The Church Fathers

The teachers of the early Church, in their own words, and where a newcomer can begin.

The Church Fathers are the saints and teachers who handed on and explained the apostles' faith in the first centuries of the Church and after. A good place to start is short: the Didache, then St Athanasius' On the Incarnation, then St Isaac the Syrian. Each is free to read online.

The Orthodox Church reads the Scriptures with the Fathers beside her: the bishops, martyrs, monks and teachers whose writings guarded and explained the faith. They are not a closed list of authors from one age. The Church still calls holy men and women of later centuries her Fathers and Mothers when their teaching agrees with the faith of all.

The Fathers can feel daunting, but the way in is short and gentle. Begin with a work written to be read whole, read a little each day, and bring your questions to a priest. Each guide below says what the work is, what it teaches, and where to read it, free first where a free text exists. Begin with the first three; the rest are for going further.

Where to begin

  1. 1. The DidacheOne of the oldest handbooks of Christian life outside the New Testament, and short enough to read in one sitting.
  2. 2. On the IncarnationWhy God became man, told by St Athanasius in one short book.
  3. 3. St Isaac the SyrianA hermit's teaching on prayer, humility and a merciful heart, loved across the Orthodox world.

Going further

  1. Against HeresiesThe faith of the apostles, set out against the first great counterfeit of it.
  2. The Writings of St Gregory PalamasThe monk of Athos who taught that God, beyond all knowing, truly gives Himself to be known.
  3. The Letter to DiognetusAn unknown early Christian explains to a pagan who the Christians are, in a few short chapters.
  4. The Sayings of the Desert FathersShort words from the monks and nuns of the Egyptian desert, kept because they changed lives.

The Fathers are read best within the Church, a little at a time, with a priest to ask.

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