Product Description

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. This American edition by Arthur Cleveland Coxe is a revision of the original series edited by Alexander Roberts and Sir James Donaldson and published in Edinburgh. The revision involves a major rearrangement to conform to the historical sequence, the addition of brief introductions and notes indicating variances in readings, specifying references to scripture or literature, clarifying obscure passages, and noting corruptions or distortions of patristic testimony (as forged in the Decretals). The basic aim of the translations has been to strive for literary exactness, placing the English reader as nearly as possible on an equal footing with those who are able to read the original.

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #535333 in Books
• Published on: 1994-06-01
• Number of items: 10
• Binding: Hardcover
• 6448 pages

Customer Reviews

The Best we will ever have
While I agree that this set has various faults, as the other reviewers have rightly pointed out, we must also accept it for what it is. It is an 1885 edition of this material, and nothing else like this has been attempted in the 120 years since, nor is it likley to be.

And, yes, while it may be nice to have newer versions and translations which take newer findings into account, it must also be recognised that if a newer edition was produced, we would not be able to purchase it for the price of this older - and out of copyright - set. The cost to produce a newer edition would be prohibitive for the average person, and these great documents of church history would be confined to libraries and the offices of university professors - far from the reach of us "ordinary" people. It is in fact the cost which prevents a newer edition being undertaken.

So, let us not complain too loudly, but enjoy what we have, and make the best use of it that we can - all the while recognising that while this set is not "perfect", it is the best we will ever have.

Adequate edition
This is a reprint of the 19th century version. It's not typeset with modern quality, but it's far from unreadable. It's old-fashioned (akin to what you might see in the popular cheap replications of the original Shakespeare folio). The print is small, but the reproduction is clear, so it's not difficult to read.

I would sell all of my literature to buy this pearl.
This is an excellent (and, in my opinion, the best) collection of early Christian writings, for many reasons. First of all, it's a very reliable, widely accepted, critically praised, and relatively literal translation (compared to others that I've seen). Secondly, the writings contained in it are complete, unlike many other publications that only contain fragments or portions of these early writings. And finally, it's currently the only large collection that's reasonably affordable. For all of these reasons, I give it full marks.

It is not, however, perfect. There are several more recently discovered writings that are not found in these volumes. For Irenaeus' "Proof of the Apostolic Preaching," you'll have to try and get your hands on volume 16 of the "Ancient Christian Writers" series. While the "Popular Patristics" series provides us with Melito of Sardis' "On Pascha" and Hippolytus' "On the Apostolic Tradition." And then there are the many other writings of Origen that aren't in the "Ante-Nicene Fathers" (hereafter referred to simply as "the ANF"): His "Homilies on Genesis" and "Homilies on Exodus" can be found in volume 71 of the "Fathers of the Church" series; "Homilies on Leviticus 1-16" in volume 83; "Homilies on Joshua" in volume 105; "Homilies on Jeremiah" and "Homily on 1 Kings 28" in volume 97; "Homilies on Luke" in volume 94; and his lengthy "Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans" in volumes 103 & 104. Also, volume 19 of the "Ancient Christian Writers" series has Origen's "On Prayer" and "Exhortation to Martyrdom," while volume 26 has both his "Commentary on The Song of Solomon" and "Homilies on The Song of Solomon," and finally volume 54 has his "Treatise on the Passover" and "Dialogue with Heraclides." (Yes, Origen was the single most prolific early Christian writer.) But the only other complaint that I have about the ANF is that it doesn't translate book three of Clement of Alexandria's "Stromata" (Miscellaneous) into English, so you'll have to get it from somewhere like volume 2 of "The Library of Christian Classics."

You can, however, find Irenaeus' extra work, as well as Basil the Great's and Gregory of Nazianzus' "The Philocalia" (which is a collection of quotations from several of Origen's writings, some of which are not found in the ANF) in their entirety on the internet, and even the whole ANF series and a translation of the previously mentioned portion of work by Clement. So start your search-engines. And if you still can't track down a copy of the ANF that's within your price range, then I highly recommend that you at least buy David W. Bercot's "A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs" which is essentially a topical index that compiles seven-hundred and four pages worth of quotations from the ANF on over 700 different issues, and also serves as an excellent supplementary source even if you already have the whole ANF set.

Want to know more about this book, who the early Christians were and what they taught, and/or what the Bible has to say about the post-Biblical Christians and the importance of their writings? Then feel free to contact me via E-mail.