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Church Fathers
Excerpt from the Lexham Bible Dictionary, the most advanced Bible dictionary.
Ancient and influential Christian writers who lived during the centuries following the apostles, and whose writings are regarded as formative for the doctrine of the Church.
Lexham Bible Dictionary
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The Lexham Bible Dictionary
Church Fathers
Church Fathers Ancient and influential Christian writers who lived during the centuries following the apostles, and whose writings are regarded as formative for the doctrine of the Church.
Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
Church Fathers
Church FathersThose persons whose views the Church considered to be foundational for the development of early Christian orthodoxy and spirituality. The time of the Fathers is classically divided into three periods: the foundational years (until the Council of Nicaea [325]); the formational period (until
Eerdmans Bible Dictionary
Church Fathers
Church Fathers. †Bishops and ecclesiastical authorities of the early Christian centuries, renowned for their orthodox doctrine and holy example and whose writings became authoritative in the formative debates of Christian doctrine. Beginning with the Apostolic Fathers, the Ante-Nicene Fathers include
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
Fathers of the Church
Fathers of the Church. From an early date the title (πατήρ) was applied to bishops as witnesses to the Christian tradition, but from the end of the 4th cent. it was used in a more restricted sense of a more or less clearly defined group of ecclesiastical authors of the past whose authority on doctrinal
The Lutheran Cyclopedia
Consensus Patrum
Consensus Patrum. By this is meant the consentient teaching of the church Fathers of the first five Christian centuries, though perfect consent of teaching does not exist in the writings of the Fathers. The Fathers are to be regarded as witnesses, not as authoritative judges, of revealed truth, and their
A Catholic Dictionary
Fathers of the Church
fathers of the church. The appellation of Fathers is used in a more general and a more restricted sense. In a general sense it denotes all those Christian writers of the first twelve centuries who are reckoned by general consent among the most eminent witnesses and teachers of the orthodox and Catholic
Compton’s Encyclopedia
Fathers of the Church
Fathers of the ChurchDuring the early centuries of the Christian era, certain bishops and other great Christian teachers produced writings that came to be viewed as authoritative in matters of doctrine. These authors are known collectively as the Fathers of the Church. The great era of the Fathers of
Ecclesiastical Dictionary: Containing, in Concise Form, Information upon Ecclesiastical, Biblical, Archæological, and Historical Subjects
Fathers of the Church
Fathers of the Church.—The Fathers of the Church are those Christian writers, who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries, and with learning and zeal expounded and defended the doctrines of Christianity. At no time was the literary activity of God’s chosen servants more wonderful and productive, and
A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines, Volumes I–IV
Fathers, The
FATHERS, THE. This term has been applied variously, both in classical and Christian times (see Dict. of Christian Ant. I. 665). It is here considered with reference to those primeval writers of the Christian church whose remains constitute what is called Patristic literature—a literature commencing with
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology
Fathers, Church
Fathers, Church. Ecclesiastically, those who preceded and thus instruct us in the faith. Thus ministers and particularly bishops are called “fathers.” More particularly, however, the term applies to the first Christian writers of acknowledged eminence. Already in the fourth century it was used of teachers
Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity
Father, Fathers of the Church
FATHER, FATHERS of the CHURCHI. Father—II. The Fathers in the Middle Ages—III. The Fathers during the Renaissance.