But where and how do we begin? Our first encounter with the writings of the church fathers may seem like visiting a far country where the language, assumptions, concerns and conclusions are completely unfamiliar to us.

In Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers Christopher Hall helps us through this cultural confusion, introducing us to the early church, its unique world, and the sights and sounds of Scripture that are highlighted for them. As Hall points out, the ancient fathers hear music in Scripture where we remain tone-deaf. Despite their occasional eccentricities, their is a hearing refined through long listening in song, worship, teaching, meditation and oral reading. And like true masters they challenge and correct our modern assumptions as they invite us to tune our ears to hear the divine melodies of the Bible.

Reading Scriptue with the Church Fathers is an exceptional guide. Hall provides a warm, winsome, informative and indispensable introcution to who these leaders and scholars were, how they read and interpreted Scripture, and how we might read Scripture with them for all its worth.
 

The early church fathers were great theologians--though they did not think of themselves as such. They were first and foremost working pastors, involved in the daily life and leadership of their congregations.

Yet they were wrestling with many of the great and formative questions of the Christian faith, such as the Trinity, the incarnation, the providence of God and the nature of the church. They unflinchingly exposed and rejected heresy, confirmed the one true faith in uncompromising writings like the Nicene Creed, and sought to serve God truly in their lives and work.

What would it be like to sit under the preaching and instruction of these great men, to look over their shoulders as they thought and wrote, or to hear them debate theological issues?

Learning Theology with the Church Fathers takes readers into that world. With the same insight and love for his subject that he brought to helping edit the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and to writing Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers, Christopher A. Hall opens the door on patristic theology. Focusing on the great questions, we study those issues in their settings and find greater appreciation for the foundations and architecture of our Christian faith.
 

This book is created in honor of Thomas C. Oden, who has done much in recent decades to promote these ideas with such signal publications as After Modernity . . . What? and the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, which was launched under his editorial direction. Contributing scholars include Richard John Neuhaus, Alan Padgett, J. I. Packer, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Carl Braaten, Stanley Grenz, Bradley Nassif, Thomas Howard and more.

Here is a volume that will set a course needed for succeeding generations to restore and renew a living orthodoxy.