Who are The Church Fathers?
Who were the Church Fathers and Meaning of Patristics By Brother Alex Pak
Apostolic Fathers were small groups of early believers. They lived the last second half of the first century and the first part of the second century. They usually associated with the apostles of Jesus. In Christian antiquity, Church Fathers represent teachers of the church (i.e. bishops). The title includes apostolic fathers down through the end of the Patristic ages.
I. Meaning:
Patristic(s) is the study of the Church Fathers, the earliest Christian writers from the contemporaries of the apostles to the seventh or eight century.
Patristics (is both a historical study of what the fathers did and wrote. It is also study of what they thought and believed.
And another word used is Patrology, which is composed of two Greek term “father” and “teaching”.
II. Distinction of Patristics and Patrology:
German theologians Josef Fessler (1813-1872), and Otto Bardenhewer (1851-1935) (Trans. By Thomas J. Shahan, Freiburg, 1908) who was Roman Catholic bishops, distinguished the terms of Patristics and Patrology. Patrology was a science that provides all the necessary materials for judging and witnessing the Fathers. It was used for authority and criteria for resolving issues and controversies. On the other hand, Patristics is a science concerned with faith and morals and discipline in the writings of the Fathers. However such distinctions are not much observed, nor seemed to be necessary.
Some scholars, chiefly in Germany, distinguish patrologia from patristica. Josef Fessler, for instance, defines patrologia as the science which provides all that is necessary for the using of the works of the Fathers, dealing, therefore, with their authority, the criteria for judging their genuineness, the difficulties to be met within them, and the rules for their use. But Fessler's own "Institutiones Patrologi" has a larger range, as have similar works entitled Patrologies, for example that of Otto Bardenhewer (tr. Shahan, Freiburg, 1908).
On the other hand, Fessler describes patristica as that theological science by which all that concerns faith, morals, or discipline in the writings of the Fathers is collected and sorted. The lives and works of the Fathers are also described by a non-specialized science: literary history.
These distinctions are not much observed, nor do they seem very necessary; they are nothing else than aspects of patristic study as it forms part of fundamental theology, of positive theology, and of literary history.
III. Scope of Study of the Fathers
The Fathers of the Church began to be used from the seventeenth century, and denoted originally the science of the lives and writings of the Fathers of the Church. Lutheran theologian, Johannes Gerhard was the first to use it as a title of his work, Patrologia, published in 1653.
However, idea of a history of Christian literature in which the theological point of vew predominates is old. It begins with Eusebius (263-339), for in the introduction to his Ecclesiastical History (I, I, I), he states that he intends to report about ‘the number of those who in each generation were the ambassadors of the word of God either by speech or by pen; the names, the number and the age of those who, driven by the desire of innovation to an extremity of error, so called.” Eusebius thus quoted and used from most of them. Eusebius is one of the most important sources of Patrology.
-For some ecclesiastical authors he is the only source of information, and many of his writings have been lost.
The title was given to the ecclesiastical writers in the first era of the Church. It can be recognized as far back as the fifth century. Father is derived from the similarity of the relationship existing between father and son. In the Old Testament, the references of biblical parallels as the “sons of the prophets”are found and interpreted as such.
In the New Testament, I Corinthians 4: 14 is used. "I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children".(NRSV) In the early church period, the title was given to the bishop or head of superior. They were called “Father” or “Holy Father”. Authority of the bishop was both disciplinary and doctrinal. Fathers were the depository of the teaching office of the Church, and in matters of doubt or of controversy it was his duty to decide, as witness and judge, concerning the truth. Since fifth century, this function began to change on the ecclesiastical writers of the early church. Most of the leaders were bishops, but non-episcopal writers might also bear witness to the contemporaneous faith of the church.
IV. Era of the Fathers
The church fathers are generally divided into the Ante-Nicene Fathers, those who lived and wrote before the Council of Nicaea (A. D. 325), and the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, those who lived and wrote after A. D. 325.
More specifically, in the Eastern Orthodox Church it extends usually to John Damascus (Daemascene) (d. 749).
In the West, all Christian authors up to Gregory the Great (d. 604) or Isidore of Seville (d. 636).
V. Criteria for Church Fathers
1. Doctrinal Orthodoxa: Their theology as a whole had to be in agreement with the church’s common teaching, which does not denote absolute inerrancy in every detail.
2. Santitas vitae: Holiness in the sense of the ancient church, in which the community of believers did not base the veneration of the saints on explicit canonization but instead on the recognition and admiration of an exemplary life.
