I grew up in a fellowship of Christian churches that believed very strongly in "going back to the first century Church" as a model for belief and practice. A stance with which I am in significant agreement, myself. Unfortunately, one of the difficulties with that viewpoint was a tendency to disparage, or even outright reject, the history and life of the Church in the following nearly 1700 years (these churches in which I grew up became a recognizable movement roughly around 1800). Of course, this was a tendency, not a formal position, and while studying at Ozark Christian College and Lincoln Christian Seminary, some of these deficiencies were corrected. Nonetheless, the trend was there, one which did not allow too much conversation with those who followed the apostles and others in subsequent centuries. For various reasons, one of which became an awareness of this deficiency, I began to slowly develop an interest in the early Church Fathers.

Although my interest in patristics began long before Spring of 1999--in some ways even as early as my freshman year at Ozark Christian College--nonetheless, for a variety of reasons, roughly around May 1999, I made a conscious and deliberate effort to focus my reading and study in theology on the patristic era (roughly AD 100-700). I began to expand my library of patristic authors from the Apostolic Fathers to Irenaeus of Lyons to Clement of Alexandria to Bede and John of Damascus. This led to a reviewing and bettering of my Greek (including studying some grammars on Ancient Greek), as well as studying Latin. By doing so, I could read the authors in the original.

This move to the patristics has had far-reaching impact on my reading and study overall. Among other factors, it has led to the study of ancient philosophy (see my Philosophy Page) and specifically Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics. It has also led to a reading and study of the classical world and authors generally (see my Classics Page). So visit the sites below and I hope you will benefit from them as much as have I.

Ergo praeparanda sunt corda nostra et corpora sanctae praeceptorum oboedientiae militanda, et quod minus habet in nos natura possibile, rogemus Dominum ut gratiae suae iubeat nobis adiutorium ministrare. Et si, fugientes gehennae poenas, ad vitam volumus pervenire perpetuam, dum adhuc vacat et in hoc copore sumus et haec omnia per hanc lucis vacat implrere, currendum et agendum est modo quod in perpetuo nobis expediat.

Regula Sancti Benedicti Prologue 40-42

Therefore our hearts and bodies must be prepared to fight in holy obedience to his commands. And for that which is hardly possible to us by nature, let us ask God to supply by the help of his grace. And if we wish to reach eternal life, escaping the pains of hell, then--while there is yet time, while we are still in the flesh and are able to fulfill all these things by this light of life give to us--we must run and perform now what will profit us for eternity.

Translated by Fr. Luke Dysinger, OSB

The Ecole Library's Global Patristic Index
The Church Fathers (Wheaton)
The Church Fathers (New Advent)

Greek New Testament (Westcott & Hort)
Greek New Testament (Myriobiblos Site)
Greek Old Testament (Myriobiblos Site)
Latin Vulgate

Second Century AD

Justin Martyr's "First Apology"
Justin Martyr's "Second Apology"
Irenaeus of Lyons' "Against Heresies"
Clement of Alexandria's "Exhortation to the Greeks"
Clement of Alexandria's "Paedegogus"
Clement of Alexandria's "Miscellanies"

Fourth Century AD

Athanasius' "On the Incarnation"
John Chrysostom's "Instructions to Catechumens"
John Cassian's "The Conferences"

Fifth through Eighth Centuries AD

The Seven Ecumenical Councils

If all this patristic reading leaves you wanting something significantly lighter, check out this link. It's to the killer rabbit scene in Monty Python's "The Quest for the Holy Grail." My favorite part of the scene is the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. Click on the link below, and enjoy!

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