Reddit reviews Apostolic Fathers in English

You ask excellent questions. Other excellent questions:

• Why do early Christian writings immediately after the NT not really look like Mormonism?
  
• If the church cannot apostatize now, why wasn't that true of the early Christian church? (Including the promise, "the gates of hell shall not prevail..., etc.)

Since I'm not taking classes this semester, I'm taking the time to read several books:

Reformation Theology: A Systematic Summary by Matthew Barrett

The Apostolic Fathers in English along with Reading the Apostolic Fathers

Dispensationalism by Charles Ryrie

Covenant Theology: A Reformed Baptist Perspective by Phillip Griffiths

Philosophy for Understanding Theology by Allen and Springsted

The Love of Wisdom: A Christian Introduction to Philosophy by Cowen and Spiegel

And Wheelock's Latin

I'm already into Reformation Theology and the Apostolic Fathers. I highly recommend both books, but I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the Apostolic Fathers. I've learned so much about the Early Church and its diversity of beliefs and practices. These were works by people who knew and studied under the Apostles themselves.

I highly recommend reading the Apostolic Fathers. These were people who either knew the Apostles or were just a generation offset from them (abt 70AD - 150AD). The things they say are amazing and show the rich diversity of thought among some of the earliest Christians. Michael Holmes has a really nice, inexpensive translation into English with introductory notes on each book that explain the authors, dates, occasion for writing, etc.

The absolute earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament were collected in this book. They are pretty easy to read (a tad easier than Paul). I would just read the primary documents yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/Apostolic-Fathers-English-Michael-Holmes/dp/0801031087

Generally histories:

Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years

Chadwick - The Early Church

Retrieving Nicaea

Specific Important Authors

Apostolic Fathers

Origen Note: Not everything he said is orthodox, but he was an extremely important figure.

Desert Fathers

Athanasius - On the Incarnation

Basil - On the Holy Spirit

Gregory of Nazianzus

John Chrysostom

Augustine - Confessions

Rule of St. Benedict

Gregory the Great

Maximus the Confessor

John Damascus

The Apostolic Fathers by Michael Holmes is what you want. It contains all of the earliest extra-Biblical writings. The Didache, The Shepherd of Hermas, Epistle of Barnabas, etc. It's all in there. There are two versions. The one I have has Greek on one page with the English translation on the facing page. If you know (or have aspirations of learning) a little Greek, get that one. Otherwise there is also a English only version..

No Kindle edition that I can see. If "free on kindle" is important, you can get Lightfoot's translation for free from CCEL. PDF and plaintext only, but calibre can solve that. The Holmes edition is in my opinion much superior, but free is free.

CCEL also has Schaff's Ante-Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers series. That will give you more than you'll ever want to read.

Paging /u/tbown for more recommendations.

In chronological order of my reading them:

1. The Apostolic Fathers
   
   
   
2. Paradise Restored
   
   
   
3. That You May Prosper
   
   
   
4. Kingdom, Grace & Judgment
   
   
   
5. Christ The Conqueror of Hell
   
   
   
   And for good measure, The Tao Te Ching (started reading it in high school...still reading it 37 years later), and The Open Society and It's Enemies.

If you want church fathers, The Apostolic Fathers in English is a good place to start. These would be the earliest writings aside from the New Testament. (1st/2nd century)

From there, the writings of individual fathers are more extant so you could pick a father at a time and go from there. Justin Martyr is great, as is Origen or Athanasius. A personal favorite is Gregory of Nyssa.

I read this collection as well as a few short letters that weren't included in it.

I had a separate collection as well but I can't remember that one, sorry!

Yes, at least during Lent, Catholics are not supposed to eat meat on Fridays. It is not a universal moral law that is binding on non-Catholics who are thinking about joining the Church, but it is a praiseworthy spiritual practice for anyone.

Traditionally, Catholic moral theologians have held that deliberately denying oneself food is a requirement of the natural moral law which is binding on everyone, since all rational creatures have a duty to bring their bodily appetites under control. There are numerous examples of fasting in the Old Testament, both by individuals like Nehemiah (Neh 1:4) and David (Ps 35:13) and by all the people (2 Ch 20:3, Jer 36:9, Joel 1:14). Jesus took it as much for granted that his disciples would fast as that they would pray:

> When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you. (Mt 6:16-18)

Prescribing particular dates for fasting, however, is the role of the Church, which Jesus gave the power to bind and loose. (Mt 16:17-19) In the United States, abstinence from meat is now required (of those over the age of 14) on the Fridays of Lent, unless it is a feast which takes precedence over a Friday, like the Solemnity of St Joseph. Fasting—no meat, no casual snacking, and a substantial reduction in food intake overall—is required (of those between 21 and 60) on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It would be a serious matter for a Catholic to omit observance of all or many of the Fridays of Lent, even through carelessness; everyone is responsible for forming good habits and extinguishing bad ones.

To go a little into the history of this, fasting on a weekly basis is as old a practice as going to church on a weekly basis. The oldest Christian writings that we have apart from the New Testament are known as the Apostolic Fathers—the earliest of these books actually overlap in time with the latest books of the New Testament. In a book called the Didache from the First Century, Christians are exhorted to fast every Wednesday and Friday.

Fast-forwarding to modern times, at the beginning of the 1960s, the fasting rules for Catholics were very strict compared to today. Abstinence from meat was required on every Friday of the year (unless it happens to be an important feast day, like Christmas, which fell on a Friday last year). Fasting was required of those who were able on the Ember Days, on the eve of great feasts, and on all of the weekdays of Lent.

The bishops of that time decided to greatly lighten this obligation. They didn't do this because they hoped Catholics would only fast on these days; officially, Catholics are "strongly urged" to keep up the traditional practice of doing penance on Fridays throughout the year, particularly by abstaining from meat. Unfortunately, the "fast whenever you want" approach has resulted in most people doing the bare minimum.