Classic Studies on the Apostolic Fathers (29 vols.)

by Fenton John Anthony Hort; Joseph Barber Lightfoot; Clement of Rome

and

22 more

Publishers:

Macmillan and Co.; SPCK; Macmillan Co.; Williams and Norgate; G. P. Putnam’s Sons

and

15 more

, 1849–1920

Overview

The Classic Studies on the Apostolic Fathers collection presents many of the defining late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century studies on some of the earliest Christian writers and their works. Thanks to such notable authors as J. B. Lightfoot, J. Armitage Robinson, F. J. A. Hort, and Robert L. Bensly, Classic Studies on the Apostolic Fathers interprets, translates, and contextualizes important works such as the Didache, the Shepherd of Hermas, the epistles of St. Ignatius, Clement of Rome’s epistles, and more. The collection’s 29 volumes and nearly 9,000 pages have had an enduring impact on our understanding of first and second century Christianity.

This collection is essential for students, scholars, pastors, historians, teachers of the Bible, and anyone else studying the lives and works of the Apostolic Fathers. With Logos Bible Software, these volumes are completely searchable—Scripture passages appear on mouseover and link to your original language texts and English translations. For scholarly work or personal Bible study, this makes these volumes more powerful and easier to access than ever before. With Logos’ advanced features, you can perform comprehensive searches by topic or Scripture reference—finding, for example, every mention of “resurrection,” or “1 John 4:12.”

Key Features

• In-depth studies on the Apostolic Fathers
• Notable authors from a variety of backgrounds
• Completely searchable content linked to your favorite Bible translation and your other books

Product Details

• Title: Classic Studies on the Apostolic Fathers
• Volumes: 29
• Pages: 8,641

The Apostolic Fathers, part 1, vol. 1: St. Clement of Rome

• Author: J. B. Lightfoot
• Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
• Publication Date: 1890
• Pages: 496

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Much of early literature has only been passed down to us in fragments. This is preeminently true of early Christian literature. The Christian teachers in primitive ages were evangelists, not authors, preachers, not historians. The literary remains of the primitive ages of Christianity, which to us are of priceless value, were suffered to perish from neglect—a few fragments here and there alone escaping the general fate.

The epithet “apostolic” does not occur in the canonical writings, but is found first in the vocabulary of the succeeding generation, when the Apostles could be regarded in the light of history. Its first occurrence is in Ignatius, who tells his correspondents that he writes to them “after the apostolic manner,” where he seems to refer to the epistolary form of his communication.

After presenting a general introduction on the Apostolic Fathers, Lightfoot begins his in-depth study of St. Clement of Rome and his writings. Part one, volume one includes the following chapters:

• The Apostolic Fathers
• Clement the Doctor
• Manuscripts and Versions
• Quotations and References
• Early Roman Succession
• The Letter of the Romans to the Corinthians
• The Letters Ascribed to St. Clement
• An Autotype of the Constantinople Manuscript

The most learned and careful Patristic monograph which has appeared in the nineteenth century.

—Adolf von Harnack

Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828–1889), also known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham. He attended King Edward’s School in Birmingham before attending Trinity College in Cambridge where he was elected a fellow of his college. From 1854 to 1859, he edited the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology.

Lightfoot became a tutor of Trinity College in 1857 and later became professor of divinity. In 1871, he became canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Lightfoot preached regularly and participated in various ecclesiastical activities. He gained enormous popularity for his work Essays on the Word Entitled Supernatural Religion, a defense of the New Testament in response to Walter Richard Cassel’s Supernatural Religion. In 1870, Lightfoot became Bishop of Durham, where he continued his theological study, writing, and preaching.

Lightfoot wrote commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, and Colossians and Philemon. Lightfoot’s lecture notes and unpublished commentary manuscripts can be found in the 11-volume Joseph Barber Lightfoot Collection which includes several volumes of essays, including Essays on the Word Entitled Supernatural Religion, and sermons.

The Apostolic Fathers, part 1, vol. 2: St. Clement of Rome

• Author: J. B. Lightfoot
• Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
• Publication Date: 1890
• Pages: 532

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Much of early literature has only been passed down to us in fragments. This is preeminently true of early Christian literature. The Christian teachers in primitive ages were evangelists, not authors, preachers, not historians. The literary remains of the primitive ages of Christianity, which to us are of priceless value, were suffered to perish from neglect—a few fragments here and there alone escaping the general fate.

The epithet “apostolic” does not occur in the canonical writings, but is found first in the vocabulary of the succeeding generation, when the Apostles could be regarded in the light of history. Its first occurrence is in Ignatius, who tells his correspondents that he writes to them “after the apostolic manner,” where he seems to refer to the epistolary form of his communication.

Part one, volume two of The Apostolic Fathers further explores the writings of St. Clement, as well as the writings of Hippolytus of Portus. It includes the following chapters:

• The Epistle of St. Clement
  • Introduction
  • Text and Notes

• The So-Called Second Epistle of St. Clement
  • Introduction
  • Text and Notes

• Translations

• Hippolytus of Portus
  • Introduction
  • Ancient References of Hippolytus
  • Modern Literature
  • Namesakes of St. Hippolytus
  • Gaius or Hippolytus
  • The Literary Works of Hippolytus
  • The Muratorian Fragment
  • The Compendium against All the Heresies
  • The Refutation of All the Heresies
  • Table of the Literary Works of Hippolytus
  • Early and Middle Life of Hippolytus
  • Was Hippolytus a Novatian?
  • The See of Hippolytus
  • Hippolytus the Presbyter
  • Later Years, Banishment, and Death
  • The Statue of Hippolytus
  • Posthumous Honors and Sanctuaries
  • Spurious Acts of Hippolytus

• Appendix
  • St. Peter in Rome
  • The Epistle of Barnabas

Within these splendid volumes are found not only all the materials, all the critical apparatus, needed for the study of the subjects involved, but the Bishop’s own exhausted discussions relating to the whole. This great and masterly work—a work in which the erudition and ability are alike extraordinary—will be a treasure and storehouse for ecclesiastical students.

