INFORMATION ABOUT TEXTS ON THE EARLY CHURCH TEXTS WEBSITE
Links to complete off-site texts (subscription version of site only)
The Early Church Texts website gives easy access to complete Greek and Latin texts which are in the public domain and translations (where found available) from the first five centuries. There are carefully indexed links to authors and their works, including an index of commentaries, homilies etc. by biblical book.
Nearly all of the Greek and Latin texts from this period contained in the Migne Patrologia series are covered. Some other sources are also used. The texts used are the scanned versions available at Google Books and elsewhere.
A distinctive feature of the Early Church Texts website is that where translations have been found available online they can easily be read immediately alongside the original Greek and Latin. A complete list of authors represented is here. A sample text is here. (A larger monitor is preferred for the sample text as it presents the original language and English translation alongside each other; but note that the original language and English translations can also be viewed separately, making them easy to read on tablet computers or smaller screens.)
On-site texts (original language only publicly available / subscription site has English translation alongside and additional features)
The writings surviving from the first five centuries are extensive, so it is not always easy to know where to start in studying them. The Early Church Website can help with this.
It is like a Reader in Early Church History and Theology with 220+ carefully
prepared and presented on-site texts (original language, with English
translation alongside on the subscription version of the site) from the first
five centuries of the life of the Church. These cover a range of significant
themes and represent several authors. All have dictionary lookup links. A list
of on-site texts arranged by theme can be found
here and by author
here.
A sample on-site text can be found
here.
The subscription version of the site also has an introduction to each on-site
text making it much easier to appreciate its context and significance, together
with helpful background notes linked with the text, carefully prepared printable
versions (around 2,000 pages) of its 220+ texts, a site search facility and many
other helpful features.
Click on the links below for more information about
Dictionary look up links in the on-site texts