Part of the series on Christianity

History of Christianity Jesus of Nazareth The Apostles Ecumenical councils Great Schism The Crusades Reformation The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... image of a Latin cross. ... This article outlines the history of Christianity and provides links to relevant topics. ... Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Nazarene (circa 4 BC/BCE – 30 AD/CE), is the central figure of Christianity, in which context he is known as Jesus Christ (from Greek Ιησούς Χριστός) with Christ being a title meaning Anointed One or Messiah. Christian viewpoints on Jesus (known as Christology) are... For the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus, see Apostles See also London Arch (formerly London Bridge) Loch Ard Gorge The Gibson Steps The Grotto Categories: Australia geography stubs | Cliffs | Geography of Australia ... In Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, an ecumenical council or general council is a meeting of the bishops of the whole church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. ... Great Schism redirects here. ... This article is about the medieval crusades. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which emerged in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe. ...

The Trinity of God God the Father Christ the Son The Holy Spirit Within Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity states that God is a single Being who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a communion of three persons (personae, prosopa): Father (the Source, the Eternal Majesty); the Son (the eternal Logos or Word, incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth); and the Holy Spirit. ... In many religions, the supreme God is given the title and attributions of Father. ... This page is about the title, for the Christian figure, see Jesus Christ is the English representation of the Greek word Χριστός (transliterated as Khristós), which means anointed. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Christian theology Christian Church Christian worship Grace Salvation Sermon on the Mount The Ten Commandments Christian theology practices theology from a Christian viewpoint or studies Christianity theologically. ... In Christian theology, One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is a phrase describing the nature of the Christian community and/or Christian Church, in the various meanings it has. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Divine grace is believed by Christians to be the sovereign favor of God exercised in the bestowment of blessings upon those who have no merit in them. ... Salvation refers to deliverance from an undesirable state or condition. ... The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch. ... This article is about the list of religious and moral imperatives. ...

The Christian Bible Old Testament New Testament Apocrypha The Bible (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity (The Bible actually refers to... Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh, but not Old Testament, because it does not recognize the concept of a New Testament. ... // What is the New Testament? The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus. ... Apocrypha is a Greek word (απόκρυφα, neuter plural of απόκρυφος), from αποκρυπτειν, to hide away. ...

Christian denominations Catholicism Orthodox Christianity Protestantism A denomination, in the Christian sense of the word, is an identifiable religious body, organization under a common name, structure, and/or doctrine. ... This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. ... Orthodox Christianity is a generalized reference to the Eastern traditions of Christianity, as opposed to the Western traditions which descend from the Catholic Church. ... Protestantism is a movement within Christianity, representing a split from within the Roman Catholic Church during the mid-to-late Renaissance in Europe —a period known as the Protestant Reformation. ... Christian movements Christian movements are theological, political, or philosophical intepretations of Christianity that are not generally represented by a specific church, sect, or denomination. ...

The Church Fathers or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church, particularly those of the first five centuries of Christian history. The term means specifically writers and teachers of the Church, not saints in general; usually it is not meant to include the New Testament authors, but some of their texts were considered to enter the biblical canon. Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. ... The term Christian Church expresses the idea that organised Christianity (the Christian religion) is seen as an institution. ... In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. ... // What is the New Testament? The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus. ...

Those fathers who wrote in Latin are called the Latin (Church) Fathers, and those who wrote in Greek the Greek (Church) Fathers. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

The very earliest Church Fathers, of the first two generations after the Apostles of Christ, are usually called the Apostolic Fathers. Famous Apostolic Fathers are St. Clement of Rome, the author of the Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas. Later, in contact with Greek Philosophy and Literature and facing persecutions, began a period called the Apologetic Fathers who tried to justify and defend the Christian doctrine against attacks from within the Hellenistic world, important Fathers of this era are St. Justin Martyr, Tatian, Athenagoras, Hermias and Tertullian. Fathers prior to Nicene Christianity are collected in Ante-Nicene Fathers, those after are in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. The Twelve Apostles (in Koine Greek απόστολος apostolos [1], someone sent forth/sent out, an emissary) were probably Galilean Jewish men (10 names are Aramaic, 4 names are Greek) chosen from among the disciples, who were sent forth by Jesus of Nazareth to preach the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles... The Apostolic Fathers were a small collection of Christian authors who lived and wrote in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries who are acknowledged as leaders in the early church, but whose writings were not included in the collection of Christian scripture, the New Testament Biblical canon. ... ... This article incorporates text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia The Didache ( in Koine Greek) or Teaching— short for Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles ()— is a short treatise, considered by some of the Church Fathers as part of the New Testament but rejected as... The Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian work of the first or second century which had great authority in ancient times and was considered by some as one of the books of the Bible. ... Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of a position. ... Saint Justin Martyr (Justin the Martyr) (c. ... Tatian was an early Christian writer and theologian of the second century. ... Athenagoras has been the name of several notable Greek individuals: Athenagoras of Ephesus, a tyrant of Ephesus around the 6th century BC Athenagoras of Athens (circa 133-190), early Christian philosopher Patriarch Athenagoras (1886-1972), Patriarch of Constantinople from 1948 to 1972 Athenagoras is also the title of a 1682... Obscure Christian Apologist, presumed to have lived in 3rd century, nothing is known of him, except his name. ... Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicized as Tertullian, (ca. ... The First Council of Nicaea, which took place during the reign of the emperor Constantine in 325 AD, was the first ecumenical (from Greek oikumene, worldwide) conference of bishops of the Christian Church. ... The Ante-Nicene Fathers, subtitled , is a selected set of books containing English translations of the major early Christian writings. ... The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers is a set of books containing translations of early Christian writings into English. ...

