Bibliography #4:
Athanasius & the Trinitarian Controversy
| BIBLIOGRAPHIES |
| - New Testament |
| - Early Christianity |
| - Medieval Christianity |
| - The Reformation |
| - Spirituality & Mysticism |
| - Sacraments |
| - 20th-Century Theology |
| #1: Surveys, Intros |
| #2: Ignatius of Antioch |
| #3: Origen |
| #4: Athanasius |
| #5: Cyril of Alexandria |
| #6: Augustine of Hippo |
| #7: Antony |
| #8: Cyril of Jerusalem |
| #9: Melania the Elder |
|
1. Constantine & the Christianization of the Roman Empire 4. Athanasius: Texts & Translations 6. The Cappadocians: Texts & Translations
1. CONSTANTINE & THE CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
H.D. Drake, Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance, Ancient Society and History (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 2000) paperback, $40. It was Constantine who ended the persecutions and opened the path for the flowering of Christianity in the 4th century. He was a complex character, brutal at times, often misunderstood. This offers an important revisionist reading of Constantine’s underlying political considerations.
Eusebius [of Caesarea], The Life of Constantine, eds., Averil Cameron & Stuart Hall, Clarendon Ancient History Series (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) paperback, $40. Eusebius of Caesarea, The Proof of the Gospel, ed. W.J. Ferrar (reprint: Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock) paperback, $32. An older translation, now back in print. Lactantius, Divine Institutes, Translated Texts for Historians, trans. Anthony Bowen & Peter Garnsey (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2003) paperback, $22. Timothy D. Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981). Peter Brown, Authority and the Sacred: Aspects of the Christianisation of the Roman World (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995) paperback. Peter Brown, Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire, The Curti Lectures 1988 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992) paperback. Peter Brown, “Christianisation and Religious Conflict,” in Averil Cameron & Peter Garnsey, eds., The Late Empire, A.D. 337-425, Vol. 13 of The Cambridge Ancient History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998) pp. 632-664. Averil Cameron, Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire: the Development of Christian Discourse (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991) paperback, $18. John R. Curran, Pagan City and Christian Capital: Rome in the Fourth Century, Oxford Classical Monograph (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) hardcover, $80. Elizabeth DePalma Digeser, The Making of a Christian Empire: Lactantius and Rome (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2000) hardcover, $46. T.G. Elliott, The Christianity of Constantine the Great (Scranton: University of Scranton Press, 1997) paperback, $19. Everett Ferguson, ed., Missions and Regional Characteristics of the Early Church, Studies in Early Christianity 12 (New York: Garland Publishing, 1993). Garth Fowden, Empire to Commonwealth: Consequences of Monotheism in Late Antiquity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993) paperback, $20. Martin Goodman, Mission and Conversion: Proselytizing in the Religious History of the Roman Empire (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994) paperback, $20. R. Ross Holloway, Constantine and Rome (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004) hardcover, $35. Aaron P. Johnson, Ethnicity and Argument in Eusebius’ Praeparatio Evangelica, Oxford Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006) hardcover, $90. A.M.H. Jones, Constantine and the Conversion of Europe, Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching 4 (Toronto: University of Toronto, 1978) paperback, $14. A classic. D.G. Kousoulas, The Life and Times of Constantine the Great: The First Christian Emperor, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2003) paperback, $20. Noel Lenski, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) paperback, $32. Ramsay Macmullen, Christianizing the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984) paperback, $16. Doron Mendels, The Media Revolution of Early Christianity: An Essay on Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999) paperback, $24. Arnaldo Momigliano, ed., The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963). Classic essays. A.D. Nock, Conversion: the Old and the New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo (reprint: Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998) paperback, $22. A classic study back in print. Charles M. Odahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, Roman Imperial Biographies (New York: Routledge, 2004) hardcover, $105. Claudia Rapp, Holy Bishops in Late Antiquity: The Nature of Christian Leadership in an Age of Transition, Transformation of the Classical Heritage (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005) hardcover, $50. Michele Renee Salzman, The Making of a Christian Aristocracy: Social and Religious Change in the Western Roman Empire (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002) paperback, $20. Jeremy M. Schott, Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008) hardcover, $60. NEW. Raymond Van Dam, The Roman Revolution of Constantine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) hardcover, $85.