3. Approbatio ecclesiae: The church’s recognition, though not necessarily explicit, of the person and his teaching.
4. Antiquitas: They have to belong to the period of ancient church.
VI. Greek Fathers:
1st -2nd Century:
Clement of Rome (fl. c. 96)
Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35-107)
Polycarp of Smyrna (c 69-156)
The Shepherd of Hermas (fl. 90-150)
Papias of Hierapolis (fl. second century)
Aristides of Athens (fl. second century)
Justin Martyr (c. 165)
Tatian the Assyrian (fl. second century)
Theophilus of Antioch (fl. late second century)
Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 135-200)
3rd Century:
Clement of Alexandria(150-215)
Origen of Alexandria (c. 186-255)
Dionysius of Alexandria (d. 264)
4-5th Century:
Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260-340)
St Athanasius (c. 296-373)
St Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315-387))
St Basil the Great (330-379)
St Gregory of Nazianzus, the Theologian (329-390)
Diadems the Blind (313-398)
St Gregory of Nyssa (331-395)
St John Chrysostom (345-407)
St Cyril of Alexandria (378-444)
Middle 5th- End of the Patristic Age
Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita (fl. c. 650-c. 725)
Procopuis of Gaza (c. 465-528)
Aeneas of Gaza (d. c. 518)
Leontius of Byzantium (d. c. 543)
St John of Damascus (c. 655-750)
*There are Syriac and Coptic writers as well.
VII. Latin Fathers
3rd Century African Writers
Tertullian of Carthage (c. 160-225)
St Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258)
Roman Writers:
Hippolytus (c. 170-236)
Novatian (c. 200-258)
4-5th Century
St Hilarly of Poitiers (c. 315-367)
St Ambrose (c. 339-397)
St Jerome (c. 347-420)
St Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
Middle of 5th- End of the Patristic Age
Boethius (c. 480-525)
Cassiodorius (c. 480-575)
St Gregory of Tour (538-594)
Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530-610)
Pope St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-604)
St Martin of Bracara (c. 520-580)
St Isidore of Seville (560-636)
*There are Gallic, Italian, Spanish writers as well.
References:
Apostolic Fathers were small groups of early believers. They lived the last second half of the first century and the first part of the second century. They usually associated with the apostles of Jesus. In Christian antiquity, Church Fathers represent teachers of the church (i.e. bishops). The title includes apostolic fathers down through the end of the Patristic ages.
I. Meaning:
Patristic(s) is the study of the Church Fathers, the earliest Christian writers from the contemporaries of the apostles to the seventh or eight century.
Patristics (is both a historical study of what the fathers did and wrote. It is also study of what they thought and believed.
And another word used is Patrology, which is composed of two Greek term “father” and “teaching”.
II. Distinction of Patristics and Patrology:
German theologians Josef Fessler (1813-1872), and Otto Bardenhewer (1851-1935) (Trans. By Thomas J. Shahan, Freiburg, 1908) who was Roman Catholic bishops, distinguished the terms of Patristics and Patrology. Patrology was a science that provides all the necessary materials for judging and witnessing the Fathers. It was used for authority and criteria for resolving issues and controversies. On the other hand, Patristics is a science concerned with faith and morals and discipline in the writings of the Fathers. However such distinctions are not much observed, nor seemed to be necessary.
Some scholars, chiefly in Germany, distinguish patrologia from patristica. Josef Fessler, for instance, defines patrologia as the science which provides all that is necessary for the using of the works of the Fathers, dealing, therefore, with their authority, the criteria for judging their genuineness, the difficulties to be met within them, and the rules for their use. But Fessler's own "Institutiones Patrologi" has a larger range, as have similar works entitled Patrologies, for example that of Otto Bardenhewer (tr. Shahan, Freiburg, 1908).
On the other hand, Fessler describes patristica as that theological science by which all that concerns faith, morals, or discipline in the writings of the Fathers is collected and sorted. The lives and works of the Fathers are also described by a non-specialized science: literary history.
These distinctions are not much observed, nor do they seem very necessary; they are nothing else than aspects of patristic study as it forms part of fundamental theology, of positive theology, and of literary history.
III. Scope of Study of the Fathers
The Fathers of the Church began to be used from the seventeenth century, and denoted originally the science of the lives and writings of the Fathers of the Church. Lutheran theologian, Johannes Gerhard was the first to use it as a title of his work, Patrologia, published in 1653.
However, idea of a history of Christian literature in which the theological point of vew predominates is old. It begins with Eusebius (263-339), for in the introduction to his Ecclesiastical History (I, I, I), he states that he intends to report about ‘the number of those who in each generation were the ambassadors of the word of God either by speech or by pen; the names, the number and the age of those who, driven by the desire of innovation to an extremity of error, so called.” Eusebius thus quoted and used from most of them. Eusebius is one of the most important sources of Patrology.
