Topic
Church
Writings on church life, ministry, councils, and community.
2,825 works · 3 hymns · Oriental Orthodox · Reformed · Baptist · Patristic/Undivided Church
Works on Church
13 Ascetic Discourses — Discourse 3 On Faith
Philoxenus of Mabbug — And again come, O disciple, and hearken unto the triumphs of faith which are much to be desired. Come and incline thine ear to the voice of thy mother who giveth thee life by the sweet music of her voice. Come and suck the sweet milk of doctrine from the living breast of the mother who bore thee. Come and stand by the fountain which watereth nations and tribes, for whosoever drinketh not from her his thirst is not qu
13 Ascetic Discourses — Discourse 7 Second Discourse on the Fear of God
Philoxenus of Mabbug — Philoxenus of Mabbug gives instruction in the ascetic life in Discourse 7 Second Discourse on the Fear of God, considering the habits and convictions involved in following Christ. The opening subject is “[p. 191] the seventh discourse: which sheweth that all the righteous men of old fulfilled the commandments of God in the fear of God.” Topics include love, the soul, and divine grace.
13 Ascetic Discourses — Errata
Philoxenus of Mabbug — This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
13 Ascetic Discourses — Introduction List of Works of Philoxenus
Philoxenus of Mabbug — The following is a list of the works of Philoxenus preserved in London, Paris, Rome, and Oxford.
13 Ascetic Discourses — Introduction Summary of the Discourses
Philoxenus of Mabbug — Philoxenus of Mabbug gives instruction in the ascetic life in Introduction Summary of the Discourses, considering the habits and convictions involved in following Christ. The opening subject is “the discourses of philoxenus.” Topics include the soul, faith, and baptism.
13 Ascetic Discourses — Introduction Table of Manuscripts & List of Material Omitted from Online Edition
Philoxenus of Mabbug — Philoxenus of Mabbug gives instruction in the ascetic life in Introduction Table of manuscripts & List of material omitted from online edition, considering the habits and convictions involved in following Christ. Topics include faith.
13 Ascetic Discourses — Introduction The Life of Philoxenus
Philoxenus of Mabbug — Akhsénâyâ, later named Philoxenus, was born in the third quarter of the Vth century at a village called Tahal 1 , which was situated in Beth Garmai, probably on the confines of Persia 2 ; of his parents and their rank and condition we know nothing, but as he was baptized it may be assumed that they were Christians or, at any rate, that they had leanings towards Christianity. His brother Addai is mentioned together wi
13 Ascetic Discourses — Introduction The Manuscripts of the Discourses
Philoxenus of Mabbug — Philoxenus of Mabbug gives instruction in the ascetic life in Introduction The Manuscripts of the Discourses, considering the habits and convictions involved in following Christ. The opening subject is “the manuscripts of the discourses of philoxenus.” Topics include the Trinity.
13 Ascetic Discourses — Introduction Various Creeds by Philoxenus, against Nestorius, Mani, Marcion, Etc
Philoxenus of Mabbug — Philoxenus of Mabbug gives instruction in the ascetic life in Introduction Various Creeds by Philoxenus, against Nestorius, Mani, Marcion, etc, considering the habits and convictions involved in following Christ. The opening subject is “reply to be made by a man when questioned as to his belief.” Topics include the incarnation, the Trinity, and the Holy Spirit.
