Table of The Early Church Fathers & Others

Podcast Episodes: 2.21 on, and season three.

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The Table

This is a table of the documents and church fathers I mention in the podcast, and some other notable worthies. The dates cited are the broadest accepted by scholars who, needless to say, often differ. I also have a nice chart for you.

Person, Document, or Event	Flourished	Notes
Apostolic Fathers, those whom tradition says knew the apostles
Clement	65?–100	Anonymous. Clement was held to be a Bishop of Rome, and the author of several influential letters, which assert apostolic succession. A few scholars hold 1 Clement was written as early as 65.
Didache	80–120	Anonymous. Book of church order, that almost made it into the New Testament.
Ignatius	85?–115 or 105-140	Bishop of Antioch. Student of the apostle John and friend of Polycarp. Author of seven letters, about which there is much dispute. Advocate of episcopal supremacy. Creates the cult of martyrs, and coins the term catholic.
Papias	95–120 or 110–140	Bishop of Hierapolis. Student of John and companion to Polycarp. Only known by quotations in later Fathers, who held him in low esteem.
Shepherd of Hermas	100–160	Anonymous. Much loved allegory that many thought should be in the New Testament. Hermas was variously associated with Paul, or bishops Clement or Pius of Rome.
Polycarp	100–155/165	Bishop of Smyrna. Student of John and companion to Papias. Reluctant martyr.
Cerinthus	100	Early Gnostic. Supposed opponent of the evangelist John.
2nd Century
Basilides	120–140	Early Gnostic.
Epistle of Barnabas	125-135	Anonymous. Attributed to a companion of Paul. Almost made it into the New Testament.
Valentinus	135–165	Early Gnostic.
Marcion	140–160	First to compile a canon for the NT. Marcion broke from mainstream Christianity when the Roman Jesus club rejected his proposed canon. He constructed his own canon, consisting of an abridged version of Luke, and some of Paul's letters. His organisation vexed the other Jesus clubs for centuries.
Montanus	140?–210	Very uncertain dating. Created a schismatic, ascetic, and prophetic following that flourished in Asia Minor for centuries.
Justin Martyr	150–165	Prolific apologist and exegete, the most important thinker between Paul and Origen.
Melito	150–180	Bishop of Sardis. First Christian to refer to the Jewish scriptures as the OT.
Irenaeus	150–200	Bishop of Lyon. Knew Polycarp as a boy. Author of the massive work Against the Heretics, which provides us with invaluable information about earliest Christianity.
Tatian	160–185	Compiler of the Diatessaron, a synthesis of the four gospels.
Clement of Alexandria	180–215	First great intellectual and theologian of Christianity. Transitional figure to the more sophisticated authors of later centuries. Founded the first Christian academy at Alexandria. My have known Tatian.
3rd Century
Origen	200–250	First Christian Bible scholar. Compiled the Hexapla, a critical edition of the Old Testament. Possibly the most prolific writer of antiquity, writing over 2,000 treatises. Much later condemned as a heretic.
Tertullian	200–240	First Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. Later converted to Montanism, which tarnished his legacy in orthodox opinion.
Cyprian of Carthage	245–260	Pre-eminent Latin writer of Western Christianity until Jerome and Augustine. Much influenced by Tertullian.
4th Century
Edict of Toleration	313	Christianity legalised.
Eusebius	310–340	Bishop of the old Roman capital of Judea, Caesarea Maritima. Important Church historian. His works are often the sole source we have for earlier church fathers.
Council of Nicaea	325	Basic creed of Christianity established.
Athanasius	330–375	Controversial Patriarch of Alexandria. First to define the canon of New Testament exactly as we have it.
Ambrose	375–395	Bishop of Milan. Major influence on church-state relations through the Middle Ages.
Edict of Thessalonica	380	Christianity made the state religion.
5th Century
Jerome	380–420	Compiler of the Latin Vulgate, a translation of the Bible into Latin that was used by the western Church for centuries. Correspondent of Augustine.
Augustine	390–430	Bishop of Hippo. Most influential theologian of all the Fathers in the West.
John Chrysostom	390–407	Patriarch of Constantinople. Greatest preacher of the Fathers.