Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: First Series, Volume II St. Augustine: City of God, Christian Doctrine - Paperback

by Philip Schaff (Editor)

"The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD marked the beginning of a new era in Christianity. For the first time, doctrines were organized into a single creed. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers did most of their writing during and after this important event in Church history. Unlike the previous era of Christian writing, the Nicene and Post-Nicene era is dominated by a few very important and prolific writers. In Volume II of the 14-volume collected writings of the Nicenes and Post-Nicenes (first published between 1886 and 1889), readers will discover one of Augustine s masterworks: City of God. In this groundbreaking work, Augustine proposes a philosophy that sees history as having a purpose and direction. Coming at a time when Roman civilization was failing, this work argued that Romans could find comfort in Christianity because all of history was merely a struggle between the City of God (believers) and the City of Man (nonbelievers). Should Romans put their faith in the City of God, even their declining civilization should cause them no grief. Even though it was written at a very particular time in history, City of God appeals to all Christians seeking inspiration to continue their religious practice."

Back Jacket

The English reader has now, in the first three volumes of this Library, a complete collection of the historical writings of the Fathers, whose permanent value, as sources, is universally acknowledged. Several of them have never before appeared in English. The unavoidable delay in the publication of the third volume has been very annoying to the general editors and publishers, but the subscribers will be amply compensated by the addition of the writings of Rufinus, which were not promised in the prospectus. It is encouraging that this difficult and costly enterprise is beginning to be duly appreciated by competent judges on both sides of the Atlantic.