Church History Pre-Reformation : Books

This work, which establishes Irenaeus as the most important of the theologians of the second century, is a detailed and effective refutation of Gnosticism, and a major source of information on the various Gnostic sects and doctrines. This volume contains Book One.

Once considered a period of decline, Late Antiquity (third through eighth centuries C.E.) is now seen as a creative period of transition between the ancient and medieval worlds. Ostensibly an "otherworldly" religion, Christianity became a powerful worldly cultural force. But this power was shaped and severely limited by a large number of factors, including its own highly diverse traditions, scriptures, practices, and theologies. William Klingshirn and Mark Vessey have assembled some of the most influential scholars in the study of Late Antiquity to test the limits of Christianity. The sixteen essays in this collection investigate the ways in which the concept of "limits" (temporal, spatial, ideological, social, and cultural) can help us to understand the texture of Christianity during this formative period. Taken together, the essays in this volume constitute as yet the most sustained study of cultural transformations evoked by Robert Markus's phrase "the end of ancient Christianity." This timely volume will interest students of early Christian history and theology, as well as historians of the Roman empire and early middle ages. Because it examines a formative period of western civilization, it will also speak to anyone who wonders why Christianity takes the form it does today. Contributors include Gerald Bonner, Peter Brown, Virginia Burrus, John Cavadini, Elizabeth Clark, Paula Fredriksen, Sidney Griffith, David Hunter, Conrad Leyser, Paul Meyvaert, Oliver Nicholson, James O'Donnell, Philip Rousseau, Frederick Russell, Carole Straw, and Robert Wilken. William E. Klingshirn is Associate Professor of Greek and Latin, The Catholic University of America. Mark Vessey is Associate Professor of English, University of British Columbia.

Historians who viewed imperial Rome in terms of a conflict between pagans and Christians have often regarded the emperor Constantine's conversion as the triumph of Christianity over paganism. But in Constantine and the Bishops, historian H. A. Drake offers a fresh and more nuanced understanding of Constantine's rule and, especially, of his relations with Christians. Constantine, Drake suggests, was looking not only for a god in whom to believe but also a policy he could adopt. Uncovering the political motivations behind Constantine's policies, Drake shows how those policies were constructed to ensure the stability of the empire and fulfill Constantine's imperial duty in securing the favor of heaven. Despite the emperor's conversion to Christianity, Drake concludes, Rome remained a world filled with gods and with men seeking to depose rivals from power. A book for students and scholars of ancient history and religion, Constantine and the Bishops shows how Christian belief motivated and gave shape to imperial rule.

This monumental series places at the disposal of the English reading public a solid introduction to early Christian literature. It is the first work of its kind written originally in English. The first volume appeared in 1950. Reviewers were unanimous in heaping praise upon the publication and looking upon it as a break-through in studying the Fathers of the Church. To arouse interest in the works of the Fathers, the author provides numerous excerpts in English. These are thought of as samples that, by giving readers a taste of the beauty and sublimity of the Patristic writings, may tempt them to take in hand the original and get their own impression of it, or, if that is too much for them, at least to read it in good translation. Only this, if achieved, will put readers close to Patristic literature, because only then do they sense the atmosphere of Christian antiquity and begin to penetrate its world. The author's experiences as a university professor prompted him to adopt this device. The selections are designed to also show the development of theology in the early centuries and to illustrate the approach of the Fathers to the deposit of faith.

Oskar Skarsaune makes a fresh contribution to our understanding of the development of the early church in its practice (e.g., worship, baptism and Eucharist) and doctrine (e.g., Scripture, Christology, pneumatology). This book offers the new perspective that Christians were in ongoing and deep conversation with Jews during the early centuries leading up to Constantine. The common perception of a drastic "parting of the ways" after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. has tended to distort our understanding of the succeeding decades and centuries of Jewish and Christian history. Notwithstanding the fact that there were points of bitterness and strife, the relationship is better viewed as that of a younger and older sibling. There is much evidence of interaction between the early Christians and rabbinic Judaism, both at the level of leadership and laypeople, and this left its impression on the church. Skarsaune gives us numerous fascinating episodic and topical glimpses into this untold story.

The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. In Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman offers a fascinating look at these early forms of Christianity and shows how they came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten. All of these groups insisted that they upheld the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, and they all possessed writings that bore out their claims, books reputedly produced by Jesus' own followers. Scrupulously researched and lucidly written, Lost Christianities is an eye-opening account of politics, power, and the clash of ideas among Christians in the decades before one group came to see its views prevail.

Study of religious history, addressing the issue of religion and sexuality and examining the impact of the founders of the early Christian church on the continuing development of a male-dominated guilt ethos attitude toward sexuality

Ecclesiastical history written around the 3rd century

For Additional books in the ATLA E Book collection
Use the following subject term :

Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600