2. THE ARIAN CONTROVERSY
R.P.C. Hanson, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: the Arian Controversy, 318-381 AD (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1988; reprint, 2000) paperback, $55. A massive 900-page study of Nicaea, Athanasius, & the Cappadocians. The finest and the most exhaustive treatment of the theology of the Trinitarian controversy.
Lewis Ayres, Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth-Century Trinitarian Theology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004) paperback, $45. A very important revisionist interpretation of the development of the doctrine of the divinity of Christ and of the Trinity. Not easy reading, and Ayres presumes you know the basics of that development, but an essential text. This needs to be read against Hanson's work, which Ayres both builds on and challenges on numerous points.
Rowan Williams, Arius: Heresy and Tradition, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002) paperback, $25. First published in 1987, this study remains one of the finest studies of Arius. Williams skillfully dismantles long-standing misconceptions about Arius and his theology. The new edition contains a postscript which surveys scholarly shifts and studies between 1987 and 2002.
Philip R. Amidon, trans. and ed., Philostorgius: Church History, Writings from the Greco-Roman World (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007) paperback, $35. Michel René Barnes & Daniel H. Williams, ed., Arianism After Arius: Essays on the Development of the Fourth-Century Trinitarian Conflicts (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1993) hardback, $55. John Behr, The Nicene Faith, Vol. 2 of Formation of Christian Theology (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004). The hardcover keeps this in a single volume, while the paperback is published in two separate volumes. An important survey by a leading Greek Orthodox historical theologian.
Franz Dünzl, A Brief History of the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Early Church (London: T&T Clark, 2007) paperback, $22. Everett Ferguson, ed., Doctrines of God and Christ in the Early Church, Studies in Early Christianity, vol. 9 (New York: Garland Publishing, 1993). Robert C. Gregg & Dennis Groh, Early Arianism: a View of Salvation (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1981). Path-breaking; controversial. Robert C. Gregg, ed., Arianism: Historical and Theological Reassessments, Patristic Monograph Series #11 (Cambridge, MA: Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1985). David M. Gwynn, The Eusebians: The Polemic of Athanasius of Alexandria and the Construction of the 'Arian Controversy', Oxford Theological Monographs (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006) hardcover, $99. Hamilton Hess, The Early Development of Canon Law and the Council of Serdica (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) hardcover, $72. J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, 3rd ed. (London: Longman, 1972; reprint, 1989) paperback, $47. Thomas Kopecek, History of Neo-Arianism, 2 vol., Patristic Monograph Series (Cambridge, MA: Philadelphia Patristic Society, 1979). Joseph T. Lienhard, Contra Marcellum: Marcellus of Ancyra and Fourth-Century Theology (Washington: Catholic University Press, 1999) hardcover, $60. Joseph T. Lienhard, “The ‘Arian’ Controversy: Some Categories Reconsidered,” Theological Studies 48 (1987) 415-436. A.H.B. Logan, “Marcellus of Ancyra and the Councils of AD 325: Antioch, Ancyra, and Nicaea,” Journal of Theological Studies 43 (1992) 428-446. J. Rebecca Lyman, “Arius and Arians," in Susan Harvey and David Hunter, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 237-257. NEW. A fine brief overview of contemporary perspectives. Sara Parvis, Marcellus of Ancyra and the Lost Years of the Arian Controversy 325-345, Oxford Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006) hardcover, $110. David Rankin, "Arianism," in Philip F. Esler, The Early Christian World (New York: Routledge, 2000), 2:975-1001. A good brief account of recent developments. Hans Roldanus, The Church in the Age of Constantine: The Theological Challenges (New York: Routledge, 2006) paperback, $31. Jon M. Robertson, Christ as Mediator: A Study of the Theologies of Eusebius of Caesarea, Marcellus of Ancyra, and Athanasius of Alexandria, Oxford Theological Monographs (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) hardcover, $120. Manlio Simonetti, La crisi ariana nel iv secolo, Studia Ephemerides (Rome: Augustianum, 1975). Basil Studer, Trinity and Incarnation: The Faith of the Early Church, ed. Andrew Louth (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1993). Richard Paul Vaggione, Eunomius of Cyzicus and the Nicene Revolution, Oxford Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) hardcover, $90. Maurice Wiles, Archetypal Heresy: Arianism Through the Centuries (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) paperback, $20.
