Here we are confronted with three voices speaking from very different moments in the Church’s life, yet circling the same concern: what it means to live rightly before God. Polycarp exhorts the Philippians to faithfulness, moral integrity, and ordered Christian life rooted in obedience and love. Augustine turns inward, confessing the disorder of his youthful desires and tracing how love, when misdirected, fractures the soul. Aquinas then brings theological precision, showing that God Himself is utterly unlike us—not composed, not changeable, not divided—pure act without mixture or limitation. Together, these readings move from pastoral instruction, to personal confession, to metaphysical clarity, helping us see both our need for transformation and the unchanging God toward whom that transformation is directed.

Readings:

Polycarp, The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, Chapters 1–5

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 2, Chapters 1–2 (Sections 1–2)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 3, Article 2

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Today’s readings bring us face to face with how the early Church understood faith as something lived, ordered, and grounded in the very being of God. In the Didache, the Church lays out practical wisdom for discerning true teachers, caring for the poor, gathering rightly on the Lord’s Day, and remaining watchful as we await Christ’s return—showing that doctrine and daily life were never separated. Augustine then looks back on his own childhood in The Confessions, exposing how even youthful innocence is already bent toward disordered love, yet sustained entirely by God’s gracious gifts. Aquinas finally lifts our eyes higher still, teaching that God is not composed of parts, accidents, or divisions, but is utterly simple—pure being itself—so that every good we experience finds its source in the one, undivided God who holds all things together (Matthew 6:33; James 1:17).

Readings:

The Didache, Chapters 12–16

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 1, Chapters 30–31

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 3, Article 1

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Today’s reading moves us from the earliest moral catechesis of the Church, through Augustine’s searching critique of human education, and into Aquinas’s most famous demonstration of God’s existence. The Didache confronts us with the stark contrast between the way of life and the way of death, grounding Christian ethics in concrete obedience, disciplined worship, and ordered community—where baptism, prayer, Eucharist, and discernment of teachers are inseparable from holiness of life. Augustine then exposes the tragic irony of human learning: that people will guard grammatical precision while neglecting the eternal law written on the conscience, caring more about eloquence than righteousness, and reputation more than love (Psalm 141:5). Aquinas completes the day by showing that belief in God is not a blind leap but a rational conclusion, demonstrated from motion, causation, contingency, degrees of perfection, and the ordered governance of the world—leading us from visible effects to the invisible First Cause whom all call God (Romans 1:20). Together, these readings teach us that Christian faith forms the whole person: conscience, reason, worship, and life ordered toward God.

Readings:

The Didache, Chapters 5–11

Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions, Book 1, Chapter 18 (28–29)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 2, Article 3

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

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#Didache #ChurchFathers #Augustine #Aquinas #SummaTheologica #ChristianFormation #HistoricalTheology