How can Protestants ignore church fathers?
How can I show someone the lists of bishops from all the ancient apostolic Sees (Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Jerusalem) show that their teachings can be traced back to the original apostles and ultimately to Jesus Christ, show that these men believed in things like the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, confession, apostolic succession, and the authority of the Church… and still be met with, “I just don’t feel that way”?
My theory is that America has a deeply rooted anti-Catholic history. Irish, Polish, and Italian Catholics who immigrated here were often treated like second-class citizens, and that attitude shaped a lot of American Christianity.
I’m a convert myself, and growing up we were taught absolutely no Church history. Zero. I understand why now. Because if I had been shown a list of men whose teachings and succession could be historically traced back to Jesus Christ through the apostles, I probably would have asked:
“Hey Pastor Bob, why don’t we believe the way the early Christians believed?”
And the answer basically would have been:
“Because my interpretation of the Bible is correct.” Despite every church father, to the man, disagreeing with pastor Bobs interpretation
That mindset has led to hundreds of years of Protestants repeating things the Catholic Church doesn’t actually teach, often to discourage people from seriously looking into Catholicism or studying early Church history for themselves.
What’s y’all’s take?