TheChurch Fathers,Early Church Fathers,Christian Fathers, orFathers of the Church were ancient and influentialChristian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations ofChristianity. The historical period in which they worked became known as thePatristic Era and spans approximately from the late 1st to mid-8th centuries,[a] flourishing in particular during the 4th and 5th centuries, when Christianity was in the process of establishing itself as thestate church of theRoman Empire.
For many denominations of Christianity, the writings of theAnte-Nicene Fathers,Nicene Fathers andPost-Nicene Fathers are included inSacred Tradition.[1] As such, in traditional dogmatic theology, authors considered Church Fathers are treated as authoritative for the establishment of doctrine.[2][3] The academic field ofpatristics, the study of the Church Fathers, has extended the scope of the term, and there is no definitive list.[4][5][better source needed] Some, such asOrigen andTertullian, made major contributions to the development of later Christian theology, but certain elements of their teaching were later condemned.
The Apostolic Fathers wereChristian theologians who lived in the1st and2nd centuries AD, who are believed to have personally known some of theTwelve Apostles, or to have been significantly influenced by them.[6] Their writings, though popular inEarly Christianity, were ultimately not included in thecanon of theNew Testament once it reached its final form. Many of the writings derive from the same time period and geographical location as other works of early Christian literature that did come to be part of the New Testament, and some of the writings found among the Apostolic Fathers' seem to have been just as highly regarded as some of the writings that became the New Testament.[7] The first three, Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp, are considered the chief ones.
Clement of Rome (also known as Pope Clement I) was a late 1st-centurybishop of Rome who, according toTertullian, was ordained bySt. Peter. According toIrenaeus, Clement was the fourth bishop of Rome afterAnacletus.Eusebius described him as the "co-laborer" of Paul and identified him with the Clement mentioned inPhilippians 4:3.[8]
TheFirst Epistle of Clement (c. 96)[9] is the earliest extantepistle from a Church Father.[10] In the epistle, Clement calls on the Christians ofCorinth to maintain harmony and order.[9] Copied and widely read in theEarly Church,[11] First Clement had been considered by some as part of theNew Testament canon, e.g., listed as canonical in Canon 85 of theCanons of the Apostles,[12] among other early canons of the New Testament, showing that it had canonical rank in at least some regions of earlyChristendom. As late as the 14th centuryIbn Khaldun mentions it as part of the New Testament.[13]
Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus) (c. 35 – c. 110)[14] was the thirdbishop of Antioch, and was said to be a student of theApostle John. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved. Important topics addressed in these letters includeecclesiology, thesacraments, the role ofbishops, and theincarnation of Christ. Specifically, concerning ecclesiology, his letter to the Romans is often cited as a testament to the universal bounds of the Roman church.[15] He is the second after Clement to mention Paul's epistles.[9]
Polycarp tried and failed to persuadePope Anicetus to have the Westcelebrate Passover on the 14th of Nisan, as in the Eastern calendar. Around AD 155, the Smyrnans of his town demanded Polycarp's execution as a Christian, and he died amartyr. The story of his martyrdom describes how the fire built around him would not burn him, and that when he was stabbed to death, so much blood issued from his body that it quenched the flames around him.[9]
Very little is known of Papias apart from what can be inferred from his own writings. He is described as "an ancient man who was a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp" by Polycarp's disciple Irenaeus (c. 180). Eusebius adds that Papias wasBishop of Hierapolis around the time ofIgnatius of Antioch. In this office, Papias was presumably succeeded byAbercius of Hierapolis. The name Papias was very common in the region, suggesting that he was probably a native of the area. The work of Papias is dated by most modern scholars to about AD 95–120.
Despite indications that the work of Papias was still extant in theLate Middle Ages, the full text is now lost; however, extracts appear in a number of other writings, some of which cite a book number.
Irenaeus wasbishop of Lugdunum inGaul, which is nowLyon(s), France. His writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology, and he is recognized as a saint by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. He was a notable earlyChristian apologist. He was also a disciple of Polycarp.
