The Early Church (The Penguin History of the Church)

By Henry Chadwick

Book Overview

Examines the beginning of the Christian movement during the first centureis AD, and the explosive force of its expansion throughout the Roman world. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140231994
• ISBN13: 9780140231991
• Release Date: October 1993
• Publisher: Penguin
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.8" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

This book came in a very bad shape

It is unfortunate this book is in a very bad shape.

A combination last of the Roman Empire and beginning of the Middle Ages.

A very scholarly book with lots of people mentioned and complex issues explained. The Church had a great many differences of opinion.

Concise, readable overview.

In very few pages, the author manages to give an excellent recap of the key events and forces which shaped church history in the first 6 centuries. He goes into enough detail, howwever, that I'll bet even avid readers of church history will still find here material previously unknown to them. His organizing the material according to topics rather than by a strict chronological order makes it particularily easy to understand how the church grappled with its' earliest issues and crises. He does not seem to hold any partisan view: he even seems to regret that Arianism did not take hold in the mainstream church! This book can be recommended for readers at any level who wish to learn about church history.

An almost exciting read

Henry Chadwick is one of the foremost scholars of Church History. His style is clear and his presentation solid. This book concisely covers the beginnings of the Church from the time of the apostles to around 600 AD, covering the "Patristic" or Church Father period.Basically Henry covers one of the most interesting and fruitful periods in Church history. He covers both historical details and the theology and philosophies of various church fathers. The controversies of the early Church, from the Proto-Charismatic Montanism to the later Arian-Nicene struggle over the doctrine of the Trinity, are represented accurately. The struggles are almost exciting.Overall this book will give the reader a basic introduction into the history of the early Christian Church. For the more advanced student, this particular work by Chadwick might seem too basic, but that is its purpose. This book will be a new experience for some, as it was for me when I first read it. Certain issues considered "fundamentals" to many Christians today, such as biblical inerrancy, were not even really discussed in the early Church. Although, certain Biblical issues such as Canonization (choosing which texts would be a part of the Bible) were hot issues. As a scholar of Church history and a Christian, I use this book often and recommend its use to others.