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The Church Fathers · c. 385
The Great Catechism
Oratio Catechetica Magna
Gregory of Nyssa · c. 335–c. 395
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What it is
A handbook for teachers rather than converts, arguing the faith differently against Jews, pagans, and heretics, and explaining the incarnation as a ransom that caught the devil like a fish on a hook.
Why it lasted
The most systematic Greek theology of the fourth century, and the classic statement of the ransom theory of the atonement.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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