In his best-known book,Against Heresies (c. 180) he enumerated heresies and attacked them. Irenaeus wrote that the only way for Christians to retain unity was to humbly accept one doctrinal authority—episcopal councils.[9] Irenaeus proposed that the Gospels ofMatthew,Mark,Luke andJohn allbe accepted as canonical.
Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–215) was the first member of the church ofAlexandria whose writings have survived, and was one of its most distinguished teachers. He saw wisdom in Greek philosophy and sought to harmonize it with Christian doctrine. Clement opposedGnosticism, and yet used some of its terminology; for instance, he valuedgnosis that with communion for all people could be held by common Christians. He developed a ChristianPlatonism[9] and has been described by scholars as "the founder of what was to become the great tradition of Christian philosophical theology."[25] Due to his teaching on salvation and divine judgement in passages such asPaedagogus 1.8 andStromata 7.2, Clement is often regarded as one of the firstChristian universalists.[26] Like Origen, he arose from theCatechetical School of Alexandria and was well-versed in pagan and biblical literature.[9]
Origen, or Origen Adamantius (c. 185 – c. 254) was a scholar and theologian. According to tradition, he was anEgyptian[27] who taught in Alexandria, reviving the Catechetical School where Clement had taught. The patriarch of Alexandria at first supported Origen but later expelled him for being ordained without the patriarch's permission. He relocated toCaesarea Maritima and died there[28] after being tortured during a persecution. He later became a controversial figure and some of his writings were condemned as heretical.Using his knowledge of Hebrew, he produced a correctedSeptuagint.[9] He wrote commentaries on all the books of the Bible.[9] InPeri Archon (First Principles), he articulated a systematic philosophical exposition of Christian doctrine.[9] He at times employed an allegorical hermeneutic in his interpretation of the Old Testament, and was partly influenced byStoic,Neo-Pythagorean, andPlatonist thought.[9] LikePlotinus, he has been thought to believe that the soul passes through successive stages before incarnation as a human and after death, eventually reaching God.[9] However, more recent scholarship has concluded that Origen actually denied the preexistence of disembodied souls, and simply taught the preexistence of individuals'logoi in the mind of God.[29] Yet Origen did suggest, based on 1 Corinthians 15:22–28, that all creatures, possibly including even the fallen angels, will eventually be restored and reunited to God when evil is finally eradicated. For Origen, God was theFirst Principle, andChrist, theLogos[9] through whom salvation is accomplished. Origen's various writings were interpreted by some to imply a hierarchical structure in theTrinity, the temporality of matter, "the fabulous preexistence of souls", and "the monstrous restoration which follows from it." These alleged "Origenist errors" were declaredanathema by a council in 553, three centuries after Origen had died in the peace of the church.[30][31]
The Cappadocian Fathers areBasil the Great (330–379), who was bishop ofCaesarea; Basil's younger brotherGregory of Nyssa (c. 332 – 395), who was bishop ofNyssa; and a close friend,Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389), who becamePatriarch of Constantinople.[32] The Cappadocians promoted early Christian theology and are highly respected in both Western and Eastern churches as saints. They were a 4th-centurymonastic family, led byMacrina the Younger (324–379) to provide a central place for her brothers to study and meditate, and also to provide a peaceful shelter for their mother. Abbess Macrina fostered the education and development of her three brothers Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa andPeter of Sebaste (c. 340 – 391) who became bishop of Sebaste.
These scholars set out to demonstrate that Christians could hold their own in conversations with learned Greek-speaking intellectuals. They argued that Christian faith, while it was against many of the ideas ofPlato andAristotle (and other Greek philosophers), was an almost scientific and distinctive movement with the healing of the soul of man and his union with God at its center. They made major contributions to the definition of theTrinity finalized at theFirst Council of Constantinople in 381 and the final version of theNicene Creed.
Subsequent to the First Council of Nicea, Arianism did not simply disappear. The semi-Arians taught that the Son is of like substance with the Father (homoiousios), as against the outright Arians who taught that the Son was unlike the Father (heterousian). So the Son was held to belike the Father but not of the same essence as the Father.The Cappadocians worked to bring these semi-Arians back to the Orthodox cause. In their writings they made extensive use of the formula "three substances (hypostases) in one essence (homoousia)", and thus explicitly acknowledged a distinction between the Father and the Son (a distinction that Nicea had been accused of blurring) but at the same time insisting on their essential unity.
