# About this library

The early church fathers, in their own words.

## What is included

The library follows the 38-volume English collection of Ante-Nicene Fathers and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. It includes historical works, introductions, notes, and indexes. The [verification table](/verification.md) shows the current import and comparison coverage.

## Read the translation in context

These are 19th-century English translations. Their vocabulary, editorial judgments, and attributions reflect that edition. An editor’s introduction and a translator’s note are not a father’s own words. Labels distinguish them. Where authorship is not established, the label says so. Historical attributions remain visible. Where an edition prints parallel recensions, the section title identifies them and paragraphs retain source order.

## What this service does

It retrieves source text with citations and links to printed pages. It does not rank fathers by authority, label passages by doctrine, or write theological commentary. Machine comparison results describe the evidence available; they do not replace reading the scan.

## Credits

Historical text and structure: [Christian Classics Ethereal Library](https://www.ccel.org/fathers.html). Scans and OCR evidence: CCEL and [Internet Archive](https://archive.org), linked by volume. The source edition’s editorial material remains labeled.

Typography: Cinzel, Gentium Book Plus, Noto Serif Hebrew, Source Sans 3, and IBM Plex Mono. Each font is self-hosted under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. [Font sources](/fonts/sources.json).

The original ornament and faceless dot artwork come from this project’s supplied design system.