Ante Nicene Fathers

[Montie_Claunch]

I am looking for a set for Ante Nicene, Nicene, and Post Nicene Fathers. I have found two sets.One which is by Eerdmans Publishing and another which is by Hendrickson Publishers and I am not sure which is the most accurate and has the best commentary. Which one should I go for? Or is there another set I should go for?
Thanks.

 

[Randy_Carson]

I am looking for a set for Ante Nicene, Nicene, and Post Nicene Fathers. I have found two sets.One which is by Eerdmans Publishing and another which is by Hendrickson Publishers and I am not sure which is the most accurate and has the best commentary. Which one should I go for? Or is there another set I should go for?
Thanks.

Isn’t Eerdmans a Protestant Publisher?

Don’t go there.:tsktsk:

 

[Montie_Claunch]

Isn’t Eerdmans a Protestant Publisher?

Don’t go there.:tsktsk:

So is Hendrickson a good choice or would I be better looking else where?

 

[Contarini]

So is Hendrickson a good choice or would I be better looking else where?

The series is a Protestant series–there is no difference that I can see between the two publishers. Eerdmans is a perfectly respectable academic publisher–if Catholics really want to be so silly as to avoid anything published by Protestants then it’s your loss!

Your problem is not with poor old Eerdmans but with the editors of the series. It’s a 19th-century Protestant edition, in Victorian prose and with footnotes that try very hard to explain that the Catholic interpretation of the Fathers is wrong. In all fairness, though, the translators were honest and competent–in fact in the famous case of Irenaeus’s reference to the “more powerful principality” of the church or city (depending on the translation) of Rome, the translator went with the more Catholic rendition and the editor had a long embarrassed footnote berating the translator for this. I kid you not! That was my introduction to that particular issue.

I’ll give you two reasons why you should not buy this series:

1. There are more modern translations out there (which as a bonus happen to be Catholic), and
2. The entire series is available for free on the Internet at www.ccel.org. Just click on “Church Fathers.” There is also a CD you can buy fairly cheaply (I don’t know how much because it was given me for free).

Instead, you should lay out your hard-earned money on individual volumes (according to your needs and inclinations) from either of two series: Ancient Christian Writers or Fathers of the Church. Both of these are more readable than the ANPNF series, and reflect more modern scholarship. They are also both edited by Catholics. They include a wider variety of writers. And they are not available on the Internet.

I know it’s a nice feeling to have the 37 volumes staring at you and feel that you have the Fathers all together on your shelves. But the feeling is deceptive, because there are a lot of texts not included. I like having the series (various family members got together and gave it to me as a Christmas present when I decided I was serious about studying church history for a career), but the money is best spent elsewhere.

Edwin

 

[Janet_S]

1. The entire series is available for free on the Internet at www.ccel.org. Just click on “Church Fathers.” There is also a CD you can buy fairly cheaply (I don’t know how much because it was given me for free).Edwin

Thanks, Edwin, for mentioning this site. I recommend that everyone explore this site to see what’s available there.

Janet

 

[Contarini]

Thanks, Edwin, for mentioning this site. I recommend that everyone explore this site to see what’s available there.

Janet

Absolutely–they keep adding stuff. Evangelical Protestant material dominates but there’s a lot of Catholic stuff as well.

Edwin