![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Otsy.jpg/640px-Otsy.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Church Fathers
Group of ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Ante-Nicene Fathers?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical period in which they worked became known as the Patristic Era and spans approximately from the late 1st to mid-8th centuries,[lower-alpha 1] flourishing in particular during the 4th and 5th centuries, when Christianity was in the process of establishing itself as the state church of the Roman Empire.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2022) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Otsy.jpg/320px-Otsy.jpg)
For many denominations of Christianity, the writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Nicene Fathers and Post-Nicene Fathers are included in Sacred Tradition.[1] As such, in traditional dogmatic theology, authors considered Church Fathers are treated as authoritative for the establishment of doctrine.[2][3] The academic field of patristics, the study of the Church Fathers, has extended the scope of the term, and there is no definitive list.[4][5][better source needed] Some, such as Origen and Tertullian, made major contributions to the development of later Christian theology, but certain elements of their teaching were later condemned.