The Me and My Bible is a product again of the Enlightenment, of the questioning of all tradition,

and these creeds are part of the man-made tradition.

It emerges in the kind of individualism of the West,

the failure to realize that Christianity is a confession of a community.

We believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth.

For example, it's a communal confession.

The early church would recite this confession communally.

Welcome to the Crossway podcast, a show where we sit down with authors each week

for thoughtful interviews

about the Bible, theology, church history, and the Christian life.

I'm Matt Tully, and today I'm talking with Michael Haken.

Michael serves as professor of church history and biblical spirituality at the Southern Baptist

Theological Seminary, and director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies.

He's also the author of Rediscovering the Church Fathers, who they were and how they shaped the church from Crossway.

Today, Michael and I discuss what we can learn from the early church fathers today.

He reflects on what we should make of the early church's allegorical reading of the Bible,

the value of early Christian creeds for helping to define our faith today,

and where to start if someone is interested in reading the church fathers for him or herself.

Let's get started.

Michael, thank you so much for joining us on the Crossway podcast today.

It's great to be here.

So what is meant when someone refers to the church fathers?

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