Four More Witnesses: Further Testimony from Christians Before Constantine

by Rod Bennett

Here is the long-awaited sequel to Rod Bennett's Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words, a page-turning spiritual adventure following the lives and words of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus of Lyons. Four More Witnesses invites readers to enter again the world of the early, influential Christian writers, this time meeting Hermas, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus, and Origen.


What did these witnesses have to say on the necessity of baptism? What did they think of "eternal security" and confessions to Church elders? What about Mary and her role in salvation history? Christian writers addressed all of these questions, and many more, in the decades following the Apostles—an era when even the Creed was still a work in progress.


Like Four Witnesses, Four More Witnesses is a moving chronicle of the Christian Church in the flower of her youth.

Genres: Catholic

170 pages, Paperback

Published October 14, 2021

About the author

My first published writing appeared when I was 15 years old in the pages of the legendary Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Since then, I've been featured in other national publications, ranging from Rutherford and Gadfly to Catholic Exchange and Our Sunday Visitor. I spoke on film and television topics for 10 years at Jesus People USA's Cornerstone Rock Festival, leading seminars on the cinema of Frank Capra, John Ford, and the Star Wars films of George Lucas. In 2006 I was invited by the Archbishop of Pittsburgh to address more than 300 teachers on the role pop culture can play in the religious education of teenagers. Recently, I've had the chance to discuss my work on radio and television programs such as The Journey Home and Bookmark. My first book, Four Witnesses The Early Church in Her Own Words , including an account of my conversion to the Catholic Faith in 1996, is a best seller from Ignatius Press.

Reviews

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️ 1/2

Tiene cosas buenas para ser una obra de divulgación, pero contiene demasiados errores y omisiones. Pobre manejo de fuentes (más bien nulo, no maneja fuentes primarias, se limita a hacer corta y pega de la Catholic Encyclopedia (!) y alguna cita del Quasten y unas pocas obras de divulgación), y meteduras de pata egregias (Orígenes y Jerónimo no eran contemporáneos, y parece confundir a algunos autores, como Isidoro de Sevilla e Isidoro de Pelusio). Se nota que no domina la materia y que no ha leído a los Padres más que de refilón; para hacer divulgación de calidad no basta con transcribir la Wikipedia y hacer unos cuantos comentarios jocosos.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Four More Witnesses” is a great follow-up to Rod’s first book “Four Witnesses”. While I enjoyed learning about the four men that this book is based around, I felt that this book was less about the biographies of these men and more about the theological implications of their work.

Whereas the first book contained church fathers that are widely agreed upon to represent the Catholic faith then as it is practiced now, the men in this book have more nuance to their stories. This is shown through the instances of Hermas’ book “The Shepherd” not being included into the Canon despite widespread praise, Hippolytus being the first antipope, and Origen having what would later be defined as heretical views. These stories provide a unique perspective on the early church as she was finding her way to established dogma and consensus on what the Apostolic Church tradition truly taught.

I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars due to the brevity. I think there could have been more biographical writing on these men, as there was for the other four witnesses in the first book. Undoubtedly, anyone who enjoyed the first book will enjoy this one too.

[Willie P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rod Bennett's "Four More Witnesses" is a sequel to his "Four Witnesses." The gist, I think, of "Four More Witnesses" can be found in this quotation from St. John Henry Newman (which is cited in the book late (80% mark in a Kindle reading app on my iPhone) in its discussion of Origen):

"We receive the Catholic doctrines as we receive the canon of Scripture, because, as our Article expresses it, 'of their authority' there 'was never any doubt in the Church.'"

"Four More Witnesses" provides evidence supporting the Catholicity of the Church in doctrine (e.g., infant baptism is an apostolic tradition) and practice (e.g., St. Hippolytus mentions making the sign of the cross) before Constantine.

I've read quite a lot on the early centuries of the Church (e.g., Fr. William A. Jurgens' 3-volume set "The Faith of the Early Fathers;" Fr. Joseph Tixeront's 3-volume "History of Dogmas;" Henry Chadwick's "The Early Church," all of which I highly recommend), yet Bennett has sumoned some nuggets that I had not encountered before.

[Anthony D Albers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction for anyone who wants to learn about the Early Church

Outstanding introduction to the Early Church - and the history may not be what you thought it was! There was no Constantinian Conspiracy or divergence from Apostilc Tradition that predates the writing of the Gospels ... But read the book to understand why and how.