On these epistles of the ancients

...commended original: "angratuliret"; the catchword "an-" from the previous page combines with "tuliret" here to mean commended or congratulated him. In the second part of the Memorial of Early Christianity original: "Denckmahls vom ersten Christenthum"; a reference to Gottfried Arnold’s influential work published around 1699, many good testimonies for him are presented in the preface. And because only a single letter to Basil Saint Basil the Great (c. 329–379 AD), Bishop of Caesarea appears in the aforementioned epistles, four others are brought to light here, which no reader will regret having read with devotion.

3. There are indeed others, even in great quantity, available from him; however, they seem for the most part to have been written in his youth, when he was still occupied with general studies and many pagan matters. For this reason, I did not wish to burden the studious reader with such things. In these four, however, he will hopefully find much that is not to be disregarded.

XXX.

A single epistle of Athanasius Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373 AD), a renowned theologian and chief defender of Trinitarianism against the Arian heresy is placed here because, above others, it presents many practical and necessary exhortations for the ministry original: "Lehramt"; referring to the office of teaching or the priesthood. I had also intended to include another, namely the one concerning marriage and the single state; however, upon reading it through, I found that it has already been cited and translated here and there in the little book On the Married Life of the Early Christians. The remaining portion might not be to everyone's taste original: "nicht jedermans Speise"; literally "not everyone's food," suggesting the content might be too complex or controversial for a general audience. The other epistles of this otherwise famous teacher primarily contain the disputes of that same century original: "Seculo"; referring to the 4th-century conflicts over the nature of Christ in which he was entangled, and they are not truly suited to the goal pursued here, though they may otherwise serve scholars. The Life of Saint Anthony Anthony the Great (c. 251–356 AD), the "Father of All Monks" written by Athanasius is very edifying to read in the Lives of the Desert Fathers original: "Leben der Altväter"; referring to the Vitae Patrum, a famous collection of stories about early Christian hermits from its Greek text, as well as