Product Description Following his best selling book, Jesus of Nazareth, and his talks published in Jesus, the Apostles, and the Early Church, Pope Benedict's Church Fatherspresents these important figures of early Christianity in all their evangelical vitality, spiritual profundity, and uncompromising love of God. Benedict tells the true story of Christianity's against-all-odds triumph in the face of fierce pagan Roman hostility and persecution. He does this by exploring the lives and the ideas of the early Christian writers, pastors, and martyrs, the men so important to the spread of Christianity that history knows them as "the Fathers of the Church".
This rich and engrossing survey of the early Church includes those churchmen who immediately succeeded the Apostles, the "Apostolic Fathers": Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus of Lyon. Benedict also discusses such great Christian figures as Tertullian, Origen, and Cyprian of Carthage, the Cappadocian Fathers, as well as the giants John Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, Leo the Great, and Benedict of Nursia, the Pope's namesake. This book is a wonderful way to get to know the Church Fathers and the tremendous spiritually rich patrimony they have bequeathed to us.
Customer Reviews:
Fathers know bestDecember 10, 2008 10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Ignatius Press' collection of the Holy Father's Wednesday audience addresses on the Church Fathers is a must-have for anyone interested in early Church history. Picking up where he left off with the Apostles, Pope Benedict spent 2007 and 2008 explaining the role of these early leaders in resolving doctrinal controversies and shepherding their flocks. For instance, the lead address explains how Pope St. Clement, the third successor to the papacy who reigned at the end of the first century, spoke with authority to the church in Corinth. Thus early on in the life the Church, the Bishop of Rome exercised primacy over neighboring communities. These brief biographical sketches also offer critical lessons for today. We learn that according to St. Ambrose, a mentor to St. Augustine, "catechesis is inseparable from witness of life." In other words, those who are charged with teaching the faith must practice what they preach. It is worth pointing out what an elegant, well-made book Ignatius Press has produced. The hardcover edition features a tightly bound spine, quality paper, and an attractive dust-jacket design. Even at the $15 list price, this book is a bargain.
