List of Catholic philosophers and theologians

This is a list of Catholic philosophers and theologians whose Catholicism is important to their works. The names are ordered by date of birth in order to give a rough sense of influence between thinkers.

Ancient (born before 500 AD)

Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35/50 – between 98 and 110)
Papias of Hierapolis (c. 60 – c. 163)
Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69 – c. 155)
Justin Martyr (100–165)
Irenaeus (130–202)
Clement of Rome (died 99)
Clement of Alexandria (150–215)
Tertullian (155–222)
Origen of Alexandria (184–253)
Cyprian of Carthage (200–258)
Aphrahat (270–345)
Athanasius of Alexandria (296–373)
Hillary of Poitiers (300–368)
Ephrem the Syrian (306–373)
Basil of Caesarea (329–379)
Gregory Nazianzus (329–390)
Gregory of Nyssa (335–395)
Ambrose (340–397)
Jerome (347–420)
John Chrysostom (347–407)
Augustine of Hippo (354–430)
Cyril of Alexandria (378–444)
Isaac of Antioch (451–452)
Boethius (477–524)

Early Medieval (born between 500 AD and 1100 AD)

Pope Gregory I (540-604)
Isadore of Seville (560-636)
Maximus the Confessor (580-662)
Bede (672/3-735)
John of Damascus (675/6-749)
Radbertus (785-865)
John Scotus Eriugena (800-877)
Anselm of Canterbury (1033/4-1109)
Peter Abelard (1079-1142)
Adelard of Bath (1080-1152)
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Peter Lombard (1096-1160)
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

High Medieval (born between 1100 AD and 1450 AD)

Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253)
Francis of Assisi (1181/2-1226)
Alexander of Hales (1185-1245)
Albertus Magnus (1193-1280)
Henry of Ghent (1217-1293)
Roger Bacon (1219/20-1292)
Bonaventure (1221-1274)
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Ramon Llull (1232-1315)
Giles of Rome (1243-1316)
Godfrey of Fontaines (1250-1306/9)
James of Viterbo (1255-1307)
Gertrude of Helfta (1256-1302)
Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
John Duns Scotus (1266-1308)
William of Alnwick (1275-1333)
William of Ockham (1287-1347)
William of Ware (1290-1305)
Henry Suso (1295-1366)
Jean Buridan (1300-1358/61)
Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373)
Albert of Saxony (1320-1390)
Nicole Oresme (1325-1382)
Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
Jean Gerson (1363-1429)
John Capreolus (1380-1444)
Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464)

Renaissance and Early Modern (born between 1450 AD and 1750 AD)

Sylvester Mazzolini (1456/7-1527)
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494)
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
John Mair (1467-1550)
Thomas Cajetan (1469-1534)
Francesco Silvestri (1474-1528)
Thomas More (1478-1535)
John Fisher (1469-1535)
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
Francisco de Vitoria (1483-1546)
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
Peter Faber (1506-1546)
Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582)
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
Domingo Báñez (1528-1604)
Franciscus Patricius (1529-1597)
Luis de Molina (1535-1600)
John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621)
Justus Lipsius (1547-1606)
Francisco Suárez (1548-1617)
Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619)
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Péter Pázmány (1570-1637)
John of St. Thomas (John Poinsot) (1589-1644)
Michael Wadding (1591-1644)
René Descartes (1596-1650)
Matthias Tanner (1630-1692)
Nicolas Malebranche (1638-1715)
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Noel Alexandre (1639-1724)
Giambattista Vico (1668-1744)
Giovanni Battista Scaramelli (1687-1752)
Peter Dens (1690-1775)
Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Febronius (Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim) (1701-1790)

Doctor of the Church (Latin: doctor \”teacher\”), also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church (Latin: Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis), is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through their research, study, or writing.