3. ATHANASIUS: STUDIES
David Brakke, “Athanasius,” in Philip F. Esler, ed. The Early Christian World (New York: Routledge, 2000) 2:1102-1127. It is in large measure due to Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria from 328-373, that Nicaea survived. He combined shrewd, determined political action and a penetrating theology to rescue the faith of Nicaea. And he knew well that the stakes were Christian faith itself: that God is one and that Christ is true God. It is important to note that recent studies of Athanasius disagree with one another, sometimes sharply, about overall interpretation of Athanasius’ character and many details of his career. This brief overview introducers readers to the terms of the debate.
Khaled Anatolios, Athanasius: The Coherence of His Thought (New York: Routledge, 1998) paperback, $30. A fine systematic overview of Athanasius as a theologian. Anatolios reads Athanasius in his own terms rather than in terms of Nicene terminology or of later issues (such as the christology of the 5th century).
Duane W.-H. Arnold, The Early Episcopal Career of Athanasius of Alexandria, (Notre Dame: Notre Dame University Press, 1991) hardcover. Overly defensive. Lewis Ayres, “Athanasius’ Initial Defense of the Term ‘Ομοούσιος: Rereading the De Decretis,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 12 (2004) 337-359. Timothy D. Barnes, Athanasius & Constantius (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993) paperback, $26. An unduly skeptical view. David Brakke, Athanasius and Asceticism (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1998) paperback, $18. A reprint of the earlier Athanasius and the Politics of Asceticism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). David Brakke, “Canon Formation and Social Conflict in Fourth-Century Egypt: Athanasius of Alexandria’s Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter,” Harvard Theological Review 87 (1994) 395-419. James D. Ernest, The Bible in Athanasius of Alexandria, The Bible in Ancient Christianity 2 (Leiden: Brill, 2004) hardcover, $125. W.H.C. Frend, “Athanasius as an Egyptian Christian Leader in the Fourth Century,” in Religion Popular and Unpopular in the Early Christian Centuries (London: Variorum Reprints, 1976) 20-37. Aloys Grillmeier, Christ in the Christian Tradition, vol. 1: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon, rev. ed., trans. John Bowden (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1975). A classic; on Athanasius, see pp. 308-328. Charles Kannengiesser, ed., Politique et Theologie chez Athanase d’Alexandre, Théologie historique 27 (Paris: Beauchesne, 1974). Charles Kannengiesser, Athanase d’Alexandre, Évêque et Écrivain: Une lecture des traités Contre les Ariens, Theologie historique 70 (Paris: Beauchesne, 1983). Charles Kannengiesser, Arius and Athanasius: Two Alexandrian Theologians, Collected Studies 353 (London: Variorum Reprints, 1991). Charles Kannengiesser, “Athanasius of Alexandria and the Ascetic Movement of His Time,” in Asceticism, ed. Vincent Wimbush (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995) 479-492. Richard A. Layton, Didymus the Blind and His Circle in Late-Antique Alexandria: Virtue and Narrative in Biblical Scholarship (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois, 2004) hardcover, $45. The first book-length study in English of Didymus. Andrew Louth, “Athanasius’ Understanding of the Humanity of Christ,” Studia Patristica 16 (1985) 309-323. J. Rebecca Lyman, Christology and Cosmology: Models of Divine Activity in Origen, Eusebius, and Athanasius, Oxford Theological Monographs (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993) hardcover $40. Annick Martin, Athanase d’Alexandre et l’église d’Egypte au IVe siècle (328-373), Collection de l’École française de Rome 216 (Rome: 1996). The most exhaustive study of Athanasius’ career and context to date. E.P. Meijering, Orthodoxy and Platonism in Athanasius: Synthesis or Antithesis? (Leiden: Brill, 1968 / 1974). E.P. Meijering, “Athanasius on the Father as the Origin of the Son,” in God Being History: Studies in Patristic Philosophy (Amsterdam: North-Holland Pub. Co., 1975). X. Morales, La théologie trinitaire d’Athanase d’Alexandrie, Études augustiniennes—antiquité (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2006) paperback, €60. Johannes Roldanus, Le Christ et l’homme dans la théologie d’Athanase d’Alexandre, Studies in the History of Christian Thought 4 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1977). Thomas G. Weinandy, Athanasius: A Theological Introduction, Great Theologians Series(Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007) paperback, $20. Peter Widdicombe, The Fatherhood of God from Origen to Athanasius, Oxford Theological Monographs, rev. ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) paperback, $28.
