Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #324641 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 250 pages

Language Notes
Text: English, French (translation)

Customer Reviews

It does what it is supposed to do...
I highly recommend this book . It is a quick, easy, yet excellent introduction the the Fathers of The Church and the Patristic period. It is not a deep, comprehensive, scholarly account of their lives and works: the author admits this openly in the preface. He says something like: "I strove just to tell the story of the early Church as a family, and how the 'fathers' protected their 'family.'" In this respect, which is how the book is set up, Aquilina has done an amazing job. One who expects the book to be a full, all-encompassing account of the early Church which doesn't occasionally gloss over details should look at the book's dimensions. If you're looking for that, don't buy this book. If you are relatively new to the Fathers, this is good springboard to get you interested in them and move into deeper study.

In short: The book's aims are merely to introduce the fathers of the church; it does this superbly; therefore, it is a good book in its own right.

The Fathers
This is a great book. It is well written.It will give you a good idea of Church Fathers.

Faith of Our Fathers
With a growing interest within the Church concerning the beliefs of the earliest Christians, there has been an avalanche of books on the patristic period. One of the best introductory volumes is provided by Catholic author Mike Aquilina with The Fathers of the Church. Too often books on the topic tends more towards apologetics and prooftexting the Fathers against modern ecclesial disputes. Aquilina, although obviously firmly in the Roman fold, avoids that here and gives a much broader sample of their writings than those allegedly pertinent to contemporary ecclesial disputes.

The book opens with an introduction that focuses on the importance of studying the Fathers. The Church, like any family, has a history, and we should get to know our spiritual ancestors. More importantly, they wrote at a time prior to the Church's current divisions and can lend light on issues free of contemporary partisan concerns. By studying their writings, we can begin to appropriate the legacy of the early Church for ourselves.

The main portion of the book is divided into four sections covering the Apostolic, Pre-Nicene, Nicene, and Post-Nicene Fathers. Each is given a brief introduction and then a selection from their writings is presented. The strength here is in the variety with topics ranging from the Sacraments to martyrdom, from Church unity to the family. While the treatment is certainly not exhaustive (the writing of the Fathers could fill many large volumes), it is excellent for a small book. An appendix listing sources for further study and a helpful timeline close the book.

There is definitely a need for the Church to refamiliarize itself with the writings of its earliers members. Mike Aquilina has for some time been involved in such work in the Catholic Church through his books and website. The Fathers of the Church fills a much needed niche in such a ministry and is essential reading for those beginning to explore the widom of the ancient Christians.