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

Early Christian Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...

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

Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of N ...

at the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea ( ; ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325. This ec ...

Publication

The series was originally published between 1867 and 1873 by the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

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 theological 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 Un ...

'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 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 (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

. 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 publishers for the publication of the '' Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers''.

Volumes

*Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers,

Justin Martyr Justin, known posthumously as Justin Martyr (; ), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and Philosophy, philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The ''First Apolog ...

Irenaeus Irenaeus ( or ; ; ) was a Greeks, Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christianity, Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by oppos ...

*Volume 2: Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria *Volume 3: Tertullian *Volume 4: Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen *Volume 5: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix *Volume 6: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius *Volume 7: Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, Homily, and Liturgies *Volume 8: Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Aprocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents *Volume 9: Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Testament of Abraham, Epistles of Clement, Origen and Miscellaneous Works *Volume 10: Bibliography, General Index, Annotated Index of Authors and Works Reformed Christian Books website, ''Ante-Nicene Fathers, American Edition''
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References

External links

* *
Ante-Nicene Fathers
collection at the

Christian Classics Ethereal Library The Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) is a digital library that provides free electronic copies of Christian scripture and literature texts. Description CCEL is a volunteer-based project founded and directed by Harry Plantinga, a p ...

List of links to scans of ''Ante-Nicene Fathers'' and ANCL volumes
in the "Links Galore" spreadsheet {{Authority control 1867 books 1885 books Publications of patristic texts Translations into English 1885 in literature 1885 introductions Book series introduced in the 1880s Christian law

Publication

Volumes

See also

References

External links