Victor R. Claveau, MJ
The term “Apostolic Fathers” applies to certain disciples and successors of the twelve apostles. In a more restricted sense, the term is applied to a group of Greek-language writers who were among the martyrs and major figures of the 1st and 2nd centuries in the Christian Church.
Origen
Origen, or Origen Adamantius; (184/185 – 253/254), was a scholar, ascetic, and early Christian theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a prolific writer in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, philosophical theology, preaching, and spirituality written in Greek. He was anathematized at the Second Council of Constantinople. He was one of the most influential figures in early Christian asceticism.
Unlike many church fathers, he was never canonized as a saint because some of his teachings directly contradicted the teachings attributed to the apostles, notably the Apostles Paul and John. His teachings on the pre-existence of souls, the final reconciliation of all creatures, including perhaps even the devil (the apokatastasis), and the subordination of God the Son to God the Father, were rejected by Christian orthodoxy.
Philoxenus of Mabbug
Philoxenus of Mabbug (born c. 440, Tahal, Beth-Garmaï [near modern Kirkūk, Iraq]—died c. 523, Gangra, Paphlagonia [near modern Samsun, Turkey]), also known as Xenaias and Philoxenus of Hierapolis, was aSyrian bishop, theologian, classical author, and a vehement champion of Miaphysitism.[1] He was a leader of the Jacobite miaphysite church, a group that taught the existence of a single subject in Christ, the Logos, and followed the theology of Saint Cyril of Alexandria (c. 375–444). He also contributed significantly to the Syriac literary heritage, particularly with the Philoxenian New Testament based on the original Greek text.
Saint Ambrose of Milan
Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose (c. 340 – 4 April 397), was a bishop of Milan, Italy who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was consular prefect of Liguria and Emilia (North-western Italy), headquartered in Milan, before being made bishop of Milan by popular acclamation in 374. Ambrose was a staunch opponent of Arianism.[2]
Ambrose was one of the four original doctors of the Church, and is the patron saint of Milan. He is notable for his influence on Saint Augustine. St. Ambrose, son of the Roman prefect of Treves, became governor of Milan. While yet only a catechumen, he was addressing the contesting parties in an episcopal election, when a young child cried out: “Ambrose for bishop.” He was forthwith consecrated against his will. In this exalted station he gave marked proofs of apostolic zeal and firmness of character. He distributed all his goods to the poor, and each day fasted until evening. He successfully opposed the Arians, who, aided by the powerful influence of the Empress Justina, endeavored to seize a church at Milan. He spent day and night in the church with the people, singing psalms. His sermons moved many and brought about the conversion of St. Augustine. He excluded the Emperor Theodosius from the church services and required him to do public penance because Theodosius, enraged at the destruction of his own statue, had caused the death of 7,000 inhabitants of Thessalonica. To the remonstrance of the emperor, St Ambrose replied: “If thou hast sinned with David, also do penance with David.” He composed the beautiful hymns: “O lux beata Trinitas!” “Splendor paternae gloriae,” “Deus Creator omnium,” ” Veni, Redemptor Gentium. [3] He died in 397, leaving many valuable writings.
Ambrose was one of the four original doctors of the Church, and is the patron saint of Milan.
Saint Athanasius
Saint Athanasius (297?-373). Doctor of the Church. Born of Christian parents in Alexandria, Egypt, he was well educated, especially in scripture and theology, consulted the desert monks, including Saint Antony, and in 318 became a deacon. After years of study and ascetical exercises under the direction of St. Anthony, in the Theban desert, he was unanimously chosen patriarch of Constantinople, where he became the uncompromising antagonist of Arianism. While a deacon, he attended the Council of Nicea in 325, which condemned and excommunicated Arius for teaching that Christ was created in time and was only symbolically the Son of God, thus attacking the full meaning of the Incarnation and Redemption. He opposed the Arians with great learning and brilliant eloquence.[4]Athanasius was chosen Bishop of Alexandria and began the direction not only of the great city, but of all the hermit fathers and also of Ethiopia. Neither banishment nor calumny could move the constancy of this glorious defender of the faith; and he spent nearly twenty years of the forty-six years of his episcopacy in exile. After many hardships and sufferings, he died a peaceful death at Alexandria in the year 373. He was naturally resolute and inflexible, yet kind and charitable. His writings contain many treatises in defense of Catholic doctrine, and a beautiful biography of St. Anthony.