—London Quarterly Review

Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828–1889), also known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham. He attended King Edward’s School in Birmingham before attending Trinity College in Cambridge where he was elected a fellow of his college. From 1854 to 1859, he edited the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology.

Lightfoot became a tutor of Trinity College in 1857 and later became professor of divinity. In 1871, he became canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Lightfoot preached regularly and participated in various ecclesiastical activities. He gained enormous popularity for his work Essays on the Word Entitled Supernatural Religion, a defense of the New Testament in response to Walter Richard Cassel’s Supernatural Religion. In 1870, Lightfoot became Bishop of Durham, where he continued his theological study, writing, and preaching.

Lightfoot wrote commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, and Colossians and Philemon. Lightfoot’s lecture notes and unpublished commentary manuscripts can be found in the 11-volume Joseph Barber Lightfoot Collection which includes several volumes of essays, including Essays on the Word Entitled Supernatural Religion, and sermons.

The Apostolic Fathers, part 2, vol. 1: St. Ignatius, St. Polycarp

• Author: J. B. Lightfoot
• Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
• Publication Date: 1889
• Pages: 767

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Much of early literature has only been passed down to us in fragments. This is preeminently true of early Christian literature. The Christian teachers in primitive ages were evangelists, not authors, preachers, not historians. The literary remains of the primitive ages of Christianity, which to us are of priceless value, were suffered to perish from neglect—a few fragments here and there alone escaping the general fate.

The epithet “apostolic” does not occur in the canonical writings, but is found first in the vocabulary of the succeeding generation, when the Apostles could be regarded in the light of history. Its first occurrence is in Ignatius, who tells his correspondents that he writes to them “after the apostolic manner,” where he seems to refer to the epistolary form of his communication.

Part two, volume one of The Apostolic Fathers examines the lives and writings of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp. Part two, volume one includes the following chapters:

• St. Ignatius
  • Ignatius the Martyr
  • Manuscripts and Versions
  • Quotations and References
  • Spurious and Interpolated Epistles
  • The Curetonian Letters
  • The Genuineness

• St. Polycarp
  • Polycarp the Elder
  • Manuscripts and Versions
  • Quotations and References
  • Genuineness of the Epistle
  • Letter of the Smyræans
  • Date of the Martyrdom

Indeed, the whole work is a masterpiece of historical criticism, exhibiting a marvelous erudition combined with an equally admirable clearness and strength of judgment.

—Andover Review

Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828–1889), also known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham. He attended King Edward’s School in Birmingham before attending Trinity College in Cambridge where he was elected a fellow of his college. From 1854 to 1859, he edited the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology.

Lightfoot became a tutor of Trinity College in 1857 and later became professor of divinity. In 1871, he became canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Lightfoot preached regularly and participated in various ecclesiastical activities. He gained enormous popularity for his work Essays on the Word Entitled Supernatural Religion, a defense of the New Testament in response to Walter Richard Cassel’s Supernatural Religion. In 1870, Lightfoot became Bishop of Durham, where he continued his theological study, writing, and preaching.

Lightfoot wrote commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, and Colossians and Philemon. Lightfoot’s lecture notes and unpublished commentary manuscripts can be found in the 11-volume Joseph Barber Lightfoot Collection which includes several volumes of essays, including Essays on the Word Entitled Supernatural Religion, and sermons.

The Apostolic Fathers, part 2, vol. 2: St. Ignatius, St. Polycarp

• Author: J. B. Lightfoot
• Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
• Publication Date: 1889
• Pages: 619

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Much of early literature has only been passed down to us in fragments. This is preeminently true of early Christian literature. The Christian teachers in primitive ages were evangelists, not authors, preachers, not historians. The literary remains of the primitive ages of Christianity, which to us are of priceless value, were suffered to perish from neglect—a few fragments here and there alone escaping the general fate.

The epithet “apostolic” does not occur in the canonical writings, but is found first in the vocabulary of the succeeding generation, when the Apostles could be regarded in the light of history. Its first occurrence is in Ignatius, who tells his correspondents that he writes to them “after the apostolic manner,” where he seems to refer to the epistolary form of his communication.

Part two, volume two of The Apostolic Fathers contains the epistles of St. Ignatius and the Acts of Martyrdom. Part two, volume two includes the following chapters:

• Genuine Epistles of St. Ignatius
  • Introduction
  • To the Ephesians
  • To the Magnesians
  • To the Trallians
  • To the Romans
  • To the Philadelphians
  • To the Smyrnæans
  • To Polycarp

• Acts of Martyrdom
  • Introduction
  • Antiochene Acts
  • Roman Acts

• Translations
  • Genuine Epistles of St. Ignatius
  • Acts of Martyrdom

Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828–1889), also known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham. He attended King Edward’s School in Birmingham before attending Trinity College in Cambridge where he was elected a fellow of his college. From 1854 to 1859, he edited the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology.

