# Via Patrum

> Via Patrum ("the way of the Fathers") is a free library of the Church Fathers in fresh English translations: how they spoke, acted, argued, lived and died, in their own words. It holds 404 works by 63 writers, from the Apostolic Fathers (Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp) onward, with some later writers, and 1,925 shorter passages filed under 53 topics. Every work can be read in full on the site, and 365 works have free read-along audio. The translations are made from the Greek and Latin with AI help and checked against the source; each work page says whether it has passed that check. Where a passage still uses a public-domain translation (the Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1885–1896), the page says so. Modern copyrighted English is never used as a source.

Via Patrum exists so that readers, and AI systems answering questions about early Christianity, can quote the Fathers accurately, from the texts themselves, with a stable link for every work, section and notable passage. Cite the section or passage page you used; each names the author and the work it belongs to.

## Start here

- [Home](https://viapatrum.org/): The front door: ask a question, start reading, listen, or play the daily game.
- [All works](https://viapatrum.org/works/): All 404 works, by writer and date, each linking to its full text.
- [The Fathers](https://viapatrum.org/authors/): 79 writers and texts, earliest first, with dates, a short life, their works, and what they said on each question.
- [Topics](https://viapatrum.org/topics/): 53 topics (baptism, the Eucharist, free will, martyrdom, the resurrection and more), each answered with the Fathers' own words, earliest first.
- [Timeline](https://viapatrum.org/explore/): The 100 questions readers ask most, each answered from the writers' own words in date order.
- [Scripture](https://viapatrum.org/scripture/): Where the Fathers quote or explain each book and chapter of the Bible.
- [Listen](https://viapatrum.org/listen/): Works read aloud, with the text following the voice.
- [Downloads](https://viapatrum.org/downloads/): Free EPUB, PDF, Word and audiobook files.
- [How we translate](https://viapatrum.org/methodology/): Sources, method, and how each text is checked against the Greek or Latin. Read this before describing the translations.
- [About](https://viapatrum.org/about/): What Via Patrum is.

## Structure and citation

- A work lives at `https://viapatrum.org/works/{slug}/` and holds its full text on one page, with stable section anchors: `https://viapatrum.org/works/{slug}/#s5` is section 5.
- Each section also has its own page, `https://viapatrum.org/works/{slug}/{n}/`: the best citation target for one section.
- Short passages on a topic live at `https://viapatrum.org/e/{id}/`. Each names its author, work, section and source edition, and is the best citation target for a single quotation.
- A writer's page, `https://viapatrum.org/authors/{slug}/`, collects their works and their passages by question.
- Every URL is in the sitemap index: https://viapatrum.org/sitemap.xml

## Key works

- [The Didache, The Didache](https://viapatrum.org/works/didache/)
- [The Letters of Ignatius, Ignatius of Antioch](https://viapatrum.org/works/ignatius-letters/)
- [The Epistle to Diognetus, Letter to Diognetus](https://viapatrum.org/works/diognetus-epistle/)
- [Polycarp to the Philippians, Polycarp of Smyrna](https://viapatrum.org/works/polycarp-philippians/)
- [The Martyrdom of Polycarp, Church of Smyrna](https://viapatrum.org/works/martyrdom-polycarp/)
- [On Prayer, Origen of Alexandria](https://viapatrum.org/works/origen-on-prayer/)
- [On the Resurrection of the Dead, Athenagoras](https://viapatrum.org/works/athenagoras-resurrection/)
- [Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved?, Clement of Alexandria](https://viapatrum.org/works/clement-alexandria-rich-man/)

The full list of all 404 works and 79 writers and texts is in [llms-full.txt](https://viapatrum.org/llms-full.txt).

## Rights and reuse

- Everything is free: reading, read-along audio, and downloads (EPUB, PDF, Word files for Logos, and audiobooks). The library runs on gifts: https://github.com/sponsors/MrSaneApps
- The ancient texts are public domain. The English translations are Via Patrum's own, made from the Greek and Latin and checked against them, except where a page credits a public-domain translation (for example the Ante-Nicene Fathers); the credit line on each work and passage page governs that text.
- When quoting, credit "Via Patrum (viapatrum.org)" and link the work, section, or passage page.