(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Hello everybody, it's me, Mr. 1223, back with another video. In this video I want to talk about the so-called Church Fathers and whether or not they can be trusted as right teachers of doctrine. I've made videos on the history of Christianity on this channel in the past and I've also talked about the beliefs of the early Christians in order to show that a lot of the claims of the Catholic and the Orthodox churches are not ancient as they say that they are. Now I'm opposed to the title of Church Father, that's why I put the words and quotation marks in the title of the video, because Jesus said in Matthew chapter 23 verse 9, And call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father which is in heaven. So the title of Father was given to them by the Catholics who completely ignore this command from Jesus, and you can tell that because it's what they call the leader of their church and a bunch of priests in their church, they call them Father. Pope means, Pope comes from the Italian word, Papa, which just means Father. So I'll just refer to them in this video as early Christians. Now the first point I want to make is that there are righteous men of God after the Apostles. There's no reason to believe that after the Apostles died, after the Apostolic Age ended, that all of a sudden everybody just became a heretic and it wasn't up until the Reformation that people came back into right doctrine and actually believed what the Bible says. As I've already shown somewhat with my videos on remnant churches in the last few months around the world, there have been groups of Christians completely foreign to the Roman Catholics who have taught right doctrine, practiced right ordinances throughout all of history from the time of Christ until now. It wasn't just a 1500 year break between the time of the Apostles and the time of the Reformation. There were people who taught faith alone and who taught things that the Catholic Church did not teach before then. And this is no surprise because the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 21, Unto him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Now the question, I have a question. How can there be glory in the church throughout all ages if the church has not been around for all ages? There hasn't been a right church in all ages. So that's something we ought to think about and the fact of the matter is there has been righteous churches who have taught right doctrine throughout all ages. It's not just now and at the time of Christ, it's from the time of Christ until now. So we also need to keep this in mind as well that the early Christians or Church Fathers as the Catholics call them is a very broad category because thanks to the evangelism of Paul and the Twelve Apostles and other early Christians, there were hundreds, thousands of Christians who decided to write defenses and explanations of the word of God which has survived until this day. And that includes a lot of people but it's not limited to Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarpus of Smyrna, Justin of Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyon, Origen of Alexandria, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Hilary of Pointers, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, Augustine and others. There are a lot of people who would be given that label of Church Father by Catholics or I would give them the label of early Christians. And the list could go on for a long time and over a long period of time because Clement, the first one in that list, died around the turn of the second century while Augustine lived well into the fifth century. So it's a period of at least three, four, five hundred years. But can they be trusted? Can any of these people be trusted? Or is it just some or is it all or is it none? Well, it depends. I'd say it's just a case basis. It's a thing where you just have to examine each one based on their doctrines that they teach. A few months ago I made a video about how to identify false prophets which include a list of false prophets of this modern day. So I would say that the things in the Bible which tell you how to identify false prophets apply today or apply to these people as well, apply to the people of the early church as well. We use the Bible's standards to figure it out if somebody can be labeled as a heretic or a false teacher. So what does the Bible say? It says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 3 to 4, Galatians chapter 1 verse 6 to 9, And then 2 John chapter 1 verse 9 to 10, Whosoever transgresseth in, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. So, and then it's just of those who are not saved. That is, those who preach a gospel contrary to that of the gospel of the Bible. Those who are not saved and who taught heretical doctrines which fly in the face of many scriptures. Those are the false teachers. The early Christians who do not believe the gospel, who taught things that are contrary, which transgress the doctrine of Christ. But those who are saved are those who know what they're talking about. Because the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. And then John chapter 14 verse 17 says, Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he who dwelleth in you, and shall be