Church Fathers

The Church Fathers or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church, particularly those of the first five centuries of Christian history. The term is used of writers and teachers of the Church, not necessarily saints. It does not include the New Testament authors, though in the early Church some writing of Church Fathers were considered canonical. It also excludes writers condemned as heretical, although several of the Church Fathers, such as Tertullian and Origen, did occasionally expressed heterodox viewed. Also not included are the Christian apologists such as Justin Martyr and others, who are not churchmen per se, but philosophers who defended Christianity from intellectual criticism.

St. Athanasius, depicted with a book, an iconographic symbol of the importance of his writings.

Apostolic Fathers

The earliest Church Fathers, those of the first two generations after the Apostles of Christ, are usually called the Apostolic Fathers. Famous Apostolic Fathers include Clement of Rome (c 30 - c 100), Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna.

Clement of Rome

The epistle known as 1 Clement (c 96) is attributed to this early bishop of Rome. It was copied and widely read in the churches. It is considered the earliest Christian epistle outside the New Testament. Tradition identifies Clement as the fourth pope.

Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius of Antioch (c 35-110) was the third bishop or Antioch and a student of the Apostle John. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters to various churches, and these have been preserved as an example of the theology of the earliest Christians. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the central role of bishops in authorized orthodox teaching.

Polycarp

Polycarp (c 69 - ca. 156) was the bishop of Smyrna (now İzmir in Turkey) who had reportedly been the disciple of the Apostle John. In 155, the Smyrnans demanded Polycarp's execution as a Christian, and he died a martyr. He was also an important figure in the controversy over the date on which Christians celebrate Easter.

Didache

Purporting to be the work of more than one author, the Didache (Koine Greek, meaning "Teaching," is a brief early Christian treatise, traditionally ascribed to the Twelve Apostles. However, it is dated by most scholars to the early second century. It contains instructions for Christian communities and contains passages considered to be the first written catechism, as well as section dealing with rituals such as baptism and eucharist and church organization.

Hermas

The Shepherd of Hermas was a popular second century work considered scriptural by some of the Church fathers, such as Irenaeus and Tertullian. It was written at Rome by the presbyter Hermas, sometimes identified as a brother of Pope Pius I. The work comprises five visions, twelve mandates, and ten parables, calling the faithful to repent of the sins that have harmed it.

Other Apostolic Fathers

Several other writings are also included among the Apostolic Fathers: for example the anti-Jewish letter known as the Epistle of Barnabas, which was often appended to the New Testament; and fragments of the works of Papias. The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus and the discourse of Quadratus of Athens are usually counted among the apologists rather than the Church Fathers.

Greek Fathers

Those who wrote in Greek are called the Greek (Church) Fathers. Famous Greek Fathers include Irenaeus of Lyons (whose work has survived only in Latin translation), Clement of Alexandria, the Origen, Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, and the Three Cappadocian Fathers.

Irenaeus of Lyons

Irenaeus, (d. near the end of the third century) was bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, which is now Lyons, France. A a disciple of Polycarp, his best-known book, Against Heresies (c 180), enumerated heresies and attacked them. Irenaeus wrote that the only way for Christians to retain unity was to humbly accept one doctrinal authority—episcopal councils and was the first writer to propose that all four gospels be accepted as canonical. His work is a major source for understanding the heterodox movements of the second century and the orthodox churches' attitude in combating them.

Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens) (c.150-211/216), was distinguished teacher in the city which became on of early Christianity's most important intellectual centers. He united Greek philosophical traditions with Christian doctrine and thus developed what later became known as Christian Platonism.

Origen

Origen (c 185 - c254) also taught in Alexandria, reviving the catechetical school where Clement had taught. He interpreted scripture allegorically and further developed the tradition of Christian Platonism. Origen taught a doctrine of Universal Salvation in which even demons would eventually be reunited with God. Although some of his views were declared anathema in the 6th century by the Fifth Ecumenical Council Origen's thought exercised significant influence.

Athanasius of Alexandria

Athanasius (c 293-May 2, 373), also known as St. Athanasius the Great, was a theologian, the patriarch ("pope") of Alexandria leader of immense significance in the theological battles of the fourth century. He is best remembered for his role in the conflict with Arianism, although his writings cover a vast array of theological topics of great value to historians.

