The Early Church: The I.B.Tauris History of the Christian Church

by Morwenna Ludlow

How did the early Christians manage to establish a religion and institution which, despite persecution, flourished and grew? How did their initial experience of being a despised minority in the Roman Empire shape their sense of privileged identity and uniqueness? And how was it that - at least at the outset - the first believers were able to exist alongside the same shared traditions, rituals and beliefs of the Jews, despite the Jewish rejection of Jesus as Messiah?The Christian community was born out of its faith in a man who was also the 'anointed one' (or Christ) of God; and its growth and development often echoed those complex and contradictory origins. Morwenna Ludlow discusses the fragile context as well as the emerging core beliefs of the early Church (including divine creation, salvation, eschatology, the humanity and divinity of Christ and the inter-relationships of the Trinity) between 50-600 CE. She also examines the process of Christian self-definition in response to groups on the edge of the Church, such as Gnostics, Marcionites, Montanists and Manichaeans, as well as in relation to Judaism.
Bringing to vivid life the remarkable history of the early Church, in all its conflict and struggle, the author shows why such a successful faith was able to rise out of such improbable and unpromising beginnings.

Genres: Theology

304 pages, Hardcover

First published December 17, 2008

Reviews

[Judyta Szacillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good-quality historical study of the first ages of Christianity. However, the main focus is on the development of theological thought - as much as it is important, I longed for more information about the daily life of early Christian communities, and I would like to see more information from the perspective of other than Christian sources. This is not to say that there wasn't any of that in the book, because there was! I just felt that there was too much discussion of theological problems (Can Mary be called a God-bearer? Are Father and Son of the same substance?) and not enough of other aspects of the early history of Christianity to my taste.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ludlow focuses too much on the intellectual history. She sacrifices a cohesive narrative. She only focuses on the elite Christians instead of a more encompassing view.

[Jeremy Gardiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was my church history textbook at Wycliffe College. Thought it was great! Recommended.

[David Scarratt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated that this book is happy to admit that many interesting questions about the early church simply can't be answered, or might be answered in different ways by considering the evidence from different perspectives. I also tend to agree that there has been a tendency to judge matters from the standpoint of the historical survivor: the church as we understand it today. Is this history more successful in assessing the relative merits of different ancient views, or in attributing their successes and failures to causes other than their alignment with what came to dominate? Does it go too far the other way, and fail to critique alternatives adequately? Perhaps, at times. But the approach is refreshing and thought-provoking. It more than makes up for the endurance required to reach the end of each chapter, and the lack of sign-posting.

This is probably not the best introduction for a first foray into early church history, but it strikes me as a solid follow-up, perhaps worth reading together with some "original" texts (I say "original" because I expect most will want to read them in translation).