The Historic Church

The Church Fathers

The teachers who shaped how the Church has read Scripture for two thousand years. Their verse-by-verse commentary appears throughout the reader — here you can meet them and read their works.

Apostolic & Early Church (to 325)

c. 130 – c. 202 · Smyrna & Lyons

Bishop of Lyons, scourge of the Gnostics

Clement of Alexandria

c. 150 – c. 215 · Athens & Alexandria

Master of Alexandria's catechetical school

c. 155 – c. 220 · Carthage

First great Latin Christian writer

c. 185 – c. 253 · Alexandria & Caesarea

Greatest biblical scholar of the early church

635 commentary entries

c. 200 – 258 · Carthage

Bishop of Carthage and martyr

23 commentary entries

Golden Age of the Fathers (325–600)

Eusebius of Caesarea

c. 260 – 339 · Caesarea in Palestine

Bishop of Caesarea, father of church history

78 commentary entries

c. 296 – 373 · Alexandria

Bishop of Alexandria, defender of Nicaea

1 commentary entry

Hilary of Poitiers

c. 310 – c. 367 · Poitiers, Gaul

Bishop of Poitiers, Athanasius of the West

430 commentary entries

c. 310 – c. 390 · Laodicea in Syria

Bishop of Laodicea, brilliant but condemned

c. 315 – 403 · Palestine & Salamis, Cyprus

Bishop of Salamis, cataloguer of heresies

Titus of Bostra

d. c. 378 · Bostra, Roman Arabia

Bishop of Bostra, opponent of the Manichaeans

1 commentary entry

Gregory Nazianzen

c. 329 – 390 · Nazianzus & Constantinople

Archbishop of Constantinople, 'the Theologian'

13 commentary entries

Basil the Great

c. 330 – 379 · Caesarea in Cappadocia

Archbishop of Caesarea, father of Eastern monasticism

121 commentary entries

Gregory of Nyssa

c. 335 – c. 395 · Nyssa, Cappadocia

Bishop of Nyssa, mystic of the Cappadocians

24 commentary entries

c. 339 – 397 · Milan

Bishop of Milan, teacher of Augustine

579 commentary entries

c. 347 – 407 · Antioch & Constantinople

Archbishop of Constantinople, greatest preacher of the East

2,050 commentary entries

c. 347 – 420 · Stridon, Rome & Bethlehem

Translator of the Vulgate, biblical scholar

879 commentary entries

354 – 430 · Thagaste & Hippo, North Africa

Bishop of Hippo, greatest Western theologian

2,034 commentary entries

Cyril of Alexandria

c. 376 – 444 · Alexandria

Patriarch of Alexandria, champion of the Theotokos

386 commentary entries

Maximus of Turin

d. between 408 and 423 · Turin

Bishop of Turin, pastoral preacher

c. 400 – 461 · Rome

Pope who defined Christ's two natures

32 commentary entries

Victor of Antioch

5th century · Antioch

Antiochene compiler of earliest Mark commentary

Gregory the Great

c. 540 – 604 · Rome

Pope, pastor, and father of medieval papacy

567 commentary entries

Early Medieval (600–1100)

Isidore of Seville

c. 560 – 636 · Seville

Archbishop of Seville, encyclopedist of antiquity

11 commentary entries

c. 672 – 735 · Wearmouth-Jarrow, Northumbria

Monk of Jarrow, father of English history

1,270 commentary entries

c. 675 – 749 · Damascus & Mar Saba

Monk of Mar Saba, defender of icons

6 commentary entries

c. 735 – 804 · York, Aachen & Tours

Master of Charlemagne's palace school

171 commentary entries

c. 780 – 856 · Fulda & Mainz

Abbot of Fulda, teacher of Germany

302 commentary entries

c. 841 – 908 · Auxerre, Reims & Paris

Carolingian schoolmaster and biblical commentator

379 commentary entries

1033 – 1109 · Aosta, Bec & Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury, father of scholasticism

c. 1050 – after 1107 · Constantinople & Ohrid

Archbishop of Ohrid, Byzantine Gospel commentator

1,031 commentary entries

Medieval (1100–1300)

1225 – 1274 · Roccasecca, Paris & Naples

Dominican master, compiler of the Catena Aurea

Compilations & Anonymous

Pseudo-Chrysostom

Anonymous author mistaken for Chrysostom

449 commentary entries

Pseudo-Augustine

Anonymous works once credited to Augustine

35 commentary entries

Anonymous works once credited to Jerome

226 commentary entries

Pseudo-Dionysius

Anonymous mystic writing as Paul's Athenian convert

Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria)

medieval compilation

Standard medieval Bible commentary of the schools

389 commentary entries