13 Ascetic Discourses — Title Page, Preface, Contents
Philoxenus of Mabbug — The present volume contains an English translation of the complete Syriac text of the Discourses of Philoxenus upon Christian Life and Character which was published early this year as Volume I of this work.1650 Scottish Psalter
Confessional document — That man hath perfect blessedness who walketh not astray In counsel of ungodly men, nor stands in sinners' way,1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith
Confessional document — A confession from the Baptist tradition, setting out its teaching, worship, discipline, or church order in an organized historical document.40 Homilies on the Gospels
Gregory the Dialogist — Gregory the Dialogist interprets 40 Homilies on the Gospels, relating the biblical passage to Christian teaching and practice. The opening subject is “delivered to the people in the basilica of saint Peter the apostle, on the second sunday of advent of the lord.” Topics include love, sin, and the soul.A Body of Divinity
Thomas Ridgley — Thomas Ridgley’s four-volume exposition of the Westminster Larger Catechism, presenting a connected system of Reformed doctrine and Christian practice.A Brief Bible History: A Survey of the Old and New Testaments
James Oscar Boyd; J. Gresham Machen — A survey of biblical history written for teacher training and popular reading, in thirty-eight short lessons: fifteen tracing the development of the church in Old Testament times from the beginnings in Genesis to the return from exile, and twenty-three on the life of Christ and the apostolic church from the intertestamental preparation to the close of the apostolic age, each lesson ending with review questions.A Christian Directory — Part 1: Christian Ethics
Richard Baxter — Baxter gives practical counsel on personal Christian conduct, addressing habits, temptations, conscience, and the ordering of daily life.A Christian Directory — Part 2: Christian Economics
Richard Baxter — Small capitals have been rendered in full capitals. Italics are indicated by underscores. Sidenotes refer to the following paragraph.A Christian Directory — Part 3: Christian Ecclesiastics
Richard Baxter — Baxter examines church life and ministry, offering guidance on worship, pastoral duties, church membership, and questions of conscience.A Christian Directory — Part 4: Christian Politics
Richard Baxter — Baxter considers Christian conduct in public life, including authority, obedience, justice, and responsibilities toward neighbors and rulers.A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed
Tyrannius Rufinus — A brief profession of Christian faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, confessing Christ’s life and resurrection, the church, forgiveness, and the life to come.A Commentary on the Beginning of Ecclesiastes
Dionysius of Alexandria — For what man is there who, although he may have become rich by toiling after the objects of this earth, has been able to make himself three cubits in stature, if he is naturally only of two cubits in stature? Or who, if blind, has by these means recovered his sight? Therefore we ought to direct our toils to a goal beyond the sun: for thither, too, do the exertions of the virtues reach.
A Letter from Origen to Africanus
Origen of Alexandria — Origen to Africanus, a beloved brother in God the Father, through Jesus Christ, His holy Child, greeting. Your letter, from which I learn what you think of the Susanna in the Book of Daniel, which is used in the Churches, although apparently somewhat short, presents in its few words many problems, each of which demands no common treatment, but such as oversteps the character of a letter, and reaches the limits of a dA Letter to the Reverend Mr. John Wesley in Answer to His Sermon Entitled 'Free Grace'
George Whitefield — Whitefield's open letter answering John Wesley's sermon Free Grace, defending election and final perseverance against Wesley's attack on predestination while pleading for continued love between the two evangelists; the classic statement of the Calvinist side of the Methodist controversy.A Manual of the Book of Psalms
Martin Luther — Luther introduces the Psalms as prayers and teaching for the church, explaining their themes and their use in faith, worship, suffering, and thanksgiving.A Metaphrase of the Book of Ecclesiastes
Gregory of Neocaesarea — These words speaketh Solomon, the son of David the king and prophet, to the whole Church of God, a prince most honoured, and a prophet most wise above all men. How vain and fruitless are the affairs of men, and all pursuits that occupy man! For there is not one who can tell of any profit attaching to those things which men who creep on earth strive by body and soul to attain to, in servitude all the while to what is
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
John Wesley — Wesley's account, in its final 1777 form, of how his teaching on Christian perfection developed from 1725 onward, with extracts from his sermons, hymns, conference minutes and answers to objections, followed by his Brief Thoughts on Christian Perfection.A Priest to the Temple, or, The Countrey Parson His Character, and Rule of Holy Life
George Herbert — Herbert's portrait of the country parson in thirty-seven short chapters: his life, knowledge, praying and preaching, his Sundays, household, charity and church, his visiting, catechizing and administering of the sacraments, his dealings with church-wardens, his library and his way of applying remedies to the souls of his parish.
