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are documented in Hefele's translation and commentary made in the late nineteenth century.18 Data is given on councils in the late second century, scattered references to which are to be found in various early patristic writings including Eusebius, Jerome, Irenaeus, and Athanasius. The decrees of the ecumenical councils, which began in the fourth century, are collected in the two-volume edition edited by Norman P. Tanner.19
The difficulty in consulting the early councils (and synodical data) lies in the fact that a great deal of information is missing. Thus, for example, the official acts of the Council of Constantinople (381 CE) are no longer extant. The series edited by Pius Bonifacius Gans, lists the Sees and the succession of bishops.20 Other relevant material includes lists of bishops who attended these early Councils, such as the extant list of bishops who were at Nicaea.21 Fedalto provides the background in a comprehensive listing reconstructed from primary materials.22
Roman Legal Sources
The Theodosian Code provides important reference material and information about the deteriorating relationship between Jews and Christians, and the development of Christianity into the favoured religion of the empire.23
Jewish Sources
Jewish sources include, in addition to the corpus of Dead Sea Scroll material (which is being expanded daily), Jewish apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, the writings of Philo and Josephus, rabbinic material from the Mishnah, Tosephta, Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, as well as the aggadic and halachic midrashim. These will be used to help illuminate the background and meaning of early Christian writings.24
Liturgical Sources and Commentaries
The raw material for Jewish and Christian liturgy is to be found in the Jewish rabbinic sources and in early Christian writings. Pioneering work in the Jewish roots of Christian liturgy was done by Eric Werner in The Sacred Bridge, while the work of Josef Jungmann and Gregory Dix in Christian liturgy should be acknowledged.25 Useful works that show the