Who were the Cappadocian Fathers?
Answered from the commentary of Church History
The Cappadocian Fathers were Basil, bishop of Caesarea, his brother Gregory of Nyssa, and his close friend Gregory of Nazianzus; all three came from Cappadocia. Basil upheld the Athanasian creed during its adversity, and Gregory of Nazianzus helped destroy Arianism’s power in Constantinople through his eloquent teaching and godly life.
Verses: Acts 2:9, Acts 2:10, Acts 2:11, 1 Peter 1:1, 1 Peter 5:12
The above is AI generated summary based on the writers below.
What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
Basil, bishop of Caesarea, is constantly associated with the two Gregories. Gregory of Nyssa was his brother, the other his chief friend. Cappadocia gave birth to the three Fathers. Basil was faithful to the Athanasian creed during its days of depression and adversity, but did not live to behold its final triumph. He died about 379. He was a great admirer and a true example of monastic Christianity. He embraced the ascetic faith, abandoned his property and practised such severe austerities as to injure his health. He fled into the desert, his fame collected, as it were, a city around him, he built a monastery, and monasteries sprang up on every side
Gregory Nazianzen, bishop of Constantinople, was a Father of great note about the year 380. He was the means of destroying the power of Arianism in the Eastern capital, where it had been maintained in great strength for nearly forty years. He had to encounter much opposition and even persecution at first; but by degrees his eloquence, the practical and serious tone of his teaching, and the influence of his godly life, began to tell, and gained him a firm footing, though he never liked the imperial style of the capital.
Ambrose Bishop of Milan, A.D. 397 (Ambr.) Ambrosiaster, the false Ambrose, perhaps Hilary the Deacon of the third century, (Ambrst.) Ammonius of Alexandria, 220 (Ammon.) Andreas of Crete, 7th century (probably not the same person as) Andreas Bishop of Caesarea, 6th century? (And.) Arethas Bishop of Caesarea Capp. 10th century? (Areth.) Arnobius of Africa, 306 (Arnob.) Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria, 373 (Ath.) Athenagoras of Athens, 177 (Athen.) Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 430 (Aug.) Barnabas, 1st or 2nd century? (Barn.) Basil Bishop of Caesarea, 379 (Bas.) Basil of Seleucia, fl. 440 (Bas. Sel.) Bede the Venerable, d. 735 (Bede.) Caesarius of Constantinople, 368 (Caes.) Canons Apostolic, 3rd century (Canon.) Cassiodorus, 575 (Cassiod.) Chromatius Bishop of Aquileia, 402 (Chrom.) Chrysostom Bishop of Constantinople, 407 (Chrys.) Clement Bishop of Alexandria, fl. 194 (Clem.) Clement Bishop of Rome, fl. 90 (Clem. Rom.) Constitutiones Apostolice, 3rd century (Constit.) Cosmas Indicopleustes, 535 (Cosm.) Cyprian Bishop of Carthage, 258 (Cypr.) Cyril Bishop of Alexandria, 444 (Cyr.) Cyril Bishop of Jerusalem, 386 (Cyr. Jer.) Damascenus John, 730 (Dam.) Didymus of Alexandria, 370 (Did.) Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria, 265 (Dion.) Dionysius (Pseudo-) Areopagita, 5th century (Dion Areop.) Ephraem the Syrian, 378 (Ephr.) Epiphanius Bishop of Cyprus, 403 (Epiph.) Eusebius Bishop of Caesarea, 340 (Eus.) Euthalius Bishop of Sulci? 458 (Euthal.) Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116 (Euthym.) Evagrius of Pontus, 380 (Evagr.) Fulgentius, 5th century (Fulg.) Gaudentius, 4th century (Gaud.) Gregory of Nazianzus, the Divine, Bishop of Constantinople, 389 (Naz.) Gregory Bishop of Nyssa, 396 (Nyss.) Gregory Thaumaturgus Bishop of Neocaesarea, 243 (Thauma.) Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, 605 (Greg.) Hieronymus (Jerome), 430 (Hier.) or (Jer.) Hilary Bishop of Poictiers, fl. 354 (Hil.) Hippolytus Bishop of Portus, fl. 220 (Hip.) Ignatius Bishop of Antioch, 107 (Ign.) Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons, 178; chiefly extant in an old Latin version (Iren.) Isidore of Pelusium, 412 (Isid.) Justin Martyr, 164 (Just.) Juvencus, 330 (Juv.) Lactantius, 306 (Lact.) Lucifer Bishop of Cagliari, 367 (Luc.) Marcion the heretic, 130? (Mcion), cited by Epiphanius (Mcion-e), and Tertullian (Mcion-t.) Maximus Taurinensis, 466 (Max. Taur.) Maximus the Confessor, 662 (Max. Conf.) Methodius, fl. 311 (Meth.) Nonnus, fl. 400 (Nonn.) Novatianus, fl. 300? (Novat.) Oecumenius Bishop of Tricca, 10th century? (Oecu.) Origen, b. 185, d. 254 (Or.) Pamphilus the Martyr, 308 (Pamph.) Peter Bishop of Alexandria, 311 (Petr.) Photius Bishop of Constantinople, 891 (Phot.) Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna, 166 (Polyc.) Primasius Bishop of Adrumetum, fl. 550 (Prim.) Prudentius 406 (Prud.) Rufinus of Aquileia, 397 (Ruf.) Severianus, a Syrian Bishop, 409 (Sevrn.) Socrates, Church Historian, fl. 440 (Soc.) Sozomen, Church Historian, 450 (Soz.) Suidas the lexicographer, 980? (Suid.) Tatian of Antioch, 172 (Tat.) Tertullian of Africa, fl. 200 (Tert.) Theodore Bishop of Mopsuestia, 428 (Thdor. Mops.) Theodoret Bishop of Cyrus or Cyrrhus in Comagene, 458 (Thdrt.) Theophilus Bishop of Antioch, 182 (Thph. Ant.) Theophylact Archbishop of Bulgaria, 1071 (Theophyl.) Tichonius? the Donatist, fl. 390 (Tich.) Titus Bp. of Bostra, fl. 370 (Titus Bost.) Victor of Antioch, 430 (Vict. Ant.) Victor Bp. of Tunis, 565 (Vict. Tun.) Victorinus Bp. of Pettau, 360 (Victorin.) Vigilius of Thapsus, 484 (Vigil.)
Verses
- Acts 2:9–119Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and those who inhabit Mesopotamia, and Judaea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10both Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya which adjoin Cyrene, and the Romans sojourning [here], both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the great things of God?
- 1 Peter 1:1Peter, apostle of Jesus Christ, to [the] sojourners of [the] dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
- 1 Peter 5:12By Silvanus, the faithful brother, as I suppose, I have written to you briefly; exhorting and testifying that this is [the] true grace of God in which ye stand.