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Hilary of Poitiers · 364–365 · Treatise
Against Auxentius stands as one of Hilary of Poitiers' final theological battles, written in 364-365 during his last years as he confronted the resurgence of Arianism in the West. The treatise targets…
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Didymus the Blind · 370–398 · Commentary
Didymus the Blind's Commentary on Genesis represents one of the most sophisticated exegetical works to emerge from fourth-century Alexandria. Written during the height of the Arian controversy and the consolidation of Nicene…
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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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Gregory of Nyssa · 380–383 · Treatise
For students of the Arian controversy and of how the Cappadocians argued about God's names and nature; not a work to read through, and not for a first meeting with Gregory.
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Dogmatic Treatises Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Volume V: Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises, etc.
Gregory of Nyssa · 380–395 · Book
For readers who want the whole 1893 English Gregory in one place; a collection, not a work, and better entered through its individual treatises.
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Evagrius Ponticus · 380–399 · Treatise
The Kephalaia Gnostika represents Evagrius of Pontus's most advanced theological treatise, composed in the final decades of the fourth century during his years as a desert monk in Egypt. Written as a…
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Gregory of Nyssa · 380–383 · Treatise
For students of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit at the time of the Council of Constantinople; a short, sharp defence of the Spirit's divinity, incomplete at the end.
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Gregory of Nazianzus · 381 · Sermon
For anyone preparing for baptism or teaching it, and for readers interested in why fourth-century Christians put baptism off; the fullest early sermon on the sacrament.
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Gregory of Nazianzus · 381–390 · Poem
For readers of Greek and of early Christian poetry; a reader without Greek will find only selections in English, none of them free.
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Gregory of Nyssa · 383–390 · Treatise
For students of the hope of universal restoration and of the Arian controversy over 1 Corinthians 15:28; a short, close reading, technical in places.
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Gregory of Nyssa · 383 · Sermon
For readers interested in early baptismal theology and Epiphany preaching; a sermon for the feast of Christ's baptism that explains what water, oil and the Spirit do.
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Gregory of Nazianzus · 383 · Sermon
For readers of Easter and of the atonement: why the Son became man and what his death did, including the famous refusal to say a ransom was paid to the devil; read it after Oration 38, which it reuses.
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Ambrose of Milan · 390–391 · Treatise
De Sacramentis is a collection of six homilies delivered by Ambrose of Milan to newly baptized Christians during Easter week, likely between 390 and 391. These mystagogical sermons were part of the…
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Augustine of Hippo · 391–430 · Sermon
Augustine's Sermones represent four decades of preaching to the congregations of Hippo Regius, delivered weekly and on feast days from his ordination as priest in 391 until his death in 430. These…
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Rufinus of Aquileia · 397–410 · Treatise
This preface introduces Rufinus of Aquileia's Latin translation of Origen's great systematic work On First Principles, completed between 397 and 410. The translation project emerged during the fierce Origenist controversies that divided…
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Rufinus of Aquileia · 404 · Commentary
Rufinus of Aquileia's Expositio Symboli stands as one of the earliest and most influential commentaries on the Apostles' Creed, written around 404 CE during his final years in Aquileia. The work emerged…
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Fulgentius of Ruspe · 507–508 · Treatise
Pro Fide Catholica emerges from the theological turbulence of early sixth-century North Africa, where Fulgentius of Ruspe faced the dual challenge of Arian Christianity under Vandal rule and the need to articulate…
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Fulgentius of Ruspe · 507–533 · Letter
The letters of Fulgentius of Ruspe emerged from the theological controversies that convulsed North African Christianity in the early sixth century. As bishop of Ruspe in Byzantine Africa, Fulgentius faced the resurgence…
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Boethius · 512–522 · Treatise
The Opuscula sacra consists of five short theological treatises written by Boethius between 512 and 522, during the final decade of his life when he served in the court of Theodoric the…
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Fulgentius of Ruspe · 515–533 · Treatise
Fulgentius of Ruspe composed this treatise in response to an Arian sermon that had reached him in his North African exile during the early sixth century. The work emerges from the final…
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Fulgentius of Ruspe · 523–527 · Treatise
Ad Trasimundum stands as Fulgentius of Ruspe's major theological treatise, written during his second exile in Sardinia between 523 and 527. The work emerged from direct confrontation with Trasimundus, the Arian Vandal…
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Isidore of Seville · 615–625 · Treatise
The Sententiae represents Isidore of Seville's ambitious attempt to synthesize the theological wisdom of the early church fathers for seventh-century Spain. Writing between 615 and 625, during his tenure as Archbishop of…
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Maximus the Confessor · 626–662 · Treatise
Maximus the Confessor composed this treatise on divine love during the seventh century, likely while serving as a monk and theological advisor in Constantinople before his later exile and persecution. Written in…
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Andrew of Crete · 680–740 · Poem
Andrew of Crete's Canon on the Epiphany stands as one of the finest examples of Byzantine liturgical poetry, composed for the Feast of the Epiphany celebrating Christ's baptism in the Jordan River.…
