Do you want to expand your knowledge of the early church, beyond the Acts of the Apostles? try these jobs.
Is the history of early Christianity so remote for you that you don’t know much about anything after Pentecost? Curious about what happened to each of the apostles and how the church spread from Jerusalem to various parts of the world?
We reached out to several prominent Catholics, authors, and intellectuals for a roundup of resources available to the ignorant, the curious, and those who want to broaden their horizons on church history. in the first centuries. here’s aleteia’s guide to the best books on early christian history:
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the didache
To go directly to a primary source besides the New Testament, take a look at the Brief Didache, also commonly known as the Teachings of the Twelve Apostles. “This is a short, easy-to-read book that takes a look at the thinking and practices of the church at the end of the first century,” says John Martignoni, founder and president of the Christian Bible Society. “contains a short treatise on the two ways, the way of life and the way of death, and also discusses various sins, fasting and prayer, baptism and the Eucharist, and various other topics, including the end of the times”.
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ecclesiastical history, by eusebio
“Eusebius’s history of the church is generally regarded as the first work of church history, beginning with our lord and continuing through the fourth century (when the work was written),” said Fr. peter mj stravinskas, executive director of the catholic education foundation. “one of its key features is that eusebius presents detailed lines of succession of the bishops of all the main sees. … At times, Eusebius departs from what we might expect of a historian today as he moves closer to the mode of a hagiographer. That