patristic

Patristic refers to the study of the Church Fathers and to things related to them. In Christian usage, the term designates both the early period of Christianity and the body of writings produced by the theologians known as the Church Fathers. The patristic era broadly covers the 1st through the 8th or early 9th century, with boundaries varying by tradition.

Patristic literature includes apologetics, doctrinal expositions, biblical interpretation, liturgical instruction, and pastoral guidance, and it often serves as the bedrock for later theology and creedal development.

Prominent figures include Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, Athanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Nazianzen, John Chrysostom, Jerome, and Augustine, along with Cyril of Alexandria and other Greek Fathers. Their writings defended key doctrines such as the divinity and humanity of Christ, the Trinity, the church’s nature and authority, and the sacraments, while engaging controversies like Arianism, Gnosticism, and Donatism.

Patristic works were composed in Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and other languages and were later foundational for medieval theology and ecclesial practice, including creeds and canon formation.

In modern scholarship, patristics (or patrology) is the scholarly study of these texts, using textual criticism, historical context, and philology to interpret them and trace their influence on later theology, liturgy, and ecumenical councils. Major reference corpora include the Patrologia Graeca and Patrologia Latina.