How to Read the Holy Fathers: A Guide for Orthodox Christians

by Joseph Lucas

If you've always wanted to read the Holy Fathers but don't know how to do it or where to start, How to Read the Holy A Guide for Orthodox Christians is the perfect book for you! In this book, Fr. Joseph Lucas introduces readers to the beauty and complexity of the Church Fathers' writings, and he provides guidelines and tools for reading them with wisdom and discernment. He also offers advice on how to apply their works to your own spiritual life. The book includes an examination of the various genres of patristic writings, using concrete examples to illustrate a proper approach to reading these texts.

256 pages, Paperback

Published February 4, 2025

Reviews

[Nathaniel Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon beginning to read the church fathers, a layman immediately finds that he is out of his depth, and needs a guide. Perhaps a few different guides. Even more dangerous, there may be much that the modern reader errantly believes he understands, and proceeds down the wrong path of interpretation.

I spent a late evening in an informal after hours group discussion with Fr. Joseph Lucas a couple years ago in Bolivar, Pennsylvania. It’s a treasured memory. His wisdom, grasp of the Orthodox faith, and his understanding of the church Fathers was illuminating. I was running on short sleep already but couldn’t bring myself to leave the room as we talked (mostly I listened) deep into the night. So when this volume came out, it was an immediate must-read for me. Fr. Lucas is a strong and true guide for readers of this literature.

I am a novice in the Holy Fathers. By God’s grace I might become more familiar with them in the coming years. Fr. Lucas deserves my thanks for this very readable introduction and for the time he took to speak with us that night.

[Alicia Rushton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because although not Eastern Orthodox, I have a lot of interest in reading the ECF (especially the Cappadocians) and I had recently listened to Joseph Lucas give a representation of the EO view on atonement that I found informative. He is a good writer and it was an enjoyable read. He had some important introductory chapters about how and how not to approach these writings. Then he spent a chapter each on different genres of writing such as catechism, theological, apologetic, hagiographical, etc. He chose two examples of each kind to highlight in each chapter. My favorite part was reading the excerpts from the Church Fathers and the author’s helpful and moving commentary on them. I was kind of sad when it was over. It made me want the author in my pocket more often when I read these texts!
To my Protestant-Western mind his Eastern Orthodox view seemed epistemologically overly-optimistic in the accuracy and authority of the ECF lives and writings for the church but I was reading a book not aimed at my view so I don’t fault him for not defending that position more thoroughly.

[Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to Read the Holy Fathers: A Guide for Orthodox Christians is a clearly written volume that will help both the novice and expert approach the writings of the Church Fathers in the correct mindset and with the proper framework. This is an incredibly approachable text; Fr. Lucas has done a phenomenal job of making reading these texts accessible to everyone and has provided the tools necessary to read them correctly.

The book is divided into two parts—Methodology and Application.

Methodology
The first chapter introduces the reader to the fathers, the time periods in which they lived, the different types of literary works one might come across in the fathers, and presents succinctly presents the idea of the “harmony” of the fathers—avoiding the extremes of viewing them as a monolithic whole or in entire disagreement which each other. The rest of the methodology section deals with how one is to read the fathers. Having taken a hermeneutics class in college for my degree, I can say that Fr. Lucas has distilled all that I learned in a semester along with numerous other Bible classes in a manner that is transparent and easy for anyone regardless of educational background able to understand. Finally, this section ends with understanding the fathers in context. Fr. Lucas details the various philosophical and theological presuppositions of the fathers. This is incredibly useful as it provides further perspective to help one avoid reading into the text from one’s own experience and preconceived ideas, rather than reading the fathers to understand what it is that they meant.

Application
In the second section, Fr. Lucas gives a detailed look at the various types of writings of the church fathers—Biblical exegesis, letters, doctrinal treatises, etc. This section reminds me a great deal of other books on literary criticism that help the novice gain a better handle on reading particular texts before diving into the deep end. I found this section useful and a great practice for one’s own later readings of these and other texts. I will definitely be dipping back into this section later on when I approach any of these types of texts and their authors.

Appendices
It is worth noting that this volume includes several appendices that any reader will find useful. Fr. Lucas provides a number of resources that offers further help to one’s future studies in the fathers. I found the Graduated Reading List to be especially useful, as it provides a further framework for one’s further endeavors. I also found the annotated list of various translations of the church fathers incredibly useful for anyone who wants to begin building out their own library of patristic texts.
Overall, I found this to be a marvelous volume that is written with the average layperson in mind. This makes it useful for a great number of people, and even those who might have a greater familiarity with the writings of the church fathers will find a great deal of worth in this book as well. I highly recommend this book for personal as well as parish libraries. It is one that I know I will be continually referring back to in the future, and I am sure you will too.

