Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Ante-Nicene Fathers

 
Wikipedia: Ante-Nicene Fathers

The Ante-Nicene Fathers, subtitled "The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325", is a collection of books in 10 volumes (one volume is indexes) containing English translations of the majority of Early Christian writings. The period covers the beginning of Christianity until before the promulgation of the Nicene Creed at the First Council of Nicaea. The translations are very faithful, but sometimes rather old-fashioned.

Contents

Publication

The series was originally published between 1868 and 1873 by the Presbyterian publishing house T. & T. Clark in Edinburgh under the title Ante-Nicene Christian Library, as a response to the Oxford movement's Library of the Fathers which was perceived as too much catholic. The volumes were edited by Rev. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. This series was available by subscription but the editors were unable to interest enough subscribers to commission a translation of the homilies of Origen.

In 1885 a US firm, the Christian Literature Company, first of Buffalo, then New York, began to issue the volumes in a reorganised form, edited by the episcopalian bishop of New York, A. Cleveland Coxe. Coxe gave his "new" series the title: The Ante-Nicene Fathers.

In 1896, the American edition/revision was complete. In 1897, the volume 9 of this one which contained new translations, was published by T. & T. Clark as an additional volume to complete the original ANCL.

Apart of this volume 9, the contents entirely derived thus from the ANCL, but in a more chronological order. However Coxe took the liberty to add his own introductions and notes, which were criticised by many academic authories as well as Roman Catholic reviewers. One approved the faithfulness of the translations, but wrote that Coxe:

…deemed it his duty to distort the sense and purpose of the text by the addition of prefatory notices and footnotes, and to indulge in sectarian bigotry by endeavoring to explain away the evidence of Catholic doctrine taught by the Fathers... the notes of Dr Coxe abound in similar falsehoods and vile insinuations, and that no open-minded and honest student, Catholic or non-Catholic, of the Fathers, can profit by such interpretations of the Patristic books.[cite this quote]

Surely convinced by the commercial success of the cheaper American version/revision of the ANCL - although of lesser quality on some minor points - the T. & T. Clark get associated with the Christian Literature Company and with others American editors for the publication of sequel: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.

Contents

The volumes include the following:

Volume I. Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus

Writings. Didache

Volume II. Fathers of the Second Century

Volume III. Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian

  • I. Apologetic
  • II. Anti-Marcion
  • III. Ethical

Volume IV. The Fathers of the Third Century

Volume V. The Fathers of the Third Century

Volume VI. The Fathers of the Third Century

Volume VII. Fathers of the Third and Fourth Centuries

Volume VIII. Fathers of the Third and Fourth Centuries

Volume IX. Recently Discovered Additions to Early Christian Literature; Commentaries of Origen

See also

External links

  • The full text of the Ante-Nicene Fathers is freely available at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
  • Details of the creation and piracy of the ANCL
  • http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=&scope=books#q=ante-nicene%20christian%20library%20review&filter=all&start=1&t=9XE3TR4jAsypdrQohHeY2w&sq=ante-nicene%20christian%20library%20review[dead link] American Ecclesiastical Review at Live Books. Vol. 24 (1901) Pp 210–11 contain the review criticising Coxe

Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
 
 
Learn More
patristic literature (in literature)
Age of Persecution
Caius (presbyter)

Why do ants live in ant hills? Read answer...
A what of ants? Read answer...
Do ants have skin? Read answer...

Help us answer these
Where can you buy ants for your ant farm?
How does ant killer kill ants?
How many ants are there in a ant coleny?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ante-Nicene Fathers" Read more