“For when any person has been taught from the mouth of another, he is termed the son of him who instructs him, and the latter is called his father.”
— Irenaeus (180)
Against Heresies, Book 4, Chapter 41, Paragraph 2
“It is a good thing, I reckon, to leave to posterity good children. This is the case with children of our bodies. But words are the progeny of the soul. Hence we call those who have instructed us, fathers.”
— Clement of Alexandria (195)
The Stromata, Book 1, Chapter 1, Preface
“The presbyters and deacons abiding at Rome, to Father Cyprian, greeting.”
— Cyprian of Carthage (250)
Epistle 29, Paragraph 1
“The meats are no burden to us, most holy father, if the captives ate things which their conquerors set before them, especially since there is one report from all, viz., that the barbarians who have made inroads into our parts have not sacrificed to idols.”
— Gregory Thaumaturgus (255)
Canonical Epistle, Canon 1
“The bishop, he is the minister of the word, the keeper of knowledge, the mediator between God and you in the several parts of your divine worship. He is the teacher of piety; and, next after God, he is your father, who has begotten you again to the adoption of sons by water and the Spirit.”
— Apostolic Constitutions (Compiled 390)
Book 2, Section 4, Paragraph 26
