1. The Church Fathers
Patristics

2. CHURCH FATHERS BY TIMELINE
Three ecumenical councils the Church accepts occurred in this time period as the fathers defended church doctrine from heresies
Came into personal contact with the apostles or received instructions from their disciples
APOSTOLIC FATHERS
GOLDEN AGE FATHERS
0 AD
100 AD
200 AD
300 AD
400 AD
431 AD – Council of Ephesus
APOLOGETIC FATHERS
Defended the faith against paganism and Judaism
381 AD – Council of Constantinople
325 AD – Council of Nicea

3. & HOLINESS ORTHODOXY CHURCH ACCEPTANCE ANTIQUITY
WHO IS A CHURCH FATHER?
HOLINESS
Lived a life others can imitate in order to attain the early Church’s spirit (life has to imitate his faith)
ORTHODOXY
Examined church life w/o deviation from Orthodox doctrines
Writings remained consistent with the Church’s beliefs and doctrines
CHURCH ACCEPTANCE
&
Apologetic writings, Biblical exegesis and commentary, homilies, letters, liturgical works, dialogues, Christian poetry and songs, ascetical writings, church canons, church history, theological or dogmatic discourses
ANTIQUITY
Lived within the time period of the first to the 5th century

4. How can I trust tradition?
Consensus patrum
No father is perfect
No infallibility to ANYONE
A father’s teaching must align generally with the other fathers to establish a church doctrine
Ecumenical Councils established consensus against heresies
Councils
Writings

5. Why called Apostolic? EXAMPLES APOSTOLIC FATHERS
They came into personal contact with the apostles or received instructions from their disciples
EXAMPLES
St. Clement of Rome St. Ignatius of Antioch St. Polycarp of Smyrna

6. THEMES STYLE APOSTOLIC FATHERS
Saw the second coming of Christ as imminent
Revealed a deep longing for Christ
Provided a unified doctrine that Christ is the Son of God, who is pre-existent, and who collaborated in the creation of the world
STYLE
Pastoral in character
Closely related in style and content to the New Testament writings, especially to the Epistles
Served as connecting links to the time of revelation and the time of tradition and as very important witnesses to the faith

7. What were they apologizing for?
APOLOGETIC FATHERS
What were they apologizing for?
“Apology”= Defense/Argument
Defended the faith against paganism and Judaism
EXAMPLES
St. Justin the Martyr St. Melito of Sardis

8. THEMES STYLE APOLOGETIC FATHERS
Challenged paganism and Judaism and the slanderous statements that the Church was a peril to the State
Stated the Christian faith was a dominant force for the maintenance and welfare of the world
Exposed the deception and immoralities of pagan religions and demonstrated that the Christian alone has a right understanding of God and universe
Defended the unity of God, monotheism, divinity of Christ and resurrection of the body
Rebutted philosophers claims for they relied on human reason and contained errors and Christianity possessed absolute truth
THEMES
Closely related to Greek rhetoric – mainly dialogue
STYLE

9. Why are they considered “Golden?”
GOLDEN AGE FATHERS
Why are they considered “Golden?”
Answer: Impact of their teachings and influence in solidifying the faith
EXAMPLES
St. Athanasius St. Cyril St. John Chrysostom

10. St. Athansius 2. Heretic Arius 3. Nicene Creed
1st Ecumenical Council: Nicea
St. Athansius 2. Heretic Arius 3. Nicene Creed
Issue: Arian Controversy- nature of Christ
Convened by: Emperor Constantine
Time: 325 AD
Attendees: 318 bishops
Heretic: Arius, presbyter of Alexandria
Hero: St Athanasius of Alexandria
Results:
Determined Christ’s nature was begotten of the Father, and had no beginning
Established the church’s creed, “Nicene”
Established date of celebrating easter
Excommunicated Arius
Council declared that the Son was true God, co-eternal with God the Father and begotten from the same substance (consubstantial)

