The ''Ante-Nicene Fathers'', subtitled "''The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325''", is a collection of books in 10 volumes (one volume is indexes) containing English translations of the majority of

Early Christian Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...

writings. The period covers the beginning of Christianity until the promulgation of the

Nicene Creed The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is ...

at the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This ecumenical council was the first effor ...

Publication

The series was originally published between 1867 and 1873 by the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

publishing house T. & T. Clark in Edinburgh under the title ''Ante-Nicene Christian Library'' (ANCL), as a response to the

Oxford movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

's '' Library of the Fathers'' which was perceived as too strongly identified with the Anglo-Catholic movement. The volumes were edited by Rev.

Alexander Roberts Alexander Roberts (12 May 1826 – 8 March 1901) was a 19th-century Scottish biblical scholar. Life Born at Marykirk, Kincardineshire, on 12 May 1826, he was the son of Alexander Roberts, a flax-spinner, and his wife, Helen Stuart. He was edu ...

and James Donaldson. This series was available by subscription, but the editors were unable to interest enough subscribers to commission a translation of the homilies of

Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and the ...

. In 1885 the Christian Literature Company, first of Buffalo, then New York, began to issue the volumes in a reorganized form. This was done without permission, and was indeed a pirate edition. The new series was edited by the Episcopal bishop of New York, A. Cleveland Coxe. Coxe gave his series the title ''The Ante-Nicene Fathers''. By 1896, this American edition/revision was complete. Unable to close down the pirate, T. & T. Clark were obliged to make what terms they could. In 1897, a volume 9, which contained new translations, was published by T. & T. Clark as an additional volume, to complete the original ANCL. Apart from volume 9, the contents entirely derived from the ANCL, but in a more chronological order. Coxe added his own introductions and notes, which were criticized by academic authorities and Roman Catholic reviewers. T. & T. Clark then associated with the Christian Literature Company and with other American publisher for the publication of the ''

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers ''A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church'', usually known as the ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers'' (NPNF), is a set of books containing translations of early Christian writings into English. It was publi ...

''.

External links

* * {{Authority control 1867 books 1885 books Publications of patristic texts Translations into English Book series introduced in 1885 Christian law

Publication

See also

External links