Church of the Fathers

John Henry Newman’s The Church of the Fathers contains some of his earliest writings on fourth-century Christianity. Composed at about the same time as The Arians of the Fourth Century and the first Tracts of the Oxford Movement, this polemical book was aimed at the general reader and is filled with extracts from Patristic writings.In 1833 British Parliament enacted the controversial Irish Church Temporalities Bill, which proposed abolishing ten of the twenty-two sees of the Anglican Church of Ireland. Newman accused the State of violating the ancient doctrine of Apostolic Succession. In The Church of the Fathers, Newman draws parallels between the situation facing the Church in the fourth century and the Anglican Church in his day. Published here for the first time in more than a century, this edition of The Church of the Fathers reunites material that had become separated in ongoing republications of Newman’s works. The text and appendices also contain original Newman material that has never before been published.

“... it is a delight to read and it provides an excellent source for understanding such figures as Basil, Gregory, and Augustine. Where this edition excels is in the introduction and notes. ... the book is well worth owning. It can provide a vivid and lucid background for students reading early Christianity and for the graduate student, as well as a valuable teaching source for the parish.” , “Francis McGrath’s detailed and scholarly edition of Newman’s The Church of the Fathers makes available the original Anglican text before its subsequent revisions and incorporation into the uniform edition of Newman’s works. Including hitherto unpublished material, this is a critical edition which stands out among the other volumes so far published in this Birmingham Oratory Millennium Edition.” 

John Henry Newman, Cong. Orat., was an Anglican priest, poet and theologian and later a Catholic cardinal, who was an important and controversial figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century. Francis McGrath, F.M.S., is an Australian Marist Brother and author of John Henry Newman: Universal Revelation.