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Basil the Great · 370–378 · Sermon
For any reader: nine sermons on the six days of creation, preached to working people, full of the natural history of the ancient world and the wonder of it. The friendliest way into Basil; also the model for Ambrose's Hexaemeron.
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Gregory of Nyssa · 370–390 · Treatise
For readers who want a practical statement of what it means to imitate Christ, built from Paul's names for him; among the most readable of his ascetic writings.
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Basil the Great · 370–379 · Other
For the reader who wants to pray with Basil rather than read about him: the eucharistic liturgy still used in Lent in the Byzantine churches and daily by the Copts, its long anaphora a summary of the whole faith. Follow Hapgood's English; the Greek is for
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Works The Complete Works of Saint John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom · 370–407 · Other
John Chrysostom's voluminous writings emerged from his decades as priest in Antioch and later as Archbishop of Constantinople during the late fourth and early fifth centuries. Known as "Golden-mouthed" for his eloquent…
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Gregory of Nyssa · 371 · Treatise
For readers interested in the beginnings of Christian asceticism and in how a married bishop could praise virginity as the soul's freedom for God; his earliest work, and more philosophical than its title suggests.
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Ambrose of Milan · 374–397 · Letter
The letters of Ambrose of Milan emerge from the turbulent decades when Christianity was consolidating its position as the religion of the Roman Empire. Written between 374 and 397, these epistles document…
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Letters Letters and Select Works
Jerome · 374–420 · Other
Jerome's letters and treatises emerged from the contentious theological and pastoral challenges of the late fourth and early fifth centuries, when the church faced doctrinal controversies, ascetic movements, and the practical demands…
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Ambrose of Milan · 374–397 · Book
Ambrose of Milan's writings emerged from his unexpected elevation from provincial governor to bishop of Milan in 374, thrusting a recently baptized layman into leadership of one of the Western Empire's most…
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Gregory of Nyssa · 375–395 · Letter
For readers curious about Gregory's visit to the holy places and the Christological quarrel he found there; a short personal letter, read in ten minutes.
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Long Rules Regulae fusius tractatae
Basil the Great · 375 · Treatise
For anyone who wants to know where Benedict's Rule came from: 55 questions on loving God and neighbour, leaving the world, obedience, work and care of the sick, answered from Scripture. The more readable of the two Rules; read it first.
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Ambrose of Milan · 375 · Treatise
Ambrose of Milan's De Cain et Abel, written around 375, stands as one of the bishop's earliest exegetical works, emerging from his pastoral concern to address the spiritual dangers of envy and…
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Ambrose of Milan · 375 · Treatise
Ambrose of Milan's "De Paradiso" emerged from his systematic exposition of Genesis during his tenure as Bishop of Milan in the late fourth century. Written around 375 as part of his larger…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 375–399 · Treatise
Evagrius of Pontus wrote this treatise on the eight evil spirits during his years as a desert monk in Egypt, drawing from his intense personal struggle with temptation and his pastoral work…
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Basil the Great · 375 · Treatise
For anyone who wants to see how the Church came to call the Spirit God: a careful argument, not a devotional book. Not the place to start if you have never read a Church Father; take the Address to Young Men first.
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Ambrose of Milan · 375–381 · Treatise
Ambrose of Milan's treatise on the Holy Spirit emerged from the doctrinal controversies of the late fourth century, when Arian theology continued to challenge orthodox Trinitarian faith even after the Council of…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 375–399 · Commentary
Evagrius of Pontus composed this brief commentary on Ecclesiastes during his years as a desert monk in Egypt, likely in the final decades of the fourth century. Writing from the austere landscape…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 375–399 · Commentary
Evagrius of Pontus composed these brief interpretive notes on the Psalms during his decades as a desert monk in Egypt, where he developed his influential spiritual theology through practical experience and extensive…
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Jerome · 376 · Treatise
For anyone: a ten-page desert tale, Jerome's first work, about the hermit Antony went to find; the easiest door into Jerome and into the monastic literature of the fourth century.
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Gregory of Nyssa · 376–378 · Commentary
For readers who use the Psalms in prayer and want their arrangement read as a path of ascent; a long, systematic early work for the patient.
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Ambrose of Milan · 377 · Treatise
Ambrose of Milan composed this treatise on virginity in 377, addressing the growing movement of consecrated virgins in the early Church. Written as both theological instruction and practical guidance, the work emerged…
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John Chrysostom · 378–381 · Treatise
This treatise emerges from the heated controversies surrounding monasticism in late fourth-century Antioch, where John Chrysostom served as a young priest. Written between 378 and 381, the work responds directly to critics…
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Ambrose of Milan · 378–380 · Treatise
Ambrose of Milan's De Fide emerged from a direct imperial command. In 378, the newly crowned Emperor Gratian, facing the ongoing Arian crisis that had fractured the church for decades, requested that…
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Ambrose of Milan · 378 · Treatise
De Excessu Fratris is Ambrose of Milan's funeral oration for his brother Satyrus, delivered in 378 after Satyrus died unexpectedly while serving as a provincial governor. The work emerged from Ambrose's profound…
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Jerome · 379 · Treatise
For students of the aftermath of the Arian crisis: may bishops who signed the Arian creed of 359 be received back? A dialogue, Jerome's first theological work, and readable.
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