The later Church Fathers vouch for the moral, ascetical, doctrinal, and liturgical contributions of their spiritual fathers in the faith. John of Damascus, the last of the Eastern Fathers, shows his dependence on Dionysius the Areopagite, Gregory of Nazianzus, Maximus the Confessor, and Nemesius of Emesa in his De fide orthodoxa. His commentaries on the Epistles ofSt. Paul borrow frequently from John Chrysostom and Cyril of Alexandria. The Second Council of Constantinople (553) in its acts states:
> We further declare that we hold fast to the decrees of the four Councils, and in every way follow the holy Fathers, Athanasius, Hilary, Basil, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Nyssa, Ambrose, Theophilus, John Chrysostom, Cyril, Augustine, Proclus, Leo and their writings on the true faith (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: 14, 303).
St. Augustine, as already mentioned, not only cited Sts. Irenaeus, Cyprian, Hilary, Ambrose, John Chrysostom, and Jerome as he battled with the Pelagian Julian of Eclanum; he cited them authoritatively as proof that his own teaching was in accord with the traditions of the
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Church. Still, this respect for Patristic authorities was not routine or slavish. Augustine, at the beginning of Epistle 82 (PL 33, 277), says:
> Only those books of Scripture which are called canonical have I learned to hold in such honor as to believe their authors have not erred in any way in writing them. But other authors I so read as not to deem anything in their works to be true, merely because of their having so thought and written, whatever may have been their holiness and learning.
Perhaps even more forcefully, in his Letter to Fortunatianus (Epistle 148; PL 33, 628-629) he argued: ‘‘Still, we are not obliged to regard the arguments of any writers, however Catholic and estimable they may be, as we do the canonical Scriptures, so that we may - with all due respect to the deference owed them as men - refute or reject anything we happen to find in their writings wherein their opinions differ from the established truth, or from what has been thought out by others or by us, with divine help. I wish other thinkers to hold the same attitude toward mY writings as I hold toward theirs.’’ Vincent of Lerins, in his Commonitorium (A Commonitory or Letter of Instructions), I, 2, 6 (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: 11, 132), written 3 years after the Council of Ephesus (431), indicates that both the Scriptures and the Church Fathers can be manipulated by heretics. He instructs his audience to be careful about the misuse of Scripture and the writings of the Fathers and he sets up a demanding standard before accepting any teaching found in Scripture or the works of the Fathers as a declaration of Christian faith: ‘‘Moreover, in the Catholic Church itself, all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all.’’ Despite these cautions regarding the writings of the Fathers, whether due to the Fathers’ fault or misinterpretations of their statements, they still commanded great respect as authors who were searching for a more profound penetration of Scriptural revelation. In the medieval period, theologians frequently went to their texts, even conflicting texts, to force themselves to pursue a deeper understanding of the faith or a richer appreciation of their examples of Christian moral, ascetical, or liturgical practices. Later, those who found the teachings of medieval theologians dissatisfying returned to the Church Fathers as more dependable guides of Christian faith and life.
See also: > Alexander of Hales > Aristotelianism in the Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew Traditions
> Augustine > Boethius > Bonaventure > Cicero in Political Philosophy > Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
World History