Christian writers [Doctors of The Church] of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd centuries are usually referred to as the Ante-Nicene Fathers

Fathers of the Church attained this honour in the early Middle Ages: Gregory the Great, Ambrose, Augustine of Hippo, and Jerome. The \”four Doctors\” became a commonplace notion among scholastic theologians, and a decree of Boniface VIII (1298) ordering their feasts to be kept as doubles throughout the Latin Church is contained in his sixth book of Decretals (cap. \”Gloriosus\”, de relique. et vener. sanctorum, in Sexto, III, 22).

In the Byzantine Church, three Doctors were pre-eminent: John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nazianzus. The feasts of these three saints were made obligatory throughout the Eastern Empire by Leo VI the Wise. A common feast was later instituted in their honour on 30 January, called \”the feast of the three Hierarchs\”. In the Menaea for that day it is related that the three Doctors appeared in a dream to John Mauropous, Bishop of Euchaita, and commanded him to institute a festival in their honour, in order to put a stop to the rivalries of their votaries and panegyrists. This was under Alexius Comnenus (1081–1118; see \”Acta SS.\”, 14 June, under St. Basil, c. xxxviii). But sermons for the feast are attributed in manuscripts to Cosmas Vestitor, who flourished in the tenth century. The three are as common in Eastern art as the four are in Western. Durandus remarks that Doctors should be represented with books in their hands. In the West analogy led to the veneration of four Eastern Doctors, Athanasius of Alexandria being added to the three hierarchs.

The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical period in which they worked became known as the Patristic Era and spans approximately from the late 1st to mid-8th centuries, flourishing in particular during the 4th and 5th centuries, when Christianity was in the process of establishing itself as the state church of the Roman Empire

In traditional religious theology, authors considered Church Fathers are treated as authoritative, and a somewhat restrictive definition is used. The academic field of patristics, the study of the Church Fathers, has extended the scope of the term, and there is no definitive list. Some, such as Origen and Tertullian, made major contributions to the development of later Christian theology, but certain elements of their teaching were later condemned.

Great Fathers

In the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church traditions there are four Fathers each who are called the \”Great Church Fathers”. In the Catholic Church, they are collectively called the \”Eight Doctors of the Church\”

Western Church
Ambrose (A.D. 340–397)
Jerome (347–420)
Augustine of Hippo (354–430)
Pope Gregory I (540–604)
Eastern Church
Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296 or 298 – 373)
Gregory of Nazianzus (329 – c. 390)
Basil of Caesarea (c. 330 – 379)
John Chrysostom (347–407)
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, three of them (Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus and John Chrysostom) are honored as the \”Three Holy Hierarchs\”.

Apostolic Fathers

Main article: Apostolic Fathers
The Apostolic Fathers were Christian theologians who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles, or to have been significantly influenced by them. Their writings, though popular in Early Christianity, were ultimately not included in the canon of the New Testament once it reached its final form. Many of the writings derive from the same time period and geographical location as other works of early Christian literature that did come to be part of the New Testament, and some of the writings found among the Apostolic Fathers\’ seem to have been just as highly regarded as some of the writings that became the New Testament. The first three, Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp, are considered the chief ones.

Clement of Rome

Pope Clement I
The First Epistle of Clement (c. 96), is the earliest extant epistle from a Church Father. In the epistle, Clement calls on the Christians of Corinth to maintain harmony and order.

Copied and widely read in the Early Church, First Clement had been considered by some as part of the New Testament canon, e.g., listed as canonical in Canon 85 of the Canons of the Apostles, among other early canons of the New Testament, showing that it had canonical rank in at least some regions of early Christendom. As late as the 14th century Ibn Khaldun mentions it as part of the New Testament.

Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius of Antioch
Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus) (c. 35 – c. 110) was the third bishop of Antioch and a student of the Apostle John. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, the role of bishops, and the Incarnation of Christ. Specifically, concerning ecclesiology, his letter to the Romans is often cited as a testament to the universal bounds of the Roman church. He is the second after Clement to mention Paul\’s epistles.

