The Complete Ante-Nicene & Nicene and Post-Nicene Church Fathers Collection: 3 Series, 37 Volumes, 65 Authors, 1,000 Books, 18,000 Chapters, 16 Million Words

You would not understand the Catholic Church without reading some of their earliest writings. This book consists of the original Christian writings that covers the about the first 500 years. You would find some of St. Augustine’s books (Confessions, City of God, etc.) in this book as well! You are getting several books for only the price of one book! There are two versions available like one reviewer on here has noted. I prefer to read this version which is chronological and easier to understand. I will probably use the other version for quick reference to specific fathers. What is fascinating about this book is that it’s several decades of work all in one volume! Imagine one book that covers more than 2x’s the age of America! Thats literally how much this book covers. Catholic saints like Thomas Aquinas and others wrote some intriguing work. This right here is like a massive library all in your phone for only $3. Thank you Catholic Way Publishing.

For accurate text, layout, and arrangement of materials (chronologically, as in the printed volumes), I believe this (ASIN: B00KYBSUUM) is the best Church Fathers edition for Kindle. But - and this is a deficiency - none of the introductions are included. The introductions are useful because they provide some context when approaching these texts for the first time. It's unfortunate they were taken out. I believe the publisher is Catholic may have believed they were doing the right thing by removing text written by Anglican/protestants. Anyway, from the introductions I've read, it doesn't seem that there's much of anything in the introductions that a Catholic would object to or not be able to read in the right way. The introductions are brief, and just point out the context and maybe the significance of the text and how it might relate to other patristic texts. Usually helpful information. Maybe the publisher will make an updated edition, and put the introductions back in? My recommendation is to get this edition - the kindle book here - (ASIN: B00KYBSUUM) - for the better (error free) text and better (in my opinion) layout/arrangement of materials. Then also get one other edition - for example, ASIN: B01N9DKZK6. This latter edition contains the same text as here - but arranged alphabetically by author (instead of chronologically, which can be very handy) - and importantly it also contains *introductions* to almost all authors, plus (at the end) a complete KJV Bible including the deuterocanonicals (aka the Old Testament "apocrypha") (e.g., Tobit, Wisdom, Sirach, 1st & 2nd Maccabees, etc. - as the KJV did when first published in 1611). Each is only about $3, so it's affordable to get both.

UPDATE 10/21/2014: Thanks to Catholic Way Publishing for editing out the problematic commentaries from this e-book. I am raising my rating to five stars. I sincerely appreciate that you have brought us such works as this one, The Catholic Encyclopedia , Paul J. Glenn's An Introduction to Philosophy , and Bonaventure's Holiness of Life (all of which I have purchased) at such fantastic prices! ORIGINAL REVIEW 10/11/2014: The works of the Early Church Fathers are, of course, invaluable. And at this price, a wonderful bargain. But as you are reading, make sure that you are reading the words of the Church Fathers and not added commentary. For example, at the end of Iranaeus "Against Heresies" book three, approx location 16475, there is an "Elucidation" section that criticizes the Latin translation and goes on to make claims against the Papacy (approx location 16500: "The Latin, thus translated by a candid Roman Catholic, reverses the whole system of the Papacy."). At about location 16517 we find the following: "No other Church is to be heard or considered; but Rome takes all into her own power, and may dictate to all Churches what they are to believe, however novel, or contrary to the torrent of antiquity in the teachings of their own founders and great doctors in all past time." This is clearly an anti-Roman Catholic screed. I compared this book against the same work at the New Advent website, and New Advent does not have the added "elucidation."

In 'The DaVinci Code,' Dan Brown suggests that the Council of Nicea was hikjacked by a bunch of zealots with a particular agenda who excluded many books that should have been included in the Bible. It is only one of many errors he made to tell his story and advance his own personal agenda. This book contains many of the other writings that were available to that council and even from this distance in time it is easy to see why this writings didn't make the cut. (The truth is, there was little argument about which books should be included, though there was some discussion about a handful.) Like the apostle Paul's letters to churches, these are also letters, sermons really, that address various issues in the churches. As a matter of fact, the first letter in the book is Clement's letter to the church at Corinth, the same church Paul addressed at least two of his letters to. It is interesting to see that Clement was addressing many of the same problems as Paul, even if his work does not measure up to Paul's. Overall, it is an interesting book for any student of Christianity as it describes many of the views ot the early church before it became a political powerhouse. On the other hand, it is long and most of the sermons are not particularly deep. Still worth reading however. Note: Dan Brown argues for the inclusion of the so-called "Gospel of Thomas" a document of highly questionable origin that wasn't even discovered for another thousand years. Something a bit of research would have made clear.

An instant library of the early church. Not the sort of thing you would sit down and read from cover to cover, but a great reference book.

Great to have all Schaff's collection in one handy-dandy kindle file! The indexing is good, and finding texts is pretty easy (even for me). Read together with the history of Christian Creeds, we can see clearly the battles those searching for the Truth had against heresy. The continuing relevance is amazing - almost all of the current PC myths about the Bible are covered and thoroughly exploded. Whoever said studying history doesn't help with living in the present was dead WRONG!

I enjoy learning Catholic history and history of the church. My faith just gets stronger after reading and I’m sure that I will read it few more times.

Good book. Thanks amazon for your service. If it can share to external device, keep in safe coustody even if the tablet get damaged.

A highly informative accompaniment to, and commentary on, all three readings at Sunday Mass by perhaps our most well-known and authoritative Biblical scholar in the UK. The comments are presented in a clear and accessible manner and provide an essential resource for an understanding of God's message. They are a stimulus for further reflection and study. To be recommended without reservation.