Abstract

Church is one of the fundamental terms of Christian theology. It is accepted that the roots of the concept of the church, defined today as “the congregation or community of people who are baptized and adopt the same basic Christian values” are in the Old Testament. The concept of the church has had different usages throughout history. With the emergence of Christianity, the concept began to be used to describe the community of people belonging to this religion. From early Christianity, much has been written down about the concept of the church by people called “church fathers” considered to be authorities on religious matters. In this context, in this article, their approaches to the concept of the church have been examined by using the English translations of the works written by the church fathers and the studies on them. It is aimed to reveal the similarities and differences between their views on the concept of the church, their reasons, the points they attach importance while explaining the subject and their views on baptism. In the article in which the descriptive method is used, after the opinions of the church fathers shaped around the concept of the church are revealed, analysis and determinations have been made about them. In these determinations and analyzes, it is tried to explain how the personal characteristics of the church fathers as well as the cultural, historical, and periodical conditions are affective in the definition of the concept of the church.