Ignatius of Antioch
(d. 35-107)

• 2nd  or 3rd Bishop of Antioch
• Arrested under Emperor Trajan’s reign (98-117)
• He was a friend of Polycarp who was a disciple of Apostle John
• He was martyr in Rome.

 7 Letters To the Churches in Asia Minor

1. To the Ephesians (encouragement)
2. To the Magnesians (encouragement)
3. To the Trallians (encouragement)
4. To the Romans (not to intervene martyrdom)
5. To the Philadelphians (wrote in Troas)
6. To the Smyrnaeans (wrote in Troas)
7. To Polycarp (wrote in Troas)


Justin Martyr
(c. 100- 165)

• Early Christian apologist

• Born in Nablus (Shechem), Palestine

• Before became a Christian, he was a pagan philosopher.

• He defended that Christianity was not atheist nor immoral.

His Writings:
- Dialogue with Trypho the Jew (Christianity is better than Judaism)
-Apology I (155) (addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius and his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus)
-Apology II (161) (addressed to senator in Rome)


His Teaching

• He taught Logos Spermatikos (germinative Word)

• Logos Spermatikos  means every human being has a reason of God or logos or seed of truth.
• Teaches  men the whole truth and to redeem them from the power of the demons

Irenaeus of Lyon
(c. 135-200)

• An important theologian from Smyrna.

• As a young boy he heard teaching of Polycarp (c. 69- c. 155).

• He studied in Rome. 
• He bridged between East and West
• He became a bishop of Lyon, France.
• He refuted Gnostics of his time.
• He wrote 7 volume of Against Heresies (Adversus haereses)

• He taught theology of recapitulation, which means completion of Christ’s human destiny in the person (and body) of Christ that he restored to a divine destiny.

• He also taught Rule of Faith (Regula Fidei) that it can be used to test orthodoxy from heresy.

• He supported the use of creeds and liturgies in worship.

• He supported a continuing tradition of apostolic faith. Thus supporting apostolic succession.

Clement of Alexandria
(c. 150-215)

• He was born in Athens.

• He was a pupil of Pantanus (d. c. 190) in Alexandrian catechetical school.

• He used Greek philosophy to further the cause of Christianity.

His Writings:
-Exhortation to the Greeks (Protropticus)
-On Christian life and manners (Paedagogus)
-Miscellanies (Stromateis)


Origen of Alexandria
(185-c. 254)

• Origen was born in 184 or 185 in Alexandria, Egypt, a thriving city founded by Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC.
• According to Eusebius and most other sources, Origen's parents were Christians. Porphyry, a Neo-Platonist, claims Origen's parents were pagans, but Eusebius' account is more authoritative.

• Origen father Leonidas was martyred during Septimus Severus  and Decius reign (c. 202)

• Origen sought to share the fate of his father, and was only prevented by his mother's desperate act of hiding his clothes to prevent him going outside.
• After his father’s death, he became the head of household.  

• He misinterpreted the Book of Matthew 19: 12.

• He studied the Middle Platonists and Ammonius Saccas.

• He travelled to Rome, Arabia, and Palestine near Caesarea.

• He was made a preacher by Bishop of Caesarea and later interrupted by Demetrius.

• He settled in Caesarea. 

• He was imprisoned under Decius persecution.

• He was martyred in 254.

His Writings


Sermons:

• He preached allegorically.
• He preached more than 300 sermons.

• Textual Studies (The Hexapla): “six fold translations”

• Biblico-Exegetical Writings, kinds of exegetical works: I. Scholia, II. Homilies, Homilies on 1 Samuel, Homilies on Luke, Homilies on Exodus, Homilies on Leviticus, Homilies on Joshua, III. Commentaries: Commentary on the Psalms, Date and Composition, Commentary on Genesis, Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Commentary on Lamentations, Commentary on St. Matthew, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Commentary on Ephesians.

Apologetic Writings:
-Against Celsus
-De Principiis
-Peri Archon

Practical Writings: 
-Prayers (De Ortione), 
-Exhortation to Martyrdom (Exhortatio Ad Martyrium)
-On the Pasch (PeriPascha), its division, letters, the Philocalis
-the exegetical Catenae

His Teachings:
A. Logos doctrine and Cosmology: The Pre-existence of Souls
- Its source, the main basis of the “pre-existence of souls,” and the heavenly Church, the soul of Christ are heavily Greek influence.
-Platonic  and Stoic philosophies influenced him.

B. Christology: Subordination of the Son
-Subordination of the Son to the Father
-The Father is the God and the Son is a God.


C. Eschatology: Apocatastasis
-In the end all creatures will be saved.
-Even the devil.
-Mysticism is prevalent in his thinking.

He was condemned in two councils:
-Synod of Constantinople(545) 
-Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (553)


References:
Bardenhewer, Otto. (Trans. by Thomas J. Shahan). Patrology: The Lives and Works of the Fathers of the Church. St. Louis, MO.: B. Herder, 1908.
Drobner, Hubertus R.  (Trans. by Siegfried S. Schatzmann). The Fathers of the Church: A Comprehensive Introduction. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publisher, 2007.
Question, Johannes. Patrology (3 volume set).  Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press, 1995.