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Evagrius Ponticus · 380–399 · Treatise
The Kephalaia Gnostika represents Evagrius of Pontus's most advanced theological treatise, composed in the final decades of the fourth century during his years as a desert monk in Egypt. Written as a…
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Gregory of Nyssa · 380–394 · Commentary
For readers drawn to the mystical reading of the Song as the soul's endless ascent into God; his most searching spiritual work, best read after the Life of Moses and not as an introduction.
FreeOriginal languageHard
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Gregory of Nyssa · 380 · Treatise
For anyone, and the place to start: a brother's short, affectionate account of his sister's life and death, and the first portrait of a woman as teacher and ascetic in Christian literature.
FreeAudioOriginal languageModerate
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On Pilgrimages Epistula II: De iis qui adeunt Hierosolyma
Gregory of Nyssa · 380–386 · Letter
For readers curious about early Christian pilgrimage and a bishop who had been to Jerusalem and advised others not to go; a short letter, often quoted.
FreeAudioOriginal languageModerate
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Gregory of Nyssa · 380–385 · Sermon
For readers who pray the Sermon on the Mount and want a fourth-century preacher's reading of each Beatitude as a step of ascent; there is no free English translation, so this is for those who read Greek or will buy Graef's.
Original languageModerate
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Gregory of Nyssa · 380–390 · Treatise
For anyone who wants the divinity of the Son and the Spirit argued in a few pages for a soldier; the shortest of his dogmatic works and the easiest.
FreeAudioOriginal languageModerate
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Gregory of Nyssa · 380–383 · Treatise
For students of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit at the time of the Council of Constantinople; a short, sharp defence of the Spirit's divinity, incomplete at the end.
FreeOriginal languageHard
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Gregory of Nyssa · 380–381 · Letter
For readers who want the Cappadocian doctrine of the Trinity in a few pages addressed to a layman; printed among Basil's letters for centuries, and a good first taste of Gregory's dogmatic writing.
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Gregory of Nyssa · 380–385 · Sermon
For readers who want the Lord's Prayer preached petition by petition, with a famous passage on the Spirit's procession in the third homily; no free English exists, so this is for Greek readers or buyers of Graef's translation.
Original languageModerate
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Didymus the Blind · 380–398 · Treatise
Didymus the Blind's treatise on the Trinity emerged from the theological turbulence of the late fourth century, when the church was still working out the implications of Nicaea's affirmation that Christ is…
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Jerome · 380–420 · Book
Jerome's principal works emerged from his dual calling as biblical scholar and spiritual guide during the late fourth and early fifth centuries. Writing from his monastery in Bethlehem after years of scholarly…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 380–399 · Commentary
The Scholia on Proverbs represents Evagrius of Pontus's mature biblical exegesis, composed during his final decades in the Egyptian desert between 380 and 399. Written for fellow monks seeking to understand Scripture's…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 380–400 · Treatise
The Antirrhetikos emerges from the desert monasticism of fourth-century Egypt, where Evagrius of Pontus developed his systematic approach to spiritual warfare through direct engagement with demonic thoughts. Writing for monks who faced…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 380–400 · Treatise
The Gnostikos is Evagrius of Pontus's manual for the advanced spiritual teacher, written in the late fourth century for monks who had progressed beyond basic ascetic practice to become guides for others.…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 380–399 · Treatise
The Praktikos stands as Evagrius Ponticus's foundational manual for the ascetic life, written during his years as a desert monk in Egypt's Nitrian wilderness in the late fourth century. Composed for fellow…
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Evagrius Ponticus · 380–399 · Treatise
Ad Monachos (To the Monks) stands as one of Evagrius of Pontus's most concentrated works on the spiritual life, composed during his years in the Egyptian desert between 380 and 399. Written…
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Gregory of Nyssa · 381 · Sermon
For readers of the Council of Constantinople and of the art of the Christian funeral speech; a short oration for the bishop who presided over the council and died during it.
FreeAudioOriginal languageModerate
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John Chrysostom · 381–386 · Treatise
John Chrysostom's "On Virginity" emerged from the vibrant ascetical debates of fourth-century Christianity, when the Church was wrestling with how to understand and promote the celibate life amid a rapidly Christianizing empire.…
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Gregory of Nazianzus · 381–390 · Poem
For readers of Greek and of early Christian poetry; a reader without Greek will find only selections in English, none of them free.
Original languageHard
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Gregory of Nyssa · 381 · Treatise
For readers who want the classic Cappadocian answer to 'if Father, Son and Spirit are each God, why not three gods?'; short and dense, for those already at home with Trinitarian terms.
FreeAudioOriginal languageHard
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John Chrysostom · 381 · Letter
John Chrysostom wrote this pastoral letter around 381 to his friend Theodore, who had abandoned his monastic vows to marry and pursue a secular career. Theodore had been Chrysostom's companion in their…
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Gregory of Nazianzus · 382 · Poem
For anyone curious how a bishop of Constantinople came to resign, told in his own verse — a story first and theology second; English translations exist but none is free.
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Jerome · 383 · Treatise
Jerome's treatise Against Helvidius emerged from a theological controversy that erupted in Rome around 383 when Helvidius, a Latin Christian writer, challenged the prevailing belief in Mary's perpetual virginity. Helvidius argued that…
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Gregory of Nyssa · 383–390 · Treatise
For anyone who wants one book that lays out the whole faith as the Cappadocians held it, Trinity, Incarnation, baptism and eucharist; the best first serious work of his to read, after the Life of Macrina.
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