-For some ecclesiastical authors he is the only source of information, and many of his writings have been lost.
The title was given to the ecclesiastical writers in the first era of the Church. It can be recognized as far back as the fifth century. Father is derived from the similarity of the relationship existing between father and son. In the Old Testament, the references of biblical parallels as the “sons of the prophets”are found and interpreted as such.
In the New Testament, I Corinthians 4: 14 is used. "I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children".(NRSV) In the early church period, the title was given to the bishop or head of superior. They were called “Father” or “Holy Father”. Authority of the bishop was both disciplinary and doctrinal. Fathers were the depository of the teaching office of the Church, and in matters of doubt or of controversy it was his duty to decide, as witness and judge, concerning the truth. Since fifth century, this function began to change on the ecclesiastical writers of the early church. Most of the leaders were bishops, but non-episcopal writers might also bear witness to the contemporaneous faith of the church.
IV. Era of the Fathers
The church fathers are generally divided into the Ante-Nicene Fathers, those who lived and wrote before the Council of Nicaea (A. D. 325), and the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, those who lived and wrote after A. D. 325.
More specifically, in the Eastern Orthodox Church it extends usually to John Damascus (Daemascene) (d. 749).
In the West, all Christian authors up to Gregory the Great (d. 604) or Isidore of Seville (d. 636).
V. Criteria for Church Fathers
1. Doctrinal Orthodoxa: Their theology as a whole had to be in agreement with the church’s common teaching, which does not denote absolute inerrancy in every detail.
2. Santitas vitae: Holiness in the sense of the ancient church, in which the community of believers did not base the veneration of the saints on explicit canonization but instead on the recognition and admiration of an exemplary life.
3. Approbatio ecclesiae: The church’s recognition, though not necessarily explicit, of the person and his teaching.
4. Antiquitas: They have to belong to the period of ancient church.
VI. Greek Fathers:
1st -2nd Century:
Clement of Rome (fl. c. 96)
Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35-107)
Polycarp of Smyrna (c 69-156)
The Shepherd of Hermas (fl. 90-150)
Papias of Hierapolis (fl. second century)
Aristides of Athens (fl. second century)
Justin Martyr (c. 165)
Tatian the Assyrian (fl. second century)
Theophilus of Antioch (fl. late second century)
Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 135-200)
3rd Century:
Clement of Alexandria(150-215)
Origen of Alexandria (c. 186-255)
Dionysius of Alexandria (d. 264)
4-5th Century:
Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260-340)
St Athanasius (c. 296-373)
St Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315-387))
St Basil the Great (330-379)
St Gregory of Nazianzus, the Theologian (329-390)
Diadems the Blind (313-398)
St Gregory of Nyssa (331-395)
St John Chrysostom (345-407)
St Cyril of Alexandria (378-444)
Middle 5th- End of the Patristic Age
Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita (fl. c. 650-c. 725)
Procopuis of Gaza (c. 465-528)
Aeneas of Gaza (d. c. 518)
Leontius of Byzantium (d. c. 543)
St John of Damascus (c. 655-750)
*There are Syriac and Coptic writers as well.
VII. Latin Fathers
3rd Century African Writers
Tertullian of Carthage (c. 160-225)
St Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258)
Roman Writers:
Hippolytus (c. 170-236)
Novatian (c. 200-258)
4-5th Century
St Hilarly of Poitiers (c. 315-367)
St Ambrose (c. 339-397)
St Jerome (c. 347-420)
St Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
Middle of 5th- End of the Patristic Age
Boethius (c. 480-525)
Cassiodorius (c. 480-575)
St Gregory of Tour (538-594)
Venantius Fortunatus (c. 530-610)
Pope St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-604)
St Martin of Bracara (c. 520-580)
St Isidore of Seville (560-636)
*There are Gallic, Italian, Spanish writers as well.
References:
- Drobner, Hubertus R. (Transl. by Sieghried S. Schatzmann) The Fathers of the Church: A Comprehensive Introduction. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2007.
- Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History. UK: Penguin Classic, 1989.
- McGuckin, John A. A-Z Patristic Theology. London: SCM,2005.
- Ramsey, Bonifice. Beginning To Read The Fathers. New York: Paulist Press, 1985.
- Quessten, Johannes. Patrology. Vol. I,II,III. Utrecht-Brussels: Spectrum Publishers, 1850.
- Wolfson, Harry Austryn. The Philosophy of The Church Fathers: Faith, Trinity, Incarnation. 3rd edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970.