A Source Book for Ancient Church History

The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopædia of Religious Knowledge, edited by S. M. Jackson, New York, 1908-12.

The Catholic Encyclopædia, New York, 1907-12.

The Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition, Cambridge, 1910.

The Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, edited by J. Hastings, Edinburgh and New York, 1908 ff. (In course of publication.)

For the patristic writers, their lives, works, editions, and other bibliographical matter, see:

G. Krüger, History of Early Christian Literature in the First Three Centuries, English translation by C. R. Gillett, New York, 1897. Cited as Krüger.

B. Bardenhewer, Patrologie, Freiburg-i.-B., 1911, English translation of second edition (1901) by T. J. Shahan, St. Louis, 1908. Cited as Bardenhewer.

In addition to the encyclopædias the following are indispensable, and should be consulted:

Smith and Wace, Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines, London, 1877-87. (The Condensed Edition of 1911 by no means takes the place of this standard work.) Cited DCB.

Smith and Cheetham, Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, London, 1875-80. Cited DCA.

Advanced students and those capable of using French and German are referred to the following, which have admirable and authoritative articles and ample bibliographies:

Realencyclopædie für protestantische Theologie, edited by A. Hauck, Leipsic, 1896 ff. Two supplementary volumes appeared in 1913. Cited PRE.

Kirchenlexicon oder Encyclopædie der katholischen Theologie und ihrer Hilfswissenschaften, second edition, by J. Hergenröther und F. Kaulen, Freiburg-i.-B., 1882-1901. Cited KL.

Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique, edited by A. Vacant and E. Mangenot, Paris, 1903 ff.

Dictionnaire d’Archéologie Chrétienne et de Liturgie, edited by F. Cabrol, 1903 ff.

Dictionnaire d’Histoire et de Géographie Ecclesiastiques; edited by A. Baudrillart, A. Vogt, and U. Roziès, Paris, 1909 ff.

Collections of sources in the original languages, easily procured and to be consulted for texts and to some extent for bibliographies:

C. Mirbt, Quellen zur Geschichte des Papsttums und des römischen Katholizismus, third edition, Tübingen, 1911. Cited as Mirbt.

C. Kirch, S. J., Enchiridion fontium historiæ ecclesiasticæ antiquæ. Freiburg-i.-B., 1910. Cited as Kirch.

H. Denziger, Enchiridion symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, eleventh edition, edited by Clemens Bannwart, S. J., Freiburg-i.-B., 1911. Cited as Denziger.

A. Hahn. Bibliothek der Symbole und Glaubensregeln der alten Kirche, third edition, Breslau, 1897. Cited as Hahn.

G. Krüger. Sammlung ausgewählter kirchen und dogmengeschichtlicher Quellenschriften, Freiburg-i.-B.

Of this useful collection especially important are the following of more general application:

E. Preuschen, Analecta: Kürzere Texte zur Geschichte der alten Kirche und des Kanons, second edition, 1909-10.

F. Lauchert, Die Kanones der wichtigsten altkirchlichen Concilien nebst den apostolischen Kanones.

R. Knopf, Ausgewählte Märtyreracten. Cited as Knopf.

Other volumes are cited in connection with topics.

H. T. Bruns, Canones apostolorum et conciliorum sæculorum IV, V, VI, VII, Berlin, 1839. Cited as Bruns.

Although not source-books, yet of very great value for the sources they contain should be mentioned:

J. C. L. Gieseler, A Text-Book of Church History, English translation, New York, 1857.

K. R. Hagenbach, A History of Christian Doctrines, English translation, Edinburgh, 1883-85.

C. J. Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, Freiburg-i.-B., 1855-70. Second edition, 1873 et seq. A new French translation with admirable supplementary notes has just appeared. The English translation (History of the Councils), Edinburgh, 1876-95, extends only through the eighth century. Cited as Hefele.

THE FIRST DIVISION OF ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY: THE CHURCH UNDER THE HEATHEN EMPIRE: TO A. D. 324

By the accession of Constantine to the sole sovereignty of the Roman Empire, A. D. 324, ancient Christianity may be conveniently divided into two great periods. In the first, it was a religion liable to persecution, suffering severely at times and always struggling to maintain itself; in the second, it became the religion of the State, and in its turn set about to repress and persecute the heathen religions. It was no longer without legal rights; it had the support of the secular rulers and was lavishly endowed with wealth. The conditions of the Church in these two periods are so markedly different, and the conditions had such a distinct effect upon the life and growth of the Christian religion, that the reign of Constantine is universally recognized as marking a transition from one historical period to another, although no date which shall mark that transition is universally accepted. The year 311, the year in which the Diocletian persecution ceased, has been accepted by many as the dividing point. The exact date adopted is immaterial.

The principal sources in English for the history of the Christian Church before A. D. 324 are:

The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A. D. 325. American edition, Buffalo and New York, 1885-1896; new edition, New York, 1896 (a reprint). The collection, cited as ANF, contains the bulk of the Christian literature of the period, with the exception of the less important commentaries of Origen.

Eusebius, Church History. Translated with Prolegomena and Notes by Arthur Cushman McGiffert. In A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Second series, New York, 1890. The Church History of Eusebius is the foundation of the study of the history of the Church before A. D. 324, as it contains a vast number of citations from works now lost. The edition by Professor McGiffert is the best in English, and is provided with scholarly notes, which serve as an elaborate commentary on the text. It should be in every library. This work is cited as Eusebius, Hist. Ec. The text used in the extracts given in this source book is that of Ed. Schwartz, in Die Griechischen Christlicher: Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte. Kleine Ausgabe, Leipsic, 1908. This text is identical with the larger and less convenient edition by the same editor.

Period I. The Apostolic Age: To Circa A. D. 100

The period in the Church before the clash with Gnosticism and the rise of an apologetic literature comprises the apostolic and the post-apostolic ages. These names have become traditional. The so-called apostolic age, or to circa 100, is that in which the Apostles lived, though the best tradition makes John the only surviving Apostle for the last quarter of a century.

The principal sources for the history of the Church in this period are the books of the New Testament, and only to a slight degree the works of contemporaneous Jewish and heathen writers. It is hardly necessary to reproduce New Testament passages here. The Jewish references of importance will be found in the works on the life of Christ and of St. Paul. As the treatment of this period commonly falls under a different branch of study, New Testament exegesis, it is not necessary in Church history to enter into any detail. There are, however, a few references to events in this period which are to be found only outside the New Testament, and are of importance to the student of Church history. These are the Neronian persecution (§ 1), the death of the Apostles (§§ 2, 3), and the persecution under Domitian (§ 4). The paucity of references to Christianity in the first century is due chiefly to the fact that Christianity appeared to the men of the times as merely a very small Oriental religion, struggling for recognition, and contending with many others coming from the same region. It had not yet made any great advance either in numbers or social importance.