Customer Reviews

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: First Series, 14 Volumes

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As a layman I am less than qualified to critique this 14 volume set on its contents or translations, but hasten to say that the writings contained within are critical to have on one's shelf if interested in the history and development of Christianity. There is also a second series of 14 volumes that are equally important and I recommend purchasing them both.

The annotations and introductions to each item aid in contextualizing each work, but as another reviewer noted, betray a 19th century Protestant bias. That being said, they are still of great assistance.

My set is a reprint of the original American edition by Philip Schaff produced in 1886 and reprinted by Hendrickson Publishers in 1994. This is a fine edition with small but very readable type on good paper. Other editions are available, but this one is satisfactory in every respect.

These two 14 volume sets, 1st and 2nd Series, are the chief authorities for the doctrines and usages of the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches after the New Testament. They do not, however, contain the Patristic commentaries on the Old Testament included in the Oxford Library of the same time period, an omission that I do not miss. The Greek Fathers run from Eusebius to Photius, and the Latin Fathers from Ambrose to Gregory the Great. If these two series and the corresponding Ante-Nicene 10 volume set do not take the reader where he wants to go in Christian history, then I do not know what to recommend (with the exception of the Nag Hammadi Library by Robinson, of course.)

The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (NPNF) series has long been something of a standard reference work for those interested in the church fathers. The series was begun initially by men of the Oxford Movement in the 19th century in Britain, i.e., Anglicans seeking to revive the church fathers for their day and age in the Church of England. That would explain the "thees" and "thous." Seeking to discover the mind of the fathers the men of the Oxford Movement translated primarily fathers of the late fourth and early fifth centuries. That explains the emphasis on Augustine and Chrysostom in the first series of the NPNF series. Being Anglicans seeking to remain Anglican the series offers a host of anti-Catholic commentary that will offend almost every sensible Roman Catholic, but the real service of these translations is not the anti-Roman polemic, but the translations themselves and the renewed interest in the church fathers that we now see once again in our own day.

The series is by no means complete, neither for Augustine nor Chrysostom. Still, the price alone makes this series worth having, though it needs to be supplemented by works found in other patristic series such as The Fathers of the Church series published by Catholic University of America Press, and the more recent and much more readable translations of St. Augustine produced by New City Press.

Please know these volumes are also available on CD ROM and individually through Kindle.

I graded the work a five star only for the eloquance and mythodical, yet very neccessary thological literature that tends to bend the ear of anyone desiring to gain more knowledge into mystical and contemplative life. However, the print quality is less than stellar and the paper is cheap. Too bad! I purchased it for the content. So I had to put away the cheap ink and paper.