Early Church Fathers
- Thread starter re4med
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arapahoepark
Puritan Board Professor
arapahoepark
Puritan Board Professor
RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
I took the approach of finding the most important fathers and prioritizing their work, after whom I branched out to more minor figures. Obviously, the most important is Athanasius. I read through his volume cover to cover. Supplement him with Gregory of Nazianzus, then Basil, then Gregory of Nyssa. That will give you everything you need to know about the doctrine of God.
Hilary of Poitiers is important, but secondarily so.
For summaries of the Faith, go with Cyril of Jerusalem and Nyssa's Great Catechism.
For practical issues, consult the epistles that most of these guys wrote, particularly Basil and Gregory the Great. While I think Tertullian is severely overrated, he gives a pretty good snapshot into daily life in the late Roman world.
For exegetical works, just start reading through one of Chrysostom's commentaries.
Once you do all of that, you will have a fairly good grasp of the material.
As for secondary literature, I did a review here:
A Patristic Linkstorm
This is a database (or will be) of my references to the church fathers. People ask me, “So what should I read?” This might help. Getting the Trinity Right Barrett, Matthew. Simply Tr…
tentsofshem.wordpress.com
RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
And I recommend Christopher Hall's works.
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worshipping with the Church Fathers (Christopher Hall)
Hall, Christopher A. worshipping with the Church Fathers. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. The first 3rd of the book deals with sacraments and the structure of worship, if only briefly per the latter. If you’ve read much into the history of the sacraments, there isn’t much here that is...
Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers (Hall)
by Christopher A. Hall (IVP). The book turned out much better than I expected it to be. The author avoided anachronisms and the scope of the text, while very limited, skillfully outlined the Church Fathers' (more on that elusive term later) handling of Scripture. Christopher Hall argues...
Living Wisely with the Church Fathers (Hall)
Hall, Christopher. Living Wisely with the Church Fathers. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2017. I approached this book with mixed feelings. On one hand, Christopher Hall is an accomplished scholar on the church fathers. On the other hand, it is published by InterVarsityPress. When...
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Completely sold out to the King
Are you looking to begin with secondary sources as an intro or dive right into primary?
Charles Johnson
Puritan Board Junior
I would say Augustine is the most important for the western church, followed by Tertullian, and Athanasius for the eastern church, followed by Theodoret, Cyril, Basil, Maximus, Gregory, and Damascene.
How important a father is is very geographical. The western church read far more of Augustine than they read of anyone from the east, or even all of them combined, and the eastern church didn't read him much at all, but read a lot of the Greek fathers.
How important a father is is very geographical. The western church read far more of Augustine than they read of anyone from the east, or even all of them combined, and the eastern church didn't read him much at all, but read a lot of the Greek fathers.
re4med
Puritan Board Freshman
Primary.
re4med
Puritan Board Freshman
This is helpful. Thank you.
TylerRay
Puritan Board Graduate
I've been enjoying the Five Theological Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus lately. I'm reading the one put out by SVS press, so I can't speak to the translation in your set, but the volume I have has been great--very readable.
RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
It's mostly excellent, but there is one curious moment. In one oration, Gregory says, "But monarchy is what we hold in honor." Every other translation translates monarchia as monarchy. SVS translates it as "monotheism," which fails to set it apart from Judaism and Islam.