John Chrysostom

Saint John Chrysostom (c 347– c 407), archbishop of Constantinople, is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, his ascetic sensibilities, and his opposition to Judaism. He is particularly honored in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Cappadocian Fathers

The Cappadocians promoted early Christian theology, and are highly respected in both Western and Eastern churches as Saints. They were a 4th-century monastic family, led by St Makrina to provide a central place for her brothers to study and meditate, and also to provide a peaceful shelter for their mother. Abbess Makrina fostered the education and development of three men who collectively became designated the Cappadocian Fathers, Basil the Great who was the second oldest of Makrina's brothers (the first being the famous Christian jurist Naucratius) and eventually became a bishop, Gregory of Nyssa who also became eventually a bishop of the diocese associated thereafter with his name, and Peter who was the youngest of Makrina's brothers and later became bishop of Sebaste.

These scholars along with a close friend, Gregory Nazianzus, Patriarch of Constantinople set out to demonstrate that Christians could hold their own in conversations with learned Greek-speaking intellectuals and that Christian faith, while it was against many of the ideas of Plato and Aristotle (and other Greek Philosophers), was an almost scientific and distinctive movement with the healing of the soul of man and his union with God at its center- one best represented by monasticism. They made major contributions to the definition of the Trinity finalized at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 and the final version of the Nicene Creed which was formulated there.

Subsequent to the First Council of Nicea, Arianism did not simply disappear. The semi-Arians taught that the Son is of like substance with the Father (homoiousios) as against the outright Arians who taught that the Son was like the Father (homoean). So the Son was held to be like the Father but not of the same essence as the Father.

The Cappadocians worked to bring these semi-Arians back to the Orthodox cause. In their writings they made extensive use of the (now orthodox) formula "three substances (hypostases) in one essence (ousia)," and thus explicitly acknowledged a distinction between the Father and the Son (a distinction that Nicea had been accused of blurring), but at the same time insisting on their essential unity.

Latin Fathers

Those fathers who wrote in Latin are called the Latin (Church) Fathers. Famous Latin Fathers include the Montanist Tertullian, St. Cyprian of Carthage, St. Gregory the Great, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Ambrose of Milan, and St. Jerome.

Tertullian

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus (c 160 - c 225), who was converted to Christianity before 197, was a prolific writer of apologetic, theological, controversial and ascetic works. He was the son of a Roman centurion.

Tertullian denounced Christian doctrines he considered heretical, but later in life adopted views that themselves came to be regarded as heretical. He wrote three books in Greek and was the first great writer of Latin Christianity, thus sometimes known as the "Father of the Latin Church".^{[citation needed]} He was a notable lawyer in Rome during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.^{[citation needed]} (Marcus Aurelius died in 180, when Tertullian may have been not even twenty years old.) He is said to have introduced the Latin term "trinitas" with regard to the Divine (Trinity) to the Christian vocabulary (but Theophilus of Antioch (c. 115 - c. 183) already wrote of "the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom"), and also probably the formula "three Persons, one Substance" as the Latin "tres Personae, una Substantia" (itself from the Koine Greek "treis Hypostases, Homoousios"), and also the terms "vetus testamentum" (Old Testament) and "novum testamentum" (New Testament).

In his Apologeticus, he was the first Latin author who qualified Christianity as the "vera religio," and systematically relegated the classical Roman Empire religion and other accepted cults to the position of mere "superstitions."

Later in life, Tertullian joined the Montanists, a heretical sect that appealed to his rigorism.

Cyprian

Saint Cyprian (Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus) (died September 14, 258) was bishop of Carthage and an important early Christian writer. He was probably born at the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent classical (pagan) education. After converting to Christianity, he became a bishop (249) and eventually died a martyr at Carthage.

Ambrose

Saint Ambrose (c. 338 – 4 April 397), was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the fourth century. He is counted as one of the four original doctors of the Church.

Jerome

Saint Jerome (c 347 – September 30, 420) is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. He also was a Christian apologist. Jerome's edition of the Bible, the Vulgate, is still an important text of the Roman Catholic Church. He is recognised by the Roman Catholic Church as a Doctor of the Church.

Augustine

Saint Augustine (November 13, 354 – August 28, 430), Bishop of Hippo, was a philosopher and theologian. Augustine, a Latin Father and Doctor of the Church, is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. Augustine was radically influenced by Platonism. He framed the concepts of original sin and just war as they are understood in the West. When Rome fell and the faith of many Christians was shaken, Augustine developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God, distinct from the material City of Man. Augustine's work defined the start of the medieval worldview, an outlook that would later be firmly established by Pope Gregory the Great.

Augustine was born in present day Algeria to a Christian mother, Saint Monica. He was educated in North Africa and resisted his mother's pleas to become Christian. He lived as a pagan intellectual, took a concubine, and became a Manichean. He later converted to Christianity, became a bishop, and opposed heresies, such as the belief that people can deserve salvation by being good (Pelagianism). His works—including The Confessions, which is often called the first Western autobiography—are still read around the world. In addition he believed in Papal supremacy.