11. 1. Holy Spirit’s deity 2. Heretic Macedonius 3. Complete Creed
2nd Ecumenical Council: Constantinople (Istanbul)
1. Holy Spirit’s deity 2. Heretic Macedonius 3. Complete Creed
Issue: Macedonian Heresy- deity of Holy Spirit
Convened by: Emperor Theodosius
Time: 381 AD
Attendees: 150 bishops
Heretic: Macedonius, bishop of Constantinople
Results:
Completed the Nicene Creed as we know it
Confirmed deity of the Holy Spirit
Established hierarchy between bishop of Rome vs. Constantinople → future problem
Established a bishop is ‘married’ to his diocese

12. 1. St. Cyril 2. Heretic Nestorius 3. Confirmed St. Mary= Theotokos
3rd Ecumenical Council: Ephesus
1. St. Cyril Heretic Nestorius Confirmed St. Mary= Theotokos
Issue: Nestorian Heresy- St. Mary= Christotokos vs. Theotokos?
Convened by: Emperor Theodosius II
Time: 431 AD
Attendees: 200 bishops
Heretic: Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople
Hero: St. Cyril, Pope of Alexandria
Results:
Confirmed nature of Christ to be fully man and fully God
Confirmed ‘Theotokos’ title
Rejected Nestorian heresy→ exile of Nestorius
Pope Cyril vindicated from attacks by Nestorius

13. OTHER IMPORTANT FATHERS
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
St. Basil the Great
St. Gregory of Nyssa
St. Gregory the Theologian
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
St. Jerome
St. Ambrose of Milan

14. SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA Alexandria was well known for its many schools
Established by St. Mark
Began as a Catechetical school
Famous Deans:
Clement of Alexandria
Origen
St. Didymus the Blind
St. Dioscorus
Revived by Archdeacon Habib Girgis and HH Pope Shenouda III

15. HOW WERE THESE WRITINGS PRESERVED?
Many diaries, memoirs and books were written by pilgrims. Ex. St. John Cassian, Palladius, Rufinus
The school of Alexandria attracted many church leaders who transferred its literature to their churches.
Translation of Patristic literature, especially from Greek to Latin, Syriac and Ethiopian
Many Coptic monks and deans of the school of Alexandria visited other countries with the aim of preaching and establishing monasteries.
Discipleship
Some believers were eager to record the sermons of their spiritual fathers.
“It is fit for us to preserve the tradition we have received from our forefathers without change.” (St. Gregory of Nyssa)
“I am a lover of the true teachings, pursuing the spiritual steps of my Fathers.” (St. Cyril of Alexandria)

16. HOW SHOULD WE USE THE WRITINGS OF THE FATHERS?
Holistic View
We must not rely on the writings of a single Father, because no one is capable of acknowledging the “truth” in its entirety
We only accept the opinion of a Father, if it is in harmony with the Bible and the church tradition
Appropriate Context
We must not rely on one or more separate quotations from any Father, but rather study all his thoughts and understand the quotations within his whole work
We must also consider the circumstances and the church environment, at that time
We must not single out one or more quotations to form our own opinion

17. HOW SHOULD WE USE THE WRITINGS OF THE FATHERS?
Understand terminology
We must study the meaning of the terms which a Father used
Sometimes they had certain contemporary philosophical or popular concepts of the era.
Some Fathers used the same pagan or heretical terms of that time, especially when they wrote to certain worldly groups they wrote to them, using their (pagan) terms, language and concepts.
It is important to study the meaning of some difficult terms by comparing them with the same terms used by their contemporary Fathers.

18. Backup

19. WRITINGS AT THE TIME OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS
1. The epistle attributed to Barnabas.
2. The book “ The Shepherd “ by Hermas.
3. Two letters: one by Clement of Rome and the other was attributed to him.
4. The seven letters of Ignatius.
5. A letter by Polycarp and an article about his martyrdom.
In 1765 Andras Gallandi, in his series Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum, added to them the following works:
6. A letter to Diognetus (author unknown).
7. Experts by Papias of Hieropolis, and the unknown author of the Epistle to Quadratus.
8. In 1873 the “Didache” or “The Lord’s teachings to the Gentiles as conveyed by the 12 Apostles” was discovered. This was added to the writings of the Apostolic Fathers.
Finally, some of the scholars were of the opinion to add what was known as “The Apostles’ Creed” to the collection of the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. However, the majority did not agree to this.