The Early Church

Examines the beginning of the Christian movement during the first centureis AD, and the explosive force of its expansion throughout the Roman world.

Publisher: Penguin
Type: paperback
ISBN: 9780140231991

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Henry Chadwick was a Regius professor at both Oxford and Cambridge; head of Christ Church, Oxford, and Peterhouse, Cambridge; recipient of a honorary doctorate from Chicago, Harvard, Yale, and Uppsala; a member of the German Order of Merit; a fellow (former vice-president) of the British Academy; and a corresponding member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, and the Gottingen and Rhineland academies. He was made a knight in 1989.

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If you thought the Church was a simple collection of people trying to worship the same God that has always existed and with the same understanding of what it is all about, then read this book. It is a superb narrative of the evolution of the Church over centuries and it makes clear the complexity of the Church and its structures today. Superbly researched and written in a way that captures the reader, even though some of the names of the major players are difficult and similar and very ancient. This objective recounting of the story of the Church as it developed and sought to clarify complex theological issues is very helpful for those who do have some misgivings about some of the taught Mantras of our own day. The author has done a marvellous job in making the debates and the philosophical issues that impacted on Church doctrinal developments comprehensible and he does it in a non judgemental and objective way. Our beliefs are not simple, never have been, never will be. Our God is not understandable in the way we would like Him/her to be. Robert Batey