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Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series #13
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series 2, Volume 13 - Enhanced Version
With over twenty volumes, the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers is a momentous achievement. Originally gathered by Philip Schaff, the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers is a collection of writings by classical and medieval Christian theologians. The purpose of such a collection is to make their writings readily available. The entire work is divided into two series, each with fourteen volumes. The second series focuses on a variety of important Church Fathers, ranging from the fourth century to the eighth century. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers are comprehensive in scope, and provide keen translations of instructive and illuminating texts from some of the great theologians of the Christian church. These spiritually enlightening texts have aided Christians for over a thousand years, and remain instructive and fruitful even today!
Tim Perrine
CCEL Staff Writer
This edition of the Early Church Fathers series has been optimized for use on the Kindle with a hierarchical Table of Contents that minimizes the number of page turns required to locate a section of the volume. This edition is among the most accurate electronic editions available, but Hebrew characters do not display on the Kindle.
Tim Perrine
CCEL Staff Writer
This edition of the Early Church Fathers series has been optimized for use on the Kindle with a hierarchical Table of Contents that minimizes the number of page turns required to locate a section of the volume. This edition is among the most accurate electronic editions available, but Hebrew characters do not display on the Kindle.
850 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1980
4 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Philip Schaff
1,646 books66 followersPhilip Schaff was educated at the gymnasium of Stuttgart, and at the universities of Tübingen, Halle and Berlin, where he was successively influenced by Baur and Schmid, by Tholuck and Julius Müller, by David Strauss and, above all, Neander. At Berlin, in 1841, he took the degree of B.D., and passed examinations for a professorship. He then traveled through Italy and Sicily as tutor to Baron Krischer. In 1842 he was Privatdozent in the University of Berlin, where he lectured on exegesis and church history. In 1843 he was called to become professor of church history and Biblical literature in the German Reformed Theological Seminary of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, then the only seminary of that church in America.
On his journey he stayed in England and met Edward Pusey and other Tractarians. His inaugural address on The Principle of Protestantism, delivered in German at Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1844, and published in German with an English version by John Williamson Nevin was a pioneer work in English in the field of symbolics (that is, the authoritative ecclesiastical formulations of religious doctrines in creeds or confessions). This address and the "Mercersburg Theology" which he taught seemed too pro-Catholic to some, and he was charged with heresy. But, at the synod at York in 1845, he was unanimously acquitted.
Schaff's broad views strongly influenced the German Reformed Church, through his teaching at Mercersburg, through his championship of English in German Reformed churches and schools in America, through his hymnal (1859), through his labours as chairman of the committee which prepared a new liturgy, and by his edition (1863) of the Heidelberg Catechism. His History of the Apostolic Church (in German, 1851; in English, 1853) and his History of the Christian Church (7 vols., 1858-1890), opened a new period in American study of ecclesiastical history.
In 1854, he visited Europe, representing the American German churches at the ecclesiastical diet at Frankfort and at the Swiss pastoral conference at Basel. He lectured in Germany on America, and received the degree of D.D. from Berlin.
In consequence of the ravages of the American Civil War the theological seminary at Mercersburg was closed for a while and so in 1863 Dr. Schaff became secretary of the Sabbath Committee (which fought the “continental Sunday”) in New York City, and held the position till 1870. In 1865 he founded the first German Sunday School in Stuttgart. In 1862-1867 he lectured on church history at Andover.
Schaff was a member of the Leipzig Historical Society, the Netherland Historical Society, and other historical and literary societies in Europe and America. He was one of the founders, and honorary secretary, of the American branch of the Evangelical Alliance, and was sent to Europe in 1869, 1872, and 1873 to arrange for the general conference of the Alliance, which, after two postponements on account of the Franco-Prussian War, was held in New York in October 1873. Schaff was also, in 1871, one of the Alliance delegates to the emperor of Russia to plead for the religious liberty of his subjects in the Baltic provinces.
He became a professor at Union Theological Seminary, New York City in 1870 holding first the chair of theological encyclopedia and Christian symbolism till 1873, of Hebrew and the cognate languages till 1874, of sacred literature till 1887, and finally of church history, till his death. He also served as president of the committee that translated the American Standard Version of the Bible, though he died before it was published in 1901.
His History of the Christian Church resembled Neander's work, though less biographical, and was pictorial rather than philosophical. He also wrote biographies, catechisms and hymnals for children, manuals of religious verse, lectures and essays on Dante, etc. He translated Johann Jakob Herzog's Real-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche into English.
