Through the Church Fathers

Today’s Readings Podcast Description
The Christian life requires more than a good beginning. In these questions from Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica, he shows how patience preserves the soul under present hardship, how perseverance carries a good work to its proper end, and how the gift of fortitude strengthens us beyond ordinary human measure by the Holy Spirit. Softness abandons the work too soon; stubbornness refuses to yield when reason requires change. The precepts of fortitude command us to stand firm in the truth and to endure to the end. Together these virtues and the Spirit’s gift keep the soul steady until the work is finished.
Readings: Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Questions 136–140 (Patience, Perseverance, the Gift of Fortitude, and the Precepts of Fortitude)
Explore the Project: Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org
#ThroughTheChurchFathers #ThomasAquinas #SummaTheologica #Patience #Perseverance #Fortitude #Virtue

Today’s Readings Podcast Description
Patience and perseverance strengthen the soul for the long work of the Christian life. In these questions from Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica, he shows that patience preserves us from being disordered by present hardship, while perseverance enables us to continue a good work until it is rightly completed. Softness abandons the task too soon; stubbornness refuses to yield when reason requires a change. Together these virtues keep the soul steady under both suffering and the passage of time.
Readings: Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Questions 136–137 (Patience and Perseverance)
Explore the Project: Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org
#ThroughTheChurchFathers #ThomasAquinas #SummaTheologica #Patience #Perseverance #Virtue

Vindication, the eternal Word, and the wise use of great resources come together in today’s readings. Athanasius presents further evidence that the charges against him had collapsed: Constantine condemns the Meletians for accusing him of murdering men who were still alive, Arsenius seeks peace and communion with the Catholic Church, and John is praised for abandoning division and reconciling with Athanasius. Augustine then reflects on the coeternal Word through whom God speaks all things at once and forever, while the created things brought forth by that Word arise in time rather than sharing God’s eternity. Aquinas closes by explaining magnificence as the virtue that completes great works through expenditure proportionate to their worth, while meanness damages those works by making the saving of money more important than their proper completion. Together, these readings show that truth brings hidden schemes into the light, creation rests in the eternal Word, and great works require both generosity and judgment.
Today’s Readings:
Athanasius — Defense Against the Arians, Part 2, Chapter 5, Sections 68–70
Augustine — The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 7 (Section 9)
Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Questions 134–135 (Questions Combined)
Explore the Project:
Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com
Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton
Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com
Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org
#ChurchFathers #Athanasius #Augustine #ThomasAquinas #EternalWord #Creation #Magnificence #ChristianVirtue #ChurchHistory #ChristianTheology

Here is the podcast description for the latest three readings:
False testimony, the mystery of creation, and the danger of distorted greatness come together in today’s readings. Athanasius records how Ischyras admitted that the accusations against him had been forced and fabricated, while the supposed murder victim Arsenius was eventually discovered alive, exposing the conspiracy and disgracing those who had spread the charge. Augustine then asks how God created the world, concluding that creation did not come through a temporary, passing sound, but through the eternal Word who remains forever. Aquinas closes by examining the vices surrounding magnanimity: presumption reaches beyond one’s true capacity, ambition seeks honor wrongly, vainglory lives for empty praise, and pusillanimity refuses the great good one is genuinely equipped to accomplish. Together, these readings show that truth outlasts slander, creation rests in the eternal Word, and genuine greatness requires an honest judgment of both our limits and our gifts.
Today’s Readings:
Athanasius — Defense Against the Arians, Part 2, Chapter 5, Sections 64–67
Augustine — The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 6 (Section 8)
Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Questions 130–133 (Questions Combined)
Explore the Project:
Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com
Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton
Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com
Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org
#ChurchFathers #Athanasius #Augustine #ThomasAquinas #Creation #EternalWord #Magnanimity #Vainglory #ChurchHistory #ChristianTheology

False accusations, creation, and greatness of soul come together in today’s readings. Athanasius recounts how Eusebius and the Meletians manufactured charges against him, only to see those accusations collapse before Constantine, who then condemned factionalism, envy, and ambition within the Church while affirming Athanasius as a man of God. Augustine turns to the mystery of creation and asks how God made heaven and earth, concluding that God did not work from preexisting matter or within an already existing place, but spoke all things into being through His eternal Word. Aquinas then explains the virtues connected to fortitude, especially magnanimity—the greatness of soul by which a person truthfully recognizes God-given ability and undertakes great works without falling into pride, presumption, or false humility. Together, these readings show how envy tears down, divine power creates from nothing, and true greatness faithfully uses what God has given.
Today’s Readings:
Athanasius — Defense Against the Arians, Part 2, Chapter 5, Sections 60–62
Augustine — The Confessions, Book 11, Chapter 5 (Section 7)
Thomas Aquinas — Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Questions 128–129 (Questions Combined)
Explore the Project:
Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com
Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton
Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com
Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org
#ChurchFathers #Athanasius #Augustine #ThomasAquinas #Creation #Magnanimity #Fortitude #Arianism #ChurchHistory #ChristianTheology