Lightfoot became a tutor of Trinity College in 1857 and later became professor of divinity. In 1871, he became canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Lightfoot preached regularly and participated in various ecclesiastical activities. He gained enormous popularity for his work Essays on the Word Entitled Supernatural Religion, a defense of the New Testament in response to Walter Richard Cassel’s Supernatural Religion. In 1870, Lightfoot became Bishop of Durham, where he continued his theological study, writing, and preaching.

Lightfoot wrote commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, and Colossians and Philemon. Lightfoot’s lecture notes and unpublished commentary manuscripts can be found in the 11-volume Joseph Barber Lightfoot Collection which includes several volumes of essays, including Essays on the Word Entitled Supernatural Religion, and sermons.

The Apostolic Fathers, part 2, vol. 3: St. Ignatius, St. Polycarp

• Author: J. B. Lightfoot
• Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
• Publication Date: 1889
• Pages: 526

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Much of early literature has only been passed down to us in fragments. This is preeminently true of early Christian literature. The Christian teachers in primitive ages were evangelists, not authors, preachers, not historians. The literary remains of the primitive ages of Christianity, which to us are of priceless value, were suffered to perish from neglect—a few fragments here and there alone escaping the general fate.

The epithet “apostolic” does not occur in the canonical writings, but is found first in the vocabulary of the succeeding generation, when the Apostles could be regarded in the light of history. Its first occurrence is in Ignatius, who tells his correspondents that he writes to them “after the apostolic manner,” where he seems to refer to the epistolary form of his communication.

Part two, volume three of The Apostolic Fathers contains additional translations of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp’s works. Part two, volume three includes the following chapters:

• Appendix Ignatiana
  • Anglo-Latin Version
  • Greek Epistles of the Long Recension
  • Coptic Remains of St. Ignatius
  • Arabic Extracts from Ignatian Letters
  • Prayer of Hero

• St. Polycarp
  • The Epistle of St. Polycarp
  • Letter of the Smyræans

• Appendix Polycarpiana
  • Polycarpian Fragments
  • Life of Polycarp

• Translations
  • Epistle of Polycarp
  • Letter of the Smyræans
  • Life of Polycarp

Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828–1889), also known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham. He attended King Edward’s School in Birmingham before attending Trinity College in Cambridge where he was elected a fellow of his college. From 1854 to 1859, he edited the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology.

Lightfoot became a tutor of Trinity College in 1857 and later became professor of divinity. In 1871, he became canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Lightfoot preached regularly and participated in various ecclesiastical activities. He gained enormous popularity for his work Essays on the Word Entitled Supernatural Religion, a defense of the New Testament in response to Walter Richard Cassel’s Supernatural Religion. In 1870, Lightfoot became Bishop of Durham, where he continued his theological study, writing, and preaching.

Lightfoot wrote commentaries on Galatians, Philippians, and Colossians and Philemon. Lightfoot’s lecture notes and unpublished commentary manuscripts can be found in the 11-volume Joseph Barber Lightfoot Collection which includes several volumes of essays, including Essays on the Word Entitled Supernatural Religion, and sermons.

A Critical History of Christian Literature and Doctrine from the Death of the Apostles to the Nicene Council, vol. 1: The Apostolical Fathers

• Author: James Donaldson
• Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
• Publication Date: 1864
• Pages: 496

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Critical History of Christian Literature and Doctrine attempts to investigate the authorship of the various works which have come down to us from the time of the Apostles to the Nicene Council, and to ascertain the influences which led to their production and determined their character. It also makes an effort to state exactly what the theological opinions of each writer were. It is therefore an introduction to the study of the Christian writers, and prepares the way for a full consideration of the mode in which Christian theology was developed. Chapters in volume one, The Apostolical Fathers, include:

• Introduction
  • Advantages of the Study of Early Christian Literature
  • Principles of Criticism—External Testimony
  • Internal Evidence
  • The Tübingen School
  • Early Christian Theology—Mode of Treatment
  • Historical Survey of the Mode of Treatment

• The Apostolical Fathers
  • Introduction
  • Clemens Romanus
  • Polycarp
  • The Epistle of Barnabas
  • The Pastor of Hermas
  • Papias

His reading has evidently been careful and laborious. His style is clear and simple, and he has complete command of his materials. In estimating evident he is cautious and discriminating. But that for which he is most deserving of praise is the impartial spirit in which he has done his work.

—Theological Review

The author has thoroughly mastered his material, and deals with it in a spirit of entire judicial impartiality.

—Westminster Review

The careful reader will find two sources of interest in these scholarly and handsome volumes—as a study of doctrine in the period of its early growth, and as an exhibition of the body of thought and imagery familiar to the religious fancy of the age. And their thorough conscientious workmanship promises to make them of classical and standard value.

—Christian Examiner

James Donaldson (1831–1915) was educated at New College, London, and Berlin University. He served as a professor of humanities in the University of Aberdeen and then principal of the University of St. Andrews. He was an editor of several volumes in the Early Church Fathers series, and was the author of A Modern Greek Grammar for the Use of Classical Students, Expiatory and Substitutory Sacrifices of the Greeks, and The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England.