John Chrysostom (c. 347 – c. 407),archbishop ofConstantinople, is known for his eloquence inpreaching andpublic speaking; his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, recorded sermons and writings making him the most prolific of the eastern fathers, and hisascetic sensibilities. After his death (or according to some sources, during his life) he was given the Greek epithetchrysostomos, meaning "golden mouthed", rendered in English as Chrysostom.[33][34]
Chrysostom is known within Christianity chiefly as a preacher and theologian, particularly in the Eastern Orthodox Church; he is the patron saint of orators in the Catholic Church. Chrysostom is also noted for eight of his sermons that played a considerable part in the history ofChristian antisemitism, diatribes againstJudaizers composed while a presbyter in Antioch, which were extensively exploited and misused by theNazis in their ideological campaign against the Jews.[35][36] Patristic scholars such as Robert L Wilken point out that applying modern understandings of antisemitism back to Chrysostom is anachronistic due to his use of the Psogos. The Psogos, along with the encomium, were both rhetorical techniques used in the ancient world in a polemical context. With the encomium "one passes over a man's faults in order to praise him, and in a psogos, one passed over his virtues to defame him. Such principles are explicit in the handbooks of the rhetors, but an interesting passage from the church historian Socrates, writing in the mid-fifth century, shows that the rules for invective were simply taken for granted by men and women of the late Roman world."[37]
Chrysostom's sermons along with Basil the Great's have greatly influenced the Christian Church's understanding of economic and distributive justice for the poor, being cited extensively by theCatechism of the Catholic Church[38] as well asPope Francis in his own sermons critiquing modern-day forms of capitalism.[39][40]
Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350 – 428) was a Christian theologian, andBishop of Mopsuestia (as Theodore II) from 392 to 428 AD. He is also known as Theodore of Antioch, from the place of his birth and presbyterate. He is the best known representative of the middleAntioch School ofhermeneutics.[41] He is known to be a prolific writer and exegete with strong emphases on the literal, historical and rational interpretation of Christian scriptures. Throughout his lifetime, he was hailed as one of the outstanding, prolific biblical theologians and staunch defender of Christ's humanity. More than a century after his death, he was condemned in person in the Chalcedonian Church at theSecond Council of Constantinople.[42] However he continues to be recognised as a Greek Doctor in the Church of the East, which honours him with the title 'Theodore the Interpreter'.[43]
In 394, he attended a synod at Constantinople on a question which concerned the see ofBostra in the patriarchate of Antioch. While there, Theodore had the opportunity to preach before the emperorTheodosius I, who was then starting for his last journey to the West. The sermon made a deep impression, and Theodosius, who had sat at the feet ofAmbrose andGregory Nazianzus, declared that he had never met with such a teacher (John of Antioch, ap. Facund. ii.2).Theodosius II inherited his grandfather's respect for Theodore, and often wrote to him. Another glimpse of Theodore's episcopal life is supplied by a letter of Chrysostom to him fromCucusus (AD 404–407) (Chrys. Ep. 212). The exiled patriarch "can never forget the love of Theodore, so genuine and warm, so sincere and guileless, a love maintained from early years, and manifested but now." Chrysostom (Ep. 204) thanks him profoundly for frequent though ineffectual efforts to obtain his release, and praises their friendship in such glowing terms that Theodore's enemies at the fifth Ecumenical Council made unsuccessful efforts to deny the identity of Chrysostom's correspondent with the bishop of Mopsuestia.[44]
After moving toCarthage, Maximus studied severalNeo-Platonist writers and became a prominent author. When one of his friends began espousing the Christological position known asMonothelitism, Maximus was drawn into the controversy, in which he supported the Chalcedonian position that Jesus had both a human and a divine will. Maximus is venerated in both Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity. His Christological positions eventually resulted in his torture and exile, soon after which he died; however, his theology was vindicated by theThird Council of Constantinople, and he was venerated as a saint soon after his death. Hisfeast day is celebrated twice during the year: on 21 January and on 13 August. His title ofConfessor means that he suffered for the faith, but not to the point of death, and thus is distinguished from a martyr. HisLife of the Virgin is thought to be the earliest complete biography of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
A polymath whose fields of interest and contribution included law, theology, philosophy, and music, he was given the by-name of Chrysorrhoas (Χρυσορρόας, literally "streaming with gold", i.e. "the golden speaker"). He wrote numerous works expounding the Christian faith, and composed hymns which are still used both liturgically in Eastern Christian practice throughout the world as well as in western Lutheranism at Easter.[45] He was particularly known for his defense oficons.[46]
The Catholic Church regards him as aDoctor of the Church, often referred to as the Doctor of the Assumption because of his writings on the Assumption of Mary.
