Patrology, Vol. 4: The Golden Age of Latin Patristic Literature

Quasten's Patrology is a four-volume scholarly survey of writings by the church fathers in the first several centuries of the Christian era. Some online reviews give the impression that the Patrology is an anthology of those writings. In fact, it is a survey that includes many excerpts (in English), often a page in length, to give a fair idea of what the author under discussion is like. The bibliographies are also extensive. Like the Literary History of England, it's more of a reference book than something you would sit and read straight through.On the plus side, the Patrology is thorough and well written and has an excellent reputation. On the minus side, it is expensive (for a softcover) and needs to be supplemented for the study of heresies that have come to light since 1970. The texts discovered at Nag Hammadi, for example, are very important for the study of Irenaeus.Something of such enduring value as Quasten's Patrology deserves to be published in hardcover. It should be on the short list of must-haves for the library of any seminary or university that teaches church history, patristics, theology, or philosophy.Quasten's Patrology is a four-volume set. If you are considering buying any of them, you may find the following ISBN numbers handy: Patrology v1, Beginnings from Apostles' Creed, ISBN 0870610848; Patrology v2, Ante-Nicene after Irenaeus, ISBN 0870610856; Patrology v3, Golden Age Greek, ISBN 0870610864; Patrology v4, Golden Age Latin (from Nicea to Calcedon), ISBN 0870611275; set of four volumes, ISBN 0870611410. When ordering online, confirm the volume by ISBN number. Online vendors get the volumes confused with each other. Some are identified by the series title alone; others by the volume title; the cover art displayed may be for the wrong volume; and so on.