Doctor of the Church
Doctor of the Church is a title conferred, in the Roman Catholic church, by the pope and in other churches by equivalent authorities on "certain Christian theologians of outstanding merit and acknowledged saintliness" (Livingstone, 2006). A canonized Saint whose understanding and interpretation of scripture and doctrine has taught the church in general, including a substantial body of writings. The earliest of these are foundational in Christian theology, long p[re-dating the Great Scism and even more the development of Protestantism. is, on proclamation by The Pope, to be regardedf as a Doctor of the Church. Doctors of the church are traditionally grouped into periods. The first is the group of Ecumenical Doctors, four from the Latin church - that is, they lived and taught in the western half of the Roman Empire:
- St. Ambrose, 340-397
- St. Jerome, 345-420
- St. Augustine, 354-430
- St. Gregory the Great (Pope), 540-604
Four of the Ecumenical Fathers also deemed Doctors came from the Eastern (Greek-speaking) half of Roman Empire:
- St. Athanasius, 295-373, author of the Atahanasian creed - see further Arianism
- St. Basil the Great, 330-379
- St. Gregory of Nazianzus, 330-390
- St. John Chrysostom, 345-407
Eight other Doctors from the patristic period (~ to 700CE):
- St. Ephraem the Deacon, 306-373 (Syriac)
- St. Hilary, 315-368 (Latin)
- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 315-387 (Greek)
- St. Cyril of Alexandria, 376-444 (Greek)
- St. Leo the Great (Pope), 390-461 (Latin)
- St. Peter Chrysologus, 400-450 (Latin)
- St. Isidore of Seville (last of the Latin Fathers), 560-636
- St. John Damascene (last of the Greek Fathers), 676-749
Eleven Doctors of the Church are recognized from the Middle Ages, all of them except the last from the Latin or Western Church:
- St. Bede 'the Venerable', 673-735
- St. Peter Damian, 1007-1072
St. Anselm, 1033-1109 St. Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090-1153 St. Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179 St. Anthony of Padua, 1195-1231 St. Albert the Great, 1200-1280 St. Bonaventure, 1217-1274 St. Thomas Aquinas, 1225-1274 St. Catherine of Siena, 1347-1379 St. Gregory of Narek 951-1003 (from the Armenian Church)
- Much of the information on this page has been taken from the [Crossroads Initiative], the [Doctors of the Church website] and [the Catholic Encyclopedia]..