Early Christian WritingsLetters and small-scale theological treatises giving a rich and powerful articulation of the the Christian faith by the Apostolic Fathers The writings in this volume, some of which were considered Holy Scripture in the Early Church, shed a glimmer of light, in an otherwise dark period, on the emerging traditions and organization of the infant Church. They are a selection from a group known as the Apostolic Fathers, so-called because several of the authors were most likely disciples of the Apostles themselves. Like much of the New Testament, their writings take the form of letters, and for the most part deal with practical problems of life of the early Church, as it struggled in the face of persecution to establish itself in the Roman world. They gave us a picture of Christianity still drawing on the theology and traditions of its parent religion, Judaism. The value of these writings is inestimable!
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The History of the ChurchThe Only Surviving Account of the Church During its Crucial First 300 Years by Eusebius Bishop Eusebius (c. AD 260-339), a learned scholar who lived most of his life in Caeserea in Palestine, broke new ground in writing The History of the Church and provided a model for all later ecclesiastical historians. In tracing the history of the Church from the time of Christ to the Great Persecution at the beginning of the fourth cetury and ending with the conversion of Constantine, he tried to show the purity and continuity of the doctrinal tradition of Christianity in its struggle against persecutors and heretics, and supported his account by extensive quotations from original sources to a degree hitherto unknown. Here you will find a history of the Gospels, A copy of a letter written by Abgar the Toparch to Jesus and Jesus' reply to Abgar, How the Apotles lived after the Ascension, the Suicide of Pilot and much more!
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On The Apostolic PreachingSt Irenaeus of Lyon St Irenaeus (ca AD 130-202) who was the disciple of St Polycarp (ca AD 69-156) who, in turn was the disciple of St. John the Apostle, is the most important theologian of the second century. St. Irenaeus was the Hammer of the Gnostics. He demolished their false doctrines (doctrines which have a made a return in these dark days) and laid the foundation for all future Christian thinkers. Here he recounts all the various deeds of God, culminating in the exaltation of His crucified Son, Jesus Christ, and the bestowal of His Holy Spirit and the gift of a new heart of flesh. In the writings of the earliest Christians, successors of the Apostles you will hear the True Christian faith expounded with such eloquence and conviction that it will inflame your heart and mind with the love of the True God and of His Church. This is a Masterpiece of biblical exposition enlightened by the very words of the Apostles. A. GOD AND CREATURES. THE FALL: 1. The Way of Life. - 2. Faith and Good Works. - 3. The Rule of Faith.... B. HISTORY OF REDEMPTION: 17. Cain and Abel. - 18. The Giants. - 19. The Flood.... C. CHRIST IN THE OLD LAW: 42. The Prophecies. - 43. The Son in the Beginning. - 44. The Son and Abraham. Sodom and Gomorrha.... D. CHRIST IN THE NEW LAW: 86. The Prophets and the Apostolic Preaching. - 87. Charity supersedes the Law. - 88. Christ in Glory. He Himself redeamed us....
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Ante-Nicene Fathers10 Volumes (Hardcover) The Ante-Nicene Fathers ranges from the Apostolic Fathers to various third and fourth century sources including the liturgies and ancient Syriac documents. It was intended to comprise translations into English of all the extant works of the Fathers (with the exception of the more bulky works of Origen) down to the date of the first General Council held at Nicaea in 325 A.D. Volume Titles: Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Inrenaeus Volume 2: Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria Volume 3: Tertullian Volume 4: Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen Volume 5: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix Volume 6: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius Volume 7: Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, Homily, and Liturgies Volume 8: Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Aprocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents Volume 9: Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Testament of Abraham, Epistles of Clement, Origen and Miscellaneous Works Volume 10: Bibliography, General Index, Annotated Index of Authors and Works
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Dialogue Of Justin, Philosopher And Martyr With Trypho The Jewby St. Justin Martyr Outside the New Testament, our earliest complete witness to Christian apologetic against the Jews remains the Dialogue with Trypho, written by Justin Martyr (ca. AD 100-165), a convert to Christianity from traditional Greek religion. The Dialogue purports to be a two-day dialogue that took place in Asia Minor between Justin and Trypho, a Hellenized Jew. Justin argues extensively on the basis of lengthy Old Testament quotations that Christ is the Messiah and God incarnate, and that the Christian community is the new Israel. In the beginning of the work Justin recounts how he converted to Christianity. Some of the topics covered include: A new covenant, not a new God - A Christian interpretation of Jewish ritual Laws - The divinity of the Messiah - The unity of God and the Divinity of Christ - The virginal birth - Jesus as High Priest - The Gentiles as God's new people...
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The Faith of the Early FathersVolume 1: the Pre-Nicene and Nicene erasby William A. JurgensWe live in an age in which the role of the layman in the Church is tremendously important. If the layman is to be effective he must prepare himself adequately. No Catholic today can afford to be ignorant of the past: neither of his glorious heritage, nor of its occasional less glorious moments.
Patrology is usually defined as the study of the lives, doctrines and writings of the Fathers of the Church. The Church has four marks by which it may be known: One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic. Coincidentally there are four marks also by which a writer is recognized as a Father of the Church: a) Orthodox doctrine, b) Sanctity of life, c) Antiquity, and d) Approval of the Church.
In actual practice, patrology does not confine itself to those who are, in the more technical sense of the term, Fathers of the Church. Rather, it includes virtually all Christian writings of the proper antiquity. Click on Book Image |
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The Lapsed, The Unity of the Catholic Church by Saint Cyprian (200-258AD), Bishop of Carthage "[After quoting Matthew 16:18f; John 21:15ff]...On him [Peter] He builds the Church, and to him He gives the command to feed the sheep; and although He assigned a like power to all the Apostles, yet he founded a single Chair, and He established by His own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was; but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one Chair. So too, all are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the Apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?" Galerius Maximus pronounced this sentence: "You have long lived sacrilegiously and have gathered many in your criminal sect, and set yourself up as an enemy of the Roman gods and of their religious rites... The respect for the law will be sanctioned by your blood. I order that Tascius Ciprianus be punished by being beheaded". Saint Cyprian said: 'Thanks be to God'. Click on Book Image |
The Faith of the Early Fathers Volume 2: the Post Nicene era through St. Jeromeby William A. JurgensThis volume is devoted to the post-Nicene and Constantinopolitan eras, and stops short of Not the least of the lessons to be learned from a work of the present kind is how marvelously the faith is a seamless robe. Cut it here, tear it there, excise a piece from it anywhere and the whole of it unravels. It is not possible to deny any one dogma of the faith without ultimately having to deny them all. If there is no original sin, neither is there any redemption. If the Word did not become flesh, Scripture is not inspired and there was no death on the cross. If Christ be not Man, Mary is not the Mother of God. If God did not become Man, neither does man become “god” (2 Peter 4). If Christ be not God, we have been deceived and the Church is not infallible. If Christ be not risen our faith is in vain and we are still in our sins. Click on Book Image |
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On the Incarnation The Treatise De Incarnatione Verbi Dei by St. Athanasius "St Athanasius (c. AD 296-373) stood contra mundum for the Trinitarian doctrine 'whole and undefiled', when it looked as if all the civilized world was slipping back from Christianity into the religion of Arius, into one of those 'sensible' synthetic religions which are so strongly recommended today and which then, as now, included among their devotees many highly cultivated clergymen. The glory of St Athanasius is that he did not move with the times; it is his reward that he now remains when those times, like all others, have passed away. "When I first opened De Incarnatione I soon discovered by a very simple test that I was reading a masterpiece, for only a mastermind could have written so deeply on such a subject with such classical simplicity" - C. S. Lewis, from the Introduction
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The Faith of the Early Fathers Volume 3: St. Augustine to the end of the Patristic Ageby William A. JurgensThis volume begins with St. Augustine and marches on through the rest of the patristic age, the end of which period is marked in the West by the death of St. Isidore of Seville (636 A.D.) and in the East by the death of St. John Damascene (749 A.D).
Properly used and with its mechanism, especially the Doctrinal Index, understood, The Faith of the Early Fathers will be of immense help to anyone truly interested in theology and Christian antiquity.
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema." Click on Book Image |
