Church Father |
Date of death |
Notes |
Adrian the monk of Antioch | | wrote a manual on the Antiochene method of Scriptural exegesis[1] |
Alexander of Alexandria[2] | 326 | |
Alexander of Lycopolis | 4th century | |
Ambrose of Milan | 397 | one of the Four Great Doctors of the Western Church; strongly opposed Arianism |
Amphilochius of Iconium[1][2] | 403 or earlier | |
Ananias of Shirak[2][3] | 7th century | wrote a work on Christmas and one on Easter |
Anastasius Sinaita[1][2] | 7th century | |
Andrew of Caesarea[1] | 6th century | commented on the Apocalypse |
Andrew of Crete[2] | 8th century | author of the 250-strophe Great Canon |
Anthony the Great[1] | 356 | |
Aphraates | 367 | Mesopotamian bishop who authored 23 homilies[1] |
Apollinaris of Hirapolis | 2nd century | |
Apollinaris of Laodicea | 390 | |
Apollonius of Ephesus | 210 | |
Archelaus | | supposedly a bishop of Carchar who wrote against Manichaeism |
Aristides the Athenian[1][2] | 134 | |
Aristo of Pella[1] | 2nd century | |
Arnobius[1] | 330 | author of Against the Heathen |
Arsenius the Great | 445 | |
Apringius of Beja | 6th century | commented on the Apocalypse[4] |
Asterius of Amasea[2] | 405 | wrote sermons on morality including topics like divorce and covetousness, and the parables of Jesus Christ |
Athanasius | 373 | one of the Four Great Doctors of the Eastern Church |
Athenagoras of Athens[1] | 190 | wrote in defense of the resurrection of the dead[2] |
Atticus[1] | 420s | |
Augustine of Hippo | 430 | one of the Four Great Doctors of the Western Church (Doctor Gratiae) |
Aurelius Prudentius[1][2] | early 5th century | commented on the Psalms[5] |
Ausonius | 395 | |
Avitus of Vienne[1] | 523 | author of the five-book poem De spiritualis historiae gestis; converted King Sigismund; combated Arianism |
Barnabas[2] | 061 | |
Barsanuphius of Palestine | 540 | |
Basil the Great of Caesarea | 379 | one of the Four Great Doctors of the Eastern Church and one of the Three Holy Hierarchs; father of monachism |
Bede[1] | 735 | Doctor of the Church and author of Ecclesiastical History of the English People |
Benedict of Nursia[1][2] | 547 | best known for the Rule of St Benedict |
Boethius[2] | 520s | author of Consolation of Philosophy |
Braulio of Zaragoza | 651 | commented on the Psalms[5] |
Caesarius of Arles[1] | 542 | commented on the Apocalypse |
Caius | 3rd century | |
Cassiodorus[1][2] | 585 | |
Chromatius[2] | 407 | wrote sermons on the Gospel of Matthew |
Clement of Alexandria | 210s | |
Clement of Rome | 099 | |
Coelius Sedulius[1] | 5th century | |
Columba of Iona[1][2] | 597 | |
Commodianus | 3rd century | |
Cyprian of Carthage[1] | 258 | |
Cyril of Alexandria | 444 | Doctor of the Church (Doctor Incarnationis) combated the Nestorian heresy |
Cyril of Jerusalem | 386 | Doctor of the Church who wrote thorough instructions to catechumens and baptized Christians[1] |
Pope Damasus I | 384 | |
Didymus the Blind[1] | 398 | teacher of Jerome and Rufinus; follower of Origen; opponent of Arianism and the Macedonian heresy; works condemned at the Fifth Ecumenical Council and the Sixth Ecumenical Council |
Diodore of Tarsus[1] | 390 | |
Dionysius of Corinth[1] | 2nd century | |
Pope Dionysius of Rome[1] | 268 | combated Sabellianism |
Dionysius the Areopagite | 1st century | Writings attributed to him are thought to have been faked by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. |
Pope Dionysius the Great of Alexandria | 265 | |
Ephrem the Syrian | 373 | Doctor of the Church |