A Critical History of Christian Literature and Doctrine from the Death of the Apostles to the Nicene Council, vol. 2: The Apologists

• Author: James Donaldson
• Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
• Publication Date: 1866
• Pages: 344

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Critical History of Christian Literature and Doctrine attempts to investigate the authorship of the various works which have come down to us from the time of the Apostles to the Nicene Council, and to ascertain the influences which led to their production and determined their character. It also makes an effort to state exactly what the theological opinions of each writer were. It is therefore an introduction to the study of the Christian writers, and prepares the way for a full consideration of the mode in which Christian theology was developed. Chapters in volume two, The Apologists, include:

• The Apologists
  • Introduction
  • Quadratus, etc.
  • Justin Martyr

James Donaldson (1831–1915) was educated at New College, London, and Berlin University. He served as a professor of humanities in the University of Aberdeen and then principal of the University of St. Andrews. He was an editor of several volumes in the Early Church Fathers series, and was the author of A Modern Greek Grammar for the Use of Classical Students, Expiatory and Substitutory Sacrifices of the Greeks, and The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England.

A Critical History of Christian Literature and Doctrine from the Death of the Apostles to the Nicene Council, vol. 3: The Apologists Continued

• Author: James Donaldson
• Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
• Publication Date: 1866
• Pages: 305

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Critical History of Christian Literature and Doctrine attempts to investigate the authorship of the various works which have come down to us from the time of the Apostles to the Nicene Council, and to ascertain the influences which led to their production and determined their character. It also makes an effort to state exactly the theological opinions of each writer were. It is therefore an introduction to the study of the Christian writers, and prepares the way for a full consideration of the mode in which Christian theology was developed. Chapters in volume three, The Apologists Continued, include:

• The Apologists Continued
  • Tatian
  • Theophilus
  • Athenagoras
  • Hermias
  • Hegesippus
  • Dionysius of Corinth
  • Melito
  • Apollinaris
  • The Letter of the Churches in Vienna and Lugdunum

James Donaldson (1831–1915) was educated at New College, London, and Berlin University. He served as a professor of humanities in the University of Aberdeen and then principal of the University of St. Andrews. He was an editor of several volumes in the Early Church Fathers series, and was the author of A Modern Greek Grammar for the Use of Classical Students, Expiatory and Substitutory Sacrifices of the Greeks, and The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England.

Barnabas, Hermas, and the Didache

• Author: J. Armitage Robinson
• Publisher: SPCK
• Publication Date: 1920
• Pages: 119

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The ultimate aim of these lectures is to reach a point of view from which the literary character and the historical value of the Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, can be justly estimated. Some theories have suggested that it was a Jewish manual of instructions for proselytes which had later been modified, with references to the Sermon on the Mount and to the Shepherd of Hermas interpolated to make this Jewish manual more suitable for candidates for Holy Baptism. If this is the case, and the interpolation was added not by the author of the Didache himself, but by a later reviser of it, neither Barnabas nor Hermas need any longer be taken into account in fixing the date of the book in its uninterpolated form.

J. Armitage Robinson considers another route, which, if accepted, the theory of a Jewish manual disappears altogether, and the ground is cleared for a new consideration of the whole problem. Through the course of the four lectures contained in Barnabas, Hermas, and the Didache, Armitage aims to show that the writer of the Didache was trying to represent the moral instruction and the ecclesiastical ordinances which the Apostles might reasonably be supposed to have sanctioned for their Gentile converts; and that accordingly we may not assume that the whole of the picture which he has drawn corresponded to the actual conditions of his own time, whatever that time may have been.

J. Armitage Robinson (1858–1933) studied at Christ’s College, Cambridge, and was ordained in 1882. He served as Dean of Westminster Abbey from 1902 to 1911, and Dean of Wells Cathedral from 1911 to 1933. His works include St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, two volumes in the Text and Studies series, and Two Glastonbury Legends: King Arthur and Joseph of Arimathaea.

Facsimiles of the Athos Fragments of the Shepherd of Hermas

• Author: Kirsopp Lake
• Publisher: Claredon Press
• Publication Date: 1907
• Pages: 496

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

There is probably no manuscript in the monastic libraries of Mount Athos which has a greater value than the fragments which are here reproduced; but a glance at the plates will show that this importance is due neither to age nor to beauty. Their sole interest is to be found in their contents and in their curious history in the nineteenth century. Though the Shepherd of Hermas was one of the most popular books in the earliest periods of church history, it so completely went out of fashion that we do not possess a single Greek manuscript of the complete text, and only two of any large portions. Of these two the famous Codex Sinaiticus is the older and more valuable, but unfortunately it only contains the first quarter of the book. The other is the manuscript originally containing the whole text in ten leaves, of which the Athos fragments are now reproduced in this volume.

Kirsopp Lake (1872–1946) was born in England. He was a biblical scholar, curate, and archeologist. He taught early Christian literature at the University of Leiden and Harvard University.

Christian Life in the Primitive Church

• Author: Ernst von Dobschütz
• Publisher: Williams & Norgate
• Publication Date: 1904
• Pages: 438

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What was the primitive Christianity? It is with this problem that the present book deals. It gives a picture of early Christian life on its moral side, not only by diffusing exact knowledge of old Christian manners and morals, but also by disseminating the spirit of primitive Christianity: the earnest, strong, and victorious spirit of faithful religious and moral activity. What Ernst von Dobschütz investigates in Christian Life in the Primitive Church is not the ethical teaching of primitive Christianity, but its real morals. At the same time, however, he wishes to express his very distinct conviction that historical progress cannot be explained by forces originating in a collective way, but by eminent leaders or heroes. The astonishing success of the Gospel during the first century is the work of St. Paul and his fellow-laborers, not of the mass of Christian converts whom they brought together by their preaching. Ernst von Dobschütz divides his study of primitive Christianity into the following sections:

• Introduction
• The Pauline Churches
• Jewish Christendom
• Later Christianity among the Heathen
• Conclusion

He has approached the subject in a spirit of rare historical candor and objectivity. No fair-minded critic, whatever his theological prepossessions, could well quarrel with Professor von Dobschütz’s judicial summing up of the evidence.

