The period of the Early Church was a time of immense challenge and doctrinal development, transitioning Christianity from a persecuted Jewish sect to an institution recognized by the Roman Empire. This era is divided into the Ante-Nicene (pre-325 AD) and Nicene (post-325 AD) periods. The early phase saw the formation of the New Testament canon and the rise of apologists who defended the faith against external persecutions and internal heresies like Gnosticism. Two of the most pivotal figures in this pre-Nicene era were Tertullian and Origen, who laid the groundwork for future theological disputes and definitions. Tertullian (c. 155–c. 220 AD), often called the "Father of Latin Theology," was a sharp, legalistic mind in Carthage who coined the term "Trinity" (Trinitas) and offered the crucial formula of "one substance, three persons," though his later adoption of the rigorous Montanist sect cast a shadow on his final standing. Origen (c. 185–c. 254 AD), based in Alexandria, was the great scholar-theologian of the East, known for his vast intellectual output, his pioneering three-fold allegorical biblical interpretation, and his effort to synthesize Christian revelation with Greek philosophy. While he contributed the crucial concept of the "eternal generation of the Son," some of his speculative ideas, such as the pre-existence of souls, were later condemned.
The transition to the Nicene Fathers began with the Edict of Milan (313 AD), which legalized Christianity and drew the Church into imperial politics. This new status brought the central crisis of the Arian controversy, where the Alexandrian presbyter Arius argued that the Son of God was a created being, threatening the core doctrine of Christ's divinity. To resolve this, Emperor Constantine convened the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. This council produced the original Nicene Creed, which affirmed Christ's full divinity using the non-scriptural term $homoousios$ ("of one substance") to describe the Son's co-eternality with the Father and explicitly condemn Arianism. The task of defending and clarifying this creed fell to the Nicene Fathers, primarily Athanasius of Alexandria, who famously stood virtually alone against the Arian tide. Later, the Cappadocian Fathers (Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus) solidified the orthodox Trinitarian doctrine by clearly defining how the Godhead was "three persons" (hypostases) in "one substance" (ousia). Their work paved the way for the Council of Constantinople (381 AD), which finalized the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, establishing the definitive Trinitarian framework for centuries of Christian theology in both the East and the West.
All of the book titles that are included in this DVD are listed as follows:
Justin Martyr: His Life, Writings, and Opinions
by Karl Gottlieb Semisch 1845
The Ante-Nicene Fathers - Translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 1 1913 (Justin Martyr and Irenaeus)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers - Translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 2 1913 (Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus and Clement of Alexandria)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers - Translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 3 1918 (Tertullian)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers - Translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 4 1913 (Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers - Translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 5 1919 (Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers - Translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 6 1886 (Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius, Methodius, Arnobius)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers - Translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 7 1913 (Lactantius, Venantius, Dionysius)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers - Translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 8 1916 (The twelve patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac documents)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers - Translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 9 1912 (Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron of Tatian, Apocalypse of Peter, Visio Pauli, Apocalypses of the Virgin and Sedrach, Testament of Abraham, Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena, Narrative of Zosimus, Apology of Aristides, Epistles of Clement, Origen's Commentary on John)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers - Translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 10 1917
