Wow, I didn't think I'd be back here so soon.

But I am. Thank you. I appreciate that.

So Father Andrew is very prepared, and he had his remarks through Composed in Toto.

So I'm going to give them to you, and it'll be about 30, 35 minutes.

And then we'll have time for questions.

I had him as a professor so I can try to speak

to the mind of Father Andrew, but I may also speak from my own experience and knowledge of the fathers.

So, here we go. Father Andrew asks the question, who are the fathers of the church? Who counts and who

does not count as a father of the church? The answer is not a simple one,

as there have been many answers, as well as further objections to particular classifications.

Before we examine particular criteria for identifying the fathers of the church,

we can step back and ask what it means to have a classification of fathers.

The phenomenon of claiming fathers is not unique to the Christian tradition.

Religions and philosophical schools commonly hold in respect early teachers or leaders who

posthumously exercise an authority within that tradition.

The classification of the Fathers serves within a community, religious or philosophical,

as an appeal to the development of a consistent thought, practice, and culture over

considerable time and space.

Reference to the Fathers helps the community to preserve its collective memory.

Within the biblical tradition, certain respected leaders such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Old Testament,

are known as the patriarchs or fathers. Sometimes, the references to the fathers might be more general without

specific persons identified. We can pray with the psalmist. We have heard with our own ears,

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