In this book, we speak about these first Christians mainly through the people who gave them a voice and a compass: the Church Fathers. They were their leaders and their teachers, heirs to the apostles. They were also the ones to tell us, present-day Christians, about the deep Faith of the first Christians. They told us how these Christians could keep the Faith in times of trouble¿even in very tumultuous times, when they were constantly besieged from two sides: by prosecution from without and by heresies from within. The Church Fathers kept their flock together and kept them on the right path. We can only understand the Church Fathers if we understand them as fathers who deeply cared about the newborn Church as if it were their own family. They are Fathers with a ¿pedigree.¿Verschuuren has tried to let the Church Fathers speak for themselves, as much as possible.

To do so, he used a translation of their words that is easily accessible on the Internet, so readers can check the accuracy and the context in which these words were spoken and written. This translation may not always be smooth, and the way the Church Fathers expressed themselves may not always be clear to modern ears, but their words deserve serious attention, for they are the pillars on which the Church has built what Catholics believe¿now and then. They are a vital part of our history and tradition, dating back to Jesus Christ himself.