The Complete Works of the First Fathers of the Church gathers a formative body of early Christian writing: pastoral epistles, martyrial exhortations, apologies, theological treatises, biblical interpretation, ecclesiastical histories, and visionary instruction. Spanning the generations from the apostolic age to late antiquity, it records Christianity's emergence within Jewish, Greek, and Roman intellectual worlds. Particularly compelling are its defenses of Christian belief before pagan cr...

Ante-Nicene Church Fathers gathers the formative writings of Christianity before the Council of Nicaea into a capacious nine-volume archive of doctrine, pastoral counsel, apology, biblical interpretation, martyrial witness, and ecclesial debate. Its range extends from terse epistles and visionary allegory to philosophical dialogue and sustained theological treatise. Standout texts include early defenses of Christian belief, reflections on apostolic succession, and imaginative accounts of r...

Spanning the formative centuries of Christianity, Ante-Nicene, Nicene & Post-Nicene Church Fathers assembles apologetic treatises, theological disputations, biblical exegesis, sermons, letters, ecclesiastical histories, spiritual manuals, and conciliar-era reflections. Its range extends from the defensive prose of persecuted communities to the doctrinal precision of Trinitarian and Christological controversy, preserving landmark meditations on martyrdom, baptism, scriptural interpretation,...

The Nicene Creed gathers a capacious patristic witness to Christian confession, tracing the theological pressures, exegetical habits, and devotional languages through which Nicene faith was articulated. Its materials range from apostolic-era exhortation and apology to conciliar theology, biblical commentary, polemic, homily, ecclesiastical history, and liturgical reflection. Particularly compelling are the recurring treatments of the Son's relation to the Father, the Holy Spirit's divinity...

[a.d. 130.] The anonymous author of this Epistle gives himself the title (Mathetes) “a disciple of the Apostles,” and I venture to adopt it as his name. It is about all we know of him, and it serves a useful end. I place his letter here, as a sequel to the Clementine Epistle, for several reasons, which I think scholars will approve: (1) It is full of the Pauline spirit, and exhales the same pure and primitive fragrance which is characteristic of Clement. (2) No theory as to its da...