Early Christian Fathers

Catholics and Protestants both tend to see their distinctive doctrines reflected not only in Scripture, but also in the early Church fathers. Richardson tends to steer in the middle: He presents various doctrines as being in germ-form, or developmental in nature. Consider, for example, the papacy. Richardson avoids the extremes of seeing the papacy directly traceable to Christ and the papacy as a centuries-later invention. With reference to Clement, he comments: "This implies more than a casual relation with other churches; and while this should not be pressed to vindicate much later papal claims, it does indicate that the Roman community took most seriously its responsibility as a sister church for the welfare of other congregations. Here, in germ, is that exercise of authority which was to become the papal primacy." (p. 36). In like manner, Richardson takes a middle view of the validity of apostolic succession. He believes that the Greek of Clement's first letter is compatible with either an "episcopal" or a "presbyterian" interpretation of early church government (pp. 63-64). Richardson treats other doctrines in much the same manner. All in all, the reader can appreciate Richardson's fairness and objectivity.

This is the best single-volume introduction to the "Early Church Fathers" (early Patristic Writers) of the 1st and 2nd centuries. I have a library of the Ancient Christian Writers series of many more Patristic authors, and have studied unabridged versions of their works, but I found myself looking for something accessible for a friend recently. After researching the matter, I bought two copies of this work - one for my friend and one for me. Richardson and company take the earliest and best non-canonical Christian literature and present it, edited, in a handy volume that contains not only preforatory material for each letter, but also helpful footnotes and study aids. Many people don't know that before the close of the age of the Apostles that Clement of Rome was penning a letter to the Corinthians (AD 95 or so), the same group that had given Paul so many headaches 40 years earlier. This letter starts of this work. Next, we move on to the kind, gentle Bishop Ignatius of Antioch. About AD 110, as he was being transported to Rome for his execution as a Christian, he wrote letters to Churches along the way exhorting them to continue in faithfulness. About the middle of the second century, Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna - a disciple of John the Apostle - wrote a letter to the Phillipians. That letter is in here. Next, his martyrdom is recounted in another early Christian document. And on it goes. The Didache (or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) probably contains material from both the first and second centuries AD. It's a sort of manual on what Christian worship, procedure and organization should be. The so-called Second Letter of Clement follows that in which second century Christian living is described. The second century Apologists are represented in the letter of "Mathetes" to Diognetus. This horatory letter is a Christian justification of the faith to a friendly pagan. Next, Justin (surnamed "Martyr" for his later martyrdom) explains Christianity in Greek terms, as does Athenagoras who follows him in this book. Finally, there's a segment of Irenaeus's "Against Heresies" in which the Bishop of Lyons articulately defends "traditional" Christianity and scripture from abuses of those who possessed, in his words, "knowledge, falsely so-called." In short, Irenaeus combats the Gnostic heresies of his day. The greatest value of this book is in showing the vitality of early Christianity as it - although persecuted - handled the business of not just surviving, but appealing to the hearts and minds of the citizens of the Roman Empire and Greek culture of its time. For additional, scholarly works, see Quasten's Patrology or the Ancient Christian Writers series from Newman Press.

Cyril C. Richardson has edited a beautiful book with writings of the "early christian fathers." Unlike many Introductions in other books, Cyril's is to the point and informative. It is a must read to get a better understyanding on the letters from these early Christians.He has laid out the book in a nice, easy format that consists of each chapter with an:Introduction that gives the historical and theological backdrop of the letter.A list of books used as resources.The letter by the early author.The different chapters cover such items as the "Letters in Crises", "The Way of Martyrdom", "In Defense of the Faith" and so on. Letters are written by some of Christians greatests men such as Ignatius, Polycarp, and Clement.This is a great book for all Christians - a must read!

This book has very good introductions before each selection of a Church Father. For those not knowing much about the author or his writings these intros were informative and aided in understanding the text. There is also some commentary about the text which again is very helpful. This book attempts to capture a representative sampling of the Early Christian literature and it does so well. A must read for any student of Early Christian history.

This collection from the early fathers is outstanding. I don't know how to describe it except to say that the translator shows himself to be a master of the languages: sheer genius. When going back to these seminal masterpieces of the early Church, this edition is my preferred choice. Thank God it's back in print! While most of the texts are complete, the choice of selections from longer works (i.e., Irenaeus and Justin) are generous and judicious. It includes the critical texts of Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Justin the Martyr, Athenagoras, as well as the Didache and a few other things. Paragraph numbering is useful to the academic reader. Each text is supplied with a critical introduction and valuable textual notes. These intro's are also, for the most part, real gems. Probably the only disappointment is the lack of Shepherd of Hermas. My advice: get this masterpiece on your bookshelf.