—The Speaker

Ernst von Dobschütz (1870–1934) was a professor at the University of Halle, the University of Breslau, and the University of Strasbourg. His works include The Apostolic Age, The Influence of the Bible on Civilisation, and Der Apostel Paulus.

Corpus Ignatianum: A Complete Collection of the Ignatian Epistles, Genuine, Interpolated, and Spurious

• Author: William Cureton
• Publisher: Asher and Co.
• Publication Date: 1849
• Pages: 496

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

This volume presents a comparison of the text of the Syriac and of that of both the Greek recensions of the epistles to Polycarp, the Ephesians, and the Romans by St. Ignatius. Cureton also provides a similar comparison of the text of the longer and shorter recensions of the Epistles to the Magnesians, Trallians, Philadelphians, and Smyræans. To these, Cureton has subjoined the rest of the Ignatian epistles in Greek; and to all of them he has supplied their corresponding ancient Latin versions. He has likewise appended to the rest the Three Letters attributed to St. Ignatius, of which Latin copies only are known to exist. This furnishes a complete collection of all the epistles which have ever been assigned to the venerable Bishop of Antioch.

Cureton provides English translations of all the Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic in the volume, and adds helpful notes, critical and explanatory, on the three Syriac epistles, with some notes on the other epistles and on the Syriac extracts.

William Cureton (1808–1864) was assistant keeper of manuscripts in the British Museum and later canon of Westminster Abbey. His works include Remains of a Very Ancient Recension of the Four Gospels in Syriac, Fragments of the Iliad of Homer from a Syriac Palimpsest, and Ancient Syriac Documents Relative to the Earliest Establishment of Christianity in Edessa and the Neighboring Countries.

The Epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, vol. 1

• Author: J. H. Srawley
• Publisher: SPCK
• Publication Date: 1910
• Pages: 111

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The present translation of the epistles of St. Ignatius is intended to set before English readers, in an accessible form, the writings of one of the most important characters in the Church history of the period succeeding the age of the Apostles. In these epistles we have the key to the right understanding of the character of the Church at the beginning of the second century. Volume one contains an in-depth introduction on the literary controversy that surrounds the Ignatian epistles, as well as information on the genuineness and date of the epistles and chapters on St. Ignatius as martyr and St. Ignatius as teacher. It then contains the English translations of the epistles to the Ephesians, the Magnesians, and to the Trallians.

Those who care to become intimately acquainted with the first post-apostolic writer in Christian history will find this a convenient and satisfactory handbook.

—Homiletic Review

J. H. Srawley (1868–1954) was tutor and theological lecturer at Selwyn College and examining chaplain to the Bishop of Litchfield. He is also the author of The Early history of the Liturgy.

The Epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, vol. 2

• Author: J. H. Srawley
• Publisher: SPCK
• Publication Date: 1910
• Pages: 78

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The present translation of the epistles of St. Ignatius is intended to set before English readers, in an accessible form, the writings of one of the most important characters in the Church history of the period succeeding the age of the Apostles. In these epistles we have the key to the right understanding of the character of the Church at the beginning of the second century. Volume two contains the English translations of the epistles to the Romans, the Philadelphians, the Smyrnæans, and to Polycarp. It also includes additional notes on the heresies in the churches of Asia, the early use of the words “presbyter” and “episcopus,” and the acts of the martyrdom of St. Ignatius.

J. H. Srawley (1868–1954) was tutor and theological lecturer at Selwyn College and examining chaplain to the Bishop of Litchfield. He is also the author of The Early history of the Liturgy.

St. Polycarp: Bishop of Smyrna

• Author: Blomfield Jackson
• Publisher: SPCK
• Publication Date: 1898
• Pages: 78

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

This translation of the one extant Letter of St. Polycarp, and of the Letter of the Smyrnaeans narrating his martyrdom, is designed to put within the reach of English readers in a handy form two of the most valuable of the classics of the Church. Blomfield Jackson provides an in-depth introduction to the genuineness and dating of the epistles and provides a short introduction to the life of St. Polycarp.

Blomfield Jackson (1841–1909) was vicar of St. Bartholomew, Moor Lane, and Fellow of King’s College, London. His other works include Kaeso: A Tragedy of the First Century, The Forgiveness of Sins and Other Sermons, and St. Basil: Letters and Select Works.

Papias and His Contemporaries: A Study of Religious Thought in the Second Century

• Author: Edward H. Hall
• Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company
• Publication Date: 1899
• Pages: 318

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Beginning with a description of the life and work Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, Edward H. Hall presents a survey of second century religious thought. Hall examines the works of Ignatius, Polycarp, Barnabas, Justin Martyr, Marcion, and more, while also examining Paul’s works and the New Testament canon. His study of second century religious thought is divided into the following chapters:

• An Early Investigator
• Primitive Christian Literature
• Two Learned Doctors
• The Millennial Reign
• Theological Speculations
• The Mystic Gospel
• Appendix

We have in this volume a lucid and learned account of certain phases of the religious thought of the second century.

