Homilies on the Gospel of St. John and the Epistle to the Hebrews

NPNF (V1-14)St. ChrysostomvPreface.————————————This volume closes the American edition of the Works of St. Chrysostom, and at the same timethe First Series of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Library of the Christian Fathers.The best works of St. Augustin and St. Chrysostom are thus brought within the reach of theEnglish reader in a more complete form and at a lower price than ever before.The Epistle to the Hebrews was the last volume of the Oxford “Library of the Fathers,” publishedunder the direction and with a Preface of the late Dr. Pusey, the chief originator of that valuableLibrary. His Preface is dated, Oxford, May, 1877. He died Sept. 16, 1882.The American editor of the <strong>Homilies</strong> on the Hebrews has thoroughly revised the Oxfordtranslation and enlarged it with a valuable introduction on the authorship of the Epistle (about whichSt. Chrysostom was mistaken), and a considerable number of explanatory footnotes. Unfortunatelyhe died shortly before his ms . was sent to the printer, but his son read the proofs.The Rev. Dr. Frederic Gardiner (born Sept. 11, 1822, died July 17, 1889) was for many yearsProfessor in the Berkeley Episcopal Divinity School at Middletown, Conn., and President of theSociety of Biblical Literature and Exegesis. He edited a Greek Harmony of the Four Gospels, andseveral exegetical works, and was a contributor to Lange’s Commentary, Ellicott’s Commentaryfor English Readers, and various periodicals. The revision of the <strong>Homilies</strong> on the Epistle to theHebrews was his last work.The <strong>Homilies</strong> on the Fourth Gospel appears in the Oxford “Library of the Fathers,” with a fewadditional notes. The Rev. Charles Marriott (1811–1858) edited them, and wrote the preface to thefirst volume. For fourteen years, from 1841 to 1855, he was associated with Dr. Pusey as workingeditor, and superintended the publication of at least twenty-four volumes (twelve of St. Chrysostom,eight of St. Augustin, four of St. Gregory I.), i.e . more than one-half of that Library. It was withboth a labor of love and sacrifice, without fee or reward except the approval of the conscience andof good men. To their unselfish labors the American edition owes a great debt of gratitude. Mr.Marriott did most of the literary drudgery, as translator, corrector, and proof-reader, with untiringfidelity and painstaking zeal till he was struck down by paralysis in 1855, “to wait in stillness forhis Lord’s last call.” Dean Burgon states these facts in a interesting account of his intimate friend(in Lives of Twelve Good Men , London and New York, 1888, vol. I. 296–376). He calls Marriott“a character unique, beautiful, and saint-like,” and adds that he “lived quite above the world, and,like Enoch, walked habitually with God.”I feel very thankful that this Patristic Library has so far been finished, and I am happy toannounce that the “Christian Literature Company” is sufficiently encouraged to publish the secondseries, which will contain the Greek Fathers from Eusebius to John of Damascus, and the LatinFathers from Hilary to Gregory the Great. I secured the coöperation of eminent patristic scholarsof England and America several years ago for the completion of this enterprise.PHILIP SCHAFFUnion Theological Seminary,New York, Dec. 24, 1889.2