Books and Readers in the Early Church
Books and Readers in the Early Church

Author: Harry Y. Gamble

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1995-01-01

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780300069181

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This fascinating and lively book provides the first comprehensive discussion of the production, circulation, and use of books in early Christianity. It explores the extent of literacy in early Christian communities; the relation in the early church between oral tradition and written materials; the physical form of early Christian books; how books were produced, transcribed, published, duplicated, and disseminated; how Christian libraries were formed; who read the books, in what circumstances, and to what purposes. Harry Y. Gamble interweaves practical and technological dimensions of the production and use of early Christian books with the social and institutional history of the period. Drawing on evidence from papyrology, codicology, textual criticism, and early church history, as well as on knowledge about the bibliographical practices that characterized Jewish and Greco-Roman culture, he offers a new perspective on the role of books in the first five centuries of the early church.

Evangelism in the Early Church
Evangelism in the Early Church

Author: Michael Green

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2023-09-28

Total Pages: 491

ISBN-13: 1467465623

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Now a modern classic, Michael Green’s Evangelism in the Early Church shows how the first Christians worked to spread the good news to the rest of the world. Studying the New Testament and church fathers, Green explores the earliest methods, motives, and strategies of spreading the good news. He also considers the obstacles to evangelism, using outreach to Gentiles and to Jews as examples of differing contexts for proclamation. Thoroughly informed by primary sources, this book will help contemporary readers learn from the past and renew their own evangelistic vision.

When the Church Was Young
When the Church Was Young

Author: Marcellino D'Ambrosio

Publisher: Franciscan Media

Published: 2014-07-17

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 1616367784

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

If the word trinity isn’t in Scripture, why is it such an important part of our faith? And if the Bible can be interpreted in many ways, how do we know what to make of it? And who decided what should be in the Bible anyway? The Church Fathers provide the answers. These brilliant, embattled, and sometimes eccentric men defined the biblical canon, hammered out the Creed, and gave us our understanding of sacraments and salvation. It is they who preserved for us the rich legacy of the early Church. D’Ambrosio dusts off the dry theology and brings you the exciting stories and great heroes such as Ambrose, Augustine, Basil, Athanasius, Chrysostom, and Jerome. This page-turner will inspire and challenge you with the lives and insights of these seminal teachers from when the Church was young.

Early Christian Writings
Early Christian Writings

Author:

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 1987-04-30

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 0141915307

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The writings in this volume cast a glimmer of light upon the emerging traditions and organization of the infant church, during an otherwise little-known period of its development. A selection of letters and small-scale theological treatises from a group known as the Apostolic Fathers, several of whom were probably disciples of the Apostles, they provide a first-hand account of the early Church and outline a form of early Christianity still drawing on the theology and traditions of its parent religion, Judaism. Included here are the first Epistle of Bishop Clement of Rome, an impassioned plea for harmony; The Epistle of Polycarp; The Epistle of Barnabas; The Didache; and the Seven Epistles written by Ignatius of Antioch - among them his moving appeal to the Romans that they grant him a martyr's death.

Early Christian Martyr Stories
Early Christian Martyr Stories

Author: Bryan M. Litfin

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2014-09-30

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1441220070

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Personal narratives are powerful instruments for teaching, both for conveying information and for forming character. The martyrdom accounts preserved in the literature of early Christianity are especially intense and dramatic. However, these narratives are not readily available and are often written in intimidating prose, making them largely inaccessible for the average reader. This introductory text brings together key early Christian martyrdom stories in a single volume, offering new, easy-to-read translations and expert commentary. An introduction and explanatory notes accompany each translation. The book not only provides a vivid window into the world of early Christianity but also offers spiritual encouragement and inspiration for Christian life today.

Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers
Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers

Author: Christopher A. Hall

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 1998-08-21

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9780830815005

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Christopher Hall shows that studying the writings of the leaders of the early church reveals how the Bible was understood in the centuries closest to its writing. He also lays out how modern Christians can benefit from patristic interpretation of Scripture.

Public Reading in Early Christianity
Public Reading in Early Christianity

Author: Dan Nässelqvist

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2015-11-02

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 9004306633

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Public Reading in Early Christianity: Lectors, Manuscripts, and Sound in the Oral Delivery of John 1-4 Dan Nässelqvist investigates the oral delivery of New Testament writings in early Christian communities of the first two centuries C.E. He examines the role of lectors and public reading in the Greek and Roman world as well as in early Christianity. Nässelqvist introduces a method of sound analysis, which utilizes the correspondence between composition and delivery in ancient literary writings to retrieve information about oral delivery from the sound structures of the text being read aloud. Finally he applies the method of sound analysis to John 1–4 and presents the implications for our understanding of public reading and the Gospel of John.

Getting to Know the Church Fathers
Getting to Know the Church Fathers

Author: Bryan M. Litfin

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2016-07-19

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 1493404784

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A Trusted Introduction to the Church Fathers This concise introduction to the church fathers connects evangelical students and readers to twelve key figures from the early church. Bryan Litfin engages readers with actual people, not just abstract doctrines or impersonal events, to help them understand the fathers as spiritual ancestors in the faith. The first edition has been well received and widely used. This updated and revised edition adds chapters on Ephrem of Syria and Patrick of Ireland. The book requires no previous knowledge of the patristic period and includes original, easy-to-read translations that give a brief taste of each writer's thought.

Ancient Christian Worship
Ancient Christian Worship

Author: Andrew B. McGowan

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2014-09-30

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 1441246312

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An Important Study on the Worship of the Early Church This introduction to the origins of Christian worship illuminates the importance of ancient liturgical patterns for contemporary Christian practice. Andrew McGowan takes a fresh approach to understanding how Christians came to worship in the distinctive forms still familiar today. Deftly and expertly processing the bewildering complexity of the ancient sources into lucid, fluent exposition, he sets aside common misperceptions to explore the roots of Christian ritual practices--including the Eucharist, baptism, communal prayer, preaching, Scripture reading, and music--in their earliest recoverable settings. Now in paper.