Because there has been no complete English translation of the Ancoratus to date, this volume adds significantly to the resources available for patristic studies.

Epiphanius, monastic founder and bishop of Salamis on Cyprus for almost 40 years of the fourth century, threw heart and soul into the controversies of the time and produced the "Panarion" or "Medicine Chest", an historical encyclopedia of ...

Book I of Epiphanius' "Panarion" or "Medicine Chest" describes the Gnostic and Jewish Christian groups known to him and gives refutations of their teachings. It deals with materials also found inNag Hammadi and other Gnostic documents.

It thus describes the thought of the fourth century church, and includes a number of source documents, many of them found only here. This is the only full translation of Epiphanius in a modern language.

Written in the fourth century A.D., the Panarion of St. Epiphanius is by far the most extensive ancient account of heresies in the early church and the major source for a considerable number of heterodox documents and traditions.