Most helpful selections from the Church Fathers for apologetics

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monscarmeli

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Blessed Easter to all!

I tried searching around for a suitable answer to my question, but decided to just ask it:

Has Catholic Answers (or any other organization) put together any kind of index of the most helpful selections from the Church Fathers in defending the faith?

While I don’t want to just sit and expect others to “do my research for me”, yet there’s a great quantity of patristic writings and obviously others have sifted through it all and found the most useful writings. For example, while St. John Chrysostom’s homilies are indeed edifying and enriching, yet it may well be that most of them aren’t particularly helpful in debating with Protestants.

I am deeply grateful for whatever information you can share, thank you!!

Tom
 
If you’re up for a basic book, I would suggest “Fathers Know Best” by Jimmy Akin. It has quotes from the various fathers organized by topic.
 
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I’d start with the writings of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Iranaeus. I know I’m leaving out a few, but that’s a good selection of pretty early stuff. You should be able to find all of this over at New Advent, for free.
 
thank you - oddly enough, that book is sitting in my Amazon shopping cart right now…!!
 
Good! Though it’s more of a reference guide than a book, if that makes sense. It does list the documents these quotes come from, which may inspire you to find the original sources.
 
Thank you for the list, that’s great – I should just start with them and see where it leads me…
 
You have to check out the “Faith of the Early Fathers” by William Jurgens. It is 3 volumes, but volume 1 would probably be the most helpful. It is incredible! The volumes include the most prominent and applicable writings of the Fathers. It also has an amazing index at the back where you can quickly look up writings/teachings of the Fathers by subject (like baptism, Mary, etc.). These volumes were instrumental in my process for discovering what the early Church Fathers believed in and taught. Perfect for apologetics because of how accessible and thorough it is!
 
That sounds very much like what I’m looking for: topical references to original sources, thank you!
 
Ah! That’s a book I already have, awesome! The index you describe is exactly what I need, I guess I better get it off the shelf and start reading!

On the topic of Jurgens, I have perused the contents and am wondering: does he include some writings that aren’t necessarily considered part of the regular “canon” of patristic writings? As in, does he reference some of what we would consider “apocryphal”, as far as the early fathers go?

Thanks…
 
He does, from my understanding. Still an excellent resource. I’d also recommend Bercot’s “Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs” as a helpful companion with Jergens’ work. I’ve also found it helpful, rather than read straight through books like these, to study topically. Otherwise it can be a lot of information to digest and it helps retention if you’ve got a specific topic you’re looking into. Last year I did a topical study on Baptism using Jergens’ 3 volume set, Bercot’s “Dictionary…”, Kelly’s “Early Christian Doctrine”, Pelikan’s “The Christian Tradition”, the Ignatius Study Bible and the CCC. It took some time but was well worth it.
 
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thank you again, that really does sound like what I was hoping for - God bless you for your zeal and willingness to help!
 
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