Early Church Fathers Collection

by David Augustine (editor)

After the authors of the New Testament, no group has had a more profound influence on the prayer, theology, and life of Christians than the Fathers of the Church, who lived and wrote in the first several centuries after Christ. Among the Fathers, perhaps the most pivotal were those of the first two hundred years. Including figures such as St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St. Irenaeus of Lyons, these giants of the faith lived just decades after the Apostles—some even knew the Apostles themselves—and their writings witness to what life was like in the early Church.

The Early Church Fathers Collection from Word on Fire Classics provides the perfect entry point to these early writers. In this volume, you’ll find selections from the best works by the early the letters of St. Clement, St. Ignatius, and St. Polycarp; the anonymous literary works The Martyrdom of Polycarp, The Didache, The Shepherd of Hermas, and The Letter to Diognetus; and the apologetic writings of St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus, and Tertullian. Accompanied by helpful introductions and explanatory footnotes, these works speak as powerfully today as they did in their own time and, approached in a spirit of faith, serve the same to enkindle in their readers the love of Jesus Christ.

Genres: Catholic, Christian, Theology, Classics

304 pages, Hardcover

Published December 2, 2024

Reviews

[Robbie Deacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The word on fire “Early Church Fathers Collection” is a selection of Christian writings from the 1st-3rd centuries CE. It includes St Clement of Rome’s letter to the Corinthians, all of St Ignatius of Antioch and St Polycarp’s writings, the Didache, Shepherd of Hermas, and selections from St Justin Martyr, St Irenaeus of Lyons, and Tertullian. The excerpt approach works really well for Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian; the original works are far too long for a collection like this and the bits the editors chose are the passages people refer to the most anyway. These authors are (or at least, should be) fundamental to our understanding of the formation of Christian thought; several of these guys were ordained by the apostles and were only a couple of generations removed from Christ. They were leading the Church and writing theology hundreds of years before the New Testament canon was decided, and their witness to the faith of the early Church carries a lot of weight.

Overall, this is an awesome collection of writings from the infant Church and is a great read for any student of theology or Christian history. The footnotes, scripture cross-references, and introductions are pithy and useful, and this edition is built to last with a beautiful binding, thick paper, and a ribbon marker. The translation is also fantastically readable, and reminds me a bit of the NRSV or ESV; it is much more modern and transparent than the now-dated Schaff version. I look forward to revisiting this book for years to come!

[Ioannes Hieronymus Macius · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good anthology. I wish it had less works overall. The attempt to fit more works in the volume required some significant excerpting, which in a few cases prevented me from really getting a feel of the early Christian author’s style of thinking or point of view. The best parts of the book are undoubtedly the full pieces: St. Clement’s letter to Rome, St. Ignatius’s letters, the Epistle to Doignetus, etc.

Some discussion of translation choice would have also been welcome. The volume does not really tell the reader which English translation of a text is being used and why. For some of these works, I assume there is some vigorous debate over how to translate particular passages.