Is St. Optatus a Church Father?

[Bballer32]

Hello everyone!! Hope all is well!

I was wondering if St. Optatus or Optate is a Church Father? I’ve heard from sources that he is and from others that he isn’t. If he is not would he be considered a reliable source? He has some great works on the Donatists and the like.

Thanks

Bballer32

 

[Aelred_Minor]

To my knowledge there is no “official” list of all the Fathers of the Church, unlike the Doctors of the Church. If St. Optatus was a Catholic saint, a valuable author, and lived in the early centuries of the Church, all of which seem to be the case, then why wouldn’t he be considered a Church Father?

 

[edward_george]

He was writing during the Patristic period, so you might call him a Father. However, just because someone is grouped in with the “Fathers of the Church” isn’t necessarily a stamp of approval on their works. Tertullian and Origen are both considered Fathers of the Church, and yet their writings have, depending on which period you examine from each, some major problems in their theological content. The Church doesn’t declare someone is a Father of the Church; so far as I am aware it’s a mostly academic distinction that just serves to group that period of the development of the theology–i.e. you have the Apostolic period, so writings contemporary with the Gospels themselves and the other NT authors, then the Patristic age, which stretches until about the 600s, depending on who you ask, then the Middle Ages, and so forth.

That said, from what I see of St. Optatus, his writings contra Donatism do seem to be quite worth reading.

-ACEGC

 

[Bballer32]

He was writing during the Patristic period, so you might call him a Father. However, just because someone is grouped in with the “Fathers of the Church” isn’t necessarily a stamp of approval on their works. Tertullian and Origen are both considered Fathers of the Church, and yet their writings have, depending on which period you examine from each, some major problems in their theological content. The Church doesn’t declare someone is a Father of the Church; so far as I am aware it’s a mostly academic distinction that just serves to group that period of the development of the theology–i.e. you have the Apostolic period, so writings contemporary with the Gospels themselves and the other NT authors, then the Patristic age, which stretches until about the 600s, depending on who you ask, then the Middle Ages, and so forth.

That said, from what I see of St. Optatus, his writings contra Donatism do seem to be quite worth reading.

-ACEGC

Thanks for the response!

I knew about Turtillian, Origen, and all the other heretics who are church Fathers but with Optatus it’s a little bit different. We as Catholics consider Optatus a saint and the Eastern Orthodox do not. So my confusion came into play thinking “Well, he lived in the Patristic era but isn’t even considered by the EO, so maybe he isn’t a good resource to use for debates with people.” Why i thought this is because most (dare i say ‘common’) Church fathers that aren’t Saints are considered by both Churches. On the other hand all Father’s that are saints are saints in both Church’s except Optatus. It’s basically a question as to whether or not Optatus is a good resource to use.

But thanks for clearing that up for me! May God Bless you

 

[edward_george]

Thanks for the response!

I knew about Turtillian, Origen, and all the other heretics who are church Fathers but with Optatus it’s a little bit different. We as Catholics consider Optatus a saint and the Eastern Orthodox do not. So my confusion came into play thinking “Well, he lived in the Patristic era but isn’t even considered by the EO, so maybe he isn’t a good resource to use for debates with people.” Why i thought this is because most (dare i say ‘common’) Church fathers that aren’t Saints are considered by both Churches. On the other hand all Father’s that are saints are saints in both Church’s except Optatus. It’s basically a question as to whether or not Optatus is a good resource to use.

But thanks for clearing that up for me! May God Bless you

I’d say use whatever states the argument in away that’s useful for you and makes sense to your interlocutor. If Optatus is the one who cuts through in a debate in that regard, use Optatus. If someone else, by all means, use the work of someone else. It’s not necessary to establish criteria of “accepted by the West but not the East” or “Church Father or not” or anything like that; if someone formulates the truth in a good way, use their way of formulating it. Even Origen and Tertullian are greatly respected by the Church today (we’d not use their writings in the Liturgy of the Hours if they didn’t have something good to say, no?). As Paul tells Timothy, test everything, hold on to what is good.

-ACEGC