Through the centuries

The Church Fathers

The generations after the apostles read, preached and prayed these same Scriptures. 86,890 of their own words are quoted across the site, verse by verse.

Quoted verbatim from public-domain English translations of the fathers — Aquinas's Catena Aurea, the Ante-Nicene and Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers, and related editions. Each quotation links to its source.

Early Fathers (before Nicaea)

Clement of Rome

1st century · 130 passages

One of the earliest Christian writers after the apostles. His letter to the church at Corinth urges unity, humility, and order among believers.

Ignatius of Antioch

2nd century · 247 passages

Bishop of Antioch who wrote seven letters on his way to martyrdom in Rome, insisting on the reality of Christ's incarnation and the unity of the church.

Papias of Hierapolis

2nd century · 15 passages

Epistle to Diognetus

2nd century · 1 passages

Polycarp of Smyrna

2nd century · 56 passages

A disciple of the apostle John, remembered for his letter to the Philippians and for his steadfastness at his martyrdom.

Justin Martyr

2nd century · 172 passages

A philosopher who became a Christian and defended the faith to emperors and Jewish teachers, reading the Old Testament as pointing to Christ.

Abercius

2nd century · 1 passages

Muratorian fragment

2nd century · 1 passages

Heracleon

2nd century · 2 passages

Valentinus

2nd century · 1 passages

Hegesippus

2nd century · 7 passages

Melito of Sardis

2nd century · 5 passages

Theophilus of Antioch

2nd century · 16 passages

Athenagoras of Athens

2nd century · 9 passages

Polycrates Of Ephesus

2nd century · 5 passages

Caius Presbyter of Rome

2nd century · 1 passages

Martyrdom Of Polycarp

2nd century · 5 passages

Irenaeus

3rd century · 789 passages

Student of Polycarp. His Against Heresies defends the goodness of creation and traces salvation as God's single plan from Adam to Christ.

Clement of Alexandria

3rd century · 978 passages

A teacher who read Scripture with an eye for its deeper moral and spiritual meaning, guiding new believers toward maturity in Christ.

Pope Zephyrinus

3rd century · 5 passages

Tertullian

3rd century · 3,411 passages

A sharp North African writer, the first major Christian author in Latin, known for vivid defenses of the faith and of the resurrection of the body.

Callistus I of Rome

3rd century · 13 passages

Pope Urban I

3rd century · 9 passages

Hippolytus of Rome

3rd century · 698 passages

Pope Pontian

3rd century · 1 passages

Pope Anterus

3rd century · 9 passages

Julius Africanus

3rd century · 5 passages

Fabian of Rome

3rd century · 17 passages

Commodian

3rd century · 8 passages

Marcus Minucius Felix

3rd century · 3 passages

Alexander of Jerusalem

3rd century · 1 passages

Origen of Alexandria

3rd century · 2,917 passages

The most prolific early commentator on Scripture. He read the text on several levels — literal, moral, and spiritual — and shaped how later fathers preached.

Faustinus of Lyon

3rd century · 1 passages

Novatian

3rd century · 62 passages

Cyprian

3rd century · 889 passages

Bishop and martyr who wrote on the unity of the church, prayer, and how Christians should endure persecution and plague.

Dionysius of Alexandria

3rd century · 49 passages

Pope Dionysius

3rd century · 2 passages

Theognostus Of Alexandria

3rd century · 1 passages

Gregory of Neocaesarea

3rd century · 31 passages

Malchion

3rd century · 1 passages

Archelaus of Carrhae

3rd century · 1 passages

Theonas of Alexandria

3rd century · 8 passages

Ammonius of Alexandria

3rd century · 70 passages

Victorinus of Pettau

4th century · 146 passages

Phileas of Thmuis

4th century · 2 passages

Pamphilus of Caesarea

4th century · 2 passages

Methodius of Olympus

4th century · 206 passages

Peter of Alexandria

4th century · 27 passages

Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius

4th century · 118 passages

Alexander of Alexandria

4th century · 34 passages

Arnobius of Sicca

4th century · 13 passages

Eastern & Byzantine

Arius

4th century · 1 passages

Eusebius of Caesarea

4th century · 424 passages

Asterius of Cappadocia

4th century · 13 passages

Syncletica of Alexandria

4th century · 2 passages

Ammon of Hadrianopolis

4th century · 1 passages

Theodore of Heraclea

4th century · 52 passages

Anthony the Great

4th century · 2 passages

Eustathius of Antioch

4th century · 2 passages

Eusebius of Emesa

4th century · 11 passages

Acacius of Caesarea

4th century · 3 passages

Athanasius of Alexandria

4th century · 360 passages

Defender of the full divinity of Christ against Arianism, and author of On the Incarnation.

Titus of Bostra

4th century · 88 passages

Basil of Caesarea

4th century · 715 passages

Bishop, monastic founder, and preacher on creation; he built hospitals and taught that care for the poor is inseparable from faith.