4. ATHANASIUS: TEXTS & TRANSLATIONS
Khaled Anatolios, ed., Athanasius, Early Church Fathers (New York: Routledge, 2005) paperback, $30. This opens with a lengthy introduction that includes both an overview of Athanasius’ life and world and a study of his theology; this is followed by new translations of some of Athanasius’ major works, including his On the Council of Nicaea (De decretis).
Athanasius, The Life of Anthony, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Robert C. Gregg (New York: Paulist Press, 1980) paperback, $20. This was one of the earliest Christian best-sellers. It was responsible for popularizing the desert ideal throughout the ancient world and would shape all later lives of the saints.
Robert Hill, trans., Didymus the Blind: Commentary on Zechariah, Fathers of the Church 111 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America, 2006). E.P. Meijering, Athanasius: Contra Gentes; Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, Philosophia Patrum: Interpretation of Patristic Texts 7 (Leiden: Brill, 1984). Richard A. Norris, The Christological Controversy, Sources of Early Christian Thought (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980) paperback, $18. This has Athanasius’ 3rd Oration Against the Arians. Robert W. Thomson, trans., Athanasius: Contra Gentes and De Incarnatione (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971). This includes both the Greek text and a fine translation of these two early works of Athanasius. Philip Schaff, ed., A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church (reprint of 1890s edition: Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1992). Quite dated. Vol. 4 contains the major works of Athanasius. Carolinne White, trans., Early Christian Lives, Penguin Classics (New York: Penguin Books, 1998) paperback, $13. Contains a new translation of the Latin version of the Life of Antony.
5. THE CAPPADOCIANS: STUDIES
The Cappadocians—Basil of aesarea (d.379), Gregory of Nazianzus (d.389), and Gregory of Nyssa (d.395)—were Athanasius’ successors; they defended the divinity of the Holy Spirit and were the architects of the doctrine of the Trinity. Excellent studies of the Cappadocian Fathers and their theology are found in the works cited above under the heading “The Arian Controversy”; see the works of R.P.C. Hanson and J.N.D. Kelly.Brian E. Daley, Gregory of Nazianzus, Early Church Fathers Series (New York: Routledge, 2006) paperback, $28. Daley opens with a lengthy introduction to Gregory's life and works under various headings ("the Humanist", "the Philosopher", "the Theologian", and "the Priest"). He then offers new translations of a variety of Gregory's works, including 8 of the Orations, and a selection of the poems and letters.
Christopher A. Beeley, Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity and the Knowledge of God, Oxford Studies in Historical Theology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008) hardcover, $50. NEW. Excellent introduction to the Cappadocian approach to the Trinity.
