The Fathers of the Church, Expanded Edition | 
| Author: Mike Aquilina
Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 22465
Media: Paperback
Edition: Expanded
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 289
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.5
ISBN: 159276245X
Dewey Decimal Number: 270.1
EAN: 9781592762453
ASIN: 159276245X
Publication Date: October 2, 2006
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Book Description
The Fathers of the Church, first published a decade ago, has become the standard popular introduction to the great teachers of early Christianity. Now, this new edition presents more material from more of the Fathers -- including authors from little-known traditions of Egypt, East Syria, North Africa, and the lands that make up modern Iran and Iraq. Also new with this edition is a section on selected "Mothers of the Church," holy women from Christian antiquity.
This expanded edition features full references and citations, a topical index, detailed bibliography, and ancient texts available in English for the first time in more than a century.
The Fathers of the Church is an excellent place to pass on those same teachings and traditions -- long established as an indispensable reference tool for clergy, seminarians, RCIA candidates, and lay Catholics who want to strive to live up to the "Faith of Our Fathers."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Introduction of Earley church fathers May 15, 2008
If you want a good introduction of the early church fathers, this is the book for you.
Great read! April 5, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A great read, informative, interesting, not boring at all. Easy to read and easy to understand.
 FROM MY NATL CATHOLIC REGISTER review March 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
When I was a theology student in the late 70s and early 80s, the "Fathers of the Church" were Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, and Hans Kueng. In contrast, we had a lot of students from a local Orthodox seminary, who seemed to be reared on a diet of St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil, and St. Gregory of Nyssa.
Happily, however, the Fathers are back! Writing in 2006 in "First Things," R.R. Reno observed that "the patriarchs of orthodoxy are reascendant." The Fathers' return to the classroom is truly welcome, but--after all--John Chrysostom didn't get called "Golden-Mouthed" because of his lectures but because of his sermons! Happily, there is also growing popular interest in the Fathers. Mike Aquilina's book will fan that flame.
Why study the Fathers? The Fathers were guardians of the faith. St. Vincent of Lerins provides this reason: "'In the Catholic Church, all care must be taken to hold to the faith that has been believed everywhere, always, and by all. For that is truly and in the strictest sense `Catholic'. . . . This rule we observe if we follow universality, antiquity, and consent. We follow universality if we confess . . . the faith that the whole Church throughout the world confesses. We follow antiquity if we in no way deviate from the interpretations that our holy ancestors and fathers have proclaimed as inviolable. We follow in consent . . . if in antiquity we adhere to the definitions and decisions of all (or at least almost all) the priests and doctors. . . . . [W]hatever [has] been held, written, taught--not just by one or two of these, but by all, equally, with one consent, openly, frequently, persistently--that is what he must himself believe without any doubt or hesitation" (pp. 220-21).
In very readable prose, Aquilina provides an introduction to and excerpts from all of the main Latin and Greek Fathers. The 31 Fathers, representing East and West, include both the well-known (like St. Augustine) and the little-known (like Ephrem of Syria). Following a general introduction to the Fathers and their world, the book proceeds chronologically, surveying the Apostolic, Ante-Nicene, Nicene, and Post-Nicene Fathers. In a comprehensive and masterful survey, Aquilina presents all the major Patristic figures, starting with Ss. Ignatius of Antioch and Clement of Rome and ending with John Damascene.
Each Father is preceded by a brief biographical sketch explaining who he was, what he did, and why it was important. At least one (often two to a maximum of five) excerpts from that Father's writings follow. While giving a flavor for the issues of the author's day, the excerpts are not merely dry historical passages. Aquilina's masterful anthology nourishes the contemporary reader's spirituality, addressing issues like "To Work and to Pray" (Benedict of Nursia), "A Song for Christmas" (Ephrem of Syria), and "When Someone Gossips about You" (Maximus the Confessor). Those selections corroborate an underlying thesis of the book: that the Fathers remain cogent authorities on the spiritual life even for Christians today! At the same time, Aquilina situates the Fathers firmly in their own times, choosing excerpts illustrative of issues they had to address: the problems of persecution (Polycarp, Justin Martyr), heresy (Clement of Alexandria), Christology (Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem), and iconoclasm (John Damascene).
The book concludes with three excerpts from important women in the ancient Church (Perpetua, Syncletica, and Egeria). For those whose appetites are whetted, an annotated bibliography provides further reading suggestions.
While certainly appropriate for undergraduate theology classes, the primary audience for this book should be a general Catholic readership interested in learning about the Fathers and the Church during its first seven centuries.
Aquilina's love for the Fathers might inspire him to update M.F. Toal's old "Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers" according to the new Lectionary. Such a project could greatly renew the quality of Sunday homilies.
Unmatched in breadth and passion February 2, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
For breadth of coverage and pathos of the fathers, Dr. Aquilina's work is unmatched. The introductory material is brief but covers a wide swath of the early heresies and persecutions with which the fathers dealt.
The first 600 years of the church give us the development and systemization of major doctrines of the faith. To understand the development of doctrine, one must understand these works. But this is not some dry stuffy collection, this is the heart of the church. Dr. Aquilina updates time-honored 19th century translations to a more modern vernacular and gives us messages from the hearts of great men and women. Indeed, the addition of the "Mothers of the Church" section is one more area that also sets this work apart from others like it.
Anyone familiar with Dr. Aquilina's work can sense the passion he has for the church and her heritage. His love for the communion of saints is infectious and his books go straight to the heart of those who also love the body of Christ. As an historian, Dr. Aquilina makes "His story" come alive with real people and real issues with which we can relate to our own lives. Perhaps no other author has made the early church so accessible and so attractive to the modern reader. We cannot give this work enough praise for the breadth of coverage and passion it instills in the reader.
If you own no other book on the early church fathers, you will want this one. And if this does not give you a love for the body of Christ and the saints who have gone before us, then you need to see a heart specialist more than you need any more books. Make this little gem a part of your prayer life (see also, The Way of the Fathers: Praying With the Early Christians) and you will find riches beyond measure.
very informative December 17, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
As is usually the case,once you read of the Church in its infancy and the Fathers that shelterd it,you come away much more apriciative of your faith.So many people thru the ages laid down there lives for the Church and its inspiring to read of them.
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