On his journey he stayed in England and met Edward Pusey and other Tractarians. His inaugural address on The Principle of Protestantism, delivered in German at Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1844, and published in German with an English version by John Williamson Nevin was a pioneer work in English in the field of symbolics (that is, the authoritative ecclesiastical formulations of religious doctrines in creeds or confessions). This address and the "Mercersburg Theology" which he taught seemed too pro-Catholic to some, and he was charged with heresy. But, at the synod at York in 1845, he was unanimously acquitted.
Schaff's broad views strongly influenced the German Reformed Church, through his teaching at Mercersburg, through his championship of English in German Reformed churches and schools in America, through his hymnal (1859), through his labours as chairman of the committee which prepared a new liturgy, and by his edition (1863) of the Heidelberg Catechism. His History of the Apostolic Church (in German, 1851; in English, 1853) and his History of the Christian Church (7 vols., 1858-1890), opened a new period in American study of ecclesiastical history.
In 1854, he visited Europe, representing the American German churches at the ecclesiastical diet at Frankfort and at the Swiss pastoral conference at Basel. He lectured in Germany on America, and received the degree of D.D. from Berlin.
In consequence of the ravages of the American Civil War the theological seminary at Mercersburg was closed for a while and so in 1863 Dr. Schaff became secretary of the Sabbath Committee (which fought the “continental Sunday”) in New York City, and held the position till 1870. In 1865 he founded the first German Sunday School in Stuttgart. In 1862-1867 he lectured on church history at Andover.
Schaff was a member of the Leipzig Historical Society, the Netherland Historical Society, and other historical and literary societies in Europe and America. He was one of the founders, and honorary secretary, of the American branch of the Evangelical Alliance, and was sent to Europe in 1869, 1872, and 1873 to arrange for the general conference of the Alliance, which, after two postponements on account of the Franco-Prussian War, was held in New York in October 1873. Schaff was also, in 1871, one of the Alliance delegates to the emperor of Russia to plead for the religious liberty of his subjects in the Baltic provinces.
He became a professor at Union Theological Seminary, New York City in 1870 holding first the chair of theological encyclopedia and Christian symbolism till 1873, of Hebrew and the cognate languages till 1874, of sacred literature till 1887, and finally of church history, till his death. He also served as president of the committee that translated the American Standard Version of the Bible, though he died before it was published in 1901.
His History of the Christian Church resembled Neander's work, though less biographical, and was pictorial rather than philosophical. He also wrote biographies, catechisms and hymnals for children, manuals of religious verse, lectures and essays on Dante, etc. He translated Johann Jakob Herzog's Real-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche into English.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 21, 2017
Much meaty wisdom and the occasional bit of gristle in Gregory's letters. The highlight for me was Ephraim's Screwtape-like hymns concerning Death and Satan as they struggle to process what had just happened to them in the resurrection of Christ. Great stuff. If Ephraim is indeed the pioneer of theological hymnody, then the Church is forever in his debt, for pioneering the genre if not for the hymns themselves.
September 21, 2017
Ephraim was a major figure in the Syrian church in the 300s. Hymns on the siege of a city, on the nativity and epiphany of Christ, and homilies on Christ and repentance are all included in the Post-Nicene Fathers set.
These are not so much for the orderly of mind. Ephraim does not make much logical progression of abstract thought, as much as ruminate on a topic. (I think this is an East/West difference.) Louis Berkhof, eat your heart out! He gives a direct dialogue between death and Satan, where they realize what just happened to them at the cross. Fascinating.
The bad: plenty of moralistic stuff, often denigrating women in a misguided rebuke of lust.
The good: lots of orthodox adoration of Christ in the hymns.
Same goes for Aphrahat, a Persian who wrote at the same time, also included in this volume. He has a great exhortation for pastors, and an interesting passage where he shows various Scriptural figures as types of Christ. Some of it is a stretch, but much of it is really good.
These are not so much for the orderly of mind. Ephraim does not make much logical progression of abstract thought, as much as ruminate on a topic. (I think this is an East/West difference.) Louis Berkhof, eat your heart out! He gives a direct dialogue between death and Satan, where they realize what just happened to them at the cross. Fascinating.
The bad: plenty of moralistic stuff, often denigrating women in a misguided rebuke of lust.
The good: lots of orthodox adoration of Christ in the hymns.
Same goes for Aphrahat, a Persian who wrote at the same time, also included in this volume. He has a great exhortation for pastors, and an interesting passage where he shows various Scriptural figures as types of Christ. Some of it is a stretch, but much of it is really good.
March 23, 2017
I come once again to those books where I am not nearly qualified to review nor spend enough time in detailed reading to review. These free PDFs available online and are excellent resources for those interested in the church fathers and definitely an excellent resource for those studying anything to do with the period. These few words will have to suffice.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews