One of the first great events in Christian history was the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, convened to organize Christian sects and beliefs into a unified doctrine. The great Christian clergymen who wrote before this famous event are referred to as the Ante-Nicenes and the Apostolic Fathers, and their writings are collected here in a ten-volume set. The Ante-Nicenes lived so close to the time of Christ that their interpretations of the New Testament are considered more authentic than modern voices. But they are also real and flawed men, who are more like their fellow Christians than they are like the Apostles, making their words echo in the ears of spiritual seekers.
This Volume I includes:
Clement of Rome, the fourth pope, who was supposedly martyred by being tied to an anchor and tossed overboard
Mathetes, an anonymous writer considered the first Christian apologist
Polycarp, a Christian bishop who was stabbed to death after he failed to burn at the stake
Ignatius, a student of John the Apostle, who was Bishop of Antioch before he was killed
Barnabas, an anonymous writer given the name of Saint Barnabas
Papias, author of Interpretations of the Sayings of the Lord, a textbook on quotes from Jesus
Justin Martyr, a Christian apologist and accomplished philosopher, and
Irenaeus, disciple of Polycarp, apologist, and bishop of Lugdunum