His major works were apparently produced in exile: Apologia to Constantius, Defense of Flight, Letter to the Monks, and his History of the Arians. While the author of the Athanasian Creed was probably an obscure and unknown cleric, its tenets are those reiterated by Athanasius in letters, sermons, and books. His Feast Day is May 2.
Saint Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo (Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, Saint Austin, Blessed Augustine, and the Doctor of Grace, was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern-day Annaba, Algeria), located in Numidia (Roman province of Africa). He is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. Among his most important works are The City of God and Confessions.
Saint Basil the Great
St. Basil the Great. (329-397, born at Caesarea, in Cappadocia) was the child of wealthy and pious parents. His father, mother, grandmother and three sisters are venerated as saints. St Basil received his training in the schools of Caesarea, Constantinople and Athens. In his youth he formed such an intimate friendship with Gregory Nazianzen, that they were called “one soul in two bodies.” They entertained the same enthusiasm for all that was good, the same love for God, and both were animated with the same desire for perfection. Later, St. Gregory of Nyssa, brother of St. Basil, joined them. They were called “the three great Cappadocians. “
Basil was the Greek bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of the early Christian church, fighting against both Arianism and the followers of Apollinaris of Laodicea. His ability to balance his theological convictions with his political connections made Basil a powerful advocate for the Nicene position.
Sts. Basil and Gregory, as young men, were models of diligence and piety. They knew but two streets in Athens, the one leading to the church and the other leading to the college. Basil finally abandoned the world and renounced his splendid prospects. Having distributed his wealth among the poor, he retired into solitude, where, in union with Gregory Nazianzen, he devoted himself to study and to prayer. At the earnest solicitation of his bishop, he gave himself to the Church (364), was ordained priest, and afterwards became Bishop of Caesarea, in 370. As bishop, he continued the ascetical practices of the desert. He possessed but one garment; and his daily food consisted of bread and salt. When threatened with heavy fines, banishment and death, he was able to answer laughingly, “Is that all?” He was the pillar of the Church at Caesarea. His firmness and undaunted courage greatly impressed the Arian emperor, Valens, who at length ceased to threaten the saint. Basil was the first to draw up a code of rules for the religious life; and these rules are still observed by many monks of the East, as well as by the community called “the Basilians.” His numerous writings contain many beautiful discourses and letters. He died in 378.
In addition to his work as a theologian, Basil was known for his care of the poor and underprivileged. Basil established guidelines for monastic life which focus on community life, liturgical prayer, and manual labor. Together with Pachomius, he is remembered as a father of communal monasticism in Eastern Christianity. He is considered a saint by the traditions of both Eastern and Western Christianity.
Saint Caesarius of Arles
Caesarius of Arles, sometimes called “of Chalon” from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Merovingian Gaul (Eastern France). Caesarius is considered to be of the last generation of church leaders of Gaul that worked to promote large-scale ascetic elements into the Western Christian tradition. Caesarius had the reputation of a popular preacher of great fervor and enduring influence. Among those who exercised the greatest influence on Caesarius were Saint Augustine of Hippo, Julianus Pomerius,[5] and Saint John Cassian.[6]
Saint Clement of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens (c. 150 – c. 215), known as Clement of Alexandria to distinguish him from the earlier Clement of Rome, was a Christian theologian who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. A convert to Christianity, he was an educated man who was familiar with classical Greek philosophy and literature. As his three-major works demonstrate, Clement was influenced by Hellenistic philosophy to a greater extent than any other Christian thinker of his time, and in particular by Plato and the Stoics. His secret works, which exist only in fragments, suggest that he was also familiar with pre-Christian Jewish esotericism and Gnosticism. In one of his works, he argued that Greek philosophy had its origin among non-Greeks, claiming that both Plato and Pythagoras were taught by Egyptian scholars. Among his pupils were Origen and Saint Alexander of Jerusalem.
