| A | B |
|---|
| Simon Peter | chief of the apostles, considered the first pope |
| Paul | the first great missionary of the church |
| Paul | author of the majority of the epistles of the New Testament |
| Barnabas | invited Paul to Antioch, Paul's companion on his missionary journeys |
| Nero | responsible for the deaths of Peter and Paul |
| Mark | author of the first gospel |
| Ignatius of Antioch | bishop who was martyred at the Coliseum, wrote several letters to Christian churches on his way to death |
| Justin Martyr | used philosophy to help support arguments for the truth of the Christian faith, an important apologist |
| Constantine | legalized Christianity in the empire |
| Theodosius | emperor who made Christianity the only legal religion in the empire |
| Irenaeus | Use his writings to defend the church against heresies |
| Athanasius | bishop of Alexandria, important figure at the council of Nicea, wrote the biography of Antony of Egypt |
| Antony of Egypt | father of monasticism, the first hermit |
| Basil | fourth century monk author of a rule for monks followed in Egypt, Palestine and Greece |
| Jerome | translated the Bible into Latin |
| Ambrose | bishop of Milan who opposed Arianism, also helped bring Augustine to faith |
| Augustine | author of the City of God |
| Augustine | important theologian who helped define the doctrine of original sin and the theology of baptism |
| Leo the Great | Pope who assumed the title of Pontifex Maximus; shaped the papacy into a role of leadership for the Western world |
