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The Library

Forty Centuries of Christian Writing

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.

501–600

The Sixth Century

1 work

589

Latin

The Acts of the Third Council of Toledo

The Third Council of Toledo

King Reccared and the Visigothic nobility renounce Arianism before seventy-two bishops, the Arian books are ordered burned, and the creed is to be sung at every mass — recited, in the Spanish text, with the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son.

Western · Conciliar actsJohnMatthewActsGalatiansRead elsewhere

801–900

The Ninth Century

2 works

879–880

Greek

The Acts of the Council of 879–880

The Council of Constantinople

Three hundred and eighty-three bishops, with Roman legates present and consenting, restore Photius, annul the council of 869, and forbid any addition to the creed of 381 — which the Franks had already made and Rome would eventually adopt.

Byzantine · Conciliar actsJohnMatthewActsRead elsewhere

c. 885

Greek

The Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit

Photius of Constantinople · c. 815–c. 893

A sustained argument that the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone, and that the Latin addition to the creed is both unauthorised and incoherent.

Byzantine · TheologyJohnRead elsewhere

1101–1200

The Twelfth Century

1 work

1149

Latin

The Dialogues

Anselm of Havelberg · c. 1100–1158

A record of debates held in Constantinople with a Greek archbishop on the filioque and papal authority, prefaced by an argument that the church legitimately changes over time.

Western · DialogueRead elsewhere

1201–1300

The Thirteenth Century

2 works

1274

Latin

The Profession of Faith of Michael VIII

The Second Council of Lyon

A statement accepting the filioque and papal primacy, submitted by a Byzantine emperor's envoys to secure Western military protection.

Ecumenical · DefinitionRead elsewhere

c. 1275–1282

Greek

On the Union of the Churches

John Bekkos · c. 1225–1297

A patriarch who had once opposed union argues from the Greek fathers themselves that through the Son and from the Son mean the same thing.

Byzantine · TheologyRead elsewhere

1401–1500

The Fifteenth Century

3 works

6 July 1439

Latin

Laetentur Caeli

The Council of Florence

The decree of union between the Greek and Latin churches, settling the filioque, purgatory, papal primacy, and the eucharistic bread — signed by all the Greek delegates but one.

Ecumenical · DecreeRead elsewhere

1439

Greek

The Oration on Union

Basilios Bessarion · 1403–1472

An argument to the Greek delegation at Florence that the Latin and Greek fathers say the same thing about the Spirit in different words, and that union is therefore honest.

Byzantine · OrationRead elsewhere

1438–1444

Greek

The Anti-Union Writings

Mark of Ephesus · 1392–1444

The encyclicals and treatises of the one Greek bishop at Florence who refused to sign the union, on the filioque, purgatory, and the impossibility of agreement by formula.

Byzantine · PolemicRead elsewhere