The Penguin History of the Church: The Early Church v. 1 (Penguin History of the Church)

click here for more details, find new or used items	Henry Chadwick Our price £7.69 (£10.99) New from £3.74 Used from £2.98 Pages: 320 (Paperback) ISBN: 0140231994 Pub: Penguin Books Ltd Pub date: 1993-09-30 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 39414

Reader Reviews:

Concise, Pithy Account of Early Church History (0/0 people found this helpful)

As one who is an avid reader of Church history, I can say that this is the best volume of early Church history I have read. Henry Chadwick's account of the rise of Christianity, from its roots in Judaism to its decisive break from the mother religion, is weighty, concise and clear.

He explains how the early Christians saw themselves as Jews but that the decisive break came when they (the Christians) accepted Gentiles into the new movement. Thereafter, Chadwick explores the spread of Christianity in the Near East and eventually how it made its way to Rome. This is pretty standard stuff so far.

What I liked about the book was the explanation of the different Christological positions in the controversies surrounding the question of Christ's nature. It is in Chadwick's book that I understood Arius and Arianism, Nicene confessions, Chalcedonian Christianity, Monophysitism and Nestorianism. These controversies, which seem drab and overly punctilious to modern readers, were, as Chadwick points out, one of the reasons for the eventual split of the Church into Latin and Orthodox Christianities.

The book is not just a boring academic tome. He enlivens the book with lively descriptions of the Church Fathers; Ambrose, Tertullian and the key characters (and politics) in the Christological consipiracies. If you are interested in understanding the rise of Christianity in the Ancient World and want a readable account of the abstruse, high-falutin Christological terms that have come to define Christian doctrine then this book is a must-read. It deserves my 5 stars.

A Great History Of The Early Chruch! (12/12 people found this helpful)

"The Early Church" provides the reader with an excellent history of the first six centuries of Christianity. Author Henry Chadwick covers structural and doctrinal development, along with the rise and fall of heresies and introductions to the leading characters of the period.

This excellent book provides an overview of so many things which casual students of Church history probably heard of but may not have really understood. From my reading of this book I have a better understanding of early heresies including Arianism (Jesus was not co-eternal with the Father), Donatism (no reconciliation with apostates) Manichaeism (a secret, gnostic type sect) and Pelagianism (denial of original sin). The role of councils, such as Nicaea, in combating heresy and guiding the development of orthodoxy is made clearer. A greater understanding of the roles of the Church Fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian, Theodore of Mopsuestia, St. Jerome and St. Augustine is gained by the reader of this book.

From a theological or historical perspective this book is a treasure. One test I apply to books is whether they inspire me to study more. This one does. I am confident that it will do the same for you.

The Early Church: a tug of war? (16/17 people found this helpful)

This is a good overall guide to the early Christian church. It is well written and easily readable, without needing a deep previous understanding. At times I did find the layout slightly confusing, as you seem to approach the same events in numerous 'thematic' chapters, rather than using a "time-line" approach. However, the reader does get a feeling of the way the issues at the time were affecting the church, especially of the conflicts that existed between East and West.

A good starter from people just interested in the subject or a good revision for those already knowledgable in the subject!

Perfect balance (9/11 people found this helpful)

Can't complain about it at all, it covers everything in just enough detail to familiarize you with the different elements of the period, and leaves you informed as to which areas you'd like to read in more detail.

History of the Early Church (18/19 people found this helpful)

I found the book excellent for history and getting a sense of the organic development of the modern Eastern and Western rites. I also enjoyed the historical context in which the book was set in terms of the political developments in the Roman empire. It covered well the start of the rift between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism.

The only problem that I had with it was that it covered a few cases in a lot of detail, which tends to break up the overall historical progression of the book. During these individual analysis chapters, he jumps around through history instead of analysing the developments in a smooth historical narrative, which I would have preferred.

Similar Products

The Penguin History of the Church: Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages v. 2 (Penguin History of the Church)

The Penguin History of the Church: Reformation v. 3 (Penguin History of the Church, 3)

Christian Theology: An Introduction

A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church to A.D.337 (SPCK Church History)

Doctrine and Practice in the Early Church

Categories

Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories: