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How Should We ‘Use’ Early Christians?

How Should We ‘Use’ Early Christians?

Last updated on: October 20, 2026 at 4:28 am by Adam Renberg

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How Should We ‘Use’ Early Christians? 2026-10-20T04:28:14-04:00 Adam Renberg

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In his prefatory letter to the king of France in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin bemoans the use of the early theologians against the protestant cause: “It is a calumny to represent us as opposed to the Fathers (I mean the ancient writers of a purer age), as if the Fathers were supporters of their impiety. Were the contest to be decided by such authority … the better part of the victory would be ours.” The victory would go to the protestants, at least according to Calvin, since they are the true inheritors of the early church, paying attention to “those things which are well said,” while the Roman Catholics “adore only [the Fathers] slips and errors” (Calvin, “Prefatory Address to King Francis,” 4). Calvin then goes on to cite over a dozen church fathers to prove his point.

The early church holds a unique authority in the minds of most Christians—there is often an expressed desire to return to (or retain) the piety, theology, or structure of the earliest disciples of Jesus Christ. And if not exactly a return, there is a particular reverence granted to them which encourages us to retrieve their thought for the contemporary moment, or simply to make sure they are on ‘our side’. But all of the attention on and to early Christianity, as a result, does not always mean that we approach them in a proper spirit. So how should we use or approach early Christians?

Confessional Authorities

To answer this question, allow me to present two of the most common approaches to early Christianity, both of which have some implicit issues. First, is to employ early Christian history and the figures therein as support for a particular confessional, theological, or political position. This is exactly how these figures were used in the debates during the protestant reformations. Calvin and the protestant reformers, and their counterparts, the Roman Catholic theologians, would mine the early writers to show how someone like Augustine or Athanasius supported their position. And we do the same in something as broad as affiliations with certain traditions or denominations (Irenaeus was obviously a Baptist!) and as narrow as particular pressing questions, such as women in church leadership.

The desire to use the early church to bolster our position is not a bad thing—we should desire continuity with those who come before. It is helpful, therefore, to read and reflect on how early Christians approached these issues. But there is a danger to this as well, one which often outweighs the good of continuity. For one, to

A 1620 Rubens painting depicting Athanasius, a 4th century African bishop, who looks suspiciously like an early modern European here.

approach these figures with modern categories and questions has a tendency to distort their thought, insofar as it makes them play by our rules—but the Cappadocians, for instance, are not thinking in terms of denominational divides or with modern sensibilities. That is to say, we can make these figures into our own image, if we only use them to support our own ideas. As Briggman and Scully note, “reading early Christian theology in order to find support for particular confessional commitments often results in the neglect—and occasionally the distortion—of important aspects of the early Christian tradition” (“Historical Theology: Aim and Methodology,” 1) Additionally, and perhaps a more egregious offense, is to only care about these early disciples insofar as they bolster our own position. If they do not, away with them! If they do, we might read and employ them selectively to our own ends.

Theological Authorities

Second, is to go to the early church as a source to be mined for the development of our own theologies. For dogmatic or systematic theology, these figures are often used as interlocuters throughout, touchpoints to show theological mistakes or important developments. ‘Retrieval theology’, is similar insofar as it has a constructive end, but typically spends more time developing historical figures views to ‘retrieve’ for contemporary investigations. And so, modern theologians of widely variant theological and confessional convictions can employ ancient Christians as interlocutors for their own projects.

Like the previous position, this can be a good approach—if we are to continue to reflect on God and all things in relation to God with the questions that each age asks, we should be doing so in conversation with those who have come before. Additionally, retrieval theology in particular has great power to reframe conversations and rethink well-trodden issues, as “immersion in the texts and habits of thought of earlier (especially pre-modern) theology opens up a wide view of the object of Christian theological reflection, setting before its contemporary practitioners descriptions of the faith unharassed by current anxieties, and enabling a certain liberty in relation to the present (Webster, Theologies of Retrieval, 584-5).” But dangers still abound. Sometimes, this approach can fall into issues when borrowing nuggets of wisdom while rejecting or simply misunderstanding the broader system. By decontextualizing and detaching the ancient thinkers’ words from their frameworks of God, we fall into the same trap as the previous model—we distort their own thought, making them say what they might not have. This seems to be the case with much of the work of retrieval theology on the Trinity in the twentieth century, by the likes of John Zizioulas and others. Rather than drawing from the Cappadocians, for example, some of these theologians read their theologies onto Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa (for an accessible discussion, see: Holmes, The Quest for the Trinity, 1-32). In this, ancient figures are used as treasure troves to be plundered for our own theologies.

Reading our Ancient Brothers and Sisters in Christ Virtously

There are two common issues that sometimes underlie the use of early Christian figures, then, in confessional and systematic theology: 1) distorting the thought of early Christians, and 2) treating them as objects to be used for our own ends. So how should we approach early Christians? The answer is not in a specific discipline, as if historical theology (which is where I spend most of my time) is better in this regard. Rather, it is one of virtue and proper perspective. Above all, we should place ancient Christians in their ecclesiological context—as our brothers and sisters in Christ, those who we can learn from and can learn with. These men and women are not objects to be used, but ancient ‘neighbors’ to be loved, if we take Christ’s words in Matthew 12:31 seriously.

If we approach early Christians this way, we might prevent some of the issues discussed above. First, to approach them as sisters and brothers in Christ prevents their objectification and instrumentalization. Both confessional and systematic theologies have a tendency to use these figures as a means to an end. This only works if we also grant them full personhood, not as systems to be plundered but as people to be in conversation with. This is especially apparent in their use as authorities—we reduce them to talking points to bolster confessional points, as if the early church is ‘on our side’. To think of early Christians as our brothers and sisters allows us to qualify their authority, viewing them in the same way that we might view a contemporary brother or sister in Christ. If they have been brought to unity with the Father through the blood of Christ and therefore have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them, they are authorities who we can learn from. It is a good to be in discipleship with other Christians, to allow their walk with God to form us, but not in a way that reduces their humanity. Finally, by placing them in their proper context, we acknowledge that we are united with them in the body of Christ and in our common goal: seeking God. By reading the Scriptures with them, learning from their perspectives, we are enriched by them in the same way that we might grow with our sisters and brothers in our local bodies.

So how do we ‘use’ the early church? With a posture of love and humility, learning from them and growing with them in our understanding of God. Perhaps you may start with Candles in the Darkness, an advent and Christmastide devotional that Lynneth Miller Renberg and I published which centers early Christian voices, or perhaps you can start with an accessible translation of a church father or mother. Read deeply and read widely, praying and seeking God’s voice. This posture, then, allows us to employ these authors responsibly in our confessional and systematic discussions, as people to be loved, not as sources to be plundered for our own ends.

History and Religion

Historical Methodology

Confessional Theology

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