Saint Cyprian of Carthage
Cyprian (c. 200 – September 14, 258 AD) was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education. Soon after converting to Christianity, he became a bishop in 249. A controversial figure during his lifetime, his strong pastoral skills, firm conduct during the Novatianist heresy[7] and outbreak of the plague, and eventual martyrdom at Carthage vindicated his reputation and proved his sanctity in the eyes of the Church. His skillful Latin rhetoric led to his being considered the pre-eminent Latin writer of Western Christianity until Jerome and Augustine.
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313 – 386 AD) was a distinguished theologian of the early Church. He is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. In 1883, Cyril was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII. He is highly respected in the Palestinian Christian Community.
About the end of 350, he succeeded Maximus as Bishop of Jerusalem, but was exiled on more than one occasion due to the enmity of Acacius of Caesarea,[8] and the policies of various emperors. Cyril left important writings documenting the instruction of catechumens and the order of the Liturgy in his day.
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
Ephrem the Syrian (306 – 373), also known as Saint Ephrem, Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis, was a prominent Christian theologian and writer, who is revered as one of the most notable hymnographers of Eastern Christianity. He was born in Nisibis, Turkey, served as a deacon and later lived in Edessa. Ephrem is venerated as a saint by all traditional Churches. He is especially revered in Syriac Christianity, both in East Syriac tradition and West Syriac tradition, and also counted as a Venerable Father (i.e., a sainted Monk) in the Eastern Orthodox Church. His Feast Day is celebrated on 28 January and on the Saturday of the Venerable Fathers. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in the Roman Catholic Church in 1920. Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as prose exegesis. These were works of practical theology for the edification of the Church in troubled times. So popular were his works, that, for centuries after his death, Christian authors wrote hundreds of pseudepigraphal works in his name. He has been called the most significant of all of the fathers of the Syriac-speaking church tradition.
St. Gregory Nazianzen.
Saint Gregory (ca. 330 – 389), the second of the three great Cappadocian Fathers, was the close friend of the other two, Basil of Caesarea especially, and Basil’s brother Gregory of Nyssa. He was born in Arianz, Turkey, not far from Nazianz. His father, Gregory also, had been a member of a heretical Hypsistarian[9] sect, but soon after his conversion he was made Bishop of Nazianz, so it was really the older Gregory who was rightly called Gregory of Nazianz.
When the Arians had gained control of the churches in Constantinople, only one small chapel being left to the Catholics, he was sent to that city to propagate the faith (A.D. 379). By his persuasive eloquence, modest reserve and ardent love for souls, he soon converted a great number of heretics. On this account he had to endure the violent hostility of the Arians, manifested by stone-throwing and attempts at murder. He became bishop of Constantinople, but abdicated this dignity when the Catholics had recovered their churches and after he had summoned the Second Ecumenical Council to meet at Constantinople. Gregory closed his active and useful life in holy solitude, A.D. 390. His writings include 232 letters, and more than 400 poems, all in classical language. Owing to his doctrinal depth of thought, he was styled “The Theologian. “
Saint Gregory of Nyssa
Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen (c. 335 – c. 395), was bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death. He is venerated as a saint in Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism. Gregory, his elder brother Saint Basil of Caesarea, and their friend Saint Gregory of Nazianzus are collectively known as the Cappadocian Fathers.
Saint Hilary of Poitiers
Hilary (Hilarius) of Poitiers (c. 310 – c. 367) was Bishop of Poitiers and is a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the “Hammer of the Arians” and the “Athanasius of the West.” His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful. His optional memorial in the General Roman Calendar is 13 January. In the past, when this date was occupied by the Octave Day of the Epiphany, his Feast Day was moved to 14 January.
Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Ignatius of Antioch (c.35 – c.108), also known as Ignatius Theophorus (lit. “the God-bearing”), Ignatius Nurono (lit. “The fire-bearer”) was an Apostolic Father, student of the Apostle John, and the third bishop of Antioch. Enroute to Rome, where he met his martyrdom by being fed to wild beasts, he wrote a series of seven letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops. In speaking of the authority of the Church he coined the phrase ‘Catholic Church’, still in use to this day.
