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    The Early Christians

    In Their Own Words


    3.96 Stars on Goodreads Read Reviews

    What did Christianity look like before it became an institution? Find out for yourself with this collection of firsthand accounts of the early church. Includes excerpts from Origen, Tertullian, Polycarp, Clement of Alexandria, Justin, Irenaeus, and others — and equally revealing material from their critics, detractors and persecutors.


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    About The Book

    What did Christianity look like before it became an institution?

    In these firsthand accounts of the early church, the spirit of Pentecost burns with prophetic force through the fog that envelops the modern church. A clear and vibrant faith lives on in these writings, providing a guide for Christians today. Its stark simplicity and revolutionary fervor will stun those lulled by conventional Christianity.

    The Early Christians is a topically arranged collection of primary sources. It includes extra-biblical sayings of Jesus and excerpts from Origen, Tertullian, Polycarp, Clement of Alexandria, Justin, Irenaeus, and others. Equally revealing material from pagan contemporaries – critics, detractors and persecutors – is included as well.

    Hardcover, 6 x 9
    ISBN:978-0874865967

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    Table of Contents

    I THE WITNESS OF THE EARLY CHURCH

    • by Eberhard Arnold

    II THE STATE, SOCIETY AND MARTYRS

    • Pliny
    • Polycarp
    • Justin
    • Letter from Vienne and Lyons
    • Acts of Martyrs
    • Early Apologies

    III SELF-PORTRAITS AND PORTRAYALS

    • Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, First Apology
    • Aristides, Apology
    • Origen, Against Celsus
    • Hippolytus, The Apostolic Tradition
    • Letter to Diognetus
    • Tertullian, Apology

    IV CREED, CONFESSION AND SCRIPTURE

    • Apostolic Confession
    • Rule of Faith
    • Irenaeus, Against Heresies
    • Athenagoras, A Plea Regarding Christians
    • Late Athenagoras, On the Resurrection of the Dead
    • Justin, First Apology, Dialogue with Trypho
    • Muratorian Canon

    V SAYINGS OF JESUS AND THE APOSTLES

    • Extra-Biblical Sayings of Jesus
    • The Didache
    • First Letter of Clement to the Corinthians
    • Ignatius, Letters to the Ephesians, Romans, Smyrnaeans, and Polycarp
    • Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians
    • Letters of Barnabas

    VI MEETINGS, WORSHIP AND CHURCH PRACTICES

    • Baptism
    • The Lord’s Supper or Love Meal
    • Distribution of Goods
    • Leadership and Gifts
    • Prayers and Hymns

    VII PROCLAMATION AND THE PROPHETIC SPIRIT

    • Acts of Andrew
    • Justin, Dialogue with Trypho
    • Second Letter of Clement
    • The Shepherd of Hermas
    • Sibylline Oracles
    • Montanus