While the canonical status of the Apocrypha has been understood differently within Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox traditions, their longstanding use within the Christian churches makes them worthy of careful study and reflection. This ACCS volume presents a worthy feast of patristic comment on these ancient and important texts.
The church fathers mined the Old Testament throughout for prophetic utterances regarding the Messiah, but few books yielded as much messianic ore as the Twelve Prophets, sometimes known as the Minor Prophets. In this rich and vital ACCS volume you will find excerpts, some translated here into English for the first time, from more than thirty church fathers.
The books of Ezekiel and Daniel are rich in imagery that is taken up afresh in the New Testament. It is no wonder these books, despite the difficulties in interpreting them, took hold on the imagination of the early church. In this ACCS volume, over forty church fathers are cited and four extant works are included, providing a wealth of insight.
Among the apostolic fathers, Jeremiah was rarely cited, but several later authors give prominent attention to him. The fathers associated Lamentations with losses and death and saw the book as a description of the challenges that face Christians in a fallen world. In this ACCS volume, readers will gain insight and encouragement in the life of faith as seen through ancient pastoral eyes.
As interpreted by the ancient church fathers, Isaiah 40-66 leads readers to a deeper understanding of God's judgment and salvation. The excerpts included in this ACCS volume offer us a rich array of differing styles, principles, and theological emphases, from Theodoret of Cyr to Eusebius and Procopius, to Cyril of Alexandria, Jerome and Augustine.
For the early church fathers the prophecy of Isaiah was not a compendium of Jewish history or theology but an announcement of the coming Messiah fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. In this ACCS volume, readers will find commentary on Isaiah 1-39 ranging from East to West and from the first through the eighth centuries.
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon were all thought by the early church fathers to have derived from the hand of Solomon. To their minds the finest wisdom about the deeper issues of life was to be found in these books. This ACCS volume offers a rich trove of wisdom on Wisdom literature for the enrichment of the church today.
The Psalms have long served a vital role in the individual and corporate lives of Christians. The church fathers employed the Psalms widely—as hymns, Scripture readings, counsel on morals, forms for prayer, and in the great doctrinal controversies. In this ACCS volume readers will find rich comment and theological reflection from more than sixty-five ancient authors.
The Psalms have long served a vital role in the individual and corporate lives of Christians. The church fathers employed the Psalms widely—as hymns, Scripture readings, counsel on morals, forms for prayer, and apologetic and doctrinal wisdom. In this ACCS volume readers will find rich comment and theological reflection from more than sixty-five ancient authors.
The book of Job presents its readers with a profound drama concerning innocent suffering. Surprisingly, the earliest church fathers showed little interest in the book until Origen in the early third century and more intense interest at the end of the fourth. This ACCS volume offers a great feast of wisdom from the ancient resources of the church with fresh relevance for today.