“Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  -Hebrews 12:1-2

There are so many generations of Christians that came before us: martyrs, preachers, and teachers.  Those Christians have left us stories of incomparable courage, sermons of immense beauty, and teachings with both depth and practical living application.  The literary heritage of the Christian past is so immense that there may probably not be a larger body of work left behind by any other single group.

Image © Unsplash, 2016

When we enter that lush forest of writings from the Christian past, we find a Fellowship, a Fellowship that goes across time, where the centuries separating us are broken down, and we can enjoy fellowship with the Christians that lived long before us.  We can learn from them and grow to become like Christ by reading their works.  C.S. Lewis, one of the greatest Christian writers of the 20^th century, was aware of that fellowship of faith, and he wrote about it in his “Preface to On the Incarnation.”

The Christian Past

In that preface he said, “There is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books…  This mistaken preference for the modern books and this shyness of the old ones is nowhere more rampant than in theology.”  A lot of C.S. Lewis’s ideas, and the masterful simplicity which he used to communicate deep truths came from the ancient Christian books.  By entering that lush forest of writings, he was able to find fresh ways of expressing Christian truth to modern readers.  For this reason, he even advised his readers, “I do not wish the ordinary reader to read no modern books. But if he must read only the new or only the old, I would advise him to read the old,” further adding why he thought so, “If you join at eleven o’clock a conversation which began at eight you will often not see the real bearing of what is said.”  Our Christian faith has a history, which is really the history of the Holy Spirit working in Christians, and those Christians who worked with the Spirit of God.  That history has directly affected us who live today as Christians whether we like to admit it or not.

For that reason, C.S. Lewis gave specific instructions on what people should do in order to read with beneficial results:  “It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.”  Further he pointed out, “Every age has its own outlook.  It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.”

His “Preface to On the Incarnation” is of extreme value.  You can read it by clicking here.

Now, what would our lives be like if we proceeded to enter this lush forest of writings that was left behind by our brothers and sisters of the past?  What would they show us?  What would they teach us?

1. They will show us how to pray.

The works of the Christian past are full of practical advice and inspiration on how to pray.  In the book The Way of a Pilgrim, the unnamed pilgrim began praying the ancient Jesus Prayer.  In the book, he acquired an anthology of collected ancient works on the prayer called The Philokalia, which helped him deepen his prayer life.  Even though he never revealed who he was in the book, he left us a jewel about how to pray that prayer and what we would experience when we prayed it.  In one part, when he first began to pray this prayer, he explains what happened when he met others as he was praying that prayer: “If I happened to meet anyone, all men without exception were as dear to me as if they had been my nearest relations” (The Way of a Pilgrim, translation by R.M. French, 16).  It transformed his life by filling him with the love of Christ, which radiated to others, and the Jesus Prayer can transform our lives like it did his.  His book has been an inspiration to many others to keep their minds focused on Christ at all times and to deepen their relationship with God.

2. They will show us that our Lord will accept us even with our struggles.

The world wants perfection in people, whether it is in our families, our work, or even in our appearance.  Anything less than that is frowned upon.  The result we are left with is we try to hide our imperfections, we try to pass off appearances that are not real, and often we are frustrated.  The Christians of the past teach us otherwise.  They show us that Christ accepts us and transforms us into His likeness.

Take for example, Jerome.  Jerome was a unique individual in the history of the church.  He translated the entire Bible into a masterful translation of Latin.  That Bible became the channel of preaching and teaching Western Europe the Christian faith for more than 1000 years.  It helped Christianity grow and spread.  However, I am not talking about his written works or achievements (which were many), but also about his personality.

He very likely had some type of emotional disorder as evidenced by various events in his life.  One time there was a priest who was bothering him, so he wrote a letter making fun of him.  Jerome was extremely sensitive against others bothering him.  This priest had some type of notable scarring on his nose, so Jerome wrote about it in that letter, “All the same, I will give you a hint what features to hide if you want to look your best.  Show no nose upon your face and keep your mouth shut.  You will then stand some chance of being counted both handsome and eloquent” (Jerome, Letter 40, to Marcella).

However, Jerome, wrote other letters like ones to a friend who was raising a young girl, and in those letters showed his extreme gentleness.  It is clear that his relationship with Christ was transforming him, and this is what the early Christians show us: that even though we are weak and often fall into sin, if we follow Christ, then we will grow to be like Christ.

Another time, Jerome was struggling about whether he should read the pagan writers on nonreligious topics, but he felt conflicted because of his Christian faith and because of that conflict, he fell into a fever.  This means that the man was going through deep inner turmoil; he was extremely stressed out because of his love for Christ.  It is perhaps that conflict that we should take to mind.  We are to have different frameworks of thinking and have our minds transformed by Christ in order to be fully Christ’s and not to filter the message of Christ through secular frameworks.  Jerome experienced that struggle, and he knew he had to make sacrifices for Christ, even if that meant not reading his beloved pagan writers.  That shows us how seriously he took his relationship with Christ.  Books in the ancient world for learned men were like movies for modern day people.  Choosing to not read those books was like choosing not to watch movies anymore.  So with all his imperfections, this was a man who really wanted to follow Christ and was prepared to make sacrifices in order to follow Him.

3. They will inspire us, and in turn we will inspire others.

The Christians of the past show us not only how to live truly human lives, but they also show us the work of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.  They show us how the Holy Spirit, in His diverse ways of working, transforms ordinary human lives to glorify God in an extraordinary way and changes the world.  The Spirit of God transforms us to be priests of God, and we as priests transform this world around us.

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