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 1 1904 (Eusebius: Church history, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in praise of Constantine.)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 2 1890 (Socrates, Sozomenus: Church histories)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 3 1890 (Theodoret, Jerome Gennadius, Rufinus: Historical writings)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 4 1892 (Athanasius)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 5 1917 (Gregory of Nyssa)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 6 1896 (St. Jerome)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 7 1894 (S. Cyril of Jerusalem. S. Gregory Nazianzen)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 8 1896 (St. Basil)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 9 1899 (St, Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 10 1896 (S. Ambrose)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 11 1894 (Sulpitus Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 12 1895 (Leo the Great, Gregory the Great)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 13 1898 (Gregory the Great, Ephraim Syrus, Aphrahat)
A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Volume 14 1900 (7 Ecumenical Councils)
Lives of the Most Eminent Fathers of the Church that Flourished in the First Four Centuries, Volume 1 by William Cave 1840
Lives of the Most Eminent Fathers of the Church that Flourished in the First Four Centuries, Volume 2 by William Cave 1840
Lives of the Most Eminent Fathers of the Church that Flourished in the First Four Centuries, Volume 3 by William Cave 1840
A Dictionary of Christian Biography to the End of the 6th Century by Henry Wace 1911
Lives of the Fathers - sketches of Church History in Biography, Volume 2 1889 by FW Farrar
Frauds and Follies of the Fathers by Joseph Wheeler 1882
Tertullian and the Beginnings of the Doctrine of the Trinity by BB Warfield, articles in The Princeton Theological review 1906
Alleged Socialism of the Church Fathers by John A Ryan 1913
The Church Fathers on Wealth and Ownership, article in The Common Cause 1911
The Church Fathers on Property, article in Bibliotheca Sacra 1897
Were the Church Fathers Communists? article in International Journal of Ethics 1904
A Manual of Church History Volume 1 by Henry Newman 1901
A Manual of Church History Volume 2 by Henry Newman 1903
Christianity and Greek Philosophy by BF Cocker 1870
Ante-Nicene Christian Library Volume 3 1897
Ante-Nicene Christian Library Volume 16
Ante-Nicene Christian Library Volume 20
Apollonius of Tyana and Other Essays by Thomas Whittaker 1903
The Faith of our Fathers, Being a Plain Exposition and Vindication of the Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ by Cardinal James Gibbons 1880
Studies of Arianism by Henry Gwatkin 1900
Saint Jerome by Rev. Edward Cutts 1897
Saint Augustine by Rev. Edward Cutts 1888
The Influence of Plato on St. Basil by TL Shear 1905
Arius the Libyan 1914
Arius Slain by an Old Seaman 1792
The Nicene Creed by the Rev. AE Burn 1909
Patrology - The Lives and works of the Fathers of the Church by Otto Bardenhewer 1908
Select Treatises of Athanasius Volume 1 by John Henry Cardinal Newman 1911
Select Treatises of Athanasius Volume 2 by John Henry Cardinal Newman
Select Treatises of Athanasius Volume 8 by John Henry Cardinal Newman
Select Treatises of Athanasius Volume 19 by John Henry Cardinal Newman
The Nicene and Apostles Creed by CA Swainson 1875
The Worship of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Church of Rome contrary to Holy Scripture and to the faith and practice of the church of Christ through the First Five Centuries by James Tyler 1844