A Summary of the Christian Faith
Henry Eyster Jacobs — Jacobs's systematic summary of Christian doctrine on the basis of the Lutheran Confessions.A Treatise against Two Letters of the Pelagians — Book 2
Augustine of Hippo — He undertakes to examine the second letter of the Pelagians, filled, like the first, with calumnies against the Catholics-a letter that was sent by them to Thessalonica in the name of eighteen bishops; and, first of all, he shows, by the comparison of the heretical writings with one another, that the Catholics are by no means falling into the errors of the manicheans in detesting the dogmas of the Pelagians. He repelA Treatise against Two Letters of the Pelagians — Book 4
Augustine of Hippo — After having set aside in the former books the Calumnies hurled against the Catholics, Augustin here proceeds to open up the snares which lie hidden in the remaining part of the second epistle of the Pelagians, in the five heads of their doctrine-In the praise, to wit, of the creature, the praise of marriage, the praise of the law, the praise of free will, and the praise of the saints; in connection with which heads
A Treatise concerning the Correction of the Donatists
Augustine of Hippo — A letter of Augustin 2 to Boniface, who, as we learn from Epistle 220, was Tribune, and afterwards Count in Africa. In it Augustin shows that the heresy of the Donatists has nothing in common with that of Arius; and points out the moderation with which it was possible to recall the heretics to the communion of the Church through awe of the imperial laws. He adds remarks concerning the savage conduct of the Donatists
A Treatise of Novatian concerning the Trinity
Novatian — Novatian's treatise concerning the Trinity is divided into thirty-one chapters. He first of all, from chapter first to the eighth, considers those words of the Rule of Truth or Faith, 1 which bid us believe on God the Father and Lord Almighty, the absolutely perfect Creator of all things. Wherein among the other divine attributes he moreover ascribes to Him, partly from reason and partly from the Holy Scriptures, immA Treatise of the Covenant of Grace
John Ball — John Ball's posthumous treatise on covenant theology, tracing the covenant of grace from Adam through the patriarchs, Moses and the prophets to Christ, contrasting it with the covenant of works and answering Arminian positions. A key source for the Westminster divines. Seventeenth-century spelling retained.
A Treatise on Faith and the Creed
Augustine of Hippo — The occasion and date of the composition of this treatise are indicated in a statement which Augustin makes in the seventeenth chapter of the First Book of his Retractations .
A Treatise on Good Works
Martin Luther — Luther explains good works through faith and the Ten Commandments, directing attention to ordinary responsibilities toward God and neighbor.
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will
Augustine of Hippo — Augustine examines how God’s grace and human willing belong together. He reads biblical commands and promises to explain why obedience depends on divine help without making human choices meaningless.A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin — Book 2
Augustine of Hippo — Wherein Augustin shows that Pelagius really differs in no respect, on the question of original sin and the baptism of infants, from his follower Coelestius, who, refusing to acknowledge original sin and even daring to deny the doctrine in public, was condemned in trials before the bishops - first at carthage, and afterwards at rome; for this question is not, as these heretics would have it, one wherein persons mightA Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints — Book 1
Augustine of Hippo — Wherein the truth of predestination and grace is defended against the semi-Pelagians,-those people to wit, who by no means withdraw altogether from the Pelagian heresy, in that they contend that the beginning of salvation and of faith is of ourselves; so that in virtue, as it were, of this precedent merit, the other good gifts of God are attained. Augustin shows that not only the increase, but the very beginning alsoA Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints — Book 2
Augustine of Hippo — In the first part of the book he proves that the perseverance by which a man perseveres in Christ to the end is God's gift; for that it is a mockery to ask of God that which is not believed to be given by God. Moreover, that in the Lord's prayer scarcely anything is asked for but perseverance, according to the exposition of the martyr cyprian, by which exposition the enemies to this grace were convicted before they wA Vindication of the Doctrine That the Sacrifice of the Mass Is Idolatry
John Knox — Knox's defence, delivered at Newcastle on 4 April 1550 before the Council of the North and Bishop Tunstall, of his teaching that the Mass is idolatry, argued by two syllogisms from Scripture against worship devised by human beings.
Aaron's Rod Blossoming
George Gillespie — OR, The Divine Ordinance of Church-Government VINDICATED, So as the present Erastian Controversie concerning the distinction of Civill and Ecclesiasticall Government, Excommunication, and Suspension, is fully debated and discussed, from the holy Scripture, from the Jewish and Christian Antiquities, from the consent of latter Writers, from the true nature and rights of Migistracy, and from the groundlesnesse of the chAbandonment; or, Absolute Surrender to Divine Providence
Jean-Pierre de Caussade — The treatise on abandonment to divine providence, in three books, on the virtue of abandonment, on finding the divine action in the duties and events of each present moment, and on how God guides and sustains the soul wholly abandoned to him, with Ramière's preface distinguishing true abandonment from the error of the Quietists and an appendix of short pieces and acts of abandonment.Abstract of Principles of 1858
Confessional document — The authors discusses the Holy Spirit, sin, and divine grace in Abstract of Principles of 1858. The opening subject is “God is revealed to us as father, son and Holy spirit each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.”
