ks of the Fathers in the original,
the most convenient, in spite of its defects, being that of J.P. Migne
(_Patrologia Graeca_, 166 vols., Paris, 1857 ff.; _Patrologia Latina_,
221 vols., 1844 ff.). Of modern critical editions, besides those
containing the works of one or another individual, the best are the
Berlin edition of the early Greek Fathers (_Die griechischen
christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderie_, 1897 ff.),
and the Vienna edition of the Latin Fathers (_Corpus scriptorum
ecclesiasticorum Latinorum_, 1867 ff.), both of first-rate importance.
There is a convenient English translation of most of the writings of
the ante-Nicene Fathers by Roberts and Donaldson (_Ante-Nicene
Christian Library_, 25 vols., Edinburgh, 1868 ff., American reprint in
nine vols., 1886 ff.). A continuation of it, containing selected works
of the Nicene and post-Nicene period, was edited by Schaff and others
under the title _A Select Library of Nicene and post-Nicene Fathers_
(series 1 and 2; 28 vols., Buffalo and New York, 1886 ff.).

On early Christian literature, in addition to the works on Church
history, see especially the monumental _Geschichte der altchristlichen
Litteratur bis Eusebius_, by Harnack (1893 ff.). The brief _Geschichte
der altchristlichen Litteratur in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten_, by
G. Krueger (1895, English translation 1897) is a very convenient
summary. Bardenhewer's _Patrologie_ (1894) and his _Geschichte der
altkirchlichen Litteratur_ (1902 ff.) should also be mentioned. See
also Smith and Wace's invaluable _Dictionary of Christian Biography_
(1877 ff.). (A. C. Mcg.)

B. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THE MIDDLE AGES

The ancient Church was the church of the Roman empire. It is true that
from the 4th century onwards it expanded beyond the borders of that
empire to east and west, north and south; but the infant churches which
gradually arose in Persia and Abyssinia, among some of the scattered
Teutonic races, and among the Celts of Ireland, were at first not
co-operating factors in the development of Christendom: they received
without giving in return. True historic life is only to be found within
the church of the Empire.

The middle ages came into being at the time when the political structure
of the world, based upon the conquests of Alexander the Great and the
achievements of Julius Caesar, began to disintegrate. They were present
when the b