Way of the Fathers

Thank Tertullian of Carthage for his role in forming a distinctively western Christianity. He gave us words in our own language to express the inexpressible: words like Trinity and Sacrament. He also introduced the world to the idea of freedom of conscience. Our civilization rests on his ideas. Links Tertullian, Apology https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1662 Tertullian, To Scapula https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1682 More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.

Sarcastic, bombastic, and brilliant, Tertullian of Carthage may be the most entertaining of the Church Fathers. He also did more than anyone else to launch theology in the Latin language. His life and his work were provocations to his opponents—who included many pagans and more than a few Christians. Learn about him (and the fascinating world of early North African Christianity) in this episode. Links Tertullian, Apology https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1662 More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.

Marcus Minucius Felix is one of the greatest writers you never heard of. His "Octavius," written in the late second century, is a work of fictionalized memoir set in the resort town of Ostia. Three friends go to the beach, and in a day of walks and conversation one of them leads another to conversion. It is the most deeply human study we have of the early Christians, describing the feel of the ocean breezes and the sand between their toes — and the best arguments for believing. Links The Octavius by Minucius Felix https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1688 More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.

He was a prophet living altogether in the Spirit. He was a second-century apologist, able to elucidate the doctrine of Christ for the understanding of strangers. He was a bishop, so he spoke with hierarchical authority. For us, though, Melito of Sardis is most valuable for the Paschal liturgy he left us. It is an important witness to Jewish-Christian relations at a crucial time in their development. His Peri Pascha serves well for the Lenten-Easter seasons and for a lifetime. Links Melito's "Peri Pascha" in English https://www.amazon.com/Pascha-Fragments-Material-Quartodecimans-Patristics/dp/0881415545/ More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.

In the late second century the Church suffered an infestation of heresies — many of them, and they kept changing their claims. Into the fray God sent the great pioneer of anti-heretical literature, Irenaeus of Lyons. The title of his best known work says it all: Against Heresies. Irenaeus's tools range from logic to parody. He put the smack down on some strains of heresy, and they stayed down for centuries. Links Free text of Book 3 of Irenaeus's "Against Heresies" https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1612 Pope Benedict XVI on Irenaeus https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1610 More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.

"Whatever things are rightly said are ours." St. Justin looked at creation and saw Christ. He looked into the mind of Plato and found a Christian, born centuries before his time. Speaking with Romans, speaking with Greeks, speaking with Jews, he sought the good in his adversaries' best ideas and showed that the good belonged properly to Christ and Christians. Though he lived in the second century, his description of the Mass was used in the Church's 20th-century Catechism. He showed us how to be fearless in the face of ideas, and fearless even in the face of death. Links Free audiobook of Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-justin-martyr-dialogue-with-trypho/ Free text of Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1612 Free text of Justin Martyr's First Apology https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1610 Free text of Justin Martyr's Second Apology https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1611 A contemporary account of Justin's martyrdom https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1618 An excellent popular study of Justin Martyr https://www.amazon.com/Case-Christianity-Arguments-Religious-Judicial/dp/158979575X/ More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.

Forget the Dale Carnegie course. Here's how to win skeptical friends and influence pagans. Read the second-century Letter to Diognetus. The author's name is lost to history, but his warm, winsome overture still stands as a model of apologetics — the art of explaining and defending the faith. The Letter is often counted as the last of the writings of the Apostolic Fathers — or the first of the writings of the second-century Apologists. No matter how you shelve it, it's good reading, praised by saints and popes for centuries. Links Free online text of The Epistle to Diognetus https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1620 Free audiobook of The Epistle to Diognetus https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/letter-to-diognetus/ An excellent study of apologetics https://www.amazon.com/History-Apologetics-Robert-Cardinal-Dulles/dp/0898709334/ More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's website https://fathersofthechurch.com Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.

The Shepherd of Hermas is the strangest text from the Church's earliest period. It's at once a conversion story and a first-person account of heavenly visions. It's a poem in prose and a guidebook for morals. It exercised a powerful influence in the early centuries of Christianity, especially on the practice of the sacrament of penance. Links Free online text of The Shepherd of Hermas https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1647 More Works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's Website https://fathersofthechurch.com Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.

The work of the early Church was largely done by Christians whose names we'll never know. In fact, many of the most important documents from the first and second centuries have unknown or uncertain authorship. In this episode we examine some of those fascinating documents — the Didache, the Letter of Barnabas, and Second Clement — and we pay homage to our great (though nameless) ancestors in the faith. Links Kenneth Howell's new translation of the Didache and Second Clement https://www.amazon.com/Clement-Didache-Early-Christian-Fathers/dp/0983082979/ Audiobook of the Didache https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/didache-teaching-twelve-apostles/ Alternate Translation of the Didache at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1631 Translation of the Letter of Barnabas at CatholicCulture.org https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1646 Audiobook of Second Clement https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/so-called-second-letter-st-clement/ Translation of Second Clement at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1990 More Works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's Website https://fathersofthechurch.com Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.

St. Polycarp of Smyrna was a man with many connections. He knew the Apostle John, and St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St. Irenaeus of Lyon, and Pope Anicetus, and the arch-heretic Marcion. He also sought the company of many elders who had heard Jesus and witnessed the Lord's miracles. Polycarp led a long and fascinating life, and he died a martyr's death. In this episode we tell his story through his many relationships — his social network in the infant church, which like an infant child was rapidly growing in 150 A.D. Links Kenneth Howell's new translation of ancient works by and about St. Polycarp https://www.amazon.com/Ignatius-Antioch-Polycarp-Christian-Fathers/dp/0980006651/ St. Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1626 The Church of Smyrna's account of Polycarp's martyrdom https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1627 Audio of the ancient works related to St. Polycarp https://www.catholicculture.org/search/search.cfm?searchgoals=6&andsearch=Polycarp%20audiobooks More Works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/ Mike Aquilina's Website https://fathersofthechurch.com Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.