Patristic Scripture Study
The labors of the Church Fathers over sacred books night and day: their commentaries, their schools, their methods, and their lifelong devotion, as models for every age. Jerome grew old to extreme white-haired age in these Letters; Augustine said he would make progress daily even if he studied from boyhood to decrepit old age.
Preface and Praise of Sacred Scripture
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Chapter IV: The Judgments and Examples of the Fathers
— Gregory, Augustine, Ambrose, Origen, Jerome, Cyril, and all the holy Fathers labored over sacred books night and day, making no end to studies but the end of life.
"Shall we then marvel that Gregory, Augustine, Ambrose, Eusebius, Origen, Jerome, Cyril, and the whole chorus of holy Fathers, labored so intensely over the sacred books night and day?"
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Chapter IV: The Judgments and Examples of the Fathers
— Jerome so devoted himself to Scripture that he grew old to extreme white-haired age; he learned Hebrew, went to Bethlehem, and read all ancient commentators.
"St. Jerome, the phoenix of his age, who so entirely devoted himself here that in these Letters he grew old to extreme white-haired age, and bequeathed to the Church a Latin version of the Bible from the Hebrew"
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Chapter IV: The Judgments and Examples of the Fathers
— Augustine, sharp of genius, took in hand Isaiah but was frightened by the depth and deferred it; later he said he would make progress daily if he studied from boyhood to decrepit old age.
"So great," he says, "is the profundity of Christian letters, that I would make progress in them daily, if I were to attempt to learn them alone from the beginning of life (note these words) all the way to decrepit old age"
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Chapter IV: The Judgments and Examples of the Fathers
— Venerable Bede entered the monastery at seven and devoted all his effort to meditating on Scriptures for his whole life, dictating even on his deathbed.
"I," he says, "entered the monastery at the age of seven, and there I devoted all my effort to meditating on the Scriptures for my whole life"
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The Fathers' Defense of the Old Testament
— Augustine wrote 33 books Against Faustus defending the Old Testament; Tertullian wrote 4 books Against Marcion; Basil and Ambrose wrote Hexaemeron.
"St. Augustine wrote, in defense of the truth and usefulness of the Pentateuch and the Old Testament, no fewer than 33 books Against Faustus, and again two books Against the Adversary of the Law and the Prophets"