Hans Urs von Balthasar, Presence and Thought: An Essay on the Religious Philosophy of Gregory of Nyssa, trans. Mark Sebanc (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1995) paperback, $18. Michel René Barnes, The Power of God: Dynamis in Gregory of Nyssa’s Trinitarian Theology (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2001) hardcover, $65. M. Cassin and H. Grelier, eds, Grégoire de Nysse: la Bible dans la construction de son discours: Actes du Colloque de Paris, 9-10 février 2007, Collection d’Études Augustiniennes, Series Antiquité 184 (Paris: Institut d’Études Augustiniennes, 2008) paperback, €27.50. NEW. Sarah Coakley, ed., Rethinking Gregory of Nyssa (New York: Routledge, 2003) paperback, $32. Brian E. Daley, “Divine Transcendence and Human Transformation: Gregory of Nyssa’s Anti-Apollinarian Christology,” Studia Patristica 32 (Leuven: Peters, 1997) 87-95. Brian E. Daley, “‘Heavenly Man’ and ‘Eternal Christ’: Apollinarius and Gregory of Nyssa on the Personal Identity of the Savior,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 10 (2002): 469-488. Hubertus R. Drobner & Albert Viciano, eds., Gregory of Nyssa: Homilies on the Beatitudes: An English Version with Commentary and Supporting Studies, Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 52 (Leiden: Brill, 2000) hardcover, $166. Paul Jonathan Fedwick, ed., Basil of Caesarea: Christian, Humanist, Ascetic, 2 volumes, (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1981). Robert C. Gregg, Consolation Philosophy: Greek and Christian Paideia in Basil and the Two Gregories, Patristic Monograph Series 3 (Cambridge, MA: Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1975). Stuart G. Hall, ed., Gregory of Nyssa, Homilies on Ecclesiastes. An English Version with Supporting Studies, Seventh International Colloquium on Gregory of Nyssa (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1993). Ronald E. Heine, “Gregory of Nyssa’s Apology for Allegory,” Vigiliae Christianae 38 (1984) 360-370; reprinted in The Bible in the Early Church, ed. Everett Ferguson, Studies in Early Christianity, vol. 3 (New York: Garland, 1993). Stephen M. Hildebrand, The Trinitarian Theology of Basil of Caesarea: A Synthesis of Greek Thought and Biblical Truth (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2007) hardcover, $60. Susan R. Holman, The Hungry Are Dying: Beggars and Bishops in Roman Cappadocia, Oxford Studies in Historical Theology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) hardcover, $50. Augustine Holmes, A Life Pleasing to God: The Spirituality of the Rules of St. Basil, Cistercian Studies 189 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 2000) paperback, $20. An excellent introduction. Martin Laird, Gregory of Nyssa and the Grasp of Faith, Oxford Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004) paperback, $45. Joseph T. Lienhard, “Ousia and Hypostasis: The Cappadocian Settlement and the Theology of ‘One Hypostasis,” pp. 99-121, in Stephen T. Davis et al., The Trinity: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Trinity (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). Andrew Louth, The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition, 2nd ed. (New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) paperback, $45. Morwenna Ludlow, Gregory of Nyssa, Ancient and (Post)modern (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007) hardcover, $90. John McGuckin, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2001) paperback, $23. Anthony Meredith, Gregory of Nyssa, Early Church Fathers Series (New York: Routledge, 1999) paperback, $32. Both an introduction and selections from his writings. Anthony Meredith, The Cappadocians (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1996) paperback, $13. Frederick Norris, “Gregory Nazianzen: Constructing and Constructed by Scripture,” pp. 149-162, in The Bible in Greek Christian Antiquity, ed. Paul Blowers (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997) Rosemary R. Reuther, Gregory of Nazianzus: Rhetor and Philosopher (reprint of 1969 Oxford edition: Lima, OH: Academic Renewal Press, 2003) paperback, $14. Philip Rousseau, Basil of Caesarea, Transformation of the Classical Heritage 20 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994) paperback, $20. Lucian Turcescu, Gregory of Nyssa and the Concept of Divine Persons, AAR Academy Series (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005) paperback, $35. Raymond Van Dam, Kingdom of Snow: Roman Rule and Greek Culture in Cappadocia (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002) hardcover, $50. Raymond Van Dam, Becoming Christian: The Conversion of Roman Cappadocia (Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 2003) hardcover, $45. Raymond Van Dam, Families and Friends in Late Roman Cappadocia (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003) hardcover, $55. Carolinne White, Christian Friendship in the Fourth Century (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992) hardback, $40. Rowan Williams, “Macrina’s Deathbed Revisited: Gregory of Nyssa on Mind and Passion,” in L. Wickham and C. Bammel, Christian Faith and Greek Philosophy in Late Antiquity, Supplement to Vigiliae Christianae 19 (Leiden: Brill, 1993). Donald F. Winslow, The Dynamics of Salvation: A Study in Gregory of Nazianzus, Patristic Monograph Series (Cambridge, MA: Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1979). Johannes Zachhuber, Human Nature in Gregory of Nyssa, Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 46 (Leiden: Brill, 1999) hardcover, $85.
