity.
CONCLUSION
Augustine, Athanasius and Basil are examples of Apostolic Fathers who had great influence during the early church years of the Christian faith. Christopher Hall does a remarkable job in offering us exegesis and theology from the perspective of the aforementioned Apostolic Fathers.