Tertullian denounced Christian doctrines he considered heretical, such as allowing widows to remarry and permitting Christians to flee from persecution, but later in life adoptedMontanism, regarded as heretical by the mainstream Church, which prevented his canonization. He wrote three books in Greek and was the first great writer of Latin Christianity, thus sometimes known as the "Father of the Latin Church".[48] He was evidently a lawyer in Rome.[49] He is said to have introduced the Latin termtrinitas with regard to the Divine (Trinity) to the Christian vocabulary[50] (butTheophilus of Antioch had already written of "the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His Wisdom", which is similar but not identical to the Trinitarian wording),[51] and also probably the formula "three Persons, one Substance" as the Latin "tresPersonae,una Substantia" (itself from theKoine Greek "τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις, ὁμοούσιος;treíshypostasis,Homoousios"), and also the termsvetus testamentum (Old Testament) andnovum testamentum (New Testament).
In hisApologeticus, he was the first Latin author who qualified Christianity as thevera religio, and systematically relegated the classical Roman imperial religion and other accepted cults to the position of mere "superstitions".
He used the early church's symbol for fish—the Greek word for "fish" beingΙΧΘΥΣ, which is an acronym for Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ (Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour)—to explain the meaning of baptism, since fish are born in water. He wrote that human beings are like little fish.
Cyprian (c. 200 – 258) was bishop of Carthage and an important early Christian writer. He was born inNorth Africa, probably at the beginning of the 3rd century, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent classical (pagan) education. After converting to Christianity, he became a bishop and eventually died a martyr at Carthage. He emphasized the necessity of the unity of Christians with their bishops, and also the authority of the Roman See, which he claimed was the source of "priestly unity"'.
Ambrose[b] was anarchbishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was a governor before becoming bishop. He is counted as one of the four original doctors of the Church. He offered a new perspective on thetheory of atonement.[which?]
Pope Damasus I (305–384) was active in defending the Catholic Church against the threat of schisms. In two Roman synods (368 and 369) he condemned the heresies of Apollinarianism and Macedonianism, and sent legates (papal representatives) to the First Council of Constantinople that was convoked in 381 to address these heresies. He also wrote in defense of the Roman See's authority, and inaugurated use of Latin in theMass, instead of the Koine Greek that was still being used throughout the Church in the west in the liturgy.
Augustine (354–430), Bishop of Hippo, was a philosopher and theologian. Augustine, a Latin Father and Doctor of the Church, is one of the most important figures in the development ofWestern Christianity. In his early life, Augustine read widely in Greco-Roman rhetoric and philosophy, including the works of Platonists such asPlotinus.[53] He framed the concepts oforiginal sin andjust war as they are understood in the West. When Rome fell and the faith of many Christians was shaken, Augustine wroteThe City of God, in which he defended Christianity from pagan critics and developed the concept of the Church as a spiritualCity of God, distinct from the material City of Man.[9] Augustine's work defined the start of themedievalworldview, an outlook that would later be firmly established byPope Gregory the Great.[9]
Augustine was born in present-dayAlgeria to a Christian mother,Monica of Hippo. He was educated in North Africa and resisted his mother's pleas to become Christian. He took a concubine and became aManichean. He later converted to Christianity, became a bishop, and opposed heresies, such asPelagianism. His many works—includingThe Confessions, which is often called the first Westernautobiography—have been read continuously since his lifetime. The Catholic religious order, theOrder of Saint Augustine, adopted his name and way of life. Augustine is also the patron saint of many institutions and a number have been named after him.
