Early Church Sources?

[costlygrace]

I am beginning to research early church practices and teaching (like before 300 AD), and I am wondering if anyone can help me out. What are the most reliable sources, such as church fathers or historians?

I found the Ante-Nicene Fathers in several volumes on a website; is this a good source of information?

What about people like Tertullian, Justin Martyr, Ignatius of Antioch, Cyprian of Carthage, Athenagoras of Athens, and Origen? Those are some my search has turned up, and I am wanting to know if any are not of good repute.

God bless!
costlygrace

 

[C_Tac]

I also do a lot of reading on early Church History, with emphasis on the First Century Church and also Roman History.

I do not have permission to post links but you'll be albe to oocate them with a Google search.

Depending on your focus, the information there and the links can be overwhelming at times. I focused on the First Century since it was the foundations of the church, but also on the Roman period of 100BC to Augustus, which was the period of the Fall of the Roman Republic and the expansion of Rome into the Middle East.

There are literally hundreds of Church History sites out there, and a Google search can lead you to many of them.

Good luck on your quest!

 

[StarSapphire]

You must watch out for the information you get on the Internet, unless the Web site is a reliable source. I have some church history books, but I'm not even sure those are reliable. I have a book on Eusebias, and many do not take value from his writings.

 

[costlygrace]

You must watch out for the information you get on the Internet, unless the Web site is a reliable source. I have some church history books, but I'm not even sure those are reliable. I have a book on Eusebias, and many do not take value from his writings.

Thanks for the advice!!

I don't like books on people's opinions of church history, unless they can actually quote from source documents (like the church fathers themselves). I had heard several controversies about Eusebius, as well--he seems to have been something of an Arian, among other things--but he is after the time period I am researching anyway, so...

I am currently using the Christian Classics Ethereal Library website, maintained by Calvin College, for my sources, as they have the entire Ante-Nicene Fathers online there, and seem to be a reliable source for it.

God bless!
costlygrace

 

[Monica02]

All are reliable but you should know that Tertullian left the Church before his death and was never declared a saint.

 

[costlygrace]

All are reliable but you should know that Tertullian left the Church before his death and was never declared a saint.

I guess that brings up another issue that has never quite been solved. Though it seems that the Motanists (which Tertullian joined) were the third century version of the Puritans and their type. It has been said that he remained doctrinally orthodox throughout his life, but I will have to research that further.

 

[RadicalRabbit]

Our early church lecturer Dr Laurence Guy has recently published another book on the early church.

I was debating taking this with him this semester, but time nd childcare does not allow. besides hubby is doing that paper anyway.

 

[The Perennial Student]

Thanks for the advice!!

I don't like books on people's opinions of church history, unless they can actually quote from source documents (like the church fathers themselves). I had heard several controversies about Eusebius, as well--he seems to have been something of an Arian, among other things--but he is after the time period I am researching anyway, so...

I am currently using the Christian Classics Ethereal Library website, maintained by Calvin College, for my sources, as they have the entire Ante-Nicene Fathers online there, and seem to be a reliable source for it.

God bless!
costlygrace

The CCEL is an excellent source and very reliable.

Another interesting source is more modern, and is actually the book that led my husband and me to the Orthodox Church! Dom Gregory Dix's The Shape of the Liturgy relates liturgical history and compares modern practices to those of the Early Church. Very interesting and enlightening.

Blessings

The Perennial Student

 

[ps139]

I guess that brings up another issue that has never quite been solved. Though it seems that the Motanists (which Tertullian joined) were the third century version of the Puritans and their type. It has been said that he remained doctrinally orthodox throughout his life, but I will have to research that further.

I've heard that at the end of his life, Tertullian got kind of "Wacky" and was promoting false doctrines. I don't think you can correctly call the Montanists doctrinally orthodox.

The ante-Nicene Fathers are an excellent source.
Clement, Bishop of Rome
Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch
Polycarp
Justin Martyr
Irenaeus

 

[costlygrace]

I've heard that at the end of his life, Tertullian got kind of "Wacky" and was promoting false doctrines. I don't think you can correctly call the Montanists doctrinally orthodox.

The ante-Nicene Fathers are an excellent source.
Clement, Bishop of Rome
Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch
Polycarp
Justin Martyr
Irenaeus

Thanks for the info!

 

[ExOrienteLux]

Eusebios, regardless of what one thinks of his doctrinal stances, still stands as the Church's first historian, and as such, is well worth a read. I'm just over half-way through and it's quite interesting.

+IC XC NIKA+
Phillip

 

[katherine2001]

An excellent place on the internet to look for the writings of the Early Church is:

www.ccel.org/fathers2/

 

[katherine2001]

Also, St. Vladimir's Seminary (SVS) Press publishes many of the writings of the Church Fathers in print in a series they call "Popular Patristics". If you want, I could give you their address. They also have a website, which is:

www.svots.edu

 

[danbarnaba]

The best source for early church history is Eusebius of Caesarea.

http://www.ultimasurf.net/bible/early-church-fathers/eusebius-caesarea/index.htm

The site above covers the works of Eusebius not found in the ante-nicene library.

After reading Eusebius you can continue with Socrates Scholasticus (born at Constantinople c. 380) who was a Greek Christian church historian. Then you can read Sozomen who tried to continue the history of Eusebius, covering the period between 323 and 439.

I hope this will help.

 

[costlygrace]

An excellent place on the internet to look for the writings of the Early Church is:

www.ccel.org/fathers2/

That is what I am using.

 

[prodromos]

I am currently using the Christian Classics Ethereal Library website, maintained by Calvin College, for my sources, as they have the entire Ante-Nicene Fathers online there, and seem to be a reliable source for it.

I recently discovered that it still falls short as there is a lot of stuff which still has not been translated into English, there are many more works by St John Chrysostom in Greek which are not found at CCEL for example. A good deal of the works available are also not translated from the Greek texts but from their Latin copies and this also affects the accuracy of the translations, but all in all it is a pretty reliable source.

John.

 

[davidoffinland]

From Finland.

An excellant site for early christianity is at: www.earlychristianwritings.com and its sister site: www.earlyjewishwritings.com

David.

 

[Lotar]

What about people like Tertullian, Justin Martyr, Ignatius of Antioch, Cyprian of Carthage, Athenagoras of Athens, and Origen? Those are some my search has turned up, and I am wanting to know if any are not of good repute.

God bless!
costlygrace

Origen is questionable, he wrote some good stuff and was very influencial, but at the same time he had some very heretical ideas (such as the pre-existance of the soul, denial of hell, self-castration, etc.).

 

[prodromos]

Hmm, I am starting to discover that if you really want to read the early Christian Fathers, you need to learn Greek. What is available in English is only a fraction of the works in Greek. This series is up to 82 volumes and they haven't finished compiling them yet