—Biblical World

Edward H. Hall (1831–1912) was pastor of the First Parish Cambridge, Massachusetts. His works include Paul, the Apostle, Lessons on the Life of St. Paul, and Ten Lectures on Orthodoxy & Heresy in the Christian Church.

Six Lectures on the Ante-Nicene Fathers

• Author: Fenton John Anthony Hort
• Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
• Publication Date: 1895
• Pages: 138

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These lectures by F. J. A. Hort were delivered to the Clergy Training School at Cambridge in 1890. The subject is the early Fathers of the Church, the “Fathers” being the Christian writers of the early Christian centuries, the parents of the Christian thought and belief and life of later centuries, which, however modified and altered by the inward and outward changes arising in the course of time, retain always down to the present day important features inherited from the peculiar circumstances of the centuries which followed the Apostolic age. As Hort states in the first lecture, “But, although it is important to remember that our own thoughts, and the thoughts of all Christians everywhere, have been in a great measure thus shaped for us by the thoughts of the early Fathers, it is not on account of this fact that we call them Fathers, but rather in gratitude and veneration for them as the patriarchs of Christendom, speaking to us still out of that early dawn of the Christian period of history, and often speaking to us out of the fiery trial of persecution.” Lectures include:

• Clement of Rome and Hermas
• Ignatius and Polycarp
• Justin and Irenæus
• Hippolytus and Clement of Alexandria
• Tertullian and Cyprian
• Origen

The treatment is admirably fitted to excite the interest of those who are beginning the study of Church history, and to guide them to reading the writings of the Fathers in profitable ways. Dr. Hort’s own comments and criticism are most clearly expressed.

—Church Quarterly Review

Though certainly popular in form and treatment they are so in the best sense of the words, and they bear throughout the impress of the ripe scholarship, the rare critical acumen, and the lofty ethical temper which marked all Dr. Hort’s work.

—Times

As a popular and easy introduction to the subject, nothing could be better than thesem while the extracts, which are particularly full and numerous, will be found to be both interesting and valuable specimens of Ante-Nicene Patristic literature.

—Glasgow Herald

This historical and expository review, founded as it is upon scholarly research, deserves a hearty welcome.

—Scotsman

F. J. A. Hort (1841–1909) was an Irish scholar and theologian. He is most famous for his Greek New Testament written with Brooke Foss Westcott. Hort was the Hulsean Professor of Divinity at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Other works include The Christian Ecclesia, Judaistic Christianity, and Village Sermons.

Teaching of the Twelve Apostles: Text and Translation, Together with Critical and Illustrative Papers by Eminent Scholars

• Author: J. A. Paine
• Publisher: J. A. Paine
• Publication Date: 1884
• Pages: 84

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This volume contains the Didache, or, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, in its original Greek, and its English translation. It also contains several articles by eminent scholars on is background and contents. All of these articles originally appeared in the Journal of Christian Philosophy, and editor J. A. Paine has compiled them together to provide a penetrating look at The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. J. Rendell Harris discusses the genuineness, priority, sources, and value of the Didache. Isaac H. Hall discusses the phraseology of The Teaching as an index of its age. And Elijah R. Craven provides invaluable comments and notes on The Teaching.

J. A. Paine was an author and editor. His other works include “From Dan to Beersheba”: Travels in the Orient and A Chronological Chart of Ancient, Modern, and Biblical History.

The Church of the Sub-Apostolic Age: Its Life, Worship, and Organization

• Author: James Heron
• Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
• Publication Date: 1888
• Pages: 300

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In The Church of the Sub-Apostolic Age, James Heron provides an in-depth study of the Didache to examine the organization of the early church. Heron provides an English translation of The Teaching with helpful notes, then explores how and when the Didache was discovered, the design and character of the work, the age of the Didache, and more. The second half of this volume examines various church questions illustrated by the Didache, such as the New Testament canon, family and social life of the early church, baptism, the Eucharist, the Sabbath, and more. Heron then mines the Didache for examples of early church organization and considers the various offices and roles of the itinerant and local ministries.

The clearness of his writing, the succinctness of his style, and his exactness in the citation of authorities deserve emphatic recognition.

—London Quarterly Review

James Heron was a professor of biblical criticism and pastoral theology at the General Assembly’s Theological College, Belfast. His works include The Celtic Church in Ireland, A Short History of Puritanism, and The Evolution of Latin Christianity.

The Didache, or, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles Translated with Notes

• Author: G. C. Allen
• Publisher: The Astolat Press
• Publication Date: 1903
• Pages: 57

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The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, or the Didache, is a brief work, not longer than the Epistle to the Galatians; but its suggestiveness is great and varied. G. C. Allen presents an English translation with notes and illustrations which show its relation to the New Testament and the beliefs and practices of the Early Christian Church. Before the annotated translation he provides an introduction where he covers the Didache’s discovery, its importance, its age, and a short analysis of its contents.

George Cantrell Allen earned his DD from St. John’s College in 1881. He served as Head Master of Cranleigh School, Guildford, Surrey.

