Darren on the Early Church Mission: Unity

What was the Early Church like? How did the Early Christians practise their faith? Who are the Early Church Fathers and how did they help safeguard true Christian beliefs? Have you thought about how the Church instituted by Jesus Christ carried on in the generations after the Apostles have passed away? Which Church today has teachings which are closest to the Early Church?
Peace be to you! Missiounitatis is back with season 2 of our podcast interviews. In this episode, we spoke with Darren, who illuminates a lesser known time period of Church history - the Early Church. Darren is a convert from a ‘freethinker’ to a self professed Presbyterian to a Catholic and studied history in university. 
Today is the Feast of the great Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelic Doctor and one of the Church’s greatest theologians in history. It is with honour that we seek his humble intercession to make Christ known and loved through the beauty of the Catholic Christian faith. It is also Darren’s chosen confirmation name; so let us pray for Darren to grow in knowledge and love for the Lord.
We hope that this episode provides some food for thought for your own faith development as it did for ours. We will keep you in our prayers, and please also keep us and this apostolate in your prayers!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, it is now and ever shall be, world without end. +
(0:00 - 5:15)
Our introductory prayer, Veni Sancte Spiritus and introduction to Darren; how he came into the faith, and how he was looking for a church that ‘taught what Christ taught’. Special mention to G.K. Chesterton, who wrote about perspectives through the Catholic lens which is reasonable and sound.
(5:16 - 9:56)
Darren shares about the practices of the Early Church, and the beginnings of the Holy Mass. “The first thing the Crusaders did with the Papal representative after they took back Jerusalem, the Holy Land, was to celebrate Mass”. Is the Mass biblical?
(9:57 – 12:40)
Church history did not end after the New Testament was written. For historians, writings beyond the book of the Apocalypse are a gold mine to revealing what the early Church used to practice. For example, the Didache (non-canonical) wrote about early Christian practice.
(12:41 – 20:44)
Not all early Christians followed the set of norms of the Christian community, their different beliefs led them to heresy. Several factors that led to heresies were differences in how they viewed Christ - overemphasis on the old Law (Judaizers/Ebionites); or on the other contrary, influences of pagan mystery cults (Gnostics), or disbelief of the incarnation (Docetists).
(20:45 – 28:06) 
Early Christians were challenged in understanding the mystery of Jesus (was He subordinate to God or was He God himself?). Introduction to Valentinus, a Gnostic heretic and his opponent, Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, bishop. How did the Early Church address this? Through the authority of the bishop whose teachings had been handed down from the Apostles.
(28:07 – 32:32)
Final thoughts from Darren about how learning about the history of the Church helps him to live in faith today.

N.B: Heretics & The Everlasting Man are the two books that Darren would recommend for those interested in the writings of GK Chesterton.

References:
“Reading the Early Church Fathers: from the Didache to Nicaea” by James L. Papandrea
“The Early Church” by Henry Chadwick
First Apology of St. Justin Martyr (https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm)
The Didache (http://www.thedidache.com/)