PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: patristic literature
Christian bishop and theologian
St. Augustine ; feast day August 28) was the bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430, one of the Latin Fathers of the Church and perhaps the most significant Christian thinker after St. Paul. Augustine’s adaptation...
Dutch humanist
Erasmus was a Dutch humanist who was the greatest scholar of the northern Renaissance, the first editor of the New Testament, and also an important figure in patristics and classical literature. Using...
pope
St. Gregory the Great ; Western feast day, September 3 [formerly March 12, still observed in the East]) was the pope from 590 to 604, a reformer and excellent administrator, “founder” of the medieval papacy,...
Christian theologian
Origen was the most important theologian and biblical scholar of the early Greek church. His greatest work is the Hexapla, which is a synopsis of six versions of the Old Testament. Origen was born of pagan...
Syrian bishop
St. Ignatius of Antioch ; Western feast day October 17; Eastern feast day December 20) was the bishop of Antioch, Syria (now in Turkey), known mainly from seven highly regarded letters that he wrote during...
Christian scholar
St. Jerome ; feast day September 30) was a biblical translator and monastic leader, traditionally regarded as the most learned of the Latin Fathers. He lived for a time as a hermit, became a priest, served...
Christian theologian
St. Clement of Alexandria ; Western feast day November 23; Eastern feast day November 24) was a Christian Apologist, missionary theologian to the Hellenistic (Greek cultural) world, and the second known...
Christian theologian
Tertullian was an important early Christian theologian, polemicist, and moralist who, as the initiator of ecclesiastical Latin, was instrumental in shaping the vocabulary and thought of Western Christianity....
Roman scholar, philosopher, and statesman
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius was a Roman scholar, Christian philosopher, and statesman, author of the celebrated De consolatione philosophiae (Consolation of Philosophy), a largely Neoplatonic work...
bishop of Milan
St. Ambrose ; feast day December 7) was the bishop of Milan, a biblical critic, a doctor of the church, and the initiator of ideas that provided a model for medieval conceptions of church–state relations....
bishop of Caesarea
St. Basil the Great ; Western feast day January 2; Eastern feast day January 1) was an early Church Father who defended the orthodox faith against the Arian heresy. As bishop of Caesarea, he wrote several...
Egyptian theologian
St. Athanasius ; feast day May 2) was a theologian, ecclesiastical statesman, and Egyptian national leader. He was the chief defender of Christian orthodoxy in the 4th-century battle against Arianism,...
Christian theologian and bishop [died 258]
St. Cyprian was an early Christian theologian and bishop of Carthage who led the Christians of North Africa during a period of persecution from Rome. Upon his execution he became the first bishop-martyr...
Byzantine theologian
St. Gregory of Nazianzus ; Eastern feast day January 25 and 30; Western feast day January 2) was a 4th-century Church Father whose defense of the doctrine of the Trinity (God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)...
Byzantine philosopher and theologian
Saint Gregory of Nyssa ; feast day March 9) was a philosophical theologian and mystic, leader of the orthodox party in the 4th-century Christian controversies over the doctrine of the Trinity. Primarily...
bishop of Lyon
St. Irenaeus ; Western feast day June 28; Eastern feast day August 23) was the bishop of Lugdunum (Lyon), an Apologist, a doctor of the church, and a leading Christian theologian of the 2nd century. His...
archbishop of Constantinople
St. John Chrysostom ; Western feast day September 13; Eastern feast day November 13) was an early Church Father, biblical interpreter, and archbishop of Constantinople. The zeal and clarity of his preaching,...
Christian apologist
St. Justin Martyr ; feast day June 1) was one of the most important of the Greek philosopher-Apologists in the early Christian church. His writings represent one of the first positive encounters of Christian...
Christian theologian
Saint Ephraem Syrus ; Western feast day June 9, Eastern feast day January 28) was a Christian theologian, poet, hymnist, and doctor of the church who, as doctrinal consultant to Eastern churchmen, composed...
