With this episode author Mike Aquilina begins his twice-monthly series on the lives, times, and works of the early Church Fathers. The Way of the Fathers begins with answers to basic questions. What is fatherhood? And who are the Fathers?

The answers come from sources ancient (Vincent of Lerins) and modern (Ratzinger) — theologians who draw from the still more ancient words and patterns of biblical religion.

Mapping the Way of the Fathers, Aquilina touches upon the achievements of the early Christians, especially their establishment of the canons of Scripture, liturgy, and Church order.

The Fathers made us who we are. This podcast begins our pilgrimage to give them the honor that’s their due.

Links

Buy Mike Aquilina’s book The Fathers of the Church https://www.amazon.com/Fathers-Church-Mike-Aquilina/dp/1612785611 

Buy Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Catholic-Theology-Building-Fundamental/dp/0898702151 

Follow Mike Aquilina on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMikeAquilina

Works of the Fathers online https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/

More Works by the Fathers http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/

Contemporary Application of an Idea from the Fathers: The Catena https://www.beholdthetruth.com

Mike Aquilina’s Website https://fathersofthechurch.com

Mike Aquilina at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Aquilina

USCCB: “Praying with the Fathers of the Church: A Reflection per Day for Advent-Christmas and Lent-Easter,” by Mike Aquilina http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/catechesis/catechetical-sunday/prayer/family-resources-mike-aquilina.cfm

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 this episode we examine the history of the study of the Fathers since the Reformation. The field has enjoyed explosive growth since then. We live in a time when so many works by the Fathers (and about the Fathers) are freely available online.

What drives people to read the Fathers?

Well, they’re apologetically useful. The Fathers returned to vogue after the 16th century because both Catholics and Protestants believed the documents of the early Church would be useful in apologetics.

And they are! They have inspired many conversions. But they’re more than that. They’re delightful to read. They fill us with hard-won wisdom. They tell riveting, dramatic stories. They show us how to keep a good sense of humor in the midst of great challenges.

Best of all, they draw us closer to Jesus Christ.

One of the exemplary students of the Fathers was St. John Henry Newman, and in this episode we examine the lessons he drew from their work.

Links

Buy Johannes Quasten’s four-volume set, Patrology https://www.amazon.com/Patrology-4-Set-Johannes-Quasten/dp/0870611410/

Read St. John Henry Newman’s An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine http://www.newmanreader.org/works/development/index.html

Read “Newman and the Fathers,” by Mike Aquilina https://fathersofthechurch.com/2011/01/26/newman-and-the-fathers/

Works of the Fathers online https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/

More Works by the Fathers http://www.tertullian.org/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.

Clement of Rome led a church in turmoil. Its people were deeply divided. The secular culture was hostile to the faith. Across the ocean from the Eternal City the laity were rising up in rebellion against the clergy. And it was only 67 A.D. St. Peter was hardly cold in his grave on Vatican Hill. How should his successor lead in such a crisis? Clement healed the Church in the way of the Apostles: by writing a winsome, reasonable, gentle letter — which is the subject of Episode 3 of “The Way of the Fathers” with Mike Aquilina.

Clement’s Epistle to the Corinthians is, says Johannes Quasten, “the earliest piece of literature outside the New Testament for which the name, position, and date of the author are historically attested.” It provides us a snapshot of Church life as the first Christian generation turned over to the second. And it reveals the origins of so many doctrines: apostolic succession, Roman primacy, the papal office, and the unity of the Old Testament and the New.

Christians today don’t fully understand the achievement of the Apostles unless they understand the work of their immediate disciples. Clement knew both Peter and Paul and carried their mission forward according to their model and instructions. His words are useful for our own time of crisis.

Links

Buy Kenneth Howell’s new edition and translation of Clement of Rome’s Epistle. https://www.amazon.com/Clement-Didache-Early-Christian-Fathers/dp/0983082979/

Read Clement in the context of the other Apostolic Fathers. https://www.amazon.com/Early-Christian-Writings-Apostolic-Fathers/dp/0140444750/

Compare Clement’s letter in Greek and English. https://www.amazon.com/1-Clement-Readers-Theodore-Bergren/dp/0813232368/

Read a recent study of Clement’s Letter, by a respected scholar and official of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. https://www.amazon.com/Clement-Early-Church-Rome-Corinthians-ebook/dp/B004OEIWGC/

Clement’s First Epistle to the Corinthians online https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1608

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. Ignatius of Antioch is the first of the Fathers to leave us abundant writings. His seven letters are passionate — warm, yet authoritative — spontaneous, but doctrinally rich. Written in 107 A.D. as the aged bishop traveled from Antioch to a martyr’s death in Rome, the letters give witness to many of the early Church’s beliefs and practices: Jesus’ true humanity and true divinity; his real presence in the Eucharist; and the universal hierarchy of bishop, priest, and deacon. The host of this podcast, Mike Aquilina, confesses Ignatius to be his favorite among the Fathers.

Links

Buy Kenneth Howell’s new edition and translation of the letters of Ignatius of Antioch https://www.amazon.com/Ignatius-Antioch-Polycarp-Christian-Fathers/dp/0980006651/

Enjoy a dramatic, novelistic retelling of the story of Ignatius  https://www.amazon.com/Four-Witnesses-Early-Church-Words/dp/0898708478/

Learn from a recent study of the life and work of Ignatius, especially in regard to Jewish-Christian relations https://www.amazon.com/Ignatius-Antioch-Parting-Ways-Jewish-Christian/dp/0801047579/

Browse the letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch online (free text) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/#

Hear the letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch online (free audio) https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/category/audiobooks

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.

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.

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.

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.