The Fathers As Witnesses

The Church Fathers make me slow down. They were closer to the first controversies, the formation of creeds, the language of bishops, martyrs, baptism, Eucharist, and prayer.

I do not want to treat them as a shortcut around Scripture. I want to treat them as witnesses: not infallible, not disposable, worth hearing.

Question for the next leg of the journey: when the early church reads the Bible together, what patterns keep appearing?