At a time of disintegration of classical culture and aristocratic violence and illiteracy, he was involved in the conversion of the royalVisigothic Arians to Nicene Christianity, both assisting his brother Leander of Seville and continuing after his brother's death. He was influential in the inner circle of Sisebut, Visigothic king of Hispania. Like Leander, he played a prominent role in the Councils of Toledo and Seville. The Visigothic legislation which resulted from these councils is regarded by modern historians as exercising an important influence on the beginnings of representative government.
Aphrahat (c. 270 – c. 345 was aSyriac-Christian author of the 3rd century from theAdiabene region of NorthernMesopotamia, which was within thePersian Empire, who composed a series of twenty-three expositions or homilies on points of Christian doctrine and practice. He was born in Persia around 270, but all his known works, theDemonstrations, come from later on in his life. He was anascetic andcelibate, and was almost definitely ason of the covenant (an early Syriac form of communalmonasticism). He may have been abishop, and later Syriac tradition places him at the head ofMar Matti monastery nearMosul, in what is now northernIraq. He was a near contemporary to the slightly youngerEphrem the Syrian, but the latter lived within the sphere of theRoman Empire. Called thePersian Sage (Syriac:ܚܟܝܡܐ ܦܪܣܝܐ, ḥakkîmâ p̄ārsāyā), Aphrahat witnesses to the concerns of the early church beyond the eastern boundaries of the Roman Empire.
Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns,poems, andsermons in verse, as well asprosebiblical exegesis. These were works of practical theology for the edification of thechurch in troubled times. So popular were his works, that, for centuries after his death, Christian authors wrote hundreds ofpseudepigraphal works in his name. He has been called the most significant of all of the fathers of the Syriac-speaking church tradition.[63]
Isaac of Antioch (451–452), one of the stars ofSyriac literature, is the reputed author of a large number of metrical homilies (The fullest list, byGustav Bickell, contains 191 which are extant in MSS), many of which are distinguished by an originality and acumen rare among Syriac writers.
Isaac of Nineveh was a 7th-centurySyriacbishop andtheologian best remembered for his written work. He is also regarded as asaint in theChurch of the East, theCatholic Church, theEastern Orthodox Church and among theOriental Orthodox Churches, making him the last saint chronologically to be recognised by every apostolic Church. Hisfeast day falls on January 28 and in the Syriac Orthodox calendar on March 14. Isaac is remembered for his spiritual homilies on the inner life, which have a human breadth and theological depth that transcends theNestorian Christianity of the Church to which he belonged. They survive inSyriac manuscripts and in Greek and Arabic translations.
TheDesert Fathers were early monastics living in the Egyptian desert. Although they did not write as much as other Church Fathers, their influence was also great, and they are credited with beginning the practice ofmonasticism, and codifying many of its features. Among them arePaul of Thebes,Anthony the Great andPachomius. Many of their, usually short, sayings are collected in theApophthegmata Patrum ("Sayings of the Desert Fathers").
In the Catholic Church, the patristic era is believed to have passed. On account of their proximity to ancient sources and particular way of doing theology,John of Damascus andBernard of Clairvaux are among those considered to be the last of the Church Fathers. However, the Church does grant the similar title ofDoctor of the Church to notable post-patristic saints who have made significant contributions to Catholic theology or doctrine.[64][65]
The Eastern Orthodox Church does not consider the age of Church Fathers to be over and includes later influential writers up to the present day. The Orthodox view is that men do not have to agree on every detail, much less be infallible, to be considered Church Fathers. Rather, Orthodox doctrine is determined by the consensus of the Holy Fathers—those points on which they do agree. This consensus guides the church in questions ofdogma, the correctinterpretation of scripture, and to distinguish the authenticsacred tradition of the Church from false teachings.[66]
Though muchProtestant theology is based onsola scriptura (the principle that the Bible itself is the ultimate authority in doctrinal matters), the first Protestant reformers, like the Catholic and Orthodox churches, used the theological interpretations of scripture set forth by the early Church Fathers.[citation needed]
John Calvin'sFrench Confession of Faith of 1559 states, "And we confess that which has been established by the ancient councils, and we detest all sects and heresies which were rejected by the holy doctors, such as St. Hilary, St. Athanasius, St. Ambrose and St. Cyril."[page needed][67]
TheScots Confession of 1560 deals with general councils in its 20th chapter. TheThirty-nine Articles of theChurch of England, both the original of 1562–1571 and the American version of 1801, explicitly accept the Nicene Creed in Article VII. Even when a particular Protestant confessional formula does not mention the Nicene Council or its creed, its doctrine is nonetheless always asserted, as, for example, in thePresbyterianWestminster Confession of 1647. Many Protestantseminaries provide courses onpatristics as part of their curriculum, and many historic Protestant churches emphasize the importance of tradition and of the fathers in scriptural interpretation. Such an emphasis is even more pronounced in certain streams of Protestant thought, such asPaleo-Orthodoxy.[citation needed]
^Plekon, Michael (2003).Tradition Alive: On the Church and the Christian Life in Our Time : Readings from the Eastern Church. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 70.ISBN978-0-7425-3163-5.
