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Early Church Collection Volume 4

by Various

This volume of the Early Church collection begins with Gregory of Nyssa's defense of the divinity of the Holy Spirit and Eusebius' account of the conclusions of the council of Nicaea. Next comes a poem (rendered in prose) on Easter by Lactantius, full of imagery from nature. Cyprian's exposition of the Lord's Prayer draws on passages from all over the Bible for its short chapters and is followed by an address, occasioned by a plague, reminding Christians that death is not to be feared but longed for. The canons of the second council held at Orange were occasioned by the Pelagian controversy. Gregory Thaumaturgus' 'metaphrase' of Ecclesiastes is a literal translation (in contrast to a paraphrase) intended to clarify the meaning of the book. Augustine disputes about the nature of good and evil (whether evil even has a nature) in opposition to the Manichaeans. In 'Concerning Two Souls', Augustine, having just left the Manichaean sect recounts his errors in accepting their dualism, followe