# Book on Council of Nicea



## nwink (Jun 11, 2013)

Is there a good book about the history and events regarding the Council of Nicea?


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## RamistThomist (Jun 11, 2013)

While not dealing with it directly, JND Kelly's book on the early church is good. Your best bet is to have access to a decent inter library loan system. If so (or if you are insanely rich), then I recommend the following. I know some of the secondary literature is quite heavy, but I think it is necessary. A number of Evangelical scholars who aren't specialists in the field (I am not a specialist, but I have a semi-decent mastery of a lot of this material) have made silly generalizations on Athanasius

Secondary Literature
Lewis Ayres, Nicea and its Legacy. This is hands-down the best book on the subject.
Khaled Anatolios, Athanasius: The Coherence of his Thought
Hanson, Search for the Christian Doctrine of God
McGuckin, St Gregory of Nazianzus (note: I do NOT recommend McGuckin's Eastern Orthodoxy, but he is an outstanding scholar)
Beeley, Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity and the Knowledge of God: In Your Light We Shall See Light (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology). Great introductory section on the Nicene controversies.

Primary Sources:
Gregory Nazianzus, On God and Christ. Get this version. SVS does a fine job in translation.
Works on the Spirit by Athanasius et al. Go to St Vlad's website for the paperback edition.
Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit. I am less enamored with basil with the passing of time, but his discussion of monarchia, hypostasis, and ousia are par excellence.

So, if I had to get three books, I would get Nazianzus' Orations, Basil, and Ayres.


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## Gforce9 (Jun 11, 2013)

I second JND Kelly's _Early Christian Doctrines_. It covers a lot of ground.............


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## RamistThomist (Jun 11, 2013)

Gforce9 said:


> I second JND Kelly's _Early Christian Doctrines_. It covers a lot of ground.............



Agreed. It's somewhat dated when compared to Ayres, but Kelly writes clearly and succinctly, and you can probably find it cheap.


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## CharlieJ (Jun 11, 2013)

Ayres and Hanson are pretty brutal for non-specialists. Some stepping stones might be:

Franz Dünzl, A Brief History of the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Early Church
John Behr, The Nicene Faith, Vol. 2 of Formation of Christian Theology (Parts 1 & 2)


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## whirlingmerc (Jun 11, 2013)

The best children book on Athenasius is by Simoneta Carr

The Breeze of the centuries by Mike Reeves is broader than that but good. He's a British church historian who is the thoeological adviser to the UCCF student group, I think
He also did a conference on Athenasius.

John Piper has a book that includes the life of Athanaseus in The Swans are not Silent series :Contending for our all" 
I believe one of the Desiring God conferences was on Athenasius as the historical figure part and you should search for the talks on Home - Desiring God

Carl Truman might also have some good material


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## RamistThomist (Jun 11, 2013)

You are right. I thought about recommending Behr. I found his essay on God in _Orthodox Perspectives on Augustine_ helpful.



CharlieJ said:


> Ayres and Hanson are pretty brutal for non-specialists. Some stepping stones might be:
> 
> Franz Dünzl, A Brief History of the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Early Church
> John Behr, The Nicene Faith, Vol. 2 of Formation of Christian Theology (Parts 1 & 2)


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