Information about Early Church Texts Full Website

INFORMATION ABOUT FEATURES OF AND SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS FOR THE FULL EARLY CHURCH TEXTS SITE homepage

Click here for subscription details for individuals. Click here for subscription details for institutions.

A video guide to the subscription version of the website can be found through this link.
A list of all the website's "on-site" texts arranged by theme and alphabetically can be found here.

A list of the authors for whom there are links to all the complete original language texts (off-site) contained in Migne's "Patrologiae Cursus Completus" and sometimes elsewhere can be found here.

EASY ACCESS TO A HUGE RANGE OF COMPLETE EARLY CHRISTIAN TEXTS
The site 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 links to 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, along with several texts from other sources, e.g. Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum and Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller. The texts used are the scanned versions available at Google Books and archive.org. 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.

AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EARLY CHURCH HISTORY
The site is also like an encyclopedia whose menu system gives swift access to a wealth of relevant background information. Around 800 different people and themes are covered. There are also links to information (and texts) for a very large number of the Church Councils (over 230) held from the 3rd to the 5th century. These are indexed both alphabetically according to location and also by date.

AN EARLY CHURCH HISTORY READER
The site also has its own carefully prepared texts (220+) covering major themes and controversies in the life of the Church in the first five centuries. These texts are mainly extracts, but there are also some complete works - e.g. The Passion of Perpetua (Latin and Greek text) and Basil's Address to Young Men on the Right Use of Greek Literature. The texts have dictionary look-up links, a brief introduction and notes (textual and background) associated with the text. They are indexed alphabetically by author and also by theme. An English translation is placed alongside and there is normally a link to a complete scanned version of the text e.g. at Google Books.

THE BIBLE THROUGH THE EYES OF EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITERS
On the subscription version of the website there are separate pages for each book of the Bible giving a list of commentaries and homilies on the book by Christian writers from the first five centuries. Links to the complete original language texts are given (scanned versions of the texts, e.g. from the Migne Patrologia series, at sites like archive.org or Google Books). Links are given to online English translations of these texts, where available, and to information about published translations. Links are also given to the Bible text: the Hebrew, Septuagint Greek, Latin Vulgate and English translation for Hebrew Scripture/Old Testament books, and the Greek, Latin Vulgate and English translation for New Testament books. This makes the website a great place to explore the Scriptures from the perspective of early Christian writers.

CHURCH COUNCILS AND CREEDS
The site contains the original language text (with dictionary lookup links) of the canons of the ecumenical councils of the first five centuries. On the subscription version of the site English translations of these texts are placed alongside. The canons of a number of other Councils are presented in this way.
In a similar way the site has the text and translation of several early creeds.
On the subscription version of the website the menu system also has easily navigable links to scanned versions of a) the documents of Church Councils from the first five centuries contained in the Mansi "Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et Amplissima Collectio" volumes and b) the information about Councils in the Hefele "History of the Councils of the Church" Volumes.
This makes the website a great place to study Church Councils of the first five centuries.

OTHER FEATURES AND ENHANCEMENTS

A site search engine where English, Greek or Latin text can be entered (English transliteration can also be used for Greek letters).
Carefully prepared printable versions of each of the "on-site" texts and translations (over 2,000 pages altogether).
Context sensitive menus.
Bibliographies for texts, translations and studies
The site is regularly updated with new materials and enhancements.

You can check out the subscription version of the site for just $5 if you take out a 3 day trial subscription. This will give you access to the features of the site listed above (though without access to the printable versions of the "on-site" texts.) The $5 can be deducted from the $30 dollar cost of an annual subscription if this is then taken out within the specified time period. Click here to go to the online sign up page. (At the end of the subscription period subscriptions are not automatically renewed. An email will be sent asking if you wish to continue. Payments are dealt with through a secure site and no credit or debit card details are passed on to or stored at Early Church Texts.) If you are a student studying for a formally recognised qualification (and not in full time employment) then you may well be eligible for the special student subscription rate of $15 a year. Contact the webmaster through the site contact form for further information. You must have an email address with the domain of your place of academic study: otherwise a request will need to be made by your course tutor.

The subscriptions which can be taken out directly online are intended for individuals, not for colleges or institutions. Please contact the webmaster through this contact form if you wish to enquire about an institutional subscription. A week's free trial access to most of the site (except printable texts) can be requested if your institution wishes to check out the subscription site. Please make contact giving an institution based email address and stating the institution you are representing. The levels of subscription are $110 a year if under 50 people are likely to be accessing the website, $165 a year if the number is likely to be between 50 and 100, $220 a year if the number is likely to be over 100, and $330 a year if the number is likely to be over 200 or if the institution is a place of significant public access. Payments can be made electronically (by electronic bank transfer or through a paypal linked facility), or by cheque/check. It is possible to arrange payment through EBSCO if that is desired. The webmaster can supply details. UK based institutions can pay in sterling - £85, £130, £170 or £255 a year respectively, for the subscriptions just described. A sample agreement for a subscription from a college/university can be found here. A sample agreement for a subscription from a library can be found here. The normal library subscription will be $330 or $220 unless it can be shown that the number of people potentially having access is less than 100. Subscriptions for institutions will normally be linked to static ip addresses. Your institution IT Adviser will most likely be able to clarify whether your institution has such ip addresses (most probably do.) Subscriptions based on username and password will be considered if an ip address based subscription is not feasible in a particular institution.