Hi Akimel,
I didn’t misunderstand you. I think I gathered from other posts that you ascribe to the councils and fathers of the 4th and 5th centuries. That is no problem. Often the Orthodox will try and lead other christians to the early fathers, which is fantastic, but I think their admiration is a sectarian fascination from that particular time (4th and 5th centuries), and their honoring of earlier fathers is merely superficial lip services through fast days and saint days, etc. I am personally disinterested in reinforcing a darker and more sinister fraternity, even though I find some writings from this period to be very interesting. I am particularly blessed by Rufinus, Eusebius, John of Jerusalem, and to a lessor extent, Gregory, Basil’s brother, Gregory Nazianzen and John Chrysostom. I was also impressed by what I read of and about Eunomius. I certainly don’t dislike these people, I just think that they were all made delirious by the same dirty well. A more pure time in the church’s history - and in their doctrines - is found prior to the 4th century. That is where the richest gold is buried.
I think the doctrine of the trinity became particularly corrupted by these fathers. I believe in the trinity, but the fundamentalist and intolerant spirit which emerged in the 4th and 5th centuries had corrupted a simple and sublime teaching which the earlier fathers were able to grasp. It became a doctrine which was aligned with widespread corruption, bribery, extortion, hate, contempt, violence, intolerance, greed, false teachings, and secular compromise. It was a doctrine, after all, that was suggested by an unbaptized emperor. The Roman church gained a particular dominance over other churches because of their compliance to the emperors hermeneutics. The church soon changed back to become completely Arian after Constantine’s death, and than had swung back and forward like a brothel door. This was the church’s darkest hour, and the doctrines of this time are not worth any more to me than the writings of any other sect. They belong to Christ, naturally, but like the church at Ephesus, they need to repent and “Consider how far you have fallen!” (Revelation 2:5)