
The Church Fathers:
The Church Fathers were the earliest Christian theologians and writers following directly after the Apostolic Age. The time period during which the Church Fathers were influential is referred to as the Patristic Age and expands from the 1st Century to the 8th Century. The Church Fathers were instrumental in determining the composition of what would become the canon of the New Testament, establishing doctrine in the early Church, maintaining unity between Churches, and distinguishing between what was traditional teaching handed down by the Apostles and what was considered erroneous, or heretical.
The earliest Church Fathers were the Apostolic Fathers, who were believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles. They were followed by the Ante-Nicene Fathers, who were those Fathers who lived previous to the Council of Nicaea, which took place in 325 A.D. The Nicene Era Fathers were those Fathers who lived through the Council of Nicaea or in the century directly following it. Finally, the Post-Nicene Fathers lived sometime during the 5th through 8th Centuries.
The World of the
church fathers:



*The following quotes are direct quotes from the original authors that have been translated into English. For source information on any of the following quotes, please see the Sources Used page in the top right menu.
The Apostolic Fathers
& the Antilegomena
- The Didache (Written ca. 50-70 A.D.)
- The Epistle of Barnabas (Written ca. 50 A.D.)
- “The Shepherd” of Hermas (Written ca. 90 A.D.)
- The Apocalypse of Peter (Written ca. 100 A.D.)
- The Infancy Gospel of James (Written 140 A.D.)
- Pope Clement I of Rome (Martyred 96 A.D.)
- St. Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 A.D.)
- St. Polycarp of Smyrna (66-155 A.D.)
- St. Papias of Hierapolis (60-163 A.D.)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers
- St. Aristides of Athens (Died 133 A.D.)
- St. Justin Martyr (100-165 A.D.)
- St. Dionysius of Corinth (letter dated 171 A.D.)
- St. Hegesippus “the Chronicler” (110-180 A.D.)
- St. Melito of Sardes (Died 180 A.D.)
- St. Theophilus of Antioch (Died 185 A.D.)
- St. Polycrates of Ephesus (125-196 A.D.)
- Athenagoras of Athens (133-190 A.D.)
- St. Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202 A.D.)
- St. Clement of Alexandria (150-215 A.D.)
- St. Hippolytus of Rome (170-235 A.D.)
- Tertullian of Carthage (155-240 A.D.)
- Origen of Alexandria (184-253 A.D.)
- Caius, Presbyter of Rome (Wrote ca. 200 A.D.)
- Marcus Minucius Felix (170-250 A.D.)
- St. Cyprian of Carthage (200-258 A.D.)
- St. Dionysius of Alexandria (Died 264 A.D.)
- Pope St. Dionysius of Rome (Died 268 A.D.)
- Firmillian of Caesarea (Died 269 A.D.)
- St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (213-270 A.D.)
- Archelaus of Carrhae (wrote in 278 A.D.)
- St. Methodius of Olympus (Martyred 311 A.D.)
- St. Peter I of Alexandria (Martyred 311 A.D.)
The Nicene-Era Fathers
- Lactantius (250-325 A.D.)
- St. Alexander I of Alexandria (Died 326 A.D.)
- Arnobius of Sicca (Died 330 A.D.)
- Eusebius of Caesarea (260-340 A.D.)
- St. Nicholas of Myra (270-342 A.D.)
- “Sayings of the Desert Fathers”
- St. Anthony “the Great” (251-356 A.D.)
- St. Jacob of Nisibis (Died 337 A.D.)
- St. Aphrahat “the Persian Sage” (280-345 A.D.)
- St. Ephraim “the Syrian” (306-373 A.D.)
- St. Athenasius of Alexandria (295-373 A.D.)
- Alexander of Lycopolis (wrote ca. 300 A.D.)
- Gaius Marius Victorinus (300-355 A.D.)
- St. Serapion of Thmuis (Died ca 360 A.D.)
- Pope St. Damasus I (305-384 A.D.)
- St. Hilary of Poitiers (310-367 A.D.)
- St. Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386 A.D.)
- Didymus the Blind (313-398 A.D.)
- St. Epiphanius of Salamis (313-403 A.D.)
- St. Basil “the Great” of Caesarea (330-379 A.D.)
- St. Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390 A.D.)
- St. Gregory of Nyssa (335-395 A.D.)
- St. John Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.)
- Theodore of Mopsuestia (350-428 A.D.)
- St. Optatus of Milevis (320-385 A.D.)
- St. Pacian of Barcelona (310-391 A.D.)
- Amphilochius of Iconium (340-394 A.D.)
- Pope St. Siricius (334-399 A.D.)
- St. Ambrose of Milan (340-397 A.D.)
- Rufinus of Aquileia (344-411 A.D.)
- St. Jerome of Stridon (347-420 A.D.)
- St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.)
The Post-Nicene Fathers
- Timothy of Jerusalem (ca. 400 A.D.)
- De Obitu S. Dominae (ca. 400-500 A.D.)
- De Transitu Virginis (ca. 400-500 A.D.)
- Transitus Mariae (ca. 400-500 A.D.)
- Pope St. Innocent I (regn. 401-417 A.D.)
- Leporius (wrote letter ca. 426 A.D.)
- Proclus of Constantinople (Died 429 A.D.)
- St. John Cassian (360-435 A.D.)
- St. Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 A.D.)
- St. Vincent of Lerins (Died ca. 445 A.D.)
- St. Peter Chrysologus (380-450 A.D.)
- Sulpicius Severus (363-420 A.D.)
- Socrates Scholastikos (380-439 A.D.)
- Sozomen of Constantinople (400-450 A.D.)
- St. Prosper of Aquitaine (390-455 A.D.)
- Theodoret of Cyr (393-460 A.D.)
- St. Sechnall of Ireland (Died ca. 447 A.D.)
- St. Patrick of Ireland (396-460 A.D.)
- Pope St. Leo I “the Great” (400-461 A.D.)
- Balai of Qenneshrin (Died ca 450 A.D.)
- Gennadius of Massilia (Died 496 A.D.)
- Narsai of Nisibis (399-502 A.D.)
- St. Jacob of Serugh (451-521 A.D.)
- St. Fulgentius of Ruspe (465-530 A.D.)
- St. Caesarius of Arles (470-542 A.D.)
- Leontius of Byzantium (485-543 A.D.)
- St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547 A.D.)
- St. Gregory of Tours (538-594 A.D.)
- Pope St. Gregory I “the Great” (540-604 A.D.)
- St. Columbanus of Ireland (543-615 A.D.)
- St. Isidore of Seville (560-636 A.D.)
- Modestus of Jerusalem (541-634 A.D.)
- St. Sophronius of Jerusalem (560-638 A.D.)
- St. Maximus “the Confessor” (580-662 A.D.)
- John of Thessalonica (610-649 A.D.)
- Pope St. Agatho (Died 681 A.D.)
- St. Germanus I of Constantinople (634-733 A.D.)
- St. Andrew of Crete (650-726 A.D.)
- St. John of Damascus (675-749 A.D.)