S/o readings on early church history

[cmarango]

I just read through the other thread about the differences between protestants and Catholics. I too do not know much of early church history. Recommendations for interesting books would be appreciated.

[K&Rs Mom]

One I have lent to friends is called Catholic and Christian - looks at some of the misconceptions, plus where many of the Catholic traditions come from. It's an easy read - so many books on early church history are SO dense and hard to process.

[Heather in Neverland]

I recommend "Church History in Plain Language" http://www.amazon.com/Church-History-Plain-Language-3rd/dp/0718025539/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293584316&sr=8-1

[Britomart]

I think the best thing to do is to go to the original sources. I really like these books, which are compilations of original sources:

 

-Creeds of the Churches: This starts with the Apostles' Creed, and works its way onward. Just a basic volume containing the creeds from the early days of the church till a few years ago.

 

-The Apostolic Fathers - in college we called these "the New Testament Also-Rans" :D Very, very early epistles from the elders of the early church - but not quite early enough to be included in the New Testament. The Epistle of Polycarp is amazing.

 

The Christological Controversy - This is a collection of writings where the church hammered out the theology of the nature of Christ.

 

Also in that series are The Trinitarian Controversy and Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church.

 

 

All of these books have some modern essays that give you context for the ancient essays. I really like these books because they let you read what the early church fathers actually wrote, instead of reading about what the early church fathers wrote, but I still appreciate having the introductions to help orient me!

 

Be aware that since these books contain material from both sides of the argument, they include writings that were later determined to be heretical.

 

I hope these help. This stuff is the heritage of all Christians: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant alike.

[milovany]

I just read through the other thread about the differences between protestants and Catholics. I too do not know much of early church history. Recommendations for interesting books would be appreciated.

 

I've mentioned it in the other thread, but the Eastern Orthodox Church ought to be considered in this context. There was one church in the first 1000 or so years of Christianity -- in 1054 a great schism occurred between east and west. Whether the eastern church was the original church and the Roman Catholic church walked away from that, OR the western church was the original church and the eastern Orthodox Church walked away from that, is obviously something that the Roman Catholic and Orthodox church do not agree upon (although we love each other! :D)

 

Here is a page of articles I'd recommend from the eastern Orthodox perspective. You can also read the writings of the early church fathers themselves here.

[MamaSheep]

If you're interested, JenniferB just recently started a social group to talk about this kind of thing.

[kristavws]

I've mentioned it in the other thread, but the Eastern Orthodox Church ought to be considered in this context. There was one church in the first 1000 or so years of Christianity -- in 1054 a great schism occurred between east and west. Whether the eastern church was the original church and the Roman Catholic church walked away from that, OR the western church was the original church and the eastern Orthodox Church walked away from that, is obviously something that the Roman Catholic and Orthodox church do not agree upon (although we love each other! :D)

 

Here is a page of articles I'd recommend from the eastern Orthodox perspective. You can also read the writings of the early church fathers themselves here.

 

I was wondering if you have read The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware. I requested it through my library, and it finally came in. I too have been "searching" lately.

 

Krista

[Avila]

The Fathers of the Church by Mike Aquilina is well-researched and easy to read and understand.

 

I also have the 3 volume set by William Jurgens, which is obviously a lot longer and more comprehensive.