Acts of Peter and Paul
Acts of Peter and Paul — It came to pass, after Paul went out of the island Gaudomeleta, 1 that he came to Italy; and it was heard of by the Jews who were in Rome, the elder of the cities, that Paul demanded to come to Caesar. Having fallen, therefore, into great grief and much despondency, they said among themselves: It does not please him that he alone has afflicted all our brethren and parents in Judaea and Samaria, and in all Palestine;Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation
Martin Luther — Martin Luther discusses the soul, care for the poor, and faith in Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation. The opening subject is “to the respected and worthy nicolaus von amsdorff, licentiate in the holy scriptures and canon of wittenberg, my particular and affectionate friend.”Admonitions to the Monks
Rabbula — Rabbula discusses martyrdom, divine grace, and care for the poor in Admonitions to the monks. The opening subject is “some early rules for syrian monks.”
Against Celsus — Book 2
Origen of Alexandria — The first book of our answer to the treatise of Celsus, entitled A True Discourse , which concluded with the representation of the Jew addressing Jesus, having now extended to a sufficient length, we intend the present part as a reply to the charges brought by him against those who have been converted from Judaism to Christianity. 1 And we call attention, in the first place, to this special question, viz., why Celsus
Against Celsus — Book 8
Origen of Alexandria — Having completed seven books, I now propose to begin the eighth. And may God and His Only-begotten Son the Word be with us, to enable us effectively to refute the falsehoods which Celsus has published under the delusive title of A True Discourse , and at the same time to unfold the truths of Christianity with such fulness as our purpose requires. And as Paul said, "We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did besAgainst Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia — Fragments of Book 1 against Diodore
Cyril of Alexandria — Surviving excerpts from Cyril of Alexandria’s writings, collected here as Against Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, Fragments of Book 1 Against Diodore. Readers can examine passages preserved apart from their original complete works. The opening subject is “from his treatise against diodore bishop of tarsus 1.” Topics include the soul, truth, and the incarnation.Against Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia — Fragments of Book 2 against Theodore
Cyril of Alexandria — Surviving excerpts from Cyril of Alexandria’s writings, collected here as Against Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, Fragments of Book 2 Against Theodore. Readers can examine passages preserved apart from their original complete works. The opening subject is “from his second book against the words of theodore 1.” Topics include divine grace, the incarnation, and suffering.Against Eunomius — Book 1
Gregory of Nyssa — Gregory of Nyssa discusses creation, the Holy Spirit, and truth in Against Eunomius, Book 1. The opening subject is “§2. we have been justly provoked to make this answer, being stung by eunamius' accusations of our brother.”Against Eunomius — Book 10
Gregory of Nyssa — Gregory of Nyssa discusses eternal life, faith, and knowledge in Against Eunomius, Book 10.Against Eunomius — Book 11
Gregory of Nyssa — Gregory of Nyssa discusses creation, baptism, and truth in Against Eunomius, Book 11.Against Eunomius — Book 3
Gregory of Nyssa — Gregory of Nyssa discusses creation, truth, and knowledge in Against Eunomius, Book 3. The opening subject is “§2. he then once more excellently, approximately, and clearly examines and expounds the passage, "the lord created me.”Against Eunomius — Letter 1
Gregory of Nyssa — Read Against Eunomius, Letter 1 from the writings collected under Gregory of Nyssa’s name.Against Hierocles — Preface
Eusebius of Caesarea — Introductory material for Against Hierocles by Eusebius of Caesarea, providing context for the edition and the work that follows.Against Jovinianus — Book 1
Jerome — Jerome discusses marriage, virginity, and the law in Against Jovinianus, Book 1. The opening subject is “a denunciation of jovinianus (c. 40), and the praises of virginity and of jingle marriages derived from examples in the heathen world.”Against Jovinianus — Book 2
Jerome — Jerome discusses sin, fasting, and baptism in Against Jovinianus, Book 2.Against Julian — Book 2 (Start)
Cyril of Alexandria — Cyril of Alexandria discusses creation, the soul, and truth in Against Julian, Book 2 (start).Against Julian — Prefatory Address to the Emperor Theodosius
Cyril of Alexandria — Cyril of Alexandria discusses faith in Against Julian, Prefatory address to the Emperor Theodosius. The opening subject is “address of the blessed cyril, archbishop of alexandria,.”Against Marcion 1
