These two substantial volumes contain translations of a mass of Christological writing from the late first until the eighth centuries, with a concentration on the work of the great councils from the fourth until the seventh centuries and the controversial writing related to it. Their aim is to introduce the reader to a wider range of literature than the approved texts and fathers who contributed to what came to be considered orthodoxy in the European churches; this has led to the welcome inclusion in these volumes of texts condemned as heretical in the tradition and not included in earlier collections. Add to this that some of this material has not been translated before, and the unique value of this collection becomes apparent. It will be particularly appreciated by postgraduate and research students working on the development of early Christian doctrine.
The documents included in these volumes are either complete or prefaced by introductions that give a general account of the text in question, to provide the context for the extract or extracts that follow. Considerations of space restrict the scope of these introductions. Some are excellent, but at times they are too slight on doctrinal issues or even misleading, as on monotheletism. It is to be regretted that the “Suggestions for Further Reading,” identical at the end of each volume, list only thirty-three works.
As a specialist on church councils, may I observe that this work does not warn the reader that the published conciliar acts were never a complete or impartial record: for example, this work gives us “in their entirety” (we are told) the acts of the crucial fifth session of Chalcedon, which received, revised, and approved the celebrated Definition (vol. 4, 106–116), but it does not warn the reader that the acts of this session are manifestly so hugely abbreviated as to fall far short of a proper record of the proceedings. But most of the councils themselves are well covered in earlier publications. It is the selection in these volumes of the controversial literature that preceded or followed them that gives these volumes their value.
