Early Church Fathers Sampler

In my discussions with other professing Christians, I often encounter those who employ quotes from the early church fathers as a means of establishing the truth of some doctrine or practice. It seems as though a great many Christians believe that if you can demonstrate that some first or second century, post-apostolic Christian believed some particular thing, and documented it outside the canon of scripture, that this somehow establishes that this particular belief is correct beyond any further dispute. But let me say this very, very clearly so that there can be no misunderstanding on the matter:

The early church fathers were a cornucopia of error and confusion that are often at great variance with the word of God, which alone is able to throughly furnish us with respect to matters of doctrine and practice. (TETH)

What is the Church?

As I drive to work each day, I am certain that I pass a dozen or more houses of worship.  There are Southern Baptists, Catholics, Adventists, Presbyterians, Missionary Baptists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, and a host of others. A reasonable question for anyone seeking the identity of the Lord's church is - Which of these numerous denominations most closely resembles the institution the Lord Jesus Christ established? Since each of these churches teaches a distinctly different doctrine and practice, it is obvious to any reasonable person that they cannot all be right. Which church then most closely resembles the doctrine and practice of the apostles?

Will The Real Spurgeon Please Stand Up?

Over the years I have made note of the liberal quotation of Charles Spurgeon by men whose doctrine of salvation runs across the continuum from Arminianism to Calvinism and all points in between and beyond. It seems that the blue-carpet, sign-the-card, mourner's-bench, raise-your-hand Arminian wants Spurgeon on "his side" of the battle every bit as much as the most strident of Calvinists. I suggest that this is the case because Spurgeon possessed a double-minded soteriology, believing that both God's sovereignty and man's responsibility are involved in the salvation of men's souls. As a result, he was unstable where his preaching on salvation is concerned - at times affirming great truths, at other times denying them.