Saint Innocent I
Innocent I became pope on December 22, 401. His pontificate was marked by his emphasis on papal supremacy, as when he commanded the African bishops who had condemned Pelagianism[10] at the councils of Carthage and Melevis in 416 and then referred their decision to the Pope for confirmation. He also fought the unjust removal of Saint John Chrysostom from his see, and for the celibacy of the clergy. In 410, Rome was captured and sacked by the Goths under Alaric I (c. 370 – 410), although Saint Innocent was in Ravenna at the time, seeking aid from Emperor Honorius to resist the Goths. He died in Rome on March 12, 417. Conditions after the fall of the city were so grave that there was a widespread hostility towards Christians, who were blamed for the national disaster. These charges by the pagans led Saith Augustine to write the City of God. Innocent’s Feast Day is July 28.
Irenaeus early 2nd century – c. AD 202), also referred to as Saint Irenaeus, was Bishop of Laudanum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire (now Lyon, France). He was an early Church Father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology. A resident of Smyrna,[11] Greece. he heard the preaching of Saint Polycarp, a disciple of Saint John the Evangelist.
Irenaeus’ best-known book, Adversus Haereses or Against Heresies (c. 180), is a detailed attack on Gnosticism,[12] which was then a serious threat to the Church, and especially on the system of the Gnostic Valentinus.[13] As one of the first great Christian theologians, he emphasized the traditional elements in the Church, especially the episcopate, Scripture, and tradition. Against the Gnostics, who said that they possessed a secret oral tradition from Jesus himself, Irenaeus maintained that the bishops in different cities are known as far back as the Apostles and that the bishops provided the only safe guide to the interpretation of Scripture. His polemical work is credited for laying out the “orthodoxies of the Christian church, its faith, its preaching and the books that it held as sacred authority.” His writings, with those of Clement and Ignatius, are taken as among the earliest signs of the doctrine of the primacy of the Roman see. Irenaeus is the earliest witness to recognition of the canonical character of all four gospels.
Saint Jerome
St. Jerome (340-420), born at Stridon, a village near Emona on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia, then part of northeastern Italy. He was a presbyter, confessor, theologian and historian. He was the son of Eusebius. He undertook extensive travels in the pursuit of knowledge. He sojourned for four years in the Syrian desert, Chalcis, where he devoted himself to the practice of penance and the study of Hebrew. At the urgent request of Pope Damasus I, he went to Bethlehem, where, for more than thirty years he lived near the Grotto of the Nativity, and devoted his time to the translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew text, the Itala, i.e., the ancient Latin translation of Holy Scripture. His edition, being universally adopted, was called “Vulgata.” His numerous works, especially his beautiful letters, attest his great learning.
The protégé of Pope Damasus I, who died in December of 384, Jerome was known for his teachings on Christian moral life, especially to those living in cosmopolitan centers such as Rome. In many cases, he focused his attention to the lives of women and identified how a woman devoted to Jesus should live her life. This focus stemmed from his close patron relationships with several prominent female ascetics who were members of affluent senatorial families.He is recognized as a Saint and Doctor of the Church by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Anglican Communion.
Saint John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom (c. 349 – 407, Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities. The epithet Χρυσόστομος (Chrysostomos, anglicized as Chrysostom) means “golden-mouthed” in Greek and denotes his celebrated eloquence.
He is honored as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches, as well as in some others. The Eastern Orthodox, together with the Byzantine Catholics, hold him in special regard as one of the Three Holy Hierarchs (alongside Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus). The feast days of John Chrysostom in the Eastern Orthodox Church are 13 November and 27 January. In the Roman Catholic Church, he is recognized as a Doctor of the Church and commemorated on 13 September. Other churches of the Western tradition, including some Anglican provinces and some Lutheran churches, also commemorate him on 13 September. However, certain Lutheran churches and Anglican provinces commemorate him on the traditional Eastern Feast Day of 27 January. The Coptic Church also recognizes him as a saint.
Saint Justin Martyr
Saint Justin, also known as Justin Martyr was an early Christian apologist, and is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the theory of the Logos[14] in the 2nd century. He was martyred, alongside some of his students, and is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The First Apology, his most well-known text, passionately defends the morality of the Christian life, and provides various ethical and philosophical arguments to convince the Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, to abandon the persecution of the fledgling sect.[15] Further, he also indicates, as St Augustine did regarding the “true religion” that predated Christianity, that the “seeds of Christianity” (manifestations of the Logos acting in history) actually predated Christ’s incarnation. This notion allows him to claim many historical Greek philosophers (including Socrates and Plato), in whose works he was well studied, as unknowing Christians.
Pope Saint Leo I (c. 400 –461), also known as Saint Leo the Great, was pope from 29 September 440 to his death on 10 November 461.
He was an Italian aristocrat, and was the first pope to have been called “the Great”. He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452 and persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy. He is also a Doctor of the Church, most remembered theologically for issuing the Tome of Leo, a document which was a major foundation to the debates of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. The Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, dealt primarily with Christology, and elucidated the orthodox definition of Christ’s being as the hypostatic union of two natures, divine and human, united in one person, “with neither confusion nor division”. It was followed by a major schism associated with Monophysitism,[16] Miaphysitism[17] and Dyophysitism. [18]
Saint Romanus the Melodist
Saint Romanus the Melodist was born around the year 490 in Emesa (today Homs) in Syria, as a Jew in Emesa not far from Beirut where after his baptism he later became deacon of the Church of the Resurrection and a priest at Constantinople. He may have seen the destruction of the Hagia Sophia [Church of Holy Wisdom] and its rebuilding during the time he flourished there. Through a miracle of the Theotokos he received the divine gift to write, compose, and recite hymns. He is reputed to have composed 1,000 hymns. As many as eighty [poetic] (metrical) sermons (kontakia, sg. Kontakion) (that utilize dialogical poetry) have come down to us under his name. These sermons were sung rather than preached during the liturgy, and frequently provide theological insights and Scriptural connections often unique to [him] Romanus. His Christology, closely associated with Justinian,) reflects the struggles against (the Monophysites) [those who denied that Jesus has two natures].
Saint Serapion of Antioch (d. 211) was Bishop of Antioch from 199 to 211, he is known for three theological works mentioned by Eusebius, a letter against Montanism,[19] a treatise addressed to Domninus (who had abandoned Christianity), and a work warning that the Docetic gospel was erroneous. Feast Day October 30.
Tertullian (c. 155 – c. 240 AD), was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and a polemicist against heresy, including contemporary Christian Gnosticism. Tertullian has been called “the father of Latin Christianity” and “the founder of Western theology.”
Though conservative, he did originate and advance new theology to the early Church. He is perhaps most famous for being the oldest extant Latin writer to use the term Trinity (Latin: Trinitas), though a similar word had been used earlier in Greek, and giving the oldest extant formulation of the Trinitarian terminology later adopted as the modified Nicene Creed at the 2nd Ecumenical Council, the First Council of Constantinople in 381, or as the Athanasian Creed, or both. Other Latin formulations that first appear in his work are “three persons, one substance” as the Latin “tres personae, una substantia” (itself from the Koine Greek “treis hypostases, homoousios”). He wrote his trinitarian formula after becoming a Montanist However, unlike many Church fathers, he was never recognized as a saint by the Church, as several of his teachings on issues such as remarriage for widows and fleeing from persecution (both of which he condemned) contradicted the teachings of the Church.
Theodore of Mopsuestia
Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350 – 428) was a Christian theologian, and Bishop of Mopsuestia (as Theodore II) from 392 to 428 AD. He is also known as Theodore of Antioch, from the place of his birth and presbyterate. He is the best-known representative of the middle School of Antioch of hermeneutics. He was ordained sometime between 383 and 386, was active against the Arians, Originists,[20] and Apollinarists,[21] and an opponent of Julian the Apostate. Theodore was widely recognized as an outstanding theologian and wrote exegetical commentaries on most books of the Bible, and theological treatises, among them, De sacramentis, De fide, De incarntione, Contra Eunomium, Contra magicam Artem, Contra allegoristas, and Deassumente et assumpto.
The Didache or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, is a brief anonymous early Christian treatise, dated by most modern scholars to the first century. The first line of this treatise is “Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles (or Nations) by the Twelve Apostles”.
The text, parts of which constitute the oldest extant written catechism, has three main sections dealing with Christian ethics, rituals such as baptism and Eucharist, and Church organization. The opening chapters describe the virtuous Way of Life and the wicked Way of Death. The Lord’s Prayer is included in full. Baptism is by immersion or by affusion if immersion is not practical. Fasting is ordered for Wednesdays and Fridays. Two primitive Eucharistic prayers are given. Church organization seems to be underdeveloped. Itinerant apostles and prophets are important, serving as “chief priests” and possibly celebrating the Eucharist. Meanwhile, local bishops and deacons also have authority and seem to be taking the place of the itinerant ministry. The Didache is considered the first example of the genre of the Church Orders. More than any other Christian scripture, the Didache reveals how Jewish Christians saw themselves and adapted their practice for gentile Christians. The Didache is similar in several ways to the Gospel of Matthew, perhaps because both texts originated in similar communities. The opening chapters are likely derived from an earlier Jewish source, and they also appear in other early Christian texts.
The Didache is considered part of the category of second-generation Christian writings known as the Apostolic Fathers. The work was considered by some Church Fathers as part of the New Testament, while being rejected as spurious or non-canonical by others, and eventually was not accepted into the New Testament canon. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church “broader canon” includes the Didascalia, a work which draws on the Didache.
Lost for centuries, a Greek manuscript of the Didache was rediscovered in 1873 by Philotheos Bryennios, Metropolitan of Nicomedia in the Codex Hierosolymitanus. A Latin version of the first five chapters was discovered in 1900 by J. Schlecht.
Note: The biographies and information on the Didache were adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Post-Apostolic Fathers of the Church
The term “Post-Apostolic Fathers” is the name given by the Christian Church to the writers who established Christian doctrine before the 8th century. The writings of the Fathers or Patristic Literature synthesized Christian doctrine as found in the Bible, especially the gospels, the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, ecclesiastical dictums, and decisions of the Church councils.
Jerome, St.
St. Jerome. — St. Jerome (340-420), born at Stridon, in Dalmatia, undertook extensive travels in the pursuit of knowledge. He sojourned for four years in the Syrian desert, Chalcis, where he devoted himself to the practice of penance and the study of Hebrew. At the urgent request of Pope Damasus I, he revised, according to the original Hebrew text, the Itala, i.e., the ancient Latin translation of Holy Scripture. His edition, being universally adopted, was called “Vulgata.” He went to Bethlehem, where, for more than thirty years he lived near the Grotto of the Nativity, and devoted his time to the translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. He died in 420. His numerous works, especially his beautiful letters, attest his great learning.
St. John Chrysostom. — St John, surnamed Chrysostom, or “Golden Mouth ” (347-407), was born at Antioch. He was the most distinguished disciple of the pagan rhetorician Libanius, but left the world and practiced great austerity in the desert. Having been ordained priest in his native city, he undertook the office of preaching. After having fled to the desert to avoid being made a bishop, he was brought back by force and elevated to the patriarchate of Constantinople (398). Conditions in this city were deplorable. Schisms were rife, flattery prevailed, and immorality was rampant at the imperial court, and even among the clergy. By frankness in denouncing the sins of all classes, he aroused the anger of the vain Empress Eudoxia, and of others in high standing. He was unjustly deposed by the courtier bishops and sent into exile (404). After much patient suffering, he died in 407, exclaiming: “Praised be Jesus Christ for everything!” His remains were brought in solemn procession to Constantinople. His writings, of which the homilies on the Sacred Scriptures and the twenty-one discourses “On the Statues” are the most beautiful, were composed in classical language.
St. Augustine. — St. Augustine (354-430) the greatest Doctor of the Church in any age, was born at Tagaste, in Numidia. Endowed with extraordinary talents, he went astray as a youth, and was captivated by the heresy of the Manichaeans, to which he adhered for nine years. But this sect could neither satisfy his craving for truth, nor give him peace of heart. In his “Confessions ” we find him beautifully expressing the sentiment: “Thou hast made us” for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is not at peace until it rests in Thee.” He taught rhetoric at Milan, and moved by curiosity was led to attend the sermons of St. Ambrose. Grace and truth captivated his heart. While walking in a garden, Augustine heard a miraculous voice saying: “Take and read.” He opened the Sacred Scriptures and found the passage especially applicable to himself, ” Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting nor in chambering.”[22] After many interior struggles, he was baptized by St. Ambrose, at the age of thirty-three. His pious mother, St. Monica, had unceasingly prayed for him, and St. Ambrose had consoled her with the words, ” A child of so many tears cannot be lost.” Augustine then gave up the world and devoted himself to study, penance and prayer. He was ordained priest and later on, in 395, was elevated to the episcopal see of Hippo, now Bona, in Africa. From that time, his zealous labors extended to all classes, the clergy, the poor, the widow and the orphan. He was distinguished for the keenness of his mind, his clear logic and his profound knowledge, and was able to triumph over the Manichaeans, the Donatists and the Pelagians. Yet he was calm, mild, humble and kind-hearted to his enemies. Many of his 232 writings are still extant. His principal works are the “City of God ” and the “Confessions.”‘ He died in the year 430.
Pope St. Gregory the Great. — Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604) was born of an illustrious Roman family. Having wealth and learning, he was appointed praetor of Rome, an office which he soon abandoned to give himself to God. He became a Benedictine monk, then abbot, afterwards cardinal deacon and papal legate to Constantinople; and finally, despite his protests, he was unanimously chosen pope in 590. He was zealous, active, prudent, humble, gentle and solicitous for the welfare of the entire Church. He combated heresy, increased the solemnity of divine worship, promoted the ecclesiastical “Gregorian” chant, established special schools for singers, invented a system of musical notation, improved church discipline, protected the oppressed against the arbitrary rule of the imperial officers, and fought against slavery. He sent Augustine (of Canterbury) as missionary to England. Though feeble in health, he wrote many theological works. At the same time, he was careful of the revenues of the Church, and supported convents, orphanages, and the schools for the poor. He was obliged to take upon himself almost the entire civil government of Rome, and in this fact lay the beginning of ” the papal monarchy.” He paid the costs of wars against the invading barbarians and furnished grain to the devastated countries. He gave an example of humility to the bishops of Constantinople, who sought the title of “Ecumenical Patriarch,” by calling himself “Servant of the servants of God,” a title retained by the popes to the present day. Gregory died in A.D. 604. His most important writings are his 840 letters.
In the course of time the names of Pope St. Leo the Great (+ 461) and of St. Hilary of Poitiers, the “Athanasius of the West” (+ 366), were added to the list of Church Fathers.
Personal: Financial officer to Saracen caliph
Resigned in 700
Entered a monastery and ordained a priest
Opposed the Iconoclasts
Place and dates: (Damascus, Syria) 675-749
Writings: Source of Knowledge: three-part text of dogmatic theology in the early Greek church; contains a complete theological system based on the early Greek fathers and synods of 4th-7th centuries
[1] Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine upheld by the Oriental Orthodox Churches, which include the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Church. Rather than using the wording established at the Council of Chalcedon (451) that Jesus is one “person” (in Greek ὑπόστασις hypostasis) in two “natures” (in Greek φύσεις physeis), a divine nature and a human nature, they hold that Jesus, the “Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one physis.” While historically a major point of controversy within Christianity, several modern declarations by both Chalcedonian and Miaphysite churches state that the difference between the two Christological formulations is essentially semantic and does not reflect any significant difference in belief about the nature of Christ.
[2] Arianism is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (c. 256–336), a Christian presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God the Father. The Arian concept of Christ is based on the belief that the Son of God did not always exist but was begotten within time by God the Father, therefore Jesus was not co-eternal with God the Father. Arianism holds that the Son is distinct from the Father and therefore subordinate to Him. The term Arian is derived from the name Arius; it was not what the followers of Arius’s teachings called themselves, but rather a term used by outsiders. The nature of Arius’s teachings and his supporters were opposed to the theological doctrines held by Homoousion Christians, regarding the nature of the Trinity and the nature of Christ.
[3] St. Ambrose is not the author of the “Te Deum.”
[4] The Athanasian Creed was named after him, although it was not composed until the fifth century.
[5] Julianus Pomerius was a priest in fifth century Gaul. He wrote five treatises, only one of which, De Vita Contemplativa, survives. He was renowned in rhetoric and grammar. He became an abbot and a teacher of rhetoric at Arles.
