SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Great Christian Thinkers - 15 St. John Chrysostom
Great Christian Thinkers - 15 St. John Chrysostom
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. John Chrysostom The Years in Antioch Recently we observed the sixteenth centenary of St. John Chrysostom’s death (407–2007). It can be said that John of Antioch, nicknamed “Chrysostom,” that is, “golden-mouthed,” because of his eloquence, is also still alive today because of …
Great Christian Thinkers - 14 St, Gregory of Nyssa
Great Christian Thinkers - 14 St, Gregory of Nyssa
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Gregory of Nyssa Theologian of Life in the Spirit In the last chapters, I spoke of two great fourth-century Doctors of the Church, Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, a bishop in Cappadocia, in present-day Turkey. Today, we are adding a third, St. Gregory of Nyssa, Basil’s brothe…
Great Christian Thinkers - 13 St. Gregory of Nazianzus
Great Christian Thinkers - 13 St. Gregory of Nazianzus
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Gregory of Nazianzus His Life and Times After discussing St. Basil, a Father of the Church and a great teacher of the faith, I speak now of his friend Gregory of Nazianzus. Like Basil, he was a native of Cappadocia. As a distinguished theologian, orator, and champion of the C…
Great Christian Thinkers - 11 St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Great Christian Thinkers - 11 St. Cyril of Jerusalem
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Cyril of Jerusalem Our attention is focused now on St. Cyril of Jerusalem. His life is woven of two dimensions: on the one hand, pastoral care, and on the other, his involvement, in spite of himself, in the heated controversies that were then tormenting the Church of the East…
Great Christian Thinkers - 10 St. Athanasius of Alexandria
Great Christian Thinkers - 10 St. Athanasius of Alexandria
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Athanasius of Alexandria Continuing our re-visitation of the great teachers of the ancient Church, let us focus our attention on St. Athanasius of Alexandria… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by Pope Benedict XVI
Great Christian Thinkers - 9 Eusebius of Caesarea
Great Christian Thinkers - 9 Eusebius of Caesarea
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Eusebius of Caesarea In the history of early Christianity, there is a fundamental distinction between the first three centuries and those that followed the Council of Nicaea in 325, the First Ecumenical Council… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by Pope Benedict XVI
Great Christian Thinkers - 8 St. Cyprian
Great Christian Thinkers - 8 St. Cyprian
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Cyprian We come now to an excellent African bishop of the third century, St. Cyprian, “the first bishop in Africa to obtain the crown of martyrdom.” His fame, Pontius the Deacon, his first biographer, attests, is also linked to his literary corpus and pastoral activity during…
Great Christian Thinkers - 7 Tertullian
Great Christian Thinkers - 7 Tertullian
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Tertullian We continue to speak of the ancient Church’s great personalities. They are teachers of the faith also for us today and witnesses of the perennial timeliness of the Christian faith… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by Pope Benedict XVI
Great Christian Thinkers - 6 Origen of Alexandria
Great Christian Thinkers - 6 Origen of Alexandria
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
Origen of Alexandria His Life and Work In our meditations on the great figures of the early Church, we now become acquainted with one of the most remarkable. Origen of Alexandria truly was a figure crucial to the whole development of Christian thought. He gathered up the legacy o…
Great Christian Thinkers - 4 St. Irenaeus of Lyons
Great Christian Thinkers - 4 St. Irenaeus of Lyons
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Irenaeus of Lyons In reflecting on the prominent figures of the early Church, we come to the eminent personality of St. Irenaeus of Lyons. The biographical information on him comes from his own testimony, handed down to us by Eusebius in his fifth book on Church history… Take…
Great Christian Thinkers - 2 St. Ignatius of Antioch
Great Christian Thinkers - 2 St. Ignatius of Antioch
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St. Ignatius of Antioch Saint Ignatius was the third bishop of Antioch, from 70 to 107, the date of his martyrdom. At that time, Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch were the three great metropolises of the Roman Empire… Taken from Great Christian Thinkers by Pope Benedict XVI
Great Christian Thinkers - 1 St Clement, Bishop of Rome
Great Christian Thinkers - 1 St Clement, Bishop of Rome
by SPCK - Pope Benedict XVI
St Clement, Bishop of Rome After the first witnesses of the Christian faith, mentioned in the New Testament writings, we find the Apostolic Fathers, that is, to the first and second generations in the Church subsequent to the Apostles. And thus, we can see where the Church’s jour…
Great Christian Thinkers - Publisher's Foreword