A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

6 A Source Book for Ancient Church Historywho is really absorbed in his work to eliminate completely thepersonal equation. He should be glad to be informed of anyinstance in which he may have unwittingly failed in impartiality,that when occasion presented he might correct it. The day hasgone by in which ecclesiastical history can not be treated saveas a branch of polemical theology or as an apologetic for anyparticular phase of Christian belief or practice. It has at lastbecome possible to teach the history of the Christian Church,for many centuries the greatest institution of Western Europe,in colleges and universities in conjunction with other historicalcourses.This volume has been prepared at the suggestion of the AmericanSociety of Church History, and valuable suggestions havebeen gained from the discussions of that society. To ProfessorW. W. Rockwell, of Union Theological Seminary, New York,Professor F. A. Christie, of Meadville Theological School, thelate Professor Samuel Macauley Jackson, of New York, andProfessor Ephraim Emerton, of Harvard University, I have alsobeen indebted for advice. The first two named were memberswith me of a committee on a Source-Book for Church Historyappointed several years ago by the American Society of ChurchHistory.That the book now presented to the public may be of serviceto the teacher and student of ecclesiastical history is my sincerewish. It may easily happen that no one else would make justthe same selection of sources here made. But it is probablethat the principal documents, those on which the majority wouldagree and which are most needed by the teacher in his work, areincluded among those presented. There are, no doubt, slips anddefects in a book written at intervals in a teacher's work. Withthe kind co-operation of those who detect them, they may becorrected when an opportunity occurs.JOSEPH CULLEN AYER, JR.