in you. So when we have the Holy Spirit in us, when we are saved, we can understand the word of God, but without it the things of the Spirit are unknown. That is why the absolute necessity of these church fathers must be that they are saved. In order for me to say, yeah I guess you can trust them and read their works and get something out of it because they're good preachers or whatever. Because they have the Holy Spirit inside of them. So anyone which preaches a false gospel, anyone which preaches false doctrine, their works and writings I would avoid if I were you. So I'm going to go through a few of these early Christians, a few of these and their doctrines as well. Briefly to give a general idea of who to listen to and who not to listen to, who to avoid. Just treat the early centuries of Christianity like the last couple of centuries basically. Although many Christians may seem the same, they might dress the same, they might look the same, they might speak the same. People might treat them the same way, but a lot of them are not actual sheeps, but they're wolves in sheep's clothing. There are good men of God and there are good preachers, but there are also a lot of false prophets like Billy Graham and Joel Osteen and Jerry Falwell in this modern day and age. It's just like back in the early centuries of Christianity. There were a lot of people who might have seemed like true Christians, who might have taught some good things and who might have done good works and so on. But they're not actual good Christians because they're not saved and they teach false doctrine and they're heretics and they try to lead people astray from what the Bible actually says. And luckily this is a little bit easier because I've already made a video on what the Church Fathers had to say about the Gospel a few months ago. Clement of Rome, who wrote an epistle to the Corinthians in about 96 CE, and who was a student and a companion of both Peter and Paul, he said in 1 Clement 32.4 And we Christians too, being called by His will in Jesus Christ, are not justified by ourselves nor by our own wisdom or understanding or godliness or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart, but by that faith through which from the beginning Almighty God has justified all men, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. So Clement clearly teaches a right gospel. He just flat out says there's nothing that justifies you. It's not yourself. It's not your own works. It's not your wisdom or your understanding or whatever. It's just by the faith which Almighty God has justified us. And he says all men from the beginning. So he's basically also teaching that it's always been by grace through faith as well. Justin Martyr, who's another so-called early Church Father, he lived several decades later and he wrote around 160 CE in the Dialogue with Trifo, Chapter 13. For before he was circumcised, a following statement was made regarding him. Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. So he's quoting from the scripture there, exactly what Paul quotes from in Romans 4 to prove salvation by faith alone. But I wouldn't be too hasty with trusting Justin Martyr though. He was probably saved, but he was raised in the pagan background and he converted later in his life. So he didn't have an adequate teaching and understanding of the Old Testament. So there's some influence of philosophy in his works which do not really come from the Bible. So I'd be hesitant if you're going to read his works. I don't really trust a lot of what he says. I mean, I think he's saved, but some of the things he's kind of wary on and he's not really... He's more of a babe in Christ and he tries to act like he knows more about the Bible than he actually does. I would say that about him. Polycarpus Smyrna, he also stated in his epistle to the Philippians, he said, I know that through grace you are saved, not of works, but by the will of God through Jesus Christ. And there are no real heretical doctrines in Polycarpus' work in the rest of his epistle, so I would trust him as well. Next I want to talk about Irenaeus of Lyon, who was a bishop of Lyon in Gaul, which is modern day France. I've been reading a book by Irenaeus for several months now. It's called Against Heresies. I don't have the book with me right now. It's not on my shelf. It's over there somewhere. I'm not going to go get it. But there are a few questionable statements or a few questionable doctrines, but they're not heresies. They're not like flat out things that are just directly contradicting what Christ said or whatever. It's more like just interpretation kind of things, just minor inconsistencies and things like that. But he clearly believed in the right gospel because he says in his book, Against Heresies, Book 5, Chapter 3, Thus then, they who are of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham, and these are the children of Abraham. Now God made promise of the earth to Abraham in a seed, yet neither Abraham nor a seed, that is, those who are justified by faith, do now receive any inheritance in it, but they shall receive it at the resurrection of the just. For God is true and faithful, and on this account he said, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. And he said in Against Heresies, Book 2, Chapter 22, he taught the gospel of Jesus. He said, For he came to save all through means of himself. All, I say, through him are born again to God, infants and children and boys in use and of old men. He therefore passed through every age, becoming an introvert for infants, thus sanctifying infants, a child for children, thus sanctifying those who are of this age, being at the same time made to them an example of piety, righteousness, and submission, a youth for use, becoming an example to youth, and thus sanctifying them for the Lord. So likewise he was an old man for old men, that he might be a perfect master for all, not merely as respects the setting forth of the truth, but also as regards age, sanctifying at the same time the aged also, and becoming an example to them likewise. Then at last he came on to death itself, that he might be the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence, the prince of life existing before all, and going before all. I want to move on to some other famous early Christians, but this time ones who you've got to specifically mark as heretics, as false prophets, who teach a false gospel. Cyprian is a big one, Cyprian of Carthage. He was a major false prophet who I think was one of the major theologians that led to the formation of the doctrines of the Roman Catholics. I think I've made a video on that before, where I've talked about him and how his doctrines and his teachings and his writings were the first real things to mention. He lived during the time of Pope Stephen II, either Stephen I or Stephen II, but he taught that Rome had primacy over the other churches. He was the first person to actually say that. The Catholics will teach that it's been since Peter or whatever, but there's no actual evidence of that before, around 250 when Cyprian lived. He taught in the Unity of the Universal Church, chapter 6. He said, He who does not keep this unity does not keep the law of God, nor the faith of the Father and the Son, nor life and salvation. Cyprian also said, How can a man say that he believes in Christ if he does not do what Christ commanded him to do? From where will he attain the reward of faith if he will not keep the faith of the commandment? He will make no advancement in his walk toward salvation, for he does not keep the truth of the way of salvation. So Cyprian is teaching a hardcore work of salvation, that if you do not keep the commandments of God, then you are not walking toward salvation. So he does not teach that salvation is a thing that just happens. He doesn't teach that it's an instant. He just teaches that it's a process that you need to walk toward salvation, that you need to get there by believing and then obeying the commandments of Christ. Origen is also another major heretic, and I've talked about him before. And there are so many things I could talk about with Origen, because he wrote so many books and so many works. There are so many false doctrines which he said, but concerning the Gospel, he said in commentaries on John, Whoever dies in his sins, even if he profess to believe in Christ, does not truly believe in him. And even if that which exists without works be called faith, such faith is dead in itself, as we read in the epistle bearing the name of James. He's also said in the Gens Celsus, Book 3, Chapter 28, It is those who not only believe, but also enter upon the life that Jesus taught. Origen was also somebody who taught false doctrines, such as the pre-existence of the soul. He himself taught a different god than the god of the Bible as well, a false god which was based on Neoplatonism. I don't want to go too much into Neoplatonism, but to summarize, it's a Greek philosophy from people who hated the Bible and who were definitely not Christians. Origen himself was a student of Ammonius Saccus, who was a Neoplatonic philosopher and was not a Christian. So Origen, even though he was a very influential theologian in the Roman Catholic Church, In his time, he taught a lot of false doctrines and I blame him for the formation of many false beliefs. John Chrysostom, as well, he's another famous and well-known Christian, he said, He that believes in the Son has everlasting life. Is it enough, then, to believe in the Son, someone will say, in order to have everlasting life, by no means? Listen to Christ declare this himself when he says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. And, of course, he takes that verse out of context because it literally says in the next verse that the reason why Jesus is saying that is because they're bragging of having to do works in order to enter into heaven. So that has nothing to do with anything. But he just basically takes a verse of the Bible and completely demolishes it and tries to go against it. He is contrary to it, so John Chrysostom, heretic, he taught a false gospel. Gregory of Nyssa, he said in Homilies on Ecclesiastes chapter 8 or book 8 or whatever it is, Paul, joining righteousness to faith and weaving them together, constructs of them the breastplates for the infantrymen, armoring the soldier properly and safely on both sides. A soldier cannot be considered safely armored when either shield is disjoined from the other. Faith without works of justice is not sufficient for salvation. Neither is righteous living secure in itself of salvation if it is disjoined from faith. So, Gregory of Nyssa, heretic, he says basically flat out, there's no, it's just like so clear of what he believes, that if you don't have works, then you cannot be saved. That's what Gregory of Nyssa believes. So, he's one of the, I think he was one of the Cappadocian fathers, which was a group of people from Cappadocia. They're all grouped together and they're all, I don't know, it's another group of people. Yeah, Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus was also part of the Cappadocian fathers. They were very influential in the Council of Constantinople in 381, which affirmed the Nicene Creed. And I could go on and on about these people, these so-called church fathers naming false prophets of the early church and their false doctrines, but what's the point of all this? What's the answer to the question that I made in this video, that I made in the title? Can the church fathers be trusted? Should I trust the church fathers or not? My answer is just trust God. Trust the Bible and use it for defense and belief of all doctrines. We don't need the traditions of the early Christians to tell us what to believe. We're not Catholics. We don't need that. Not everybody is going to believe the same thing as you on every doctrine. We just need to believe the main doctrines of the Bible, the things which Jesus and his apostles and his disciples and the prophets of God just hammer in all the time. We need to obey the commandments and things like that. So yes, there are some early believers such as Clement and Polycarp and Irenaeus who surpassed us at the apostolic age, who held the true gospel, who were true Christians, who had the Holy Ghost. But there are many others during that time period who did not and we should be careful of them. We shouldn't read their works. We should avoid them and take heed not to listen to them and what they have to say and use their ideas. But instead of worrying about that really, let's just read the Bible. Let's just read scripture. The only reason why I might sometimes use the early Christians such as those people which I just mentioned, Clement, Polycarp, Irenaeus, people like that. The only reason why I might use some of these people as a witness is to defend the idea that certain doctrines are not new. Like I said at the beginning of the video, that Catholics will say, well, these are the doctrines that we have believed from the time of Christ and this has always been the opinion of the Church. While they also say that Irenaeus is a saint, even though Irenaeus taught different doctrines to the Catholic Church, he's a Catholic Saint, but at the same time he didn't believe what the Catholics believed. So that's one useful thing that you could use the early Christians, the so-called Church Fathers, for. But it's been shared by Christians in the past, these ideas. You could also use them to get new ideas and interpretations of certain passages which you may not have thought of. But in the end, their word is not scripture. Their word is not the Bible. It's not the Word of God. We have completed the canon in the Bible and that's what we should focus on. The 66 books of the Bible, that's the Word of God. And really, all these people are, they're just like preachers of the modern day. There's nothing wrong with going to church and listening to a sermon online or listening to a video online like this. Basically what I'm doing now is just the equivalent of what Irenaeus was doing when he wrote against heresies. He was defending something in the Bible. He was teaching something from the Bible. He just wrote it down and I can write it down too. I can publish a book. It's basically the same thing. But the difference is that there are some people out there who are false prophets and we need to distinguish them and not group everybody together who might be called Church Father. Because they're all called that as if they all had influence on the true church, on the true churches of Jesus Christ. But really, we're all just men. We're all just other preachers. We don't have any preeminence over each other. Just because they have these titles and just because people revere them and call them saints and say, Yeah, these people are so great because they wrote all these good works, doesn't mean that we should hold up their works above the Bible. We get doctrines in the Bible by the teaching of the Holy Ghost just like they did. We just use their things for interpretations and ideas and for historical things, not really for just saying, Well, this is exactly what the Bible says and this is what the Bible teaches. We should just use their interpretation alone and what they say and what they teach and their doctrines and their right about everything. No. I'll make a video in the future sometime which goes more in depth, possibly talking about the individual beliefs and doctrines of these early Christians. Both bad and good. Or identifying the true believers during the early days of Christianity. That might take a while because I've made little pieces of these little videos about this and I've been doing research on this for a few months now. So it might take a while. It might be a longer video. It might actually be like a movie or something like that. I don't know. But I'll get that done eventually. So thank you everybody for watching and goodbye.