[6] John Cassian, also known as John the Ascetic and John Cassian the Roman (360 – c. 435), was a Christian monk and theologian celebrated in both the Western and Eastern churches for his mystical writings
[7] Novatianism was a Christian “heresy” originating in the third century, based on the teachings of the antipope Novatian, who was elected in opposition to the more lenient policy of Pope Cornelius (251-253) regarding the forgiveness of apostate Christians who had been willing to commit the sin of idolatry under persecution.
[8] Acacius of Caesarea was a Christian bishop probably originating from Syria; Acacius was the pupil and biographer of Eusebius and his successor on the See of Caesarea Palestina. Acacius is remembered chiefly for his bitter opposition to Cyril of Jerusalem and for the part he was afterwards enabled to play in the more acute stages of the Arian controversy. The Acacian theological movement is named after him. In the twenty-first oration of St. Gregory Nazianzen, the author speaks of Acacius as being “the tongue of the Arians”.
[9] Hypsistarians or worshippers of the Hypsistos , i.e. of the “Most High” God ; a distinct Jewish – pagan sect which flourished from about 200 B.C. to about A.D. 400, mostly in Asia Minor (Cappadocia Bithynia, Pontus ) and on the South Russian coasts of the Euxine Sea.
[10] Pelagianismisa heterodox Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans have the free will to achieve human perfection without divine grace.
[11] The modern name of the city is Izmir.
[12] Gnosticism was a prominent heretical movement of the 2nd-century Christian Church, partly of pre-Christian origin. Gnostic doctrine taught that the world was created and ruled by a lesser divinity, the demiurge, and that Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme divine being, esoteric knowledge (gnosis) of whom enabled the redemption of the human spirit.
[13] Valentinus (also spelled Valentinius; (c. 100 – c. 160) was the best known and, for a time, most successful early Christian Gnostic theologian. He founded his school in Rome. Valentinus was a candidate for bishop but started his own group when another was chosen.
[14] In Christology, the Logos (Greek: Λόγος, lit. ”Word”, “Discourse”, or “Reason”) is a name or title of Jesus Christ, derived from the prologue to the Gospel of John “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”, as well as in the Book of Revelation, “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” These passages have been important for establishing the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus since the earliest days of Christianity.
[15] It is clear that the reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (emperor from 161 to 180) was extremely hostile to Christianity. Christians suffered from systematic persecution. Aurelius felt that the prevalence of Christianity was incompatible with his ideal of Roman prosperity. The governors were ordered merely to punish sacrilege, and, under Aurelius, Christianity was regarded as such. It is true that the persecutions indicated by Celsus (Origen, Celsus, viii. 69), Justin, Melito (in Eusebius, H.E., iv. 26), Athenagoras (Libellus pro Christianis) and the Acts of Matyrs, were greatly in excess of those recorded in previous reigns.
[16] Monophysitism is an error concerning the nature of Christ that asserts Jesus had only one nature and not two as is taught in the correct doctrine of the hypostatic union: Jesus is both God and man in one person. In monophysitism, the single nature was divine and not human.
[17] Miaphysitism understands Christ as having only one nature — but that this nature includes both humanity and divinity.
[18] Dyophysitism understands Christ as having two natures that exist in one person. This is the position of the council of Chalcedon (451), the Roman Catholic Church and many Protestant churches.
[19] Montanism, known by its adherents as the New Prophecy, was an early Christian movement of the late 2nd century, later referred to by the name of its founder, Montanus. Montanism held views about the basic tenets of Christian theology similar to those of the wider Christian Church, but it was labelled a heresy for its belief in new prophetic revelations.
[20] The Origenist controversy began in the monasteries of Palestine, where Origen’s work was interpreted in a radically Platonic sense, exalting the incorporeal while disparaging the flesh, and veering off into manifest heresy on several points, particularly regarding the Incarnation and Resurrection. In reaction to this denial of God Incarnate, other monks adopted an equally heretical notion called Anthropomorphism, ascribing a human form to God as God.
[21] Apollinarianism was a fourth-century Christian heresy that plagued the early church and that denied the full humanity and perfection of Jesus Christ. It is named after Apollinaris the Younger, who was bishop of the Laodicean church and who originated the teaching c. AD 361.
[22] Rom. 13:13.