Nicene and Post-nicene Fathers: First Series, Volume Iv St. Augustine: the Writings Against the Manichaeans, and Against the Donatists

Jacket Description/Back: 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. Publisher Marketing: "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 IV of the 14-volume collected writings of the Nicenes and Post-Nicenes (first published between 1886 and 1889), readers will find Augustine s writings defending the Catholic church against the Manichaeans and the Donatists. Manichaeanism was a religion developed in Persia by the prophet Mani. According to this religion, creation has two parts: darkness and light. Light is God and has ten attributes. Opposing this, and coeternal with it, is darkness and its five attributes. Saint Augustine was originally a Manichaean, so his defense of Christianity against this religion comes from a deep understanding of its nature. Donatists were a group of believers who refused to forgive those who had renounced their faith during a time of persecution, which caused a schism in Christianity. In opposing these men, Augustine attempted to mend the rift. Those with an interest in ancient religions will find Augustine s writings on Manichaeanism one of the most important historical records of that religion s practices.""

Contributor Bio:  Schaff, Philip Authors: John Williamson Nevin (1803-1886), and Philip Schaff (1819-1893) were professors at Mercersburg Seminary of the German Reformed Church, Nevin being among the leading American Protestant theologians of his day and Schaff quickly rising to become the nineteenth century's premier church historian. Daniel Gans (1822-1903) was a pupil of theirs and later German Reformed minister and writer. Editor: William B. Evans is the Younts Professor of Bible and Religion at Erskine College in South Carolina. The author of Imputation and Impartation: Union with Christ in American Reformed Theology (Paternoster, 2008), he has also written numerous articles on Reformed Christology, ecclesiology, and the Mercersburg theology. General Editor: W. Bradford Littlejohn is President of the Davenant Trust and the author of The Mercersburg Theology and the Quest for Reformed Catholicity (Pickwick, 2009), as well as two forthcoming books and several articles on Richard Hooker and the English Reformation.