Famous Latin Fathers include the Montanist Tertullian, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Ambrose of Milan, and St. Jerome, the translator of the Vulgate; famous Greek Fathers include St. Irenaeus of Lyons (whose work has survived only in Latin translation), Clement of Alexandria, the heterodox Origen, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, and the Three Cappadocian Fathers. However there are many more. Montanism was an early Christian sectarian movement of the mid-2nd century AD, named after its founder Montanus. ... Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicized as Tertullian, (ca. ... St. ... Saint Ambrose, Latin Sanctus Ambrosius, Italian SantAmbrogio (circa 340 - April 4, 397), bishop of Milan, was one of the most eminent fathers of the Christian church in the 4th century. ... , by Albrecht Dürer Saint Jerome (ca. ... The Vulgate Bible is an early 5th century translation of the Bible into Latin made by St. ... St. ... Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ... Heterodox literally means pertaining to other doctrines or other worship. ... Origen ( 182– 251) was a Christian scholar and theologian and one of the most distinguished of the Fathers of the early Christian Church. ... Athanasius of Alexandria (also spelled Athanasios) (298–May 2, 373) was a Christian bishop, the Patriarch of Alexandria, in the fourth century. ... Saint John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (347 - 407) was a notable Christian bishop and preacher from the 4th and 5th centuries in Syria and Constantinople. ... The Cappadocian Fathers are the 4th century church fathers Basil the Great, Gregory Nazianzen, and Basils brother Gregory of Nyssa, who made major contributions to the definition of the Trinity finalized at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 and the Nicene Creed. ...

The Desert Fathers were early monastics living in the Egyptian desert; although they did not write as much, their influence was also great. Among them are St. Anthony the Great and St. Pachomius. A great number of their usually short sayings is collected in the Apophthegmata Patrum. The Desert Fathers were Christian Hermits who lived in the Sahara desert of Egypt, beginning in about the third century. ... Monasticism (from Greek: monachos—a solitary person) is the religious practice of renouncing all worldly pursuits in order to fully devote ones life to spiritual work. ... Saint Anthony the Great, Father of all Monks Saint Anthony the Great (251 - 356), Christian saint, also known as Saint Anthony of Egypt, Saint Anthony of the Desert, Saint Anthony the Anchorite, and The Father of All Monks was a leader among the Desert Fathers, who were Christian monks in... Pachomius, who died around AD 345 in Tabennisi, Egypt, was one of the founders of Christian monasticism. ...

A small number of other Fathers wrote in other languages: Saint Ephrem, for example, wrote in Syriac, but his works were widely translated into Latin and Greek. Ephrem the Syrian was a prolific Syriac language hymn writer and theologian of the 4th century. ... Syriac is an Eastern Aramaic language that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. ...

In the Roman Catholic Church, St. John of Damascus, who lived in the 8th century, is generally considered to be the last of the Church Fathers and at the same time the first seed of the next period of church writers, scholasticism. The Eastern Orthodox Church does not consider the age of Church Fathers to be over at all and it includes later influential writers in the term. The Roman Catholic Church, (also known as the Catholic Church), is the ancient Christian Church led by the Bishop of Rome (commonly called the Pope). ... John of Damascus (Latin: Iohannes Damascenus or Johannes Damascenus also known as John Damascene, Chrysorrhoas, streaming with gold—i. ... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... Scholasticism comes from the Latin word scholasticus which means that [which] belongs to the school, and is the school of philosophy taught by the academics (or schoolmen) of medieval universities circa 1100 - 1500. ... The Vladimir Icon, one of the most venerated of Orthodox Christian icons of the Virgin Mary. ...

The study of the Fathers is known as Patristics. Patristics is the study of early Christian writers, known as the Church Fathers. ...

See also

• Doctors of the Church

In Roman Catholicism, a Doctor of the Church is a theologian from whose teachings the whole Christian church is held to have derived great advantage and to whom eminent learning and great sanctity have been attributed by a proclamation of the Pope or of an ecumenical council. ...

External links

• Chart of Church Fathers at ReligionFacts.com
• Church Fathers at Newadvent.org
• Church Fathers at ccel.org
• Excerpts from the Church Fathers
• Excerpts from Defensor Grammaticus