The Early Church from Ignatius to Augustine

• Author: George Hodges
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
• Publication Date: 1915
• Pages: 312

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The first four centuries of the Christian era are covered in this history of the early church. Orignally a set of lectures delivered to various colleges and seminaries, George Hodges revised them for publication. The 10 lectures include:

• The Roman World
• The Struggle for Life
• The Defense of the Faith
• The Organization of Religion
• The Arian Debate
• Monasticism in the East. Basil, Gregory
• Ambrose
• Chrysostom
• Monasticism in the West. Martin, Cassian, Jerome
• Augustine
• Appendix: Table of Dates

Dean Hodges writes with the express purpose of making his book acceptable to all classes and no background history is necessary for an understanding of it.

—Boston Transcript

An excellent and readable summary.

—New York Times

It is fresh in treatment, vital with ideas, and it brings out the underlying relationship between persecutions and creeds, between political changes and the development of religious organizations.

—Outlook

One finds in a book of this kind not only rest and recreation, but the upbuilding of moral fiber. The book should be among those recommended to those who are unable to have a college course in the history of religions.

—Review of Reviews

George Hodges (1856–1919) was educated at Hamilton College and was dean of the Episcopal Theological School of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was the author of numerous works, including Faith and Social Service, The Training of Children in Religion, and Christianity between Sundays.

The Editio Princeps of the Epistle of Barnabas

• Author: J. H. Backhouse
• Publisher: Claredon Press
• Publication Date: 18
• Pages: 58

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This volume contains a reprint of the unique Bodleian fragment of Ussher’s Barnabas, first printed in 1642. J. H. Backhouse provides the literary history of this copy of Barnabas’ epistle before comparing the Latin and Greek versions of the text.

J. H. Backhouse earned his BA and MA from Brasenose College and was ordained a priest in 1852. He served as editor for a new edition of Riddle’s Manual of the Whole Scripture History and was the author of The Decline of the Roman Republic.

The Epistles of St. Clement to the Corinthians in Syriac

• Author: R. L. Bensly
• Publisher: University Press
• Publication Date: 1899
• Pages: 80

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This volume contains the Syriac Version of the Clementine Epistles. Along with the Syriac text, R. L. Bensly provides helpful notes on both epistles.

The importance of the present publication is enhance by the fact that the manuscript from which the text has been edited is, so far as it is at present known, unique.

—The Athenaeum

Robert L. Bensly (1863–1956) was Lord Almoner’s Professor of Arabic at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and examiner in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament at the University of London. His numerous works include The Missing Fragment of the Latin Translation of the Fourth Book of Ezra, The Fourth Book of Maccabees and Kindred Documents, The Harklean Version of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and The Four Gospels in Syriac, Transcribed from the Sinaitic Palimpsest.

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles with Illustrations from the Talmud

• Author: C. Taylor
• Publisher: Deighton Bell and Co.
• Publication Date: 1886
• Pages: 136

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The so-called Teaching of the Twelve Apostles is a long-lost ancient Church manual, which on its discovery was assigned to the second century, but which many how hold, not without good reason, to be a genuine relic of the first. It contains a scheme of moral precepts under the head of the Two Ways of life and death, followed by ordinances relating to the sacraments and the ministry of the church, and these by a striking section on the last things. That it should include no statement or exposition of dogma is in keeping with its supposed early date; such matters being precisely those which would continue longest to be handed down solely by word of mouth. This volume contains C. Taylor’s English translation of The Teaching, as well as two lectures on the manual and its relation to the Talmud.

From the Hebrew sources with which he is so familiar, Dr. Taylor brings an amount of apposite illustration which gives new significance to several passages. The gleanings of this Talmudist are, indeed, more than the vintage of less learned critics.

—Expositor

Charles Taylor (1840–1908) was educated at King’s College, London, and St. John’s College, Cambridge. His numerous works include Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, The Wisdom of Ben Sira, and Essay on the Theology of the Didache.

The Witness of Hermas to the Four Gospels

• Author: C. Taylor
• Publisher: C. J. Clay and Sons
• Publication Date: 1892
• Pages: 148

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The Shepherd of Hermas is an incompletely worked mine of allusions to the Gospels and other writings. It has been undervalued because it has not been understood. In form it is a lengthy revelation to one Hermas, written down by himself; but while some take his story for history, perhaps more deem it an offspring of the imagination, and place it in the same category with the famous Pilgrim’s Progress. Its author, who has a sufficiency of sacred and secular lore at command, never cites by name, except once from the now lost Eldad and Modat, but weaves his materials artfully together into a fabric which must be unraveled with some care before it can be seen of what elements it is composed. Charles Taylor divides his study into three parts:

• Hermas and the Four Gospels
• Hermas and the Synoptic Gospels
• Hermas and the Fourth Gospel

Charles Taylor (1840–1908) was educated at King’s College, London, and St. John’s College, Cambridge. His numerous works include Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, The Wisdom of Ben Sira, and Essay on the Theology of the Didache.

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles

• Authors: Roswell D. Hitchcock and Francis Brown
• Publisher: John C. Nimmo
• Publication Date: 1885
• Pages: 200

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Roswell D. Hitchcock and Francis Brown have provided both the Greek text and the English translation of The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, along with critical notes. The in-depth introduction to the texts compares The Teaching with other early Christian documents and discusses the controversies surrounding its dating, the various sources for the manuscripts, its purpose and scope, the doctrine contained therein, and much more. Philip Schaff then provides a full bibliography of Didache literature.

