Whenever I read something from church history I have the same approach and the same reaction. I approach the book thinking that I am going to have to jump into a time machine to relate to the subjects and issues of the day. However, I am quickly reminded that aside from the cool names there is very little that we do not have in common today with them.
In reading For Us and For Our Salvation I had the same response. Stephen Nichols does an admirable job of contextualizing the issues of yesterday while also helping us to see the commonality of what we are facing today. From the introduction Nichols writes:
The early church fathers wrestled with the same problems presented by The Da Vinci Code phenomenon and its fanciful speculations about Jesus. The wrestled with the same problems presented by Islam and its adamant denial of the deity of Christ. And they wrestled with the same problems presented by the scholars working in the Jesus Seminar or in Gnostic texts like the Gospel of Judas who quickly dismiss the four canonical Gospels as God’s true revelation to humanity. In the days of the early church, the names of the opponents were different from those faced by us today, but the underlying issues bear a striking resemblance. When the church fathers responded with the orthodox view of Christ, they did the church of all ages a great service.
Nichols begins his book under the shadow of the completion of the New Testament and traces the development of the attacks and defense of the doctrine of Christ through the first four centuries. We are introduced to valiant defenders of a biblical Christology such as Tertullian, Ignatius, Irenaeus, and Hippolyteus. We learn of their battles against the Ebionites, Marcion, Sabellius and others. Furthermore, Nichols provides helpful detail concerning Athanasius and his battles with Arius.
In effort to help us see, feel and better understand the gravity of the issue at hand in these days Nichols intermixes chapters containing selections of the original documents written by both the “good guys” and the “bad guys”. This is helpful in that it helps us remember that these were ‘regular’ guys just living their lives, aiming to exalt Jesus by standing firm to what he Bible teaches. They had their 60-70 years to live and this is what they chose to fight for.
Nichols’ book is a helpful look into the past for encouragement in the present. I really appreciated Nichols’ ability to be both clear and brief in his chronicling of the doctrine of Christ in the early church. The book weighs in at more than manageable 172 pages which includes a couple of appendixes and a helpful glossary. For Us and For Our Salvation will doubtless prove helpful to all—pastors, teachers, students, and ‘laymen’.
You can pick it up on sale at Westminster books.