Epiphanius of Salamis | 403 | friend of Jerome who strongly opposed Origenism and wrote a history of heresies |
Eucherius of Lyon[1][2] | 449 | |
Eugippius[3] | 6th century | |
Eusebius of Caesarea | 339 | |
Eusebius of Emesa | 360 | commented on Genesis[6] |
Eusebius of Vercelli[1] | 371 | |
Firmilian[1] | 269 | |
Fulgentius of Ruspe | 6th century | |
Gaius Marius Victorinus | 4th century | combated Arianism[1] |
Gennadius of Massilia[1] | 496 | |
Pope Gregory I the Great | 604 | one of the Four Great Doctors of the Western Church and author of Dialogues |
Gregory of Nazianzus | 389 | one of the Four Great Doctors of the Eastern Church; one of three Orthodox saints honored with the title "The Theologian;" one of the Three Holy Hierarchs |
Gregory of Nyssa | 394 | |
Gregory of Tours[2] | 594 | |
Gregory Thaumaturgus | 270 | |
Hegesippus of Palestine[1] | 180 | a Jewish convert who combated Gnosticism and Marcionism |
Hermias[2] | 3rd century | |
Hesychius of Jerusalem | 5th century | |
Hilary of Poitiers | 367 | Doctor of the Church |
Hippolytus of Rome[1][2] | 235 | |
Ignatius of Antioch | 107 | |
Irenaeus | end of 2nd or beginning of 3rd century | |
Isaac of Nineveh | 700 | ascetic author of many spiritual homilies who commented on the Psalms[5] and contributed significantly to Syrian piety; was not Christologically Nestorian[7] |
Isidore of Pelusium | 449 | author of 2000 letters dealing primarily with allegorical exegesis[1] |
Isidore of Seville[1][2] | 636 | Doctor of the Church |
Jacob of Serugh[3][5][8] | 521 | a.k.a. Mar Jacob |
Jerome | 420 | one of the Four Great Doctors of the Western Church |
John Cassian[1][8] | 435 | |
John Chrysostom | 407 | one of the Four Great Doctors of the Eastern Church and one of the Three Holy Hierarchs |
John Climacus[8] | 606 | |
John of Damascus | 749 | Doctor of the Church and author of An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith and ascetic and exegetical writings and hymns; Peter Lombard based his Four Books of Sentences on the works of John of Damascus and Thomas Aquinas based his Summa Theologica on Peter Lombard's Sentences |
Julianus Pomerius[1] | 5th century | author of De Vita Contemplativa concerning Christian sanctity |
Julius Firmicus Maternus | 4th century | |
Justin Martyr | 165 | |
Juvencus[1] | 4th century | |
Lactantius | 320 | |
Pope Leo I the Great | 461 | Doctor of the Church |
Leontius of Byzantium[1] | 543 | |
Lucian of Antioch[1] | 312 | |
Lucifer[1] | 370 | combated Arianism and defended Athanasius at the Council of Milan in 354 |
Macarius of Alexandria[8] | 395 | |
Macarius of Egypt[8] | 391 | |
Malchion | 3rd century? | played key role in the deposition of Paul of Samosata |
Marcus Minucius Felix[1][8] | 250 | author of Octavianus |
Marius Mercator | 451 | made a compilation on Nestorianism and another on Pelagianism[1] |
Martin of Bruga | 4th century | commented on the Psalms[5] |
Martin of Tours[8] | 397 | |
Mathetes | 2nd century? | author of an Epistle to Diognetus |
Maximus of Turin[1] | 465 | |
Maximus the Confessor[1][8] | 662 | |
Meletius of Antioch[8] | 381 | |
Melito of Sardis | 180 | author of an important sermon called On Pascha about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ |
Methodius of Olympus[1][8] | 311 | combated Origenism |
Moses of Chorene | 490 | author of A History of Armenia |
Nectarius of Constantinople[8] | 398 | |
Nicetas of Remesiana | 414 | the patron saint of Romania commented on the Psalms[5] |
