<P> Isaac of Antioch (451--452), one of the stars of Syriac literature, is the reputed author of a large number of metrical homilies (The fullest list, by Gustav Bickell, contains 191 which are extant in MSS), many of which are distinguished by an originality and acumen rare among Syriac writers . </P> <P> Isaac of Nineveh was a 7th - century Assyrian bishop and theologian best remembered for his written work . He is also regarded as a saint in the Church of the East, the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and among the Oriental Orthodox Churches, making him the last saint chronologically to be recognised by every apostolic Church . His feast day falls on January 28 . Isaac is remembered for his spiritual homilies on the inner life, which have a human breadth and theological depth that transcends the Nestorian Christianity of the Church to which he belonged . They survive in Syriac manuscripts and in Greek and Arabic translations . </P> <P> The Desert Fathers were early monastics living in the Egyptian desert; although they did not write as much, their influence was also great . Among them are Anthony the Great and Pachomius . Many of their, usually short, sayings are collected in the Apophthegmata Patrum ("Sayings of the Desert Fathers"). </P> <P> In the Roman Catholic Church, John of Damascus, who lived in the 8th century, is generally considered to be a Doctor of the Church and at the same time the first seed of the next period of church writers, scholasticism . The Eastern Orthodox Church does not consider the age of Church Fathers to be over and includes later influential writers up to the present day . The Orthodox view is that men do not have to agree on every detail, much less be infallible, to be considered Church Fathers . Rather, Orthodox doctrine is determined by the consensus of the Holy Fathers--those points on which they do agree . This consensus guides the church in questions of dogma, the correct interpretation of scripture, and to distinguish the authentic sacred tradition of the Church from false teachings . </P>

Who were the church fathers and what did they do