The oldest extant Easter sermon from the ancient church is a sermon preached by Melito, the bishop of Sardis in Asia Minor at the end of the second century. This sermon gives us a taste of how Christians celebrated the feast…
Early Christian Worship
What would it have been like to worship with the saints at Rome in the middle of the second century? One can only imagine how thrilling it must have been to meet older Christians whose parents or grandparents actually knew…
Communion Prayers in the Ancient Church
In 1873, “Archbishop Philotheos Bryennios was browsing in the library of the Greek Convent of the Holy Sepulchre in Istanbul when, by chance, he noticed the text of the Didache hidden away within a bound collection of early church writings.”[1]
Reformed Catholicity
Michael Allen and Scott Swain discuss whether Christians and churches can be both catholic and Reformed. In their book Reformed Catholicity: The Promise of Retrieval for Theology and Biblical Interpretation (Baker Academic), Allen and Swain suggest Reformed Christians can commit not only to…
How God Became Jesus
Publisher’s Description In his recent book How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher From Galilee historian Bart Ehrman explores a claim that resides at the heart of the Christian faith— that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is,…
The Ancient Church Observance of the Lord’s Supper
Today we speak with Glen Clary about his DMin dissertation titled, “Celebrating Holy Communion According to the Customs of the Ancient Church: A Reformed Communion Liturgy Based on the Eucharistic Liturgy of the Didache.” The Didache is a very early document that teaches about…
The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600)
Publisher’s Description In this, the first of his five-volume opus, Pelikan traces the development of Christian doctrine from the first century to the seventh.
Early Christian Doctrines
Publisher’s Description This revised edition of the standard history of the first great period in Christian thought has been thoroughly updated in the light of the latest historical findings. Dr. Kelly organizes an ocean of material by outlining the development…
The Spirit of Early Christian Thought
Publisher’s Description Written by a preeminent religious historian, this book provides an introduction to early Christian thought. Focusing on major figures such as St. Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa, as well as a host of less well known thinkers, Robert…
The Early Church
Publisher’s Description This first volume of the penguin history of the church looks at the beginning of the Christian movement during the first centuries AD and at the explosive force of its expansion throughout the Roman world. Drawing on recent…
