Where can I read the Early Church Fathers' writings?

  • Thread starter Thread starter komeeks18
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
K

komeeks18

Guest
I’ve been researching Catholicism, and I definitely believe it is true, but I thought it would be helpful for me to read the writings of the Fathers from the very beginning of the Church. I don’t know where to start reading or to even find them! Also, does the Catholic Church teach that the physical body is involved with the afterlife or just the spirit like Protestants believe? I haven’t read or studied much about that, but I believe I have read something about the body and Heaven. Thank you and God bless!
 
New Advent has an exhaustive list of writings available:

The Fathers of the Church

I’m not exactly sure about your second question, although it is my understanding that our bodies will be raised from the dead and reunited with our souls on the Last Day. If I remember Revelation correctly, if we are assumed into heaven, our body and soul will be glorified and perfected, i.e. all our physical ailments, defects, and infirmities from our life on earth will be gone. I’m not sure about those who go to hell. You might want to google the Catechism on that.
 
In the resurrection, we will receive our bodies back, but in glorified form. It will be a body transformed from mortal in a spiritual body, but will be in physical form. Catechism references are sections 686, 988-1004, 1015, 1017 and 1019. Here is perhaps the most popular online catechism.
 
Pope Benedict XVI has written a couple of very good well researched books on the Early Church Fathers including the time frame in which they lived and a thumbnail sketch of what they taught. You can take those names and google them in amazon, or Ignatius Press or ABE books and find books that have been written. John Chrysostomwho is considered a saint in both the Roman Catholic church and the Orthodox church has written on a lot of contemporary subjects. On wealth and poverty, On the priesthood, on marriage and others. , as has St Basil the Great, whose greatest work might be On Social Justice. Irenaeus who was a disciple of Polycarp who was also a disciple of John wrote Against Heresies . Clement of Rome wrote the third and fourth epistle to the still trouble making Corinthian church that was trying to get rid of their elders. The Didache was around in the first century and gave instructions on how to conduct the mass. These last two and others are found in a book called Writings of the Early Church Fathers which is a penguin classic. A good web site is NewAdvent.org. Your life will be enriched by reading these and there are many others… GOD BLESS
 
If you have Kindle, the entire 37-volume set of the Fathers is available at less than $5 a volume. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the free Kindle Cloud Reader and use your computer as a Kindle (only without the features that come with a Kindle).
 
komeeks18 said:
I’ve been researching Catholicism, and I definitely believe it is true, but I thought it would be helpful for me to read the writings of the Fathers from the very beginning of the Church. I don’t know where to start reading or to even find them! Also, does the Catholic Church teach that the physical body is involved with the afterlife or just the spirit like Protestants believe? I haven’t read or studied much about that, but I believe I have read something about the body and Heaven. Thank you and God bless!
Click to expand...
The problem is that when you read a collection of extracts or a compendium you get whatever viewpoint the redactor wants you to get. Sometimes letters and portions of homiles are taken out of context, and if commentary is included, you could get steered into a certain line of thought. It might be better for one to draw one’s own conclusions and use the commentary for facts only.

There are some great collections, if one is willing to actually read that much. It is expensive though, so one has to haunt the used book stores and make use if inter-library loan to save a bit of money. If the copyright has run out on the translation Google Books might have it for free.

I would recommend Ancient Christian Writers by Paulist Press for starters, and try to read the oldest texts available first. In this case the Didache volume (#6) would probably be the earliest. As you read more you will be building up your familiarity in a way that mimics the accumulated knowledge of the fathers themselves.

Others: Early Church Fathers by Hendrickson Publishers. Looks pricey, but I have seen the collection for a lot less money, and it may be in some libraries. It is really an awesome selection, and one can skip the commentary or introductory remarks and just read.

Eastern Christian monasteries and seminaries sometimes have websites where such books are carried. The Icon and Book Service is one such, a reliable small supplier for many years, they depend on the revenue.

One can also search under Early Christian Fathers with any large internet book merchant.
 
I asked this same question several months back of a noted priest and professor of Patristics at a major US Seminary. He was kind enough to give me some recommendations via e-mail. I told him that I already had the following books:
Code: 
*The Fathers Know Best
Jimmy Akin

Faith of the Early Fathers – Volumes 1 – 3
William A. Jurgens

Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic Thought
Luigi S. M. Gambero

Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words
Rod Bennett*
According to the him, those books are OK but very focused on apologetics. In order to get good insight on the fathers, he recommended these two books as the best place to start:
  • The Early Church (The Penguin History of the Church) (v. 1)
    Henry Chadwick
Code: 
The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God
Robert Louis Wilken*
He then suggested that there is no substitute for reading the writings of the Church fathers themselves.

I hope that this is helpful.

Peace,
 
I don’t usually come in the Traditionalist section of the forum but I suggest this site. These are 19th century translations of lots of works of the Church Fathers. Just click one you want and download the pdf versions, they are free.
 
Credo_ergo_sum said:
I don’t usually come in the Traditionalist section of the forum but I suggest this site. These are 19th century translations of lots of works of the Church Fathers. Just click one you want and download the pdf versions, they are free.
Click to expand...
Fantastic resource, thank you for sharing that link. I just downloaded the entire series.

Peace of Christ,
 
komeeks18 said:
I’ve been researching Catholicism, and I definitely believe it is true, but I thought it would be helpful for me to read the writings of the Fathers from the very beginning of the Church. I don’t know where to start reading or to even find them! Also, does the Catholic Church teach that the physical body is involved with the afterlife or just the spirit like Protestants believe? I haven’t read or studied much about that, but I believe I have read something about the body and Heaven. Thank you and God bless!
Click to expand...
I highly suggest: Faith of the Early Fathers (3 volume set) Most excellent!

By: William A. Jurgens
 
Credo_ergo_sum said:
I don’t usually come in the Traditionalist section of the forum but I suggest this site. These are 19th century translations of lots of works of the Church Fathers. Just click one you want and download the pdf versions, they are free.
Click to expand...
This is the 38-volume set. It doesn’t get any more comprehensive than this, at least not in English 😃
 
DaveBj said:
This is the 38-volume set. It doesn’t get any more comprehensive than this, at least not in English 😃
Click to expand...
It does. This site has the translations that didn’t make it to the 38 volumes, it even includes the works of my favorite Father, St. Cyril of Alexandria. Not all authors listed there are viewed favorably by the Catholic Church, like Severus of Antioch. But then again, Origen made it in the 38 volumes series 😉
 
Credo_ergo_sum said:
It does. This site has the translations that didn’t make it to the 38 volumes, it even includes the works of my favorite Father, St. Cyril of Alexandria. Not all authors listed there are viewed favorably by the Catholic Church, like Severus of Antioch. But then again, Origen made it in the 38 volumes series 😉
Click to expand...
Thanks for that link.
 
komeeks18 said:
I’ve been researching Catholicism, and I definitely believe it is true, but I thought it would be helpful for me to read the writings of the Fathers from the very beginning of the Church. I don’t know where to start reading or to even find them! Also, does the Catholic Church teach that the physical body is involved with the afterlife or just the spirit like Protestants believe? I haven’t read or studied much about that, but I believe I have read something about the body and Heaven. Thank you and God bless!
Click to expand...
Article 1. Whether there is to be a resurrection of the body?

Also, click around on the “The Resurrection” section of this page. It answers interesting questions such as “Whether all will rise again of the same age?” and “Whether all will rise again of the same stature?”
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top