With all due respect to the church fathers, they did not enjoy the benefits of modern scholarship with respect to genre analysis and interpretation of ancient texts. Old Testament (OT) scholar Brevard Childs is right to remind us, “To compare the church fathers, or the Reformers for that matter, with modern scholarship in terms of philology, textual and literary criticism, and of historical knowledge and exegetical precision should convince any reasonable person of the undeniable achievements of historical critical scholarship to the Old Testament.” (Brevard S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture [Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979], 40) (William Lane Craig, In Quest of the Historical Adam: A Biblical and Scientific Exploration [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2021], 18; cf. Jonathan Burke's comment, "modern scholars have uncovered understandings of New Testament texts which were inaccessible to the majority of readers from the second century to the twentieth." ["Satan & Demons: A Reply to Tom Farrar," February 22, 2015, p. 73, PDF copy in my possession])
Further Reading
On the Common Roman Catholic "Puffing Up" of John Chrysostom's Greek Prowess