The History of Sprinkling by LC Wilson 1895
The Writings of Justin Martyr and Athenagoras volume 2 - 1868
The Testimony of Justin Martyr to Early Christianity: Lectures Delivered
by George Tybout Purves - 1889
The Story of Justin Martyr: And Other Poems
by Richard Chenevix Trench - 1862
The Apologies of Justin Martyr: To which is Appended The Epistle to Diognetus
by Justin, Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve 1877
The Apologies of Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Minutius Felix, in Defence of the Christian Religion
by Justin, Tertullian, Marcus Minucius Felix, Vincent 1709
The Early Persecutions of the Christians
by Leon Hardy Canfield 1913
Defensio Fidei Nicænæ: A Defense of the Nicene Creed
by George Bull, Edward Burton, Joannes Ernestus Grabe 1852
A Key to the Writings of the Principal Fathers of the Christian Church
by John Collinson, Justin 1813
The Early Years of Christianity: A Comprehensive History of the First Three Centuries
by Edmond de Pressensé 1879
Biography of the Early Church
by Robert Wilson Evans 1837
Select treatises of Saint Athanasius in controversy with the Arians 1900 Volume 1
Select treatises of Saint Athanasius in controversy with the Arians 1842 Volume 2
Select treatises of Saint Athanasius in controversy with the Arians 1842 Volume 8
Select treatises of Saint Athanasius in controversy with the Arians 1842 Volume 19
Tertullian against Praxeas by Alexander Souter 1919
The Commentary of Origen on S. John's Gospel: The Text Revised with a Critical Introduction
by Origen, Alan England Brooke 1896
Origen and Greek Patristic Theology
by William Fairweather - Theology, Doctrinal - 1901
The Apology of Origen in Reply to Celsus: A Chapter in the History of Apologetics
by John Patrick 1892
Tertullian, translated by Rev. C. Dodgson, MA
Ante-Nicene Christian Fathers- Tertullianus Against Marcion 1868
The Ecclesiastical History of the Second and Third Centuries: Illustrated by the writings of Tertullian
by John Bishop of Bristol
The Irenaeus Testimony to the Fourth Gospel: Its Extent, Meaning, and Value
by Frank Grant Lewis - 1908
An Account of the Life and Writings of S. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons
by James Beaven 1841
The Witness of Hermas to the Four Gospels (incomplete)
by Charles Taylor 1892
The Origins of Christianity
by Charles Bigg 1909
Ante-Nicene Christian Fathers- The Writings of Tatian and Theophilus: And, The Clementine Recognitions
by Benjamin Plummer Pratten 1867
The Diatessaron of Tatian: A Harmony of the Four Holy Gospels
by Tatian, Samuel Hemphill - 1888
St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna
by Blomfield Jackson - 1898
The Genuine Epistles of the Apostolic Fathers: St. Clement, St. Polycarp, St. Ignatius, St. Barnabas by William Wake, William Adams, William Cave 1834
The Epistles of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch
by James Herbert Srawley - 1919
Corpus Ignatianum: a complete collection of the Ignatian epistles, geniune, interpolated and spurious by William Cureton, 1849
The Early Church Form Ignatius to Augustine By George Hodges 1915
Cyprian: His Life, His Times, His Work
by Edward White Benson 1897
The Treatises of S. Caecilius Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, and Martyr
by John Henry Newman, Charles Thornton 1840
The Epistles of S. Cyprian with the Council of Carthage on the Baptism of Heretics by Cyprian, Pacian 1844
St. Cyprian on the Lord's Prayer: An English Translation, with Introduction
by Thomas Herbert Bindley - 1904
Philosophumena: Or, the Refutation of All Heresies Volume 1
1921
Hippolytus and his age; or, The doctrine and practice of the Church of Rome
by Christian Carl Josias Bunsen - 1852
Ante-Nicene Christian Fathers- The Works of Lactantius vol. 2- 1871
A summary of the writings of Lactantius
by Jacob Henry B. Mountain - 1839
History of the Development of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ by Isaak August Dorner - 1882
The Apostolic Fathers
by Clement, Joseph Lightfoot 1890
Primitive Christianity: Its Writings and Teachings
by Otto Pfleiderer 1911
Commentary on Galatians and Ephesians by S. John Chrysostom 1845
Some Lies and Errors of History by Reuben Parson 1893 (St. Cyril of Alexandria and the murder of Hypatia)
Saint Chrysostom and Saint Augustin by Philip Schaff 1891
The Life of St. Chrysostom by August Neander 1845
The Elements of Chrysostom's power as a preacher by Galusha Anderson, 1903
The Apostolicity of Trinitarianism by George S Faber 1832
Translation of the Epistles of Clement of Rome, Polycarp and Ignatius, and of the apologies of Justin Martyr and Tertullian by Temple Chevallier 1851
Essays in the History of Religious Thought in the West by Brooke Foss Westcott 1891
Origen the Teacher by William CM Gregory 1907
Tertullian and Montanism by John W Chadwick 1863
Tertullian Concerning the Resurrection of the Flesh by Alexander Souter 1922
Tertullian On the Testimony of the Soul by TH Bindley 1914
The Stylistic Influence of the Second Sophistic on the Panegyrical Sermons of St. John Chrysostom by Thomas E Ameringer 1921
Saint John Chrysostom, his Life and times a Sketch of the Church and the Empire in the Fourth Century by W.R.W. Stephens 1883
Saints and Heroes to the End of the Middle Ages by George Hodges 1911 (Cyprian, Athanasius, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, Columba, Charlemagne, Hildebrand, Anselm, Bernard, Becket, Langton, Dominic, Francis, Wycliffe, Hus, Savonarola)
Fathers of the Desert by Ida Hahn-Hahn Volume 1, 1907
Fathers of the Desert by Ida Hahn-Hahn Volume 2, 1907
A Short History of Monks and Monasteries by Alfred W Wishart 1900
Monasticism - its Ideals and History by Adolf von Harnack 1900
John of Damascus by Douglas Ainslee 1901
Great Men of the Christian Church by Williston Walker 1908 (Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Athanasius, Augustine, Patrick, Benedict, Hildebrand, Godfrey, Francis, Thomas Aquinas, John Wiclif, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, Ignatius Loyola, George Fox, Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Horace Bushnell)
The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius, The first book and selections 1874
Six Lectures on the Ante-Nicene Fathers by F.J.A. Hort 1895
The Church of the Fathers by Leighton Pullan 1912
An Account of the Life and Writings of S. Irenaeus by James Beaven 1841
The Christology in the Apostolic fathers by Alonzo Stark 1912
The Greek Fathers by Adrian Fortescue 1908
Origin and Development of Nicene Theology by Hugh M Scott 1896
The Post-Nicene Greek fathers by George Jackson 1883
The Christ and the Fathers by the Reformers of the Roman Empire being a critical analysis of the Religious Thought & opinion derived from their lives and letters as well as from the Latin & Greek Fathers 1887
A Literary History of Early Christianity, including the Fathers and the chief heretical writers of the Ante-Nicene period, Volume 1 by Charles T Cruttwell 1893
A Literary History of Early Christianity, including the Fathers and the chief heretical writers of the Ante-Nicene period, Volume 2 by Charles T Cruttwell 1893
Selections from Early Writers illustrative of Church History to the time of Constantine by Henry M Gwatkin 1897
The Age of the Fathers, Volume 1 by William Bright 1903
The Age of the Fathers, Volume 2 by William Bright 1903
The Christian Fathers by Georg Perry 1903 *
Some account of the writings and opinions of Clement of Alexandria 1835
The Writings of Clement of Alexandria, Volume 1 1847
The Writings of Clement of Alexandria, Volume 2 1847
The Writings of Irenaeus, Volume 1 1868
The Writings of Irenaeus, Volume 2 1868
The Three Epistles of Cyril of Alexandria with Revised Text and an English Translation 1872
The Christian Platonists of Alexandria by Charles Bigg 1886
Clement of Alexandria 1897
Clement of Alexandria, a Study in Christian Liberalism, Volume 1 by RB Tollinton 1914
Clement of Alexandria, a Study in Christian Liberalism, Volume 2 by RB Tollinton 1914
Gregory of Nazianzum by Karl Ullmann 1851
Notes on the early history of the Vulgate Gospels by John Chapman 1908
Roman Misquotation - Certain passages from the Fathers, adduced in a work entitle "The faith of Catholics, Brought to the test of the Originals and their Perverted Character Demonstrated by Richard Pope 1840
The Political Aspects of S. Augustine's "City of God: by John N Figgis 1921
St. Augustine's Treatise on the City of God, abridged 1922
Christianity and War, article in The American Journal of Theology 1915
The Confessions of St. Augustine 1842
The Legends of Saint Patrick by Aubrey De Vere 1872
The Testimony of Justin Martyr to Early Christianity by George Purves 1889
Origin of the Trinity-Justin Martyr-Plato, article in The Christian Examiner 1830
Some account of the writings and opinions of Justin Martyr by John Kaye 1829
A Critical History of the Evolution of Trinitarianism by Levi Paine 1900
Lives and Legends of the Great Hermits and Fathers of the Church by N D'Anvers 1902
An Ecclesiastical Biography containing the Lives of Ancient Fathers and Modern Divines, interspersed with notices of Heretics and Schismatics, Volume 1 by Walter F Hook 1845
An Ecclesiastical Biography containing the Lives of Ancient Fathers and Modern Divines, interspersed with notices of Heretics and Schismatics, Volume 2 by Walter F Hook 1845
An Ecclesiastical Biography containing the Lives of Ancient Fathers and Modern Divines, interspersed with notices of Heretics and Schismatics, Volume 3 by Walter F Hook 1845
An Ecclesiastical Biography containing the Lives of Ancient Fathers and Modern Divines, interspersed with notices of Heretics and Schismatics, Volume 4 by Walter F Hook 1845
An Ecclesiastical Biography containing the Lives of Ancient Fathers and Modern Divines, interspersed with notices of Heretics and Schismatics, Volume 5 by Walter F Hook 1845
Manual of Patrology by Bernard Schmid 1898
The Works now extant of Justin the Martyr 1861
Commentaries on the affairs of the Christians before the time of Constantine, Volume 1 by JL Mosheim 1813
Commentaries on the affairs of the Christians before the time of Constantine, Volume 2 by JL Mosheim 1813
Testimonies of the fathers of the first four centuries by Henry Cary 1835
Testimonies of the Ante-Nicene fathers to the doctrine of the Trinity and of the divinity of the Holy Ghost by Edward Burton 1831
Constantine the Great and Christianity - three phases: the Historical, the Legendary, and the Spurious by Christopher B Coleman 1914
The Life and Times of Saint Cyprian by George A Poole 1890
The Venerable Bede by George F Bede 1879
The Catechetical Lectures of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem 1838
The lives of the twelve apostles of Jesus the Christ by Otto Schreiber 1912
Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ by David Francis Bacon 1846
The treatise of Novatian on the Trinity 1919
Papias and his Contemporaries - a study of religious thought in the second century by Edward Henry Hall 1899
St Patrick, his Writings and Life 1920
The Life of Saint Patrick by MJ O'Farrell
The Writings of Tatian and Theophilus and the Clementine Recognitions 1871
The Writings of the Early Christians of the 2nd Century, Athanagoras, Tatian, Theophilus, Hermias, Papias, Aristides, Quadratus, etc 1857
The Diatessaron of Tatian - a Preliminary Study by J Rendel Harris 1890
Essays on the Work entitled Supernatural Religion by JB Lightfoot 1889 (The silence of Eusebius, The Ignatian epistles, Polycarp of Smyrna, Papias of Hierapolis, Tatian's Diatessaron)
The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite, Volume 1 1899
The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite, Volume 2 1899 (quoted extensively in the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas)
Lectures upon the Ecclesiastical History of the First Three Centuries, Volume 1 by Edward Burton 1839
Lectures upon the Ecclesiastical History of the First Three Centuries, Volume 2 by Edward Burton 1839
The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus 1842
The Catechetical oration of Gregory of Nyssa 1903
St. Hilary of Poitiers and St. Martin of Tours by John G Cazenove 1883
St Athanasius on the Incarnation by Archibald Robertson 1891
Athanasius the Hero by Lynn H Hough 1906
The Orations of St. Athanasius against the Arians 1884
The Arian Controversy by Henry M Gwatkin 1914
The Life of Porphyry by D Marcus 1913
A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed by Rufinus 1916
Historical Sketches by John Henry Newman Volume 1, 1901
Historical Sketches by John Henry Newman Volume 2, 1901
Historical Sketches by John Henry Newman Volume 3, 1901