6. THE CAPPADOCIANS: TEXTS & TRANSLATIONS
For the original Greek text, the old standard is that of J. Migne, Patrologia Graeca, vol. 29-32 (for Basil), vol. 35-38 (for Gregory of Nazianzus), and vol. 44-46 (for Gregory of Nyssa) In the case of Gregory of Nyssa, this is slowly being superceded by the series Gregorii Nysseni Opera, begun in 1921 by Werner Jaeger, with 13 volumes to date. The standard edition of Basil’s letters is the 3-volume edition by Yves Courtonne (Paris: 1957). For the Greek text with a facing French translation, see the following volumes from the Sources chrétiennes (Paris: Éditions du Cerf):
Most of the important writings of the Cappadocians have been translated. A 19th-century translation is found in the series by Philip Schaff, ed., A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church (reprint of 1890s edition: Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1992): vol. 5 (Gregory of Nyssa); vol. 7 (Gregory of Nazianzus); and vol. 8 (Basil of Caesarea). Versions of this can be found on the Internet. However, I would strongly encourage that you consult more up-to-date translations. See especially:
St. Gregory of Nazianzus, On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters of Cledonius, trans. Lionel Wickham, Popular Patristics Series (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2002) paperback, $13. Gregory of Nazianzus’ Five Theological Orations may be the finest lecture series in the history of Christianity—at once, a literary and theological tour de force. Gregory gave these talks soon after his arrival in Constantinople, around 380. They articulate what the Church has come to believe about the Trinity and about the divinity and humanity of Christ. This translation had previously been published in an expensive edition by Brill; so this edition is a real bargain. An earlier translation is found in Edward Hardy, ed. Christology of the Later Fathers, Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954); this volume contains not only Gregory’s Theological Orations but also Gregory of Nyssa’s To Ablabius: On Why One Should Not Say There are Three Gods and his Catechetical Oration.
St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, trans. David Anderson, Popular Patristics Series (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1980) paperback, $10. It was this work more than any other which cleared the way for the formal declaration of the divinity of the Holy Spirit by the Council of Constantinople in 381.
Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Moses, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Everett Ferguson & Abraham J. Malherbe (New York: Paulist Press, 1978) paperback, $20. Gregory was not only one of the architects of trinitarian doctrine but was also a mystic. Here he allegorizes the Exodus story, treating it as the map of the journey of the soul to God.
Anna Silvas, ed., The Asketikon of St. Basil the Great, Oxford Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005) hardcover, $180. A new translation of Basil's monastic classics, The Longer Responses and The Shorter Responses. Unusually thorough. St. Basil the Great, On the Human Condition, trans. Nonna Verna Harrison, Popular Patristics Series (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2005) paperback, $15. St. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul & Resurrection, trans. Catharine P. Roth, Popular Patristics Series (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1993) paperback, $11. Georges A. Barrois, trans., The Fathers Speak: Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Selected Letters (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1986) paperback, $15. Virginia Woods Callahan, trans., Gregory of Nyssa: Ascetical Works, Fathers of the Church 58 (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1967). Roy J. Deferrari, trans., Basil of Caesarea: The Letters, Loeb Classical Library, 4 vol. (New York: G. Putnam, 1922-1934; reprint: Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press). Peter Gilbert, trans., On God and Man: The Theological Poetry of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Popular Patristics Series (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2001) paperback, $10. Ronald Heine, ed., Gregory of Nyssa’s Treatise on the Inscriptions of the Psalms, Oxford Early Christian Studies (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995) hardcover, $75. Denis Molaise Meehan, trans., Gregory of Nazianzus: Three Poems, Fathers of the Church 75 (Washington: Catholic University Press, 1987). Frederick W. Norris, ed., Faith Gives Fullness to Reasoning: the Five Theological Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus, trans., Lionel Wickham and Frederick Williams, Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 13 (Leiden: Brill, 1991) hardcover, $130. A superb translation of & extensive commentary on Gregory’s remarkable Theological Orations. A. Spira and C. Klock, eds., The Easter Sermons of Gregory of Nyssa: Translation and Commentary (Cambridge: Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1981). Martha Vinson, St. Gregory of Nazianzus: Select Orations, Fathers of the Church 107 (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2004) hardcover, $37. Monica Wagner, trans., Basil of Caesarea: Ascetical Works, Fathers of the Church 9 (Washington: Catholic University Press of America, 1950). Carolinne White, trans., Gregory of Nazianzus: Autobiographical Poems, Cambridge Medieval Classics, vol. 6 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996) paperback, $32. Greek text and English translation on facing pages.
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