Some of us are going through Sketches from Church History by S M Houghton one small chapter at a time. (By the way, the book has pictures.) Aiding us in this study is the work book by Rebecca Frawley. Both are Banner of Truth books.
Now we are at
Chapter 4 Church Fathers
Some keywords/names to remember/key ideas from this chapter are:
-Athanasius (from Chapter 3) was a church father.
-Ambrose: The story is told of how Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, stopped Emperor Theodosius from attending the worship and partaking of the Lord’s table, because he had killed 7000 people. The emperor later repented.
-Augustine (354-430 AD) had a godly mother called Monica who prayed for him. The sermons of Ambrose made an impression on him. He became a Christian and wrote the Confessions. Became the Bishop of Hippo. He is famous for his defense against the Pelagian Controversy
-Pelagian Controversy: No original sin; Adam’s sin did not affect the human race; Man is not born sinful; No ‘birth from above’ by divine intervention of grace.
-Jerome also opposed the Pelagian error. He was a scholar, translated Bible from Greek and Hebrew to Latin (Vulgate used by RC church during the middle ages, and first book to be printed; it was declared ‘Authentic’ by Council of Trent).
Courage to tremble 