Macrina the Younger

4th century · 4 passages

Apollinaris of Laodicea

4th century · 74 passages

Cyril of Jerusalem

4th century · 315 passages

Nemesius of Emesa

4th century · 6 passages

Diodorus of Tarsus

4th century · 133 passages

Gregory of Nazianzus

4th century · 285 passages

Called "the Theologian" for his orations on the Trinity, written with unusual poetic power.

Palladius of Antioch

4th century · 1 passages

Macarius of Egypt

4th century · 6 passages

Gregory of Nyssa

4th century · 418 passages

Brother of Basil; wrote on the soul's endless growth into God and read Moses' life as a map of the spiritual journey.

Ammonas of Egypt

4th century · 1 passages

Didymus the Blind

4th century · 321 passages

Evagrius Ponticus

4th century · 115 passages

Hegemonius

4th century · 3 passages

Adamantius

4th century · 1 passages

Epiphanius of Salamis

5th century · 45 passages

Amphilochius of Iconium

5th century · 2 passages

John Chrysostom

5th century · 7,447 passages

Called "golden-mouthed" for his preaching. His homilies work through Scripture verse by verse with pastoral and moral urgency.

Theophilus of Alexandria

5th century · 7 passages

Palladius of Galatia

5th century · 6 passages

Severian of Gabala

5th century · 138 passages

Theodore of Mopsuestia

5th century · 491 passages

Marcus Eremita

5th century · 3 passages

Acacius of Beroea

5th century · 1 passages

Socrates Scholasticus

5th century · 1 passages

John I of Antioch

5th century · 1 passages

Cyril of Alexandria

5th century · 2,238 passages

Defender of the unity of Christ's person; wrote extensive commentaries on John and the prophets.

Theodotus of Ancyra

5th century · 4 passages

Proclus of Constantinople

5th century · 3 passages

Hesychius of Jerusalem

5th century · 59 passages

Abba Poemen

5th century · 5 passages

Isidore of Pelusium

5th century · 11 passages

Nilus of Sinai

5th century · 25 passages

Theodoret of Cyrus

5th century · 1,394 passages

Basil of Seleucia

5th century · 5 passages

Gennadius of Constantinople

5th century · 53 passages

Diadochos of Photiki

5th century · 3 passages

Isaiah the Solitary

5th century · 1 passages

Desert Fathers

5th century · 276 passages

Procopius of Gaza

6th century · 40 passages

Venerable Barsanuphius and John the Prophet

6th century · 6 passages

Cosmas Indicopleustes

6th century · 337 passages

Oecumenius

6th century · 1,825 passages

Romanos the Melodist

6th century · 31 passages

Dorotheos of Gaza

6th century · 5 passages

Olympiodorus of Alexandria

6th century · 94 passages

Andreas of Caesarea

7th century · 424 passages

Sophronius of Jerusalem

7th century · 5 passages

Maximus the Confessor

7th century · 23 passages

Anastasius of Sinai

7th century · 4 passages

Andrew of Crete

8th century · 5 passages

John Damascene

8th century · 211 passages

The last of the Greek fathers; gathered earlier teaching into an orderly summary of the faith and defended sacred images.

Cosmas of Maiuma

8th century · 2 passages

John of Karpathos

8th century · 1 passages

Theophanes of Nicaea

9th century · 1 passages

Photios I of Constantinople

9th century · 42 passages

Arethas of Caesarea

9th century · 1 passages

Symeon the New Theologian

11th century · 61 passages

Theophylact of Ohrid

12th century · 6,638 passages

Ancient Greek Expositor

13th century · 89 passages

Gregory Palamas

14th century · 6 passages

Syriac & Oriental

Tatian the Assyrian

2nd century · 12 passages

Aphrahat the Persian Sage

4th century · 67 passages

Pachomius the Great

4th century · 36 passages

Theodorus of Tabennese

4th century · 3 passages

Ephrem the Syrian

4th century · 790 passages

A deacon and poet who taught Scripture in hymns, rich with imagery drawn from paradise, light, and the Eucharist.

Oresiesis-Heru-sa Ast

4th century · 12 passages

Eznik of Kolb

5th century · 7 passages

John the Solitary

5th century · 1 passages

Shenoute the Archimandrite

5th century · 5 passages

Besa The Copt

5th century · 2 passages

Jacob of Serugh

6th century · 4 passages

Philoxenus of Mabbug

6th century · 504 passages

Severus of Antioch

6th century · 38 passages

Abraham of Nathpar

6th century · 2 passages

Sahdona the Syrian

7th century · 20 passages

Isaac of Nineveh

7th century · 64 passages

Jacob of Edessa

8th century · 1 passages

John of Dalyatha

8th century · 3 passages

Ishodad of Merv

9th century · 173 passages

Agapius of Hierapolis

10th century · 1 passages

Jacob Bar-Salibi

12th century · 5 passages

Nerses of Lambron

12th century · 10 passages