RESOURCES FOR STUDYING THE PATRISTIC CHURCH

Online Resources

Documenta catholica omnia is a virtual monument for research in ancient Christian history. Among the full-text pdf files offered on the site are the entirety of the Patrologia Latina, the Patrologia Graeca, and the Monumenta Germaniae historica, all of which are massive and fundamental collections of ancient source materials. Be advised: the documents are in large files that take some time to download. If you are looking for translations, see the sites below.

The Latin Library includes a page of Christian Latin. Although not nearly as extensive as Documenta catholica omnia, The Latin Library contains a good number of significant patristic texts, and the files are much easier to download.

Monachos.net: Orthodoxy through Patristic, Monastic, and Liturgical Study. This site offers numerous full-text patristic sources in English translation, along with various articles.

New Advent offers a page of links on The Fathers of the Church. The translations on this site are taken from the late-19th century Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers series. Since the site was first introduced, the patristic texts have improved immensely through ongoing editing.

Christian Classics Ethereal Library page of Early Church Fathers offers the same translations available on New Advent, organized according to volume numbers rather than authors' names.

Augustine of Hippo is the title of Augustine scholar J. J. O'Donnell's page of resources on St Augustine.

Selections from the Fathers for Liturgical Use

A Word in Season: Monastic Lectionary for the Divine Office. 8 vols. Trans. and ed. Friends of Henry Ashworth. Still River MA & Riverdale, MD: Saint Bede's Publications & Exordium Books, 1981-1999. Available through AugustinianPress.org.

Christ Our Light: Patristic Readings on Gospel Themes. Vol. 1, Advent - Pentecost. Vol. 2, Ordinary Time. Trans. and ed. Friends of Henry Ashworth. Riverdale, MD: Exordium Books, 1981, 1985.

Journey with the Fathers: Commentaries on the Sunday Gospels. Vol. 1, Year A. Vol. 2, Year B. Vol. 3, Year C. Ed. Edith Barnecut. New Rochelle, NY: New City Press, 1992-1994. Includes readings from Christ Our Light [previous entry], with some revisions.

Compilations of Original Texts (in translation)

Bettenson, Henry and Chris Maunder, eds. Documents of the Church. 3^rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Jurgens, William A. Faith of the Early Fathers. 3 vols. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1980.

Neuner, Josef and Jacques Dupuis, eds. The Christian Faith: Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church. New York: Alba House, 2001.

Recommended Secondary Sources

Bennett, Rod. Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2002.

Carroll, Warren H. The Founding of Christendom. A History of Christianity, vol. 1. Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press, 1985-2005. The titles of the remaining individual volumes follow: The Building of Christendom (vol. 2); The Glory of Christendom (vol. 3); The Cleaving of Christendom (vol. 4); The Revolution against Christendom (vol. 5).

Daniélou, Jean, and Henri Marrou. The First Six Hundred Years. Trans. Vincent Cronin. The Christian Centuries, vol. 1. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964.

Daniel-Rops, Henri. History of the Church of Christ. 17 vols. New York: Image, 1967.

Drobner, Hubertus R. The Fathers of the Church: A Comprehensive Introduction. Trans. Siegfried S. Schatzmann. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2007.

Frend, W.H.C. The Rise of Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984.

Davis, Leo Donald. The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787): Their History and Theology. Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 1983.

Harvey, Susan Ashbrook, and David G. Hunter (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. 5^th ed. New York: Continuum, 2000.

Ramsey, Boniface. Beginning to Read the Fathers. New York: Paulist Press, 1985.

Sommer, Carl J. We Look for a Kingdom: The Everyday Lives of the Early Christians. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2007.

Wilken, Robert Louis. The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003.