This comprehensive volume brings together a team of distinguished scholars to create a wide-ranging introduction to patristic authors and their contributions to not only theology and spirituality, but to philosophy, ecclesiology, linguistics, hagiography, liturgics, homiletics, iconology, and other fields.

• Challenges accepted definitions of patristics and the patristic period - in particular questioning the Western framework in which the field has traditionally been constructed
• Includes the work of authors who wrote in languages other than Latin and Greek, including those within the Coptic, Armenian, Syriac, and Arabic Christian traditions
• Examines the reception history of prominent as well as lesser-known figures, debating the role of each, and exploring why many have undergone periods of revived interest
• Offers synthetic accounts of a number of topics central to patristic studies, including scripture, scholasticism, and the Reformation
• Demonstrates the continuing role of these writings in enriching and inspiring our understanding of Christianity