God the Father, Mentor's Guide, MG06

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G O D T H E F A T H E R

Christian fathers who warned about over reliance on philosophy, the intellectual life, and reason and logic to make sense of the Christian faith. I both boast and strive with all my strength to be found a Christian. Not because the teachings of Plato are different from those of Christ, but because they are not totally identical. The same applies to the Stoics, poets, and historians. For each man spoke well, in proportion to the share that he had of the seminal Word, seeing what was related to it. . . . Whatever things were rightly said by any man, belong to us Christians. For next to God we worship and love the Word, who is from the unbegotten and ineffable God, since he also became man for our sakes, that by sharing in our sufferings he might also bring us healing. For all those writers were able to see reality darkly, through the seed of the implanted Word within them. What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church? What have heretics to do with Christians? Our instruction comes from the porch of Solomon, who himself taught that the Lord should be sought in simplicity of heart. Away with all attempts to produce a Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic Christianity. We want no curious disputation after possessing Christ Jesus, no speculation after enjoying the Gospel. With our faith we desire no further belief. For this is our prime belief: that there is nothing more that we should believe besides. ~ Justin Martyr, 2nd century. 2 Apology 13

- Tertullian, 2nd century. Prescription of Heretics 7

These questions are designed to ensure that your students have grasped the critical concepts covered in the first video segment. Again, a focus upon the objectives is invaluable here, since they can serve as sheep dogs to keep the herd of idle comments and thoughts in line! However you have organized your class, you will want to gauge your time carefully, making certain that you steward your time well, allowing for the necessary time to engage your students and ensure that they have a good understanding of the basic concepts. Be careful especially if your students are

8 Page 23 Student Questions and Response