 | The Early Church (The Penguin History of the Church) by Henry Chadwick
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $7.20 This is a very readable, very comprehensive introduction to the ecclesiastical roots of Christianity. It provides adequate nods to imperial rulers where appropriate, though adheres primarily to the main characters and issues of the age. It's a good starting point.
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 | Christology of the Later Fathers (Library of Christian Classics)
Buy new: $23.97 / Used from: $14.50 A nice encapsulation of the Cappadocian Fathers, who, for better or for worse, were the first to hammer out for the rest of History the Doctrine of the Trinity and who finally stamped out Arianism.
Primary documents with decent intros. A scholar's book. Not of particular interest for the layperson.
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 | On Free Choice of the Will by Saint Augustine of Hippo
Buy new: $7.95 / Used from: $4.00 If you need a crash course in Augustine's thought, this is it. You'll have to parse it out a little bit, but it'll do the trick. Sure, we don't think of free will in exactly the same terms anymore, but it's still useful.
Augustine is really obsessed with comparison and hierarchy. You probably should read him with a copy of The Foucault Reader in your library.
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 | St. Augustine Confessions (Oxford World's Classics) by Saint Augustine
Buy new: $7.95 / Used from: $2.50 One of the great autobiographies of all time, Augustine confesses to God (and the reader) his life from his whiny-butt infancy to the death of his overprotective mother, Monica. Then he gives his take on space-time, hermeneutics, and the Trinity - all with a Neoplatonic slant.
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 | Confessions, Vol. 1: Books 1-8 (Loeb Classical Library, No. 26) by Bishop of Hippo Augustine Saint
Buy new: $24.00 / Used from: $17.98 I'm reading the original Latin for as long as I can. I don't doubt Chadwick's translation for one second, but I need to keep my Latin sharp - even though it's a bit later than Cicero...
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 | The Darkness of God: Negativity in Christian Mysticism by Denys Turner
Buy new: $26.99 / Used from: $20.00 I'm slowly working through this one as I reach each author chronologically. Next is Pseudo-Dionysius. It's got a FASCINATING take on Augustine's "Confessions".
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 | Theological Anthroplogy (Sources of Early Christian Thought) by Patout, J Burns
Buy new: $13.50 / Used from: $9.05 An adequate reader for basic ancient anthropology. It's useful for Pelagius and Augustine. The Gregory of Nyssa reading is interesting.
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 | Augustine: The City of God against the Pagans (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) by Augustine
Buy new: $26.99 / Used from: $17.90 Having read the entire work, I can say that it is a personal achievement. Thoroughly necessary in any real theologian's library. Augustine is damningly frustrating at times and very often a genius in his creativity, though prone to extensive proof-texting. This book sets the scene for Medieval political theory, just war, and a low opinion of women.
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 | How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History) by Thomas Cahill
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $0.60 This book is historical pulp. Pure tripe. I just couldn't finish it.
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 | Pseudo Dionysius: The Complete Works (Classics of Western Spirituality) by Karlfried Froehlich
Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $10.72 A very insightful collection of Neoplatonistic Christianity. Highly influential upon the Reformers. Worth having in one's library. Do not disregard the letters at the end. I enjoyed some of them the most.
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 | St. Anselm Basic Writings: Proslogium, Mologium, Gaunilo's In Behalf of the Fool, Cur Deus Homo by Saint Anselm of Canterbury
Buy used from: $7.75 This edition is not the best. The language is old and I don't like the translation. The introduction has a brief analysis of Anselm by subsequent philosophers, which is nice.
What's lacking most in this is a critical apparatus. I got this book as an undergrad before my Latin was at a decent level and before I cared.
Anselm's argument just doesn't do it for me.
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