Kerygma · History & Traditions

Early Church Fathers trivia, the writings on hand.

The first generations after the apostles — Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Athanasius, Augustine. Kerygma's Early Church Fathers category tests their writings, their controversies, and the doctrinal foundations they laid.

What's covered

  • The Apostolic Fathers — Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, the Didache.
  • The apologists — Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Theophilus.
  • Ante-Nicene Fathers — Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian.
  • Nicene Fathers — Athanasius, the Cappadocians (Basil, the two Gregorys), Ambrose.
  • Post-Nicene giants — Augustine, Jerome, Chrysostom.
  • Major controversies — Arianism, Pelagianism, Donatism, Christological debates.

A round, in two minutes

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Sample question

Profound · Early Church Fathers

Which fourth-century bishop is best remembered for defending the full divinity of Christ against Arius?

  1. Augustine of Hippo
  2. Athanasius of Alexandria
  3. Ambrose of Milan
  4. Jerome of Stridon

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."John 1:1

Athanasius (c. 296–373) spent his episcopate defending the Nicene homoousios — that the Son is "of the same substance" as the Father — against Arian claims that the Son was a created being. He was exiled five times. On the Incarnation remains his most-read work and one of the foundational texts of Christology.

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