Have you ever reflected on a tricky Bible passage or doctrine, and thought, “I wonder how the early church originally understood this?” Given a historical continuity between the first and second centuries, and then between the second and third centuries, we would expect there to be a good deal of continuity between the New Testament era church and the church of the first few generations that followed.

All who strive to be faithful teachings of Christ and the apostles stand in relation to the New Testament Scriptures as did the Christians of the first two or three centuries. Our faith, like theirs, is dependent on the teachings that were revealed by the Holy Spirit through the apostles, and we strive to maintain that apostolic faith in a new setting.

These early Christians were flawed. Sometimes they made mistakes. They were certainly capable of overlooking context, making faulty assumptions, or reading their own biases into certain texts. Though they strove to maintain the apostolic faith, they were not themselves apostles through whom Christ spoke. We are free to disagree with them. As with reading any uninspired commentary on Scripture, to whatever extent their teachings depart from Scripture, we should go with Scripture.

The Christians in the first two or three centuries were not inspired, but they were very dedicated disciples of Jesus, and they were very knowledgeable of Scripture with very strong convictions (convictions they were often willing to die for). They also lived in a time and culture not far removed from the New Testament itself. Some of them personally knew the apostles, or were only two or three generations removed from them.

That’s why I recommend that you download and use the Catena app. The Catena app provides access to a vast collection of commentary from early Christians and theologians. The name “Catena” comes from the Latin word for “chain,” reflecting the app’s purpose of linking scripture with a chain of interpretations that followed in the years that followed the close of the New Testament. The app offers verse-by-verse commentary from early Christians such as Polycarp (69-155), Justin Martyr (100-165), Tertullian (160-220), Origen (184-253) and others, allowing users to explore how these figures understood the Bible.

Their opinions aren’t authoritative, but we should still pay attention to what they had to say, and carefully consider their words. If certain beliefs and practices existed in the first century, there should be some trace of them in the first few generations that followed. Conversely, if we encounter an belief about Scripture that is not found in these early centuries, this should seriously encourage us to question whether those beliefs are actually taught in the New Testament.

So download the Catena app. Every so often open it up and ask yourself “what did the early Christians have to say?”