church father

Church Father
    n 1: (Christianity) any of about 70 theologians in the period
         from the 2nd to the 7th century whose writing established
         and confirmed official church doctrine; in the Roman
         Catholic Church some were later declared saints and became
         Doctor of the Church; the best known Latin Church Fathers
         are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and Jerome;
         those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius, Basil, Gregory
         Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom [syn: {Church Father},
         {Father of the Church}, {Father}]