The Fathers of the Church presents the most important authors and works of the early history of Christian literature. Spanning the first seven hundred years of Christianity, this volume introduces writers such as Philo, Origen, Eusebius, Jerome, and Augustine, among many others. All of the authors are presented in their respective political, social, ecclesiastical, and cultural contexts, and their writings are organized in terms of bibliographies, editions, English translations, ancillary sources, and relevant literature.

Hubertus Drobner brings patristics scholarship up to date in this valuable introduction. His work is sufficiently broad to be a useful summary of early Christian history and its expansive strokes of doctrinal debate and development. In addition, it provides a clear presentation of contemporary studies and views on these important writers and their works.

Originally published in German as Lehrbuch der Patrologie, The Fathers of the Church offers English-speaking readers easy access to Drobner's traditional introduction to early Christian thought. Drobner enhanced the English translation, prepared by Siegfried Schatzmann, with new material throughout. The bibliographies were updated and expanded by the author and by William Harmless, SJ.

"A well-known and widely used introduction (already translated into Italian, French, Spanish, Korean, and Portuguese) now appears in English dress as an adapted, expanded, and updated version of the 1994 German original. . . . A welcome and very useful reference work that should be widely used."
--Religious Studies Review

"I can highly recommend this book to both teachers and students in schools of theology and seminaries due to . . . the amount of information provided in just 600 pages. . . . I am convinced that this volume will become the normative contemporary source to be first consulted by those seeking further information about the Fathers."
--Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae

"This book is highly recommended for seminaries and schools of theology."
--American Reference Books Annual

Reviews (3)