Polycarp of Smyrna

Polycarp
Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69 – c. 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna (now İzmir in Turkey). It is recorded that he had been a disciple of \”John\”. The options/possibilities for this John are John, the son of Zebedee, traditionally viewed as the author of the Gospel of John, or John the Presbyter. Traditional advocates follow Eusebius of Caesarea in insisting that the apostolic connection of Polycarp was with John the Evangelist and that he was the author of the Gospel of John, and thus the Apostle John.

Polycarp tried and failed to persuade Pope Anicetus to have the West celebrate Passover on the 14th of Nisan, as in the Eastern calendar. Around A.D. 155, the Smyrnans of his town demanded Polycarp\’s execution as a Christian, and he died a martyr. The story of his martyrdom describes how the fire built around him would not burn him, and that when he was stabbed to death, so much blood issued from his body that it quenched the flames around him. Polycarp is recognized as a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Papias of Hierapolis

Papias of Hierapolis
Very little is known of Papias apart from what can be inferred from his own writings. He is described as \”an ancient man who was a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp\” by Polycarp\’s disciple Irenaeus (c. 180). Eusebius adds that Papias was Bishop of Hierapolis around the time of Ignatius of Antioch. In this office, Papias was presumably succeeded by Abercius of Hierapolis. The name Papias was very common in the region, suggesting that he was probably a native of the area. The work of Papias is dated by most modern scholars to about A.D. 95–120.

Despite indications that the work of Papias was still extant in the Late Middle Ages, the full text is now lost; however, extracts appear in a number of other writings, some of which cite a book number.

Alexandrian (Egypt) Fathers

Those who wrote in Greek are called the Greek (Church) Fathers. In addition to the Apostolic Fathers, famous Greek Fathers include: Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, the Cappadocian Fathers (Basil of Caesarea, Gregory Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa), Peter of Sebaste, Maximus the Confessor, and John of Damascus

Modern Church: In the Western Catholic Church, the patristic era is believed to have passed and The The Eastern Orthodox Church does not consider the age of Church Fathers to be over.

Orthodox view is that men do not have to agree on every detail, much less be infallible, to be considered Church Fathers; whereas after the Nicene councils the new church of the west decided that the Father of the church is infallible [inability to be wrong; even if he is]

NICENE: [Root word meaning) From 14c., \”of or pertaining to Nicaea (Greek Nikaia, modern Turkish Isnik), city in Bithynia where an ecclesiastical council of 325 C.E. dealt with the Arian schism and produced the Nicene Creed. A second council held there (787) considered the question of images. The name is from Greek nikaios \”victorious,\” from nikē \”victory\” (see Nike) greek goddess Nike Athena

Nike: literally \”upper hand\” (in battle, in wars, and in civil court) connected with neikos \”quarrel, strife,\” neikein \”to quarrel with,\” As the name of a type of U.S. defensive surface-to-air missiles, attested from 1952. The brand of athletic shoes and apparel, based near Portland, Oregon, has been so known since 1971, named for the Greek goddess, having been founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon sport.

Nicaea: Nicaea or Nicea (/naɪˈsiːə/; Greek: Νίκαια, Níkaia) was an ancient Greek city in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seventh Ecumenical councils in the early history of the Christian Church), the Nicene Creed (which comes from the First Council), and as the capital city of the Empire of Nicaea following the Fourth Crusade in 1204, until the recapture of Constantinople by the Byzantines in 1261.

325 AD

First Council of Nicaea, (325), the first ecumenical council of the Christian church, meeting in ancient Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey). It was called by the emperor Constantine I, an unbaptized catechumen, who presided over the opening session and took part in the discussions.

Meeting at Nicaea in present-day Turkey, the council established the equality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity and asserted that only the Son became incarnate as Jesus Christ. The Arian leaders were subsequently banished from their churches for heresy.