We consider this document to be of so much value that we rejoice to see a new and enlarge edition put forth. We are convinced that the more the Christian community of the present day studies the really primitive documents, the more will they be imbued with the true spirit of primitive Christianity.

—The Church

Roswell D. Hitchcock (1817–1887) was educated at Amherst College and Andover Theological Seminary. He was a professor of church history at Union Theological Seminary, which he served as president from 1880 to 1887.

Francis Brown (1849–1916) was educated Dartmouth and Union Theological Seminary. He was Davenport Professor of Hebrew and the cognate Languages at Union Theological Seminary.

The Apostolic Fathers

• Author: Henry Scott Holland
• Series: The Fathers for English Readers
• Publisher: SPCK
• Publication Date: 1897
• Pages: 223

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Henry Scott Holland examines the apostolic age, highlighting such early Church Fathers as St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius, and St. Polycarp, and expounding upon the epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas.

Henry Scott Holland (1847–1918) was regius professor of divinity at the University of Oxford and a canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and St. Paul’s cathedral. In 1889, he formed the Christian Social Union. His works include Pleas and Claims for Christ, God’s City and the Coming of the Kingdom, The Apostolic Fathers, and Creed and Character: Sermons.

A Literary History of Early Christianity: Including the Fathers and the Chief Heretical Writers of the Ante-Nicene Period, vol. 1

• Author: Charles Thomas Cruttwell
• Publisher: Charles Griffin and Company
• Publication Date: 1893
• Pages: 316

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The purpose of this work is mainly literary, that is, Charles Thomas Cruttwell has endeavored to point out the leading intellectual conceptions which animate the various writers, to indicate the degree of success attained by each, and to estimate the permanent values of each one’s contribution to the growing edifice of human thought and knowledge. Volume one contains the following chapters:

• The Apostolic Fathers
  • General Remarks
  • Clement of Rome
  • The Pseudo-Clement
  • The Epistle of Barnabas
  • The Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles
  • Ignatius
  • Polycarp
  • Papias and the Asiatic Elders
  • The “Shepherd of Hermas”

• The Heretical Sects
  • Jewish Perversions of Christianity—Ebionism
  • The Clementine Literature
  • The Early Apocryphal Literature
  • On Gnosticism
  • First Division: Gnostic Sects not in Antagonism to Judaism: Simon—Cerinthus—Docetism
  • Basilides and the Pseudo-Basilideans
  • Valentinus and the Valentinians
  • Second Division: The Anti-Judaic Gnostic Systems: Ophites—Carpocrates—Bardaisan—Julius Cassianus
  • Marcion and His School
  • The Early Unitarian Teachers

• The Apologists
  • The Apologetic Literature—General Remarks
  • The Different Classes of Apologists
  • The Earliest Apologists: Aristides—Quadratus—Agrippa Castor—Aristo of Pella
  • Athenagoras—Epistle to Diognetus—Dionysius of Corinth—Maximus—Theophilus

As we turn over the pages of these valuable volumes, we cannot help constantly thinking how much profit many a thoughtful Christian, Churchman or non-Churchman, might gain from their perusal. The difficulties of the Church today do no after all differ much from those early ages of Christianity.

—Church Quarterly Review

The intellectual and spiritual physiognomies of each Father and writer of the period are photographed as with a snap shot. Then his writings are enumerated, described, and estimated, both in their intrinsic and relative values. All this is done with the firm hand and sure tough of conscious knowledge and power, of not always of infallible accuracy.

—The Literary World

Mr. Cruttwell’s success—in making Early Christian literature interesting to the general reader of today—is great.

—Scotsman

Mr. Cruttwell’s work betrays everywhere the heart and hand of the earnest admirer and scholarly student. We have interesting sketches and admirable translations of interesting documents—and could wish there were more.

Charles Thomas Cruttwell (1847–1911) was educated at St. John’s College, Oxford, and was elected fellow of Merton College. His numerous works include A History of Roman Literature and Six Lectures on the Oxford Movement.

A Literary History of Early Christianity: Including the Fathers and the Chief Heretical Writers of the Ante-Nicene Period, vol. 2

• Author: Charles Thomas Cruttwell
• Publisher: Charles Griffin and Company
• Publication Date: 1893
• Pages: 370

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The purpose of this work is mainly literary, that is, Charles Thomas Cruttwell has endeavored to point out the leading intellectual conceptions which animate the various writers, to indicate the degree of success attained by each, and to estimate the permanent values of each one’s contribution to the growing edifice of human thought and knowledge. Volume two contains the following chapters:

• The Apologists Continued
  • Justin Martyr
  • Tatian
  • The Beginnings of Church History. Hegesippus
  • The Later School of St. John—Melito to Polycrates
  • Irenæus
  • The Gæco-Roman School—Muratorian Fragment—Hippolytus, Caius, Victor, and Others

• The Alexandrian School of Theology
  • General Remarks
  • Clement
  • Origen
  • Origen—His Theological System, Influence, and Literary Genius
  • The Successors of Origen

• Latin Christianity
  • Latin Theory of the Church
  • The African Church—Q. Septimius Florens Tertullianus
  • Tertullian’s Writings
  • Cyprian
  • Roman Church—Minucius Felix—Novatian
  • Arnobius—Lactantius—Commodian—Victorinus Petaviensis

Charles Thomas Cruttwell (1847–1911) was educated at St. John’s College, Oxford, and was elected fellow of Merton College. His numerous works include A History of Roman Literature and Six Lectures on the Oxford Movement.