Gregory the Great

Saint Gregory I the Great (c. 540 – March 12, 604) was pope from September 3, 590 until his death.

He is also known as Gregorius Dialogus (Gregory the Dialogist) in Eastern Orthodoxy because of the Dialogues he wrote. He was the first of the Popes from a monastic background. Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of the four great Latin Fathers of the Church (the others being Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome). Of all popes, Gregory I had the most influence on the early medieval church.

Apologetic Fathers

Later, in the face of criticism from Greek philosophers and facing persecution, the Apologetic Fathers wrote to justify and defend Christian doctrine. Important Fathers of this era are St. Justin Martyr, Tatian, Athenagoras of Athens, Hermias and Tertullian.

Other Fathers

The Desert Fathers were early monastics living in the Egyptian desert; although they did not write as much, their influence was also great. Among them are St. Anthony the Great and St. Pachomius. A great number of their usually short sayings is collected in the Apophthegmata Patrum ("Sayings of the Desert Fathers").

A small number of Church Fathers wrote in other languages: Saint Ephrem, for example, wrote in Syriac, though his works were widely translated into Latin and Greek.

Modern positions

In the Roman Catholic Church, St. John of Damascus, who lived in the 8th century, is generally considered to be the last of the Church Fathers and at the same time the first seed of the next period of church writers, scholasticism. St. Bernard is also at times called the last of the Church Fathers.

The Eastern Orthodox Church does not consider the age of Church Fathers to be over and includes later influential writers, even up to the present day, in the term. Among the Orthodox, the Church Fathers, or as they call them, Holy Fathers do not have to all agree on every detail, much less be infallible. Rather, Orthodox doctrine is determined by the consensus of the Holy Fathers—those points on which they do agree. This consensus guides the Church in questions of faith, the correct interpretation of Scripture, and to distinguish the authentic Sacred Tradition of the Church from false teachings.

Though much Protestant religious thought is based on Sola Scriptura (the principle that the Bible itself is the ultimate authority in doctrinal matters), the first Protestant reformers, like the Catholic and Orthodox churches, relied heavily on the theological interpretations of scripture set forth by the early Church Fathers. The original Lutheran Augsburg Confession of 1531, for example, and the later Formula of Concord of 1576-1584, each begin with the mention of the doctrine professed by the Fathers of the First Council of Nicea. John Calvin's French Confession of Faith of 1559 states, "And we confess that which has been established by the ancient councils, and we detest all sects and heresies which were rejected by the holy doctors, such as St. Hilary, St. Athanasius, St. Ambrose and St. Cyril." The Scots Confession of 1560 deals with general councils in its 20th chapter. The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, both the original of 1562-1571 and the American version of 1801, explicitly accept the Nicene Creed in article 7. Even when a particular Protestant confessional formula does not mention the Nicene Council or its creed, its doctrine is nonetheless always asserted, as, for example, in the Presbyterian Westminster Confession of 1647. Many Protestant seminaries provide courses on Patristics as part of their curriculum.

Patristics

The study of the Church Fathers is known as "Patristics."

Works of fathers in early Christianity, prior to Nicene Christianity, were translated into English in a 19th century collection Ante-Nicene Fathers. Those of the First Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.) and continuing through the Second Council of Nicea (787) are collected in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.

See also

• Doctors of the Church
• List of Church Fathers

Defined as an early writer of Christian doctrine; a Christian writer of the pre-8th century group of scholars who established the doctrines and practices of Christianity in their work (usually used in the plural).

External links

• Chart of Church Fathers at ReligionFacts.com
• Church Fathers' works in English edited by Philip Schaff, at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
• Church Fathers at Newadvent.org
• Church Fathers at the Patristics In English Project Site
• Early Church Fathers Addtional Texts Part of the Tertullian corpus.
• Excerpts from Defensor Grammaticus
• Excerpts from the Church Fathers
• The Fathers, the Scholastics, and Ourselves by von Balthasar
• Faulkner University Patristics Project A growing collection of English translations of patristic texts and high-resolution scans from the comprehensive Patrologia compiled by J. P. Migne.
• Primer on the Church Fathers at Corunum
• Writtings from the church fathers at www.goarch.com.
• The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation, by Ludwig Schopp, founder and editorial director. Works hosted at the Internet Archive
• Migne Patrologia Latina and Graeca: a free digital edition of almost all the original texts.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Church Fathers  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Church Fathers"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.