Book excerpt: Students of church history and the monastic ascetic life will find this volume of much interest. Contained are three important documents of the early Christian Church: "The Sayings of the Fathers," "The Conferences of Cassian," and "The Rule of Saint Benedict." Long recognized for the quality of its translations, introductions, explanatory notes, and indexes, the Library of Christian Classics provides scholars and students with modern English translations of some of the most significant Christian theological texts in history. Through these works--each written prior to the end of the sixteenth century--contemporary readers are able to engage the ideas that have shaped Christian theology and the church through the centuries.