Spanish theologian
St. Isidore of Sevilla ; canonized 1598; feast day April 4) was a theologian, last of the Western Latin Fathers, archbishop, and encyclopaedist. His Etymologies, an encyclopaedia of human and divine subjects,...
Syrian theologian
Theodore Of Mopsuestia was a Syrian theologian, considered the greatest biblical interpreter of his time and the spiritual head of the exegetical School of Antioch. Theodore studied under the celebrated...
Christian theologian
St. Cyril of Alexandria ; Western feast day June 27; Eastern feast day June 9) was a Christian theologian and bishop active in the complex doctrinal struggles of the 5th century. He is chiefly known for...
German humanist
Johann Oecolampadius was a German humanist, preacher, and patristic scholar who, as a close friend of the Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli, led the Reformation in Basel. A student at Heidelberg, Oecolampadius...
Christian ascetic
Sulpicius Severus was an early Christian ascetic, a chief authority for contemporary Gallo-Roman history, who is considered the most graceful writer of his time. Well trained as a lawyer, Sulpicius was...
Irish philosopher
John Scotus Erigena was a theologian, translator, and commentator on several earlier authors in works centring on the integration of Greek and Neoplatonist philosophy with Christian belief. From about...
Roman monk
Arsenius the Great ; feast day July 19) was a Roman noble, later monk of Egypt, whose asceticism among the Christian hermits in the Libyan Desert caused him to be ranked among the celebrated Desert Fathers...
Syrian bishop
Philoxenus of Mabbug was a Syrian bishop, theologian, and classical author. He was a leader of the Jacobite miaphysite church, a group that taught the existence of a single subject in Christ, the Logos,...
Byzantine theologian
St. Maximus the Confessor ; Eastern feast day January 21; Western feast day August 13) was the most important Byzantine theologian of the 7th century whose commentaries on the early 6th-century Christian...
Syrian biblical writer
Tatian was a Syrian compiler of the Diatessaron (Greek: “Through Four,” “From Four,” or “Out of Four”), a version of the four Gospels arranged in a single continuous narrative. In its Syriac form, the...
French poet and bishop
Venantius Fortunatus was a poet and bishop of Poitiers, whose Latin poems and hymns combine echoes of classical Latin poets with a medieval tone, making him an important transitional figure between the...
Christian apologist
Lactantius was a Christian apologist and one of the most reprinted of the Latin Church Fathers, whose Divinae institutiones (“Divine Precepts”), a classically styled philosophical refutation of early-4th-century...
pope
St. Clement I ; feast day November 23) was the first Apostolic Father, fourth pope from 88 to 97 or from 92 to 101, the supposed third successor of St. Peter the Apostle. According to the early Christian...
Roman Catholic saint
Saint Paulinus of Nola ; feast day June 22) was the bishop of Nola and one of the most important Christian Latin poets of his time. Paulinus became successively a Roman senator, consul, and governor of...
Italian translator
Ambrose Of Camaldoli was a Humanist, ecclesiastic, and patristic translator who helped effect the brief reunion of the Eastern and Western churches in the 15th century. He entered the Camaldolese Order...
Roman Catholic saint
Saint Caesarius of Arles ; feast day August 27) was a leading prelate of Gaul and a celebrated preacher whose opposition to the heresy of Semi-Pelagianism (q.v.) was one of the chief influences on its...
German theologian and church historian
Adolf von Harnack was a German theologian and historian; he was recognized also for his scientific endeavours. In such seminal works as The History of Dogma (1886–89; 4th ed. 1909) and The History of Ancient...
Anglo-Irish prelate
James Ussher was an Anglo-Irish prelate of the Anglican church who was memorable for his activity in religious politics and for his work on patristic texts, especially the chronology of the Old Testament....
British biblical scholar
Fenton J. A. Hort was an English New Testament scholar who produced, with Brooke Foss Westcott, a major critical text of the Greek New Testament. Hort was known for his theological depth and knowledge...
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