Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II

The second series of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers opens a wider range of Christian writing than the Augustine and Chrysostom volumes of Series I. Its fourteen volumes include church histories, theological works, letters, accounts of religious life, and documents of the early councils. The reader moves from descriptions of events to arguments about doctrine and then into the practical concerns of particular churches. Together, these works show Christianity taking shape through institutions, interpretation, debate, and the lives of people responsible for teaching and worship.

These works connect familiar creeds and theological ideas with the documents through which they were argued, explained, and transmitted. The diversity is a reason to choose deliberately rather than begin at the first page and expect one continuous book. A church historian, a bishop defending a doctrine, and a correspondent advising a friend write for different purposes. Attend to those purposes, and separate the ancient voice from the later editor's introduction and notes. A short, sustained reading of one work often teaches more than moving rapidly between famous excerpts.