Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words
by Rod Bennett
What did Christians believe in the generations right after the apostles? Rod Bennett, a former evangelical, decided to stop guessing and go ask them. He went to the sources. Four Witnesses introduces four early writers: Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr and Irenaeus of Lyons. All lived within reach of the apostolic age.
Bennett tells each man's story like narrative history. Clement writes to a quarreling church in Corinth. Ignatius fires off letters while being marched to martyrdom in Rome. Justin, a philosopher, defends the faith before an emperor. Irenaeus takes on the Gnostics. Then Bennett steps aside and lets them talk, with generous excerpts. A picture emerges of a church with bishops, baptism, apostolic succession, a fierce concern for unity, and a Eucharist understood as Christ's real presence.
It suits Protestant inquirers who want to test Catholic claims against the earliest sources, history-minded readers, and anyone who has never read the Church Fathers and doesn't know where to begin.
Key Takeaways
- Who Clement, Ignatius, Justin and Irenaeus were.
- What the early Church taught about bishops and the Eucharist.
- Generous excerpts from their own writings.
- An easy first step into the Church Fathers.
It lets the earliest Christians speak for themselves.
