The Apostolic Fathers are the Christian writers from the first and second centuries who are thought to have been disciples of the Apostles or to have been so directly influenced by the Apostles that their writings are considered echoes of genuine Apostolic teaching. Their writings form a link of tradition that binds these writings to those of the New Testament. Chief among the apostolic fathers are the three first-century Bishops: St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St. Polycarp of Smyrna, who were disciples of St. Peter and St. John.

The author of this work identifies himself as Dionysios the Areopagite, the Athenian convert of St. Paul the Apostle mentioned in Acts 17:34. There are various legends surrounding the figure of Dionysius, who became a symbol of the spread of the gospel to the Greek world. A tradition quickly arose that he was the first bishop of Cyprus or of Milan, and that he authored the Epistle to the Hebrews. According to Eusebius, he was the first bishop of Athens.

In this famous treatise, St. Augustine (AD 354 - 430) covers the question of the role of free will in our lives and how it contrasts with the role of God's grace. He gives scriptural arguments to show that we cannot earn the grace of God, yet this does not deny the role that free will plays in our own salvation.

Praxeas was a Monarchian from Asia Minor. He believed in the unity of the Godhead and vehemently disagreed with any attempt at division of the personalities or personages of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Christian Church....

This book was written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430) to discuss the Trinity in relation to God the Word (logos). Even though it is not as well known as some of his other writings, it is considered by many to be his masterpiece and of more doctrinal importance than either the Confessions or the City of God. St. Augustine is considered a saint in the Catholic Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. He is ranked among the doctors of the Church in the Roman Catholic Church.

This wonderful piece of literature displays the conversation of Justin Martyr and Trypho the Jew concerning different topics of the Christian faith. Justin marvelously defends the belief in Christ with superb wisdom using the Jewish Scriptures as his foundation. Truly a work of art that will only build one's faith that Jesus is indeed the Christ - the son of God.

This classic by St. Basil the Great (329-379) gives eloquent exposition of the doctrine of the Trinity, showing how there is distinction and yet communion among the divine Persons. Although not the Spirit "God", St. Basil demonstrates that he, like the Son, shares the same nature as the Father.

Origen to Africanus, a beloved brother in God the father, through Jesus Christ, his holy child, greeting. Your letter, from which I learn what you think of the Susanna in the Book of Daniel, which is used in the churches, although apparently somewhat short, presents in its few words many problems, each of which demands no common treatment, but such as oversteps the character of a letter and reaches the limits of a discourse.

In this classic book, John of Damascus laboured to form one complete, clear, and brief theological work that would summarize all Christian doctrine that had been passed down and agreed upon. The following was said of the book: The result was an inexhaustible storehouse of tradition in which nothing is to be found that has not been either approved by the ecumenical synods or by the established leaders of the Church.

St. Cyril's (313 - 386 AD) famous 23 lectures were delivered to the catechumens in Jerusalem who were being prepared for baptism. They are best considered in two parts. The first 18 are known as the catechetical lectures or Homilies, while the rest are often called the mystagogic catecheses, since they deal with the mysteries: the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist.

Among the many important historical documents from the Classical world of Greece and Rome The Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus is one of the most distinctive and characterful. Josephus (37-c100 CE) set out with the clear purpose of telling the history of the Jews from the creation in Genesis to the Jewish revolt against the Romans in 66 CE. Born in Jerusalem as Yosef ben Matityahu, he rose to become a leading participant in the First Jewish Revolt (66-73 CE).

This magisterial history - sure to become the definitive work on the subject - recasts the Enlightenment as a period not solely consumed with rationale and reason, but rather as a pursuit of practical means to achieve greater human happiness.

As no sensible person would make a long road trip without first consulting a map, so the person intent upon gaining Heaven should first resort to a competent guide to reach that Goal of all goals. And no better guide to Heaven exists than An Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622), Doctor of the Church. It is at once easy to listen, being laid out in short sections, yet thorough, authoritative, reliable, kind and gentle - a mirror of its author. It is an audiobook, moreover, for all, because all are called to the devout life.

In AD 66, nationalist and religious revolutionaries in Judaea led a ferocious revolt of the Jewish people against the authority of mighty Rome, culminating in the greatest upheaval and savagery the world had known up to that time. By the end of the conflict seven years later, over one million Jews had perished and tens of thousands were sold into slavery. Until the Holocaust, it remained the greatest tragedy ever endured by a people. How had this once prosperous region been laid low, and by what process did its fratricidal feuds take it down a slippery slope to utter annihilation? Fortunately for us, there was an eyewitness.

St. Gregory of Nyssa (AD 335 - 395), the great theologian and bishop of Nyssa, turned his considerable skill to finishing the work that his brother St. Basil the Great had started on the creation of the world (the Hexaemeron). The result is this book, which examines how humans are formed as a "mean between the divine and brute beasts".

Thomas Watson was one of the most famous Puritan preachers in history, and his 17th-century writings are still read across the world today. A highly influential example of Puritan writing, The Great Gain of Godliness is Watson's study of Malachi 3:16-18. British Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon bemoaned the fact that he couldn't find a copy of The Great Gain of Godliness.

This Puritan classic, first published in the late 17th century, sets forth the biblical teaching of God and his interaction in our lives. No detail is too small or insignificant for God; he is there, working out "all things for good". And in that promise, every believer can take comfort that God truly has a purpose for every single person and will unfold his plan, which includes every detail in our daily lives.

Charles Spurgeon was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. He frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000, without the help of microphones and speakers. Listen to performances of two of Spurgeon's sermons: "All Joy in All Trials," and "Daily Blessings for God's People."

Plagued by spiritual anguish, devout everyman Christian fears his fate in the sinful City of Destruction. He’s told that only by embarking for the Celestial City can he achieve personal salvation. After his wife and children refuse to join him, he sets forth alone into the unknown. Mocked for his faith, tempted at every turn, and heartened by fellow pilgrims, Christian’s winding journey toward grace unfolds. But as he reaches Mount Zion, his family chooses to follow the same treacherous path, hoping to join Christian in the shining light.

Daily readings drawn from every century and every tradition of the Christian faith. Christianity through the ages... Ignatius, C.S. Lewis, John Calvin, Augustine, Catherine of Siena, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Polycarp, John Wesley, Karl Barth, and Billy Sunday. These names, and so many others, fill the pages of church history. Yet they remain strangers to most of us. How Great Is Our God will introduce you to Christianity’s most influential thinkers from every century and every tradition—modernized for today’s reader.