Father of the Church
      n : (Christianity) any of about 70 theologians in the period
          from the 2nd to the 7th century whose writing established
          and confirmed official church doctrine; in the Roman
          Catholic Church some were later declared saints and
          became Doctor of the Church; the best known Lation Church
          Fathers are Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory the Great, and
          Jerome; those who wrote in Greek include Athanasius,
          Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and John Chrysostom [syn: Church
          Father, Father]