Origen of Alexandria (185-254), one of the most prolific authors of antiquity and arguably the most important and influential pre-Nicene Christian theologian, was a man of deep learning and holiness of life. Regrettably, many of his works are no longer extant, in part due to the condemnation of his ideas by the Fifth Ecumenical Council in 553. The condemnation, however, took little account of his historical circumstances and the tentative nature of his speculations. The anathemas were more...

Jerome (c. 347-419/20), one of the West's four doctors of the church, was recognized early on as one of the church's foremost translators, commentators, and advocates of Christian asceticism. Skilled in Hebrew and Greek in addition to his native Latin, he was thoroughly familiar with Jewish traditions and brought this expertise to bear on his understanding of the Old Testament. Beginning in 379, Jerome used his considerable linguistic skills to translate Origen's commentaries and, eventual...

Standard accounts of the history of interpretation of Paul’s Letter to the Romans often begin with St. Augustine. As Thomas P. Scheck demonstrates, however, the Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 CE) was a major work of Pauline exegesis which, by means of the Latin translation preserved in the West, had a significant influence on the Christian exegetical tradition.Scheck begins by exploring Origen’s views on justification and on the in...

The first English translation of the Homilies on Matthew by Chromatius, bishop of Aquileia (d. ca. 406-407).

The British monk Pelagius (360?420) is best known for his claim that human beings could perform good works on their own strength, without need of divine assistance, a teaching condemned by the Council of Carthage (417-418). Yet, before this, Pelagius also penned a collection of commentaries on all the Pauline epistles This new volume will include new English translations of all of Pelagius’s Pauline commentaries, including the commentary on Romans, thought to be thus far the only commentar...

Bart Ehrman--the New York Times bestselling author of Misquoting Jesus and a recognized authority on the early Christian Church--and Zlatko Plese here offer a groundbreaking, multi-lingual edition of the Apocryphal Gospels, one that breathes new life into the non-canonical texts that were once nearly lost to history. In The Apocryphal Gospels, Ehrman and Plese present a rare compilation of over 40 ancient gospel texts and textual fragments that do not appear in t...

What does it mean to be saved? Did God choose who would be his followers, or was it a personal choice? These are just some of the questions Paul addresses in the sixteen challenging chapters of his letter to the Romans.Reading Romans shows how some of the greatest minds in the history of the church have wrestled with, and even been changed by, Paul's words. For example, God used a passage from Romans to speak to the untamed heart of Augustine, and John Wesley said that after hearin...

The question of whether and how people who have not had the chance to hear the gospel can be saved goes back to the beginnings of Christian reflection. It has also become a much-debated topic in current theology. In Will Many Be Saved? Ralph Martin focuses primarily on the history of debate and the development of responses to this question within the Roman Catholic Church, but much of Martin's discussion is also relevant to the wider debate happening in many churches around the wo...

Guido Stucco holds a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Sait Louis University. He is currently working on a book documenting the developments in the doctrine of predestination, from the Council of Trent to the Jansenist controversy.

Aquinas at Prayer draws attention to important aspects of Aquinas's life and work which have been all too often overlooked or forgotten.Today Aquinas is almost exclusively regarded as an outstanding scholastic philosopher and theologian. But what is little known is that Aquinas was, first and last, a teacher of the Bible - a Master of the Sacred Page. Moreover there is a distinctly mystical character to his theology. And, as a writer, he was not only a poe...

"A sound introduction to a crucial doctrine. Emery's prose is scholarly yet widely accessible, at once traditional and constructive" ( Themelios).Representing the highest quality of scholarship, Gilles Emery offers a much-anticipated exploration to Catholic doctrine on the Trinity. His extensive research combined with lucid prose provides readers a resource to better understand the foundations of Trinitarian reflection and addresses all who wish to benefit...

The Church’s Marian beliefs have constantly shed light on other teachings, and the Theology of the Body is no exception. In this compilation of essays, some of the world’s most foremost Mariologists and experts on the Theology of the Body share their insights on how Mary illuminates the message of the Theology of the Body in a profound way.As the Mother of God, Mary provided Jesus with His body, a body that would be offered on the cross for our redemption. She bore witness to His b...