^Brown, Stephen F. (2011). "Church Fathers".Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. pp. 209–216.doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_125.ISBN978-1-4020-9728-7.These teachers, both in the East and the West, manifested the strength of Christian truth and the power of Christian life in their writings that marked this period as the Golden Age of the Fathers. The end of the Patristic era is generally marked in the West with the death of St. Isidore of Seville (d. c. 636) and in the East with the death of St. John of Damascus (d. c. 750). The writings of the Fathers have been given great respect both in their role of establishing the Christian tradition of beliefs and patterns of living and also as works that provide a deeper grasp of the meaning of Christian truths or provoke questions that lead Christians to a deeper understanding of their beliefs.
^Preus, J.A.O. (1984). "The Use of the Church Fathers in the Formula of Concord".Concordia Theological Quarterly.48 (2–3): 97—112.
^Kelly, John N. D."Patristic literature".Encyclopedia Britannica.Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved11 May 2018.
^See "Ignatius" inThe Westminster Dictionary of Church History, ed. Jerald Brauer (Philadelphia:Westminster, 1971) and also David Hugh Farmer, "Ignatius of Antioch" inThe Oxford Dictionary of the Saints (New York:Oxford University Press, 1987).
^Polycarp of Smyrna; Ignatius of Antioch; Clement of Rome (1912).The Apostolic Fathers. Loeb classical library. Translated by Lake, Kirsopp. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 280.hdl:2027/hvd.32044016963696.ISBN9780674990289.
^abHall, Christopher A. (August 17, 1998).Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers. InterVarsity Press. p. 55.ISBN0830815007.
^abMacDonald, Paul S. (March 2003).History of the Concept of Mind. Ashgate. p. 124.ISBN0754613658.
^Parry, David (1999).The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 491–492.ISBN0-631-18966-1.
^ Lebreton, Jules (1910)."St. Justin Martyr". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved13 October 2024.
^Walter Laqueur,The Changing Face of Antisemitism: From Ancient Times To The Present Day, (Oxford University Press: 2006), p.48.ISBN0-19-530429-2. 48
^Yohanan (Hans) Lewy (1997). "John Chrysostom". In Roth, Cecil (ed.).Encyclopaedia Judaica (CD-ROM version 1.0 ed.). Keter Publishing House.ISBN965-07-0665-8.
^John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late 4th Century, by Robert L. Wilken (University of California Press: Berkeley, 1983), p. 112.
ChurchFathers.org – All of the Church Fathers' writings broken down by topic. Find writings by the Fathers on everything from the Eucharist, to baptism, to the Virgin Mary, to the Pope
Faulkner University Patristics Project A growing collection of English translations of patristic texts and high-resolution scans from the comprehensivePatrologia compiled by J. P. Migne.
^The ROCsevered full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2018, and later severed full communion with theprimates of the Church of Greece, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and the Church of Cyprus in 2020.
^abcdefghAutocephaly or autonomy is not universally recognized.
^UOC-MP was moved to formally cut ties with the ROC as of May 27th 2022.
^Semi-autonomous part of theRussian Orthodox Church whose autonomy is not universally recognized.
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