GOD- THE FATHER MASCULINE

GOD-THE SON OF GOD HOLY SEED

GOD- THE HOLY SPIRIT FEMINE

The son, was born of the Holy Spirit, thus making him true a God. Without sin as he was made by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary The Mother of God the Incarnate Word (Logos) gave birth to The Son Incarnate Word (Logos) by The Almighty Father (Supreme Logos)

He took on the flesh of Mankind, as Did His Mother as Mother of God, so that The Word could be revealed through them. And The New Covenant could be made, by the last sacrifice- one in which closed the chapter for the old not taking away one dot or tittle, from the laws of God, but to establish the Children of God that would then be made. As Christs Children. Although, through the passion after the 3rd day, he was risen into his ascension to His Father, to sit at His right hand, where he says he was from the beginning. (Before Abraham WAS, I AM) – he sits on the judgment seat, until the fullness of the righteous are complete and then he’s coming with the Sword. Not to bring peace, but to punish those who has done abominations against the Word (Logos) those who choose not to do the physical and spiritual works that was instructed of us. The ones who have done them to the T (Tee), according to how they are and firmly established will gain eternal life, granted new bodies made in the image of the one The Son of God was in. As ascension calls for the bodies to be of a higher spiritual essence. (haven’t you read; YE are Gods, Gods Children) —Psalm 82. Thus says the Lord, Ye are gods and children of the Most High. If we are gods, as children of God, then we should act like this. But, if we take away the divinity of us as children and that of His Son and Mother, then we go against the Commandment that says: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Ex. 20:12) – this commandment wasn’t just for our Earthly Parents, but our Heavenly Ones as well.

What the Nicene Council above, thought to create was a newer thought: different from all ancient culture and knowledge: they believe—

All are equal and that There’s ONLY one God, The Father and his only begotten Son, and He was Born through the immaculate conception which shows his divinity, but only half, so he’s not technically a full God, only God the Father is God. And The Holy Spirit is God as The Fathers Spirit that is in them all. Which makes the trinity. But, since The Son in this case would be half flesh of a Mother as a Human and not divine, he suffers and is condemned then raised up and then will come again to judge the living and the dead. And in the second coming he will lift those up and condemn the rest, and those he lifts up they don’t have to keep all the laws and commandments because they have been saved by grace and not by their physical and spiritual works to deserve it.

Similar stories, but one seems to gain the prize without the hard work to suffer the gain. And the other suffered until the end, for fear (respect) of their Creator. By making all 3 (1) entity instead of Gods (3) —3 as Gods Family— they have made the perfect imperfect by imperfecting the original Word of God.

Which in John 1:1 says:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Seems very clear that The Word is Gods Son, seated on the Right Side, and The Word his Son was God. (A God, because His Father is God (A God) & The Holy Spirit His Mother (A God)

Commandment 3 \”Therefore I say to you, every blasphemy said from the mouths of wicked men will be forgiven, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Wisdom) will not be forgiven of men who do this\” (Matthew 12:31).

[Jesus speaking] —Like do whatever you want, but never speak against My Mother [Blessed are you Mary The Mother of All.

Please check out the book of Wisdom books 1-19 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/wisdom/1

Last thing to consider: Is a Man a Woman? And is a Woman a Man? Or is a Child of them their equal? Or is there some kind of hierarchy to the Family Unit? Not based on demeaning behavior or what being the Head of the Son or Wife they don’t honor, but the true nature of the roles one of Honor. Is The Father a Mother? Or a Mother a Father or a Child both their parents Mother and Father? Wouldn’t that create some type of problem if there’s no one to answer to for the repercussions of actions? If everyone’s the parent, then who does what when? Is this order or chaos? Asking ourselves by our real life experiences do we find ourselves wondering which of the two paths we find to be more righteous in building moral character and charitable nature? And which seeks death? By the unrighteous acts to never to be condemned?