[Amber Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wealth of patristic writing in the Orthodox Tradition can be daunting. Where do you even start? Do you have enough knowledge and background to make sense of what you read or to apply it appropriately to your life?
How to Read the Holy Fathers was written to answer these questions and give you a broad overview of patristic writings. Think of it as a roadmap to show you the way.
After some (very important) preliminary chapters discussing the general worldview and assumptions of the Fathers, the author spends the majority of the book discussing the characteristics of each genre of patristic literature, including spotlights on two specific authors within said genre. He usually chooses authors that contrast in some way to highlight both the range and continuity of patristic thinking. He also includes indexes of patristic series available in English and a leveled recommended reading list for getting started.
While not a textbook, it is written in a direct, academic style. I could easily tell the author is a professor before reading his bio. It reminded me somewhat of Dr. Constantinou’s Thinking Orthodox. Anyone who benefitted from that book should consider this one as a next read before delving into the patristic canon. As I was reading this book, I couldn’t help but think of a few young people in my parish that have that desire to deepen their faith and read a lot of spiritual books. I will definitely be recommending this book to them to guide their journey.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up Reformed Protestant for 30+ years and converted to Eastern Orthodoxy last year. I would read quotes and excerpts from the Fathers in academic books here and there (oftentimes cherry picked and taken out of context), and rarely would hear of them outside the Protestant academic realm. Protestants obviously favor the Reformers and Puritans, along with modern theologians like JI Packer, MacArthur, Sproul, Barth, etc. It's not uncommon to be told you have to have a special education/training and guidance to read early Church history to avoid becoming Catholic or Orthodox because, "They were heavily influenced by pagans that still ran rampant, so a lot of their ideas are sprinkled with heretical nonsense." (Jesus said He would build His Church and the gates of hell would not prevail!)

How to Read the Holy Fathers is what I would classify as an intermediate book for Orthodox laypeople to dip their toes into early Church writings in a proper Orthodox context, while exploring some of what they had to say, and biography snippets. If you're a Protestant trying to unlearn the misinformation about the early Church, this is the book for you.

Thank you to the publisher for a review copy!

[Keri My Table of Three · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm an Orthodox Convert of almost 6 years now and have a desire to dig into the writings of the Church Fathers, but I wasn't sure where to start or if there was a method I should use when doing so. Fr. Joseph Lucas' book has really helped me understand more about how to read the complex writings of those who lived this faith before us. In this book, the author breaks the sections down for us, like introducing us to the fathers and how we should be using the context of their times to help us better understand and discern their writings. The book covers different types of writings like letters, Hymnography, Liturgical Commentaries, to name a few of them.

In each of these chapters, where he covers the different types of writings, Father Lucas helps us look at two fathers and some context for each. I really enjoyed using this book as my first dip into these historical writings that are important to our church.

To me, it was a great outline that was so helpful for those of us needing some guidance when we are starting with these types of writings. I'm thankful I was given the chance to read this insightful book in return for a fair and honest review.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do I recommend it?
Yes, as an academic and layperson, I found this book very accessible, it boiled down topics surrounding the Patristic Age in a way I haven’t seen so succinctly done before. For non-academics I think some of the wording might bring challenges that could be easily resolved by reading slowly, especially sections in which Father Lucas explains more difficult theological terms. I would recommend this to any student who wants to learn more about how to start reading the Holy Fathers or who are curious about the history of the Orthodox Church and the Patristic Age.

[Navel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent treatment of a needed subject. Aside from some minor typos, a glaring one being on pg. 147 where the 9th Ecumenical Council, the Palamite Synods or "Fifth Council of Constantinople" is referred to as "Fifth Council of Nicea".

Too often in modern discourse, especially in a word infected by protestant nominalism patristic texts are chopped into fragments and chunked into quote mines to prove various pet theories or rebirthed heresies.

Fr. Joseph Lucas shows the proper Orthodox way to read these texts and understand the context and intent of the saints who wrote and lived them.

[Starboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book goes on to show snippets of the Holy Fathers writings like 10 pages or so the likes of Athanasius, Basil, Cyril, Damascus, Irenaeus, Palamas, etc.

This should be required before roaming the Fathers bc you get good starting references to begin the journey of reading the Holy Fathers of the Church and acquiring their mind.

☦️

[Garth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful introduction to the Patristic Fathers. Split into the Methodology and Application, it has been a wonderful addition to my Catechism. The work is worth the time for sure, additionally, it has Footnotes & Appendices that are world-class. I couldn’t recommend this enough.
(September, 2025)

[Savio Saii · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great writing, I especially enjoyed the hagiography chapter as well as what not to do in reading the fathers.