RIFRAF: Rediscovering Inheritance From Reading Ancient Fathers

A reading group for Evangelicals at Syracuse University to appreciate the early writings and history of the church.

Who are the RIFRAF?: Welcome to this page. RIFRAF is a reading group that we hope will address various needs. (1) We hope that it will broaden our minds be exposing us to the great diversity of Christian spirituality, thought, and culture over the genreations and regions of the world. (2) We hope it will give us a greater sense of connection to the original community of Jesus' disciples. (3) We hope the testimony of the fathers will clarify our understanding of our own faith and confirm our conviction of its truth. (4) We hope that reading the fathers will help us to identify more with the great varieties of Christian witness that exist today and build up greater feeling for those Christians who are suffering today throughout the world for their witness and move us to a more effective and compassionate response.

Current Activities: We are reading through the early church fathers c. 50-150 CE. These were the men who knew the apostles face to face and began the transition of the church from a more elder led plurality of communitities to the early stages of ancient catholicism. This is a lay reading group designed to accomodate the busy schedules of graduate students so meetings are infrequent and assignments are light. There are no experts. We benefit from whatever anyone brings to the table and encourage everyone to take the initiative to do whatever research the can and share their findings. We also encourage others to share their experiences in contemplating and applying the spirituality of the ancient fathers as they have applied it to their own lives.

Who can come and where and when do you meet?: This group consists mainly of evangelical graduate students that we meet through InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship at Syracuse University. But anyone can come and participate. Check out our discussion forum for updates on our next meeting location and time and the current reading assignment.

Who are the RIFRAF?