Ephrem the Syrian — Ephrem the Syrian discusses prayer, divine grace, and the soul in Against Marcion 1. The opening subject is “against marcion i.”Against Marcion 2
Ephrem the Syrian — Ephrem the Syrian discusses baptism, humility, and the law in Against Marcion 2. The opening subject is “against marcion ii.”Against Marcionists and Manichaeans
John Chrysostom — John Chrysostom discusses prayer, the incarnation, and the soul in Against Marcionists and Manichaeans. The opening subject is “against marcionists and manichaeans.”Against the Donatists — Appendices 3 16. Letters and rescripts
Optatus of Milevis — Optatus of Milevis discusses judgment, church unity, and the law in Against the Donatists, Appendices 3 16. Letters and rescripts.Against the Donatists — Appendix 1. The Trial of Felix, Bishop of Aptunga
Optatus of Milevis — Optatus of Milevis discusses prayer, the law, and truth in Against the Donatists, Appendix 1. The trial of Felix, Bishop of Aptunga. The opening subject is “acta purgationis felicis episcopi autumnitani.”Against the Donatists — Appendix 2. The Trial before Zenophilus
Optatus of Milevis — Optatus of Milevis discusses care for the poor, the soul, and martyrdom in Against the Donatists, Appendix 2. The trial before Zenophilus. The opening subject is “appendix----ii.”Against the Donatists — Book 1
Optatus of Milevis — Optatus of Milevis discusses church unity, baptism, and judgment in Against the Donatists, Book 1. The opening subject is “i. the divine gift of peace, bestowed upon all Christians.”Against the Donatists — Book 3
Optatus of Milevis — Optatus of Milevis discusses church unity, baptism, and care for the poor in Against the Donatists, Book 3. The opening subject is “i. the severities against the donatists were provoked by themselves, and catholics ought not to be blamed for them.”Against the Donatists — Book 4
Optatus of Milevis — Optatus of Milevis discusses baptism, sin, and prayer in Against the Donatists, Book 4. The opening subject is “book the fourth.”Against the Donatists — Book 5
Optatus of Milevis — Optatus of Milevis discusses baptism, the Trinity, and divine grace in Against the Donatists, Book 5. The opening subject is “i. from parmenian's own principles it follows that baptism is one.”Against the Donatists — Book 6
Optatus of Milevis — Optatus of Milevis discusses church unity, prayer, and virginity in Against the Donatists, Book 6. The opening subject is “i. the wickedness of the donatists in breaking or scraping the altars.”Against the Donatists — Book 7
Optatus of Milevis — Optatus of Milevis discusses church unity, the law, and sin in Against the Donatists, Book 7. The opening subject is “i. that the donatists can be received back into the communion of the church more easily than could have been their fathers who were guilty of betrayal.”Against the Donatists — Preface to the Online Edition
Optatus of Milevis — Introductory material for Against the Donatists by Optatus of Milevis, providing context for the edition and the work that follows. The opening subject is “what statements, agreed by all sides, do we have about caecilian?.” Topics include church unity.Against the Donatists — Translator's Introduction to Book 7
Optatus of Milevis — Introductory material for Against the Donatists by Optatus of Milevis, providing context for the edition and the work that follows. The opening subject is “(iii) it seemed to du pin at first that there was a certain difference of style between the seventh and the first six books.” Topics include sin.Against the Donatists — Translator's Preface to the Appendix
Optatus of Milevis — Introductory material for Against the Donatists by Optatus of Milevis, providing context for the edition and the work that follows. The opening subject is “'dubitantibus proferre poterimus, harum namque plenitudinem rerum in novissima parte istorum libellorum ad implendam fidem adiunximus' (i, 14).”Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental
Augustine of Hippo — Correspondence from the collected letters of Augustine of Hippo: Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental. Topics include the Holy Spirit, truth, and the soul.Against the Frauds of the Apollinarists — English Translation
Leontius of Byzantium — Leontius of Byzantium discusses the incarnation, creation, and truth in Against the frauds of the Apollinarists, English translation. The opening subject is “against the forgeries of the apollinarists [4].”Against the Frauds of the Apollinarists — Introduction
Leontius of Byzantium — Introductory material for Against the frauds of the Apollinarists by Leontius of Byzantium, providing context for the edition and the work that follows. The opening subject is “against the forgeries of the apollinarists.”
Against the Heathen — Part 1
Athanasius of Alexandria — Athanasius challenges idolatry and argues that the order of creation points to the divine Word. He examines how human beings turned from the knowledge of God to the worship of created things.Against the Heathen — Part 2
Athanasius of Alexandria — Athanasius challenges idolatry and argues that the order of creation points to the divine Word. He examines how human beings turned from the knowledge of God to the worship of created things.Against the Jews — Homily 1
John Chrysostom — John Chrysostom discusses the soul, fasting, and idolatry in Against the Jews, Homily 1. The opening subject is “holy, holy, holy, the lord God of hosts, all the earth is filled with his glory.”Against the Jews — Homily 2
John Chrysostom — John Chrysostom discusses the law, divine grace, and justification in Against the Jews, Homily 2.Against the Jews — Homily 3
John Chrysostom — John Chrysostom discusses prayer, fasting, and sin in Against the Jews, Homily 3. The opening subject is “against those who keep the first paschal fast.”Against the Jews — Homily 4
John Chrysostom — John Chrysostom discusses the law, fasting, and patience in Against the Jews, Homily 4. The opening subject is “against the jews and the trumpets of their pasch.”Against the Jews — Homily 5
John Chrysostom — John Chrysostom discusses the law, prayer, and sin in Against the Jews, Homily 5. The opening subject is “this makes me the more eager to hold fast to my topic and, from the fullness of my heart, to keep the promises i have made.”Against the Jews — Homily 8
John Chrysostom — John Chrysostom discusses sin, the soul, and martyrdom in Against the Jews, Homily 8.Against the Jews — Preface to the Online Edition
John Chrysostom — Introductory material for Against the Jews by John Chrysostom, providing context for the edition and the work that follows. The opening subject is “homilies 7 and 8 were listed with the note.”Against the Pelagians — Book 1
Jerome — Jerome discusses sin, divine grace, and virtue in Against the Pelagians, Book 1. The opening subject is “critobulus. it is true, atticus; but our rivals do not take the words in the sense i attached to them.”Against the Pelagians — Book 3
Jerome — Jerome discusses sin, baptism, and prayer in Against the Pelagians, Book 3. The opening subject is “a. either i fail to express my meaning clearly, or you are slow of apprehension.”Against the Pelagians — Prologue
Jerome — Jerome discusses envy, sin, and divine grace in Against the Pelagians, Prologue. The opening subject is “dialogue between atticus, a catholic, and critobulus, a heretic.”Against the Valentinians
Tertullian — Tertullian discusses the soul, the Holy Spirit, and creation in Against the Valentinians. The opening subject is “these heretics brand the Christians as simple persons. the charge accepted, and simplicity eulogized out of the scriptures.”Against Vigilantius
Jerome — Jerome discusses martyrdom, care for the poor, and prayer in Against Vigilantius.
All of Grace
Charles Spurgeon — Spurgeon's short evangelistic book for those seeking salvation, explaining that God justifies the ungodly by grace through faith, and treating faith, repentance, regeneration, perseverance and the fear of falling away.American Lutheranism
Friedrich Bente — Friedrich Bente’s historical account of American Lutheran church bodies, their confessional debates, and their institutional development.
American Lutheranism Vindicated
Samuel Simon Schmucker — Samuel Simon Schmucker discusses baptism, the Eucharist, and sin in American Lutheranism Vindicated. The opening subject is “earnestly contend for the faith, once delivered to the saints. Jude 3.”
An Admonition Showing the Advantages Which Christendom Might Derive from an Inventory of Relics
John Calvin — Calvin's 1543 satire and polemic against the cult of relics, cataloguing the duplicated and implausible relics of Christ, Mary, the apostles and saints displayed across Europe and urging that they be inventoried and removed.An Alarme to Unconverted Sinners
Joseph Alleine — Alleine's plain treatise on conversion, with its long address to the ignorant and ungodly: what conversion is not and what it is, its necessity, the marks and miseries of the unconverted, directions for turning to God with a form of covenant and a soliloquy, and motives to conversion.An Apology for the True Christian Divinity
Robert Barclay — The classic systematic defence of Quaker belief: fifteen theses on immediate revelation, Scripture, universal and saving light, justification, perfection, worship, the ministry, baptism and the supper, set out and defended against Reformed and Catholic objections. It rejects the outward sacraments, so it differs from the library's other confessional traditions.An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens
William Carey — Carey's argument that the Great Commission still binds Christians, with a review of missions from the apostles to the Moravians, a country-by-country table of the world's population and religions, an answer to the objections of distance, danger and language, and a closing proposal that a company of serious Christians, ministers and private persons, form a society to send missionaries.