Editing Ante-Nicene Fathers (book)

{{Short description|Collection of early Christian writings}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Church Fathers.JPG|thumb|Shelf containing the ''Ante-Nicene Fathers'']]
'''''The Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325''''' (abbreviated '''ANF''')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sblhs2.com/2017/07/13/citing-text-collections-6-anf-and-npnf/|title=Citing Text Collections 6: ''ANF'' and ''NPNF''|date=2012-07-13|access-date=2023-04-30| publisher=Society of Biblical Literature|website=SBL Handbook of Style: Explanations, Clarifications, and Expansions|quote=''The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325'' (''ANF'') and ''A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church'' (''NPNF'') are well over a century old, but they continue to be reprinted by publishers and cited by writers in the field.}}</ref> is a collection of books in 10 volumes (one volume is indexes) containing English translations of the majority of [[Early Christian]] writings.<ref>[https://library.bu.edu/c.php?g=1106939&p=9144033  Boston University website, Theology Library, ''TF701: Introduction to Christian Traditions'']</ref>  The period covers the beginning of Christianity until the promulgation of the [[Nicene Creed]] at the [[First Council of Nicaea]].

==Publication==

The series was originally published between 1867 and 1873 by the [[Presbyterian]] publishing house [[T. & T. Clark]] in Edinburgh under the title ''Ante-Nicene Christian Library'' (ANCL), as a response to the [[Oxford movement]]'s ''[[Library of the Fathers]]'' which was perceived as too strongly identified with the Anglo-Catholic movement. The volumes were edited by Rev. [[Alexander Roberts]] and [[James Donaldson (classical scholar)|James Donaldson]]. This series was available by subscription, but the editors were unable to interest enough subscribers to commission a translation of the homilies of [[Origen]].

In 1885 the Christian Literature Company, first of [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], then New York, began to issue the volumes in a reorganized form. This was done without permission, and was indeed a pirate edition. The new series was edited by the Episcopal bishop of New York, [[Arthur Cleveland Coxe|A. Cleveland Coxe]]. Coxe gave his series the title ''The Ante-Nicene Fathers''. By 1896, this American edition/revision was complete. Unable to close down the pirate, T. & T. Clark were obliged to make what terms they could.

In 1897, a volume 9, which contained new translations, was published by T. & T. Clark as an additional volume, to complete the original ANCL. Apart from volume 9, the contents entirely derived from the ANCL, but in a more chronological order. Coxe added his own introductions and notes, which were criticized by academic authorities and Roman Catholic reviewers.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/43973310?seq=30  JStor website, ''Arthur Cleveland Coxe, the Ante-Nicene Fathers, and Roman Catholicism'', article by Elizabeth A. Clark published in Anglican and Episcopal History, Vol. 85, No. 2 (June 2016), pp. 164-193]</ref>   

T. & T. Clark then associated with the Christian Literature Company and with other American publishers for the publication of the ''[[Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers]]''.

==Volumes==
*Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers, [[Justin Martyr]], [[Irenaeus]]
*Volume 2: Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
*Volume 3: Tertullian
*Volume 4: Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
*Volume 5: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
*Volume 6: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
*Volume 7: Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, Homily, and Liturgies
*Volume 8: Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Aprocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
*Volume 9: Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Testament of Abraham, Epistles of Clement, Origen and Miscellaneous Works
*Volume 10: Bibliography, General Index, Annotated Index of Authors and Works<ref>[https://reformedchristianbooks.com/products/ante-nicene-fathers?_pos=1&_sid=4f3b243d7&_ss=r   Reformed Christian Books website, ''Ante-Nicene Fathers, American Edition'']</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
*[[Church Fathers]]
*''[[Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers]]''
*''[[Ancient Christian Writers]]''
*''[[The Fathers of the Church]]''
*[[Jacques Paul Migne]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Wikisource-inline|Ante-Nicene Fathers}}
* {{librivox book | title=Ante-Nicene Fathers}}
* [https://ccel.org/fathers Ante-Nicene Fathers] collection at the [[Christian Classics Ethereal Library]]
* [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRkUFBfVVqv5Tr2aZS4apFNpTJ-ys6VqeQxgsAI1v7cH5putIgchYWJAVGHuu0lWGmdD2DU7Vb1o7XH/pubhtml?gid=1603914459 List of links to scans of ''Ante-Nicene Fathers'' and ANCL volumes] in the "Links Galore" spreadsheet

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[[Category:1867 books]]
[[Category:1885 books]]
[[Category:Publications of patristic texts]]
[[Category:Translations into English]]
[[Category:1885 in literature]]
[[Category:1885 introductions]]
[[Category:Book series introduced in the 1880s]]
[[Category:Christian law]]