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Patristics / Patrology -- The Early Church Fathers & Their Writings: Websites

Grounded in the teachings and passion of Jesus Christ, early Christian theologians studied Jewish thought, Greek philosophy, and Greek and Latin vocabulary in their endeavor to explain complex Christian theological concepts.

Comprehensive Websites

Good Websites

Sites of Interest

  • BIBLINDEX: A free index of approximately 400,000 biblical quotations and allusions from Greek and Latin patristic texts of the first five centuries is now available online. To search for references in Biblindex, open a free user account and follow the instructions. E-mail questions and suggestions. The Institut des Sources Chrétiennes supports the project.
  • Guide to Early Church Documents
    This site is a catalogue of primary sources and “contains pointers to Internet-accessible files relating to the early church, including canonical documents, creeds, the writings of the Apostolic Fathers and other historical texts relevant to church history.” Proofed by Professor James O’Donnell of the University of Pennsylvania and includes documents written by Robert Kraft and Paul Harvey, and translated by A.C. Outler and E.B. Pusey.
  • Patristic sources in English translation
    Index of early church documents and the writings of Augustine of Hippo, Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Gregory of Nyssa, among others. Published by New Advent, which is a Catholic blog site “dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
  • Repository of information related to Philotheou monastery project
    Site published by Dr. Robert W. Allison, Professor of Classical and Medieval Studies at Bates College, based on his own research and relationship with the monks at Philotheou. Scholars are invited to correspond with him directly regarding the information on the site, and materials including manuscripts in pre-publication are available to those involved in this specific scholarship.
  • Resources for the Study of Judaism and Christianity
    Compiled by Jay C. Treat at Pennsylvania State University with assistance from Dr. Robert Kraft among others. Updated regularly, this site is well organized and offers dozens of additional links to relevant sites.
  • Saint Pachomius Library (Orthodox Patristic Texts)
    A-Z directory of early Orthodox teachings. Some have links to New Advent, which is a Catholic blog site. Most of this material feels more ecumenical than academic in its intended use.
  • Searchable database of Greek papyri
    Site published as part of the Perseus Project, a NEH-funded digital library including writings from Antiquity to the Renaissance; Pliny the Elder to Francis Bacon. Gregory Crane of Tufts University is Editor-in-Chief.
  • Wheaton College Virtual Library of Christian Classics
    Christian Classics Ethereal Library’s mission is “to build up the church by making classic Christian writings available and promoting their use.” This appears to be published by Calvin College, not Wheaton College. The materials available on this site seem to be for pastoral rather than academic use and are of a distinctly Calvinist theology.
  • Beth Mardutho - The Syriac Institute
    Publisher of Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies and other resources
  • Classical Language Instruction Project
    Readings of Latin and Greek prose and poetry; designed to help students learn sounds of Latin and Greek and to improve their reading skills; requires Shockwave plugin.

The Internet History Sourcebooks Project from Georgetown

Bibiliographic help for Patristic Online Sources - Not necessarily in MLA format