Nilus of Sinai | 430 | |
Nonnus | 5th century | |
Novatian[1] | 258 | commented on the Psalms[5] |
Oecumenius | 6th century | author of the first extant Greek commentary on the Apocalypse[4] |
Optatus | 4th century | combated Donatism[1] |
Origen of Alexandria | 254 | posthumously anathematized at Fifth Ecumenical Council (533) |
Orosius[1] | 420 | |
Pachomius[1][8] | 348 | Father of Christian cenobitic monasticism |
Pacian of Barcelona[8] | 391 | combated Novatianism |
Palladius of Helenopolis[1][8] | 5th century | |
Pamphilus of Caesarea | 309 | |
Pantamus | 214 | first to make the Catechetical school of Alexandria famous[1] |
Papias[8] | 155 | disciple of John the Evangelist and Ariston[1] |
Patrick[8] | 5th century | |
Paulinus of Nola[8] | 431 | |
Peter Chrysologus | 450 | Doctor of the Church |
Pope Peter of Alexandria | 311 | |
Philip the priest | | commented on the Book of Job |
Philoxenus of Hierapolis[3] | 6th century | author of 13 ascetic discourses who combated Nestorianism, Manichaeism, and Marcionism |
Poemen | 450 | commented on the Psalms[5] |
Polycarp | 155 | |
Proclus of Constantinople | 440s | |
Prohaeresius[1] | 367 | |
Prosper of Aquitaine[1] | 455 | |
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite | 6th century | author of The Divine Names, The Mystical Theology, The Celestial Hierarchy, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and the non-extant Theological Outlines; quoted extensively in the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas |
Quadratus of Athens[1] | 129 | wrote a non-extant apology to Emperor Hadrian |
Rabbula[3][9] | 435 | ascetic and energetic bishop of Edessa and ally of Cyril of Alexandria who opposed the heretical teachings of Nestorius |
Romanos the Melodist[9] | 556 | |
Sahdona | 649 | commented on the Psalms[5] |
Salvian[1][9] | 490s | Gallic author of On the government of God |
Severian of Gabala | 408 | commented on Genesis[6] and the First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians |
Severus of Antioch[3][9] | 538 | |
Sextus Julius Africanus[1][8] | 240 | |
Sidonius Apollinaris[1][9] | 489 | |
Socrates of Constantinople | 5th century | |
Sophronius[9] | 638 | |
Sozomen | 450 | |
Sulpicius Severus[9] | 425 | disciple and biographer of Martin of Tours and author of an Ecclesiastical History[1] |
Synesius of Syrene[1][9] | 414 | |
Tatian | 185 | |
Tertullian | 222 | died a Montanist |
Theodore of Mopsuestia[1] | 428 | commented on Acts of the Apostles and the First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians |
Theodoret of Cyrus | 457 | continuator of Eusebius of Caesarea[1] |
Theodotus of Ancyra | 4th century | |
Theophilus of Antioch[1] | 180s | first writer known to have used the term Trinity to describe the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit |
Theotimos | 407 | |
Tichonius | 390 | commented on the Apocalypse; his seven principles of interpretation from his Book of Rules inspired Augustine of Hippo [4] |
Tyrannius Rufinus | 410 | friend of Jerome and continuator of Eusebius of Caesarea[1] who commented on the Psalms[5] |
Valerian of Cimiez | 460 | commented on the Psalms[5] |
Venantius Fortunatus | 7th century | wrote a poem on Easter |
Victor of Antioch | | commented on the Gospel of Mark[1] |
Victorinus of Pettau | 303 | author of On the Creation of the World and a Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John |
Vincent of Lérins | 450 | |
Zeno of Verona | 371 | |
Pope Zephyrinus | 217 | commented on the Psalms |