Msg Base:  AREA 3  - ASK FATHER (AMDG)
  Msg No: 193.  Mon 12-14-92 17:11  (NO KILL)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: Steve Brandt
 Subject: Shepherd of Hermas

SB|I have been reading Patrology by Johannes Quasten, Volume 1, and have
  |found something which I found very disturbing.  The section discussing
  |the Christology of this work describes something utterly heretical,
  |that the Son of God = the Holy Spirit.  Yet Irenaeus, Tertullian, and
  |Origen thought highly of the work, they even considered it prophetic.
  |If these writers had condemned it, then it would not have disturbed me
  |because it would have been clear that it was contrary to Catholic
  |Tradition -- but the fact that they did not makes me wonder what kind
  |basis our understanding of the Trinity has in Christian history.  I am
  |somewhat comforted by the fact that my reading of Tertullian and Origen
  |does not show their Christology to conform to the Shepherd's -- but
  |I nevertheless find the whole thing disturbing and confusing.  I hope
  |you can help me understand this better.  (PS, I was prompted to take
  |this question to you because I was so impressed with your 4 part series
  |on Mary that appeared in This Rock)
 
 
Dear Steve,
 
The "Shepherd of Hermas" got a mixed press in the early Church.   At
Rome, it was forbidden to be read publicly in church at Mass,
although it could be used privately as spiritual reading.  Some few
local churches regarded it as part of Scripture, but generally it was
not considered so.  (Those were the days before the Church had
definitively formed the canon of the Bible.)
 
We do not expect every Father and Doctor of the Church to be right in
everything he writes.  The teaching Church sits up and takes notice
only when they *all* agree about a topic under discussion. The
Fathers and Doctors were men, not angels.  And it is quite possible
to think highly of a book -- and to say so -- without intending to
approve everything in it.
 
And, as an aside, only Irenaeus, of the three men you mention, is
recognized as a Father *and* Doctor of the Church.  Origen and
Tertullian are not in that select group.  We have only scraps and
bits and pieces of Irenaeus' writings.  Only two of his books are
extant, and one of them is a mere Latin translation of his Greek
original.  We simply do not have from his pen a complete and critical
analysis of the "Shepherd".
 
When studying theology, one should budget for some confusion and not
get upset.  Just keep reading.  Something you read in 1995 will
clarify 1992's problems.
 
                                        Sincerely in Christ,
                                                Father Mateo
 
 
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