The Later Christian Fathers: A Selection from the Writings of the Fathers from St. Cyril of Jerusalem to St. Leo the Great

by Henry Bettenson (translator)

The century and a quarter following the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) has been called the 'Golden Age of Patristic literature.' It is this period that Henry Bettenson covers in this companion volume to The Early Christian Fathers , selecting from the writings of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Jerome, Augustine of Hippo, Cyril of Alexandria, and other Fathers of the Christian Church. Their central concerns were formulating the doctrine of the Trinity after the Nicene conclusions, and enunciating the doctrine of the divinity and humanity of Christ. The writings served to clarify if not to solve the issues and they continue to be valuable and relevant for all who wish to understand the Christian doctrine. As in The Early Christian Fathers , Mr. Bettenson has translated everything afresh and provided some brief sketches of the lives of each of the Fathers represented in the selection.

Genres: Christianity, Religion, History, Church History, Theology

302 pages, Paperback

Published January 25, 1973

Reviews

[Joshua Lister · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of writings from some of the church fathers. I would recommend this book to anyone who, like me, has always thought the quarrels over Trinitarian understanding and definitions to be too pedantic. After letting these writers speak for themselves, I discovered that their relentless defense of the Trinity was intimately connected to their love for God's plan to save humanity as it is revealed in scripture.

[Justin Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not exactly gripping reading, for the most part, but thanks to this book I'm now very curious to learn more about Julian of Eclanum's claim that Augustine was a crypto-Manichean It seems entirely plausible: by trying to eliminate any vestige of good in humanity (so that it can all be attributed to grace), Augustine's argument logically tends towards the claim that evil was created by God. Simply put, if we couldn't have done otherwise, our deeds can't be attributed to us, but to the cause of our deeds, which is, even if by omission, God. Maybe Augie couldn't quite avoid his youthful ideas, after all.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treasure trove of primary documents from the early church (after the Council of Nicaea 325 AD). The discussions about the nature of Christ, the trinity, grace, and the sacraments are enlightening and show the struggles to comprehend such great mysteries. My only complaints would be that the selections seemed to be choppy at times. I wished for more completeness. Perhaps that was because of gaps in what has come down to us or editorial decisions. Also, I would've liked a commentary relating the Church's current teaching and how the disagreements were ironed out. That also was perhaps beyond the aim of this book, but it would have helped the faithful to not be disheartened by the contentiousness of some of the early Church Fathers.

[Daniel Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of the different selected writings of early Christian theologians. You learn so much from reading books like this about the early church. For one, the Christian tradition is unanimous about baptising infants which many Christian denominations do not do.
It is a really useful text to look through as it gives easily digested quotes of the different later church fathers.