The Faith of the Early Fathers: Volume 1: Volume 1

by William A. Jurgens

Book Overview

Volume 1
A source-book of theological and historical passages from the Christian writings of the Pre-Nicene and Nicene eras. Volume 1 ends circa 382.

Volume 1: the Pre-Nicene and Nicene eras
Volume 2: the Post-Nicene era through St. Jerome;
Volume 3: St. Augustine to the end of the patristic period.

The passages selected are keyed to the numerical order established in M. J. Rou t de Journel's Enchiridion Patristicum...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814604323
• ISBN13: 9780814604328
• Release Date: July 1978
• Publisher: Liturgical Press
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A Great Asset

As a non-Catholic, I can attest that this work is a great piece of scholarship. Although written by a Roman Catholic, this book presents the views and writings of the Early Fathers with very little bias. I would recommend this book to anyone wishing to research more about the origins of the Christian faith.

Awesome!!

For those with an interest in the history of the earliest Christians, this books is an awesome and enlighting read. It starts with the Didache, a writing that is contemporary to the New Testament and covers the first four hundred years of Christianity. If you want to know what to believe, then a logical person to ask (if you could) would be the people who were contemporaries of the apostles or who came immediately after. Well, we can't ask, but we can read what they wrote, which is the next best thing. Jurgen's The Faith of the Early Fathers is a particularly useful collection of those writings. It is arranged first by authors, which is nice for those who want to study the writings of one early father at a time. Better, though, for the rest of us busy people is the doctrinal index. Each issue of doctrine (from the Bible, to the papacy, to Mary, etc.) has a section, and within that section it is broken down into specific points of doctrine, then each of the points has a paragraph number(s) showing where you can read what these early fathers wrote about that issue. So, when you need to, you can lay your hands on what (for examply) St. Justin Martyr wrote about the Eucharist in about one minute flat, without having to spend hours reading and searching his writings. The Faith of the Early Fathers is the easiest to use compendium of early Christian writings I have ever seen. Anyone who gets this book is going to be just thrilled with what they can quickly and painlessly learn with this reference in their hands.

Indispensible reference and study source

This three-volume series is an impressive work of scholarship and an indispensable reference for anyone who wishes to learn more about the writings and teachings of the Early Church Fathers. Volume 1 covers the earliest Christian writings of the Pre-Nicene and Nicene eras from the Didache to St John Damascene. Volume 2 covers the Post-Nicene era through St. Jerome. Volume 3 covers the writings of St. Augustine through the end of the patristic era.The various selections are preceded by a short introduction to each writer and the work in question. For example, the introduction to the Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles tells of its first publication in 1883 following its discovery in an 11th Century manuscript, and summarizes the best current scholarship on the work's origin and use in the instruction of early catechumens. Extensive footnotes and cross-references to an comprehensive Doctrinal Index make these books an indispensable research tool and reference work. The Doctrinal Index sets forth a number of concise doctrinal statements arranged in both alphabetical and numerical order followed by a number reference to each writing in the volume that discusses or supports the statement in question. The patristic texts are not intended as "proofs" of a particular dogma, but are extremely useful to demonstrate what the Early Church believed and taught. There is a specific index for each volume and a cumulative index in Volume 3.In addition, there is an Index of Scriptural References and Citations listing each reference in the patristic texts to specific Scriptural passages from Genesis to Revelations and a General Index.My only complaint is that nearly all the selections are redacted, making the work less useful as an anthology of the writings of the Early Church Fathers. I can understand the need to edit longer works, but even relatively short works like The Martyrdom of Polycarp are redacted. However, citations to the best translations/editions of each text are given if you wish to read a particular selection in its entirety.

Very Scholarly & good translation

This set of works is outstanding, many other works I have read pail in comparison. This set is most notable for:* good translation (much of the Fathers is in ancient Greek)* presenting the Fathers as themselves, thus the Truth can speak for itself (not relying on commentary to lead, or in some other books mislead)*provides a relavant/broad sampling of a multitude of Fathers writings, without being overly shallow (the known writings of the fathers would take up at least a few library shelves)*easy to use (some other works are hard to use, or have confusing lookup systems/layouts)*there are many other minor points of interest, but I believe these are the most relevant*my only complaint is that these are not hardcover, as this is preferred by scholars and others who use these books heavily, the publisher probably wanted to insure a low price to make this resource available to a broad readershipI can not stress the value of these books, I have seen them used by many scholars, Evangelical & Catholic alike (even at my University).

Great apologetics resource of the Patristic Fathers

This is a great resource with many, many primary sources. One criticism is that not all quotes contain entire context, but overall, many do include entire letters and enough context to see the relevance. Well worth the price!