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Ambrose of Milan · 374–397 · Letter
The letters of Ambrose of Milan emerge from the turbulent decades when Christianity was consolidating its position as the religion of the Roman Empire. Written between 374 and 397, these epistles document…
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Letters Letters and Select Works
Jerome · 374–420 · Other
Jerome's letters and treatises emerged from the contentious theological and pastoral challenges of the late fourth and early fifth centuries, when the church faced doctrinal controversies, ascetic movements, and the practical demands…
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Ambrose of Milan · 374–397 · Book
Ambrose of Milan's writings emerged from his unexpected elevation from provincial governor to bishop of Milan in 374, thrusting a recently baptized layman into leadership of one of the Western Empire's most…
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Gregory of Nyssa · 375–395 · Letter
For readers curious about Gregory's visit to the holy places and the Christological quarrel he found there; a short personal letter, read in ten minutes.
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Long Rules Regulae fusius tractatae
Basil the Great · 375 · Treatise
For anyone who wants to know where Benedict's Rule came from: 55 questions on loving God and neighbour, leaving the world, obedience, work and care of the sick, answered from Scripture. The more readable of the two Rules; read it first.
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Ambrose of Milan · 375 · Treatise
Ambrose of Milan's De Cain et Abel, written around 375, stands as one of the bishop's earliest exegetical works, emerging from his pastoral concern to address the spiritual dangers of envy and…
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Ambrose of Milan · 375 · Treatise
Ambrose of Milan's "De Paradiso" emerged from his systematic exposition of Genesis during his tenure as Bishop of Milan in the late fourth century. Written around 375 as part of his larger…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 375–399 · Treatise
Evagrius of Pontus wrote this treatise on the eight evil spirits during his years as a desert monk in Egypt, drawing from his intense personal struggle with temptation and his pastoral work…
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Basil the Great · 375 · Treatise
For anyone who wants to see how the Church came to call the Spirit God: a careful argument, not a devotional book. Not the place to start if you have never read a Church Father; take the Address to Young Men first.
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Ambrose of Milan · 375–381 · Treatise
Ambrose of Milan's treatise on the Holy Spirit emerged from the doctrinal controversies of the late fourth century, when Arian theology continued to challenge orthodox Trinitarian faith even after the Council of…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 375–399 · Commentary
Evagrius of Pontus composed this brief commentary on Ecclesiastes during his years as a desert monk in Egypt, likely in the final decades of the fourth century. Writing from the austere landscape…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 375–399 · Commentary
Evagrius of Pontus composed these brief interpretive notes on the Psalms during his decades as a desert monk in Egypt, where he developed his influential spiritual theology through practical experience and extensive…
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Jerome · 376 · Treatise
Jerome's Vita Pauli stands as the earliest surviving biography of Paul of Thebes, the hermit whom Jerome presents as the first Christian monk. Written around 376, when Jerome was living as an…
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Gregory of Nyssa · 376–378 · Commentary
For readers who use the Psalms in prayer and want their arrangement read as a path of ascent; a long, systematic early work for the patient.
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Ambrose of Milan · 377 · Treatise
Ambrose of Milan composed this treatise on virginity in 377, addressing the growing movement of consecrated virgins in the early Church. Written as both theological instruction and practical guidance, the work emerged…
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John Chrysostom · 378–381 · Treatise
This treatise emerges from the heated controversies surrounding monasticism in late fourth-century Antioch, where John Chrysostom served as a young priest. Written between 378 and 381, the work responds directly to critics…
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Ambrose of Milan · 378–380 · Treatise
Ambrose of Milan's De Fide emerged from a direct imperial command. In 378, the newly crowned Emperor Gratian, facing the ongoing Arian crisis that had fractured the church for decades, requested that…
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Ambrose of Milan · 378 · Treatise
De Excessu Fratris is Ambrose of Milan's funeral oration for his brother Satyrus, delivered in 378 after Satyrus died unexpectedly while serving as a provincial governor. The work emerged from Ambrose's profound…
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Gregory of Nyssa · 379 · Treatise
For readers interested in what it means to be made in God's image, body and mind together; the richest Christian treatment of human nature before Augustine, and readable without special training.
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Gregory of Nyssa · 379 · Treatise
For readers of Basil's Hexaemeron who want its sequel: Gregory's defence of his brother's six days and his own account of creation as a single act unfolding in order; for students more than general readers.
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Gregory of Nazianzus · 379–381 · Sermon
For anyone studying the doctrine of the Trinity, and for a reader who wants the one work of Gregory's that matters most; not a first book for a newcomer to the fathers.
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Gregory of Nyssa · 380–383 · Treatise
For students of the Arian controversy and of how the Cappadocians argued about God's names and nature; not a work to read through, and not for a first meeting with Gregory.
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Evagrius Ponticus · 380–399 · Treatise
The Chapters on Prayer stands as one of the most influential works on contemplative prayer in Christian history, written by Evagrius Ponticus during his years as a desert monk in Egypt in…
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Didymus the Blind · 380–398 · Commentary
Didymus the Blind composed this extensive commentary on the Book of Job during the late fourth century while leading the catechetical school of Alexandria. As one of the great exegetes of the…
