Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words

Great book to get started with the early church in a way thats easy to understand and full of great information, thank you

This book was an excellent introduction to the early Church and its fathers. For anyone who wants a solid foundation of knowledge of what makes the Catholic Church the one true, holy, and apostolic church, let this book be your beginning. There is enough here to satisfy that want and can also serve as a great jumping-off point to pursue further knowledge on the topic. I highly recommend it!

Excellent book for all Christians to own, read, and give away. I've read all the early church fathers (about 30 volumes). This book is not only faithful in quoting accurately, it also gives valuable historical background that I missed in reading the whole set. I strongly recommend this book. I also like the author's very personal chapter(s) at the end of the book. As an evangelical Christian, he tried mightily to find his view in the early church. His very vulnerable portrayal of that is also worth the book. I continue to admire those that followed the Truth of Jesus unto areas they could not imagine to find Truth. I highly recommend this book. The footnotes and references are top notch also.

I am almost done with it (I'm on the last chapter now) and it's fascinating!! The only thing I am disappointed in is that the author fails to mention Justin Martyr's writings about Mary and her importance to Christianity!!

I am a long time Protestant pastor who was jolted into the Catholic faith by reading the early church fathers. I have found the struggle and epiphany I encountered there difficult to put into words, and I also recognized that reading through and absorbing the church fathers is not for the faint of heart. Frankly, many lay people lack the tools to contextualize and understand them even if they make the attempt. This book makes them accessible. It contains many, if not most of the key passages that turned my world upside down and called me into the Catholic faith. It is a very good compendium of their writings placed in their historical context. Does the author use a certain amount of artistic license to weave these writings together? Absolutely. And yet, my own reading of the fathers and knowledge of history tells me he has succeeded in rendering a faithful account. More than that, he has somehow also told my own story. This is the book I will share with my Protestant friends and family who seek to understand why I have left Protestantism and embraced the Catholic faith. In making the church fathers accessible to a new and broader audience, Rod Bennett has not only told his own story but has testified for all of us who have embraced the faith through their writings. I am deeply indebted to him for this book.

Not only does this book contain the writings of the four witnesses, but it evokes their times and places such that you feel like you are standing beside them.

Wonderful book! Very interesting learning about the early church

When I bought the book I hadn't realized the writer was a former protestant like myself. I was impressed at the outset with his firm grasp of the writings of the church Fathers, their confrontations with various heresies and sects of christianity not in union with the Apostles. It helped me realize that the persecution of Jesus followers is historical and we will always be subject to criticism and outright condemnation for believing that Jesus is the Saviour of the World.I'm also glad that the author chose to go deeper into the scriptural implications of the various sacraments that these early Church Fathers obviously believed and practiced. He showed us how Iraneus, in attempting to refute the Gnostics regarding the Eucharist being another sacrificing of Jesus (the Gnostics had a belief of modern day protestants that the eucharist was a symbol), "These men reject the commixture of the heavenly wine and wish it to be water of the world only, not receiving God so as to have union with him...[ They] despise the entire dispensation of God, and disallow the salvation of the flesh, and treat with contempt its regeneration, maintaining that it is not capable of incorruption. But if [flesh] indeed [does] not attain salvation, then neither did the Lord redeem us with His blood, nor the bread which we break the communion of His body."(p.196) The author makes a confession towards the end of the book that he once "discovered, for instance, that the Pope has never been held by the Church to be Impeccable (incapable of sin) but only infallible (incapable of error)-preserved as the Chief teacher of the Church, from teaching falsehood in Christ's name, but not preserved, as a mere human being, from personal folly of guilt." (p.290) He goes on to say that the Pope also doesn't create new revelations but affirm the revelations of the early church's teaching, particularly those not explicit in the scriptures. I highly recommend this book for protestants investigating Liturgy and the early church and for Catholics seeking a deeper understanding of the Church and its doctrines!

I have been reading the above book, it having been recommended by John Rayner. The early Church is interesting and is very relevant to us today. The questions asked then are the same as those asked now. Does truth change? Who is Jesus? What is the Church? What is the nature of the sacraments? What is the nature of revelation? What is the basis of church authority? What is the nature of the Priesthood? Who/what is God? Does the message of the early Church hold any value for us today? The study of the early Church and Fathers can sound very dry and academic as 'Patristic Studies' but the ideas and thoughts are as relevant today as in the early years of the Church and should be interesting. I am a great fan of John Henry Newman and his conversion to the Catholic Faith was in part due to his studies of the early Church and the Fathers. Our understanding of theology does develop and I am aware of the views in Newman's 'Essay on Development'. There is a perception that these early years are obscure and not very relevant - there was a comment to me that it was inappropriate to quote the words St Athanasius for support. When I first became a Christian I was very influenced by reading 'St Athanasius on the Incarnation' (De Incarnatione Verbi Dei) - translated by a Religious of the CSMV and with the wonderful introduction by CS Lewis. The book is brilliant and probably the best defense of the incarnation ever written. I became a 'Bible Christian' aka Evangelical although I developed an interest in Christian mysticism. I saw Catholic mystics as Christians who just happened to be Catholic. I ignored all the 'Catholic bits' in their writings! 'Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words' is a study of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr and Irenaeus of Lyons. I suppose my attitude in my Evangelical days was similar to the classic Protestant view - the view is that there was the Incarnation of Jesus (as told in the Gospels) and then the early Church formed at Pentecost (as told in The Acts of the Apostles). This was the 'real and authentic' Christianity and similar/identical in theology to that of Protestant Evangelicalism. There is then a jump from the Acts of the Apostles to Luther and to the Reformation which is again seen as 'real and authentic' Christianity. The intervening years are somewhat ignored! Church history as a subject is largely ignored by Protestants (apart form the history of the Reformation and Protestant missions). The Catholic Church is seen as a corruption of the pure Gospel as taught by Jesus and the Apostles and recorded in Holy Scripture. When I was a junior doctor my fellow surgical houseman was a Catholic Christian. My consultant (another Evangelical Christian) took me to one side and told me that there was something really very evil about Catholicism. He was being very serious. The view is that the early Church was pure and somehow really Protestant - there is then a corruption with the addition of the alien Catholic doctrine to the pure faith of Jesus and so the Papacy and the Catholic Church is born. The Catholic Church is then presented as not being really very Christian with many additional and false doctrines added to the true faith of Jesus. What Rod Bennett does in 'Four Witnesses' is to show that the above model is not sustainable or tenable. The early Church was not somehow a version of the Protestantism before Catholic Christianity developed as a later corruption. The Early Church was Catholic from the start and the Catholic doctrines were there from the start. It's probably quite difficult for a 'cradle Catholic' to understand the Protestant world-view. It has been very exciting for me to learn about the various Catholic saints quite ignored in the Protestant world. The Bible makes more sense through Catholic eyes. The conclusion is that the Catholic Church is the Church that Jesus founded - this may seem obvious but it was not obvious to me until recently. The Catholic views are not a corruption of the early Faith. Read the book! God bless

Highly recommended, It is of very good quality.

This is perhaps one of the best Christian books I have read. Such a great read. Fully accessible and understandable for such a complex subject. The author Rod Bennett provides numerous written accounts from works written by four amazing early Christians: Clement of Rome (died 100AD), Ignatius of Antioch (35-108AD), Justin Martyr (100-165AD), and Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202AD). What I loved the most is Bennett's interesting commentary that fills in the history for better understanding of the times and meaning of their works. I highly recommend if you are looking for accurate and understandable history of the early Church.

Important history that has helped me see the roots of Christianity and understood why the Catholic Church practices in some of the ways that it does today

This is a unique book which examines the early life of the Church and its practices. I found it very illuminating and satisfying and I feel very affirmed in my journey as a Catholic. It’s also very challenging - all those Christians in the lion’s den! I will definitely reread it.