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The Library

Forty Centuries of Christian Writing

1774 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.

301–400

The Fourth Century

2 works

c. 335–340; survives in fragments

Greek

Against Asterius

Marcellus of Ancyra · c. 285 – c. 374

A defender of Nicaea who defended it too far: the Word was in God from eternity but became Son only at the incarnation, and at the end will be reabsorbed, so that the kingdom of Christ has a term. Eusebius wrote two books against him.

Contested · Polemic1 CorinthiansLukeJohnColossiansRead elsewhere

c. 350–355

Greek

On the Decrees of the Council of Nicaea

De Decretis

Athanasius of Alexandria · c. 296–373

A defence of the council's use of a word not found in scripture, arguing that non-biblical language was needed precisely to protect the biblical sense.

Alexandrian · ApologyRead elsewhere

1201–1300

The Thirteenth Century

1 work

c. 1262–1267

Greek

The History

George Akropolites · 1217–1282

The Byzantine exile empire at Nicaea and the recovery of Constantinople in 1261, written by a statesman who was tortured by one emperor and served another.

Byzantine · HistoryRead elsewhere

1501–1600

The Sixteenth Century

1 work

1531

Latin

On the Errors of the Trinity

Michael Servetus · c. 1511–1553

An argument that the Nicene formula is unscriptural and philosophically confused, and that the church went wrong at the moment it adopted the word substance.

Radical Reformation · TheologyRead elsewhere