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The Library

Forty Centuries of Christian Writing

1577 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.

201–300

The Third Century

3 works

c. 200–206

Latin

On Prayer

De Oratione

Tertullian · c. 155–c. 220

A clause-by-clause exposition of the Lord's Prayer, followed by practical advice on posture, timing, and the small vanities that creep into public devotion.

Early Church · DevotionalMatthewLuke

c. 233

Greek

On Prayer

Peri Euches

Origen of Alexandria · c. 185–c. 253

An answer to the objection that prayer is pointless if God already knows and has already decided, followed by a full exposition of the Lord's Prayer.

Alexandrian · DevotionalMatthewLukeRomans

c. 251–252

Latin

On the Lord's Prayer

De Dominica Oratione

Cyprian of Carthage · c. 210–258

A clause-by-clause exposition insisting that the prayer is corporate from its first word: no Christian says my Father, because prayer is never private property.

Early Church · DevotionalMatthew