The Library
1780 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
100–1 BC
1 work
c. 50 BC – AD 50
Greek
Pseudo-Phocylides
Two hundred and thirty lines of hexameter moral advice under the name of an archaic Greek poet, and Jewish throughout without ever mentioning Israel, the temple, the sabbath, or circumcision — only the commandments that a Greek could also recognise as reasonable.
1–100
3 works
c. AD 30–45
Greek
De Specialibus Legibus
Philo of Alexandria · c. 20 BC – c. AD 50
Four books sorting every particular commandment under one of the ten, so that circumcision, the priesthood, the festivals, marriage, courts, and the treatment of slaves all turn out to be applications of a single decalogue.
c. 50–90
Greek
Doctrina Apostolorum
Anonymous
A short moral catechism setting two roads before the hearer — one of life, one of death — and filling each with plain commands and plain vices. It is the material the Didache opens with and the Epistle of Barnabas closes with, surviving on its own in a Latin manuscript at Freising.
c. 90–110
Greek
Didache ton dodeka apostolon
Anonymous
A short manual of Christian practice for a congregation still finding its footing: the Two Ways of life and death, then plain instructions for baptism, fasting, the eucharistic prayers, and how to tell a true travelling prophet from a freeloader.
101–200
4 works
c. 176–180
Greek
Legatio pro Christianis
Athenagoras of Athens
A calm, lawyerly petition to Marcus Aurelius answering the three standing charges — atheism, cannibalism, incest — and including an early statement of the Trinity in passing.
c. 197–200
Latin
De Spectaculis
Tertullian · c. 155–c. 220
An argument that the theatre, the circus, and the arena are inseparable from the idolatry and cruelty that fund them, and that no Christian can attend innocently.
c. 198
Greek
Paedagogus
Clement of Alexandria · c. 150–c. 215
Christ as the tutor of ordinary life, with detailed and often amused guidance on eating, drinking, sleeping, laughter, jewellery, bathing, and how to behave at a dinner party.
c. 200
Latin
De Patientia
Tertullian · c. 155–c. 220
A treatise on a virtue the author cheerfully admits he does not possess, tracing impatience back to the devil and patience to the passion of Christ.
201–300
2 works
c. 203–211
Latin
De Idololatria
Tertullian · c. 155–c. 220
A hard look at which trades a Christian may follow in a city where idolatry is woven into commerce, teaching, civic office, and the making of statues.
211
Latin
De Corona
Tertullian · c. 155–c. 220
Prompted by a soldier who refused the ceremonial garland, an argument that military service is incompatible with the gospel — and, in passing, a list of Christian customs kept without any scriptural warrant.
301–400
2 works
c. 388–390
Latin
De Officiis Ministrorum
Ambrose of Milan · c. 339–397
Cicero's treatise on duty rewritten for Christian ministers, replacing the four cardinal virtues with a version answerable to scripture and to the poor.
c. 395
Latin
De Mendacio
Augustine of Hippo · 354–430
An examination of eight kinds of lie, concluding that none is permissible — not even to save a life, and not even to save a soul.
401–500
2 works
401
Latin
De Bono Coniugali
Augustine of Hippo · 354–430
Written to steady a debate that had gone too far toward disparaging marriage, naming its three goods: children, fidelity, and the sacramental bond.
c. 410–430; authorship disputed
Latin
Attributed to Fastidius
A demanding call to moral seriousness addressed to a widow, insisting that a Christian who lives like everyone else is a Christian in name only.
601–700
1 work
c. 612–615
Latin
Sententiae
Isidore of Seville · c. 560–636
Three books of doctrine and moral instruction assembled almost entirely from Augustine and Gregory the Great, arranged by topic.
701–800
1 work
c. 799–800
Latin
Alcuin of York · c. 735–804
A short moral handbook written for a Frankish count who wanted guidance he could actually use while governing and fighting.
801–900
1 work
c. 828
Latin
De Institutione Laicali
Jonas of Orléans · c. 780–843
A guide for married laypeople on marriage, work, almsgiving, and the duties of a household, written for a count and his wife.
901–1000
3 works
c. 930–940
Latin
Collationes
Odo of Cluny · c. 878–942
Three books of moral criticism aimed at clergy and nobility alike, unsparing about simony, violence, and the appetites of the powerful.
c. 934–936
Latin
Praeloquia
Ratherius of Verona · c. 887–974
Written in prison after being deposed, a survey of the duties of every rank of society — kings, soldiers, merchants, the poor, the rich — with a good deal of self-examination mixed in.
c. 960–974
Arabic
Tahdhib al-Akhlaq
Yahya ibn Adi · 893–974
A philosophical ethics of the soul's three faculties and the training of character, written without appeal to scripture so that Muslims, Jews, and Christians could all use it.
1101–1200
2 works
c. 1138–1139
Latin
Scito Te Ipsum
Peter Abelard · 1079–1142
An argument that sin lies in consent rather than in the deed or even the desire, so that those who crucified Christ without knowing who he was did not sin in doing it.
c. 1191–1197
Latin
Verbum Abbreviatum
Peter the Chanter · d. 1197
Practical moral theology on usury, tithes, luxury, the ordeal, and the duties of the powerful, arguing that too much subtle disputation starves the pastoral life.
1201–1300
2 works
c. 1271–1272
Latin
Thomas Aquinas · 1225–1274
A close reading of Aristotle's ethics on its own terms, using the new translations made from Greek rather than through Arabic.
1265–1274
Latin
Summa Theologiae
Thomas Aquinas · 1225–1274
Thousands of articles, each posing a question, stating the strongest objections first, answering, then replying to each objection in turn — covering God, creation, human action, virtue, law, and Christ. Left unfinished when Aquinas stopped writing.
1401–1500
1 work
c. 1440–1454
Latin
Summa Theologica Moralis
Antoninus of Florence · 1389–1459
Moral theology for a commercial city, treating banking, exchange, partnership, wages, and the just price with the detail of someone who heard merchants' confessions.
1501–1600
2 works
May 1520
German
Martin Luther · 1483–1546
An answer to the charge that justification by faith destroys morality: the first good work is faith itself, and every other work flows from it through the commandments.
lectures 1539
Latin
De Iure Belli
Francisco de Vitoria · c. 1483–1546
When war may be waged, by whom, and within what limits — including that difference of religion is no just cause and that the innocent may never be deliberately killed.
1601–1700
3 works
1672
Latin
De Legibus Naturae
Richard Cumberland · 1631–1718
An answer to Hobbes arguing that the natural law is the pursuit of the common good of all rational beings, discoverable from the constitution of the world.
1673
English
Richard Baxter · 1615–1691
A million words of practical cases of conscience covering private devotion, family life, church duties, contracts, lawsuits, servants, and trade.
1693
English
William Penn · 1644–1718
Maxims on marriage, money, government, and death, written in a period of political disgrace by the founder of Pennsylvania.
1901–2000
1 work
1952, from wartime broadcasts
English
C. S. Lewis · 1898–1963
Radio talks given to wartime Britain and later gathered into one book: the moral law as a clue to the universe, then what Christians believe, Christian behaviour, and finally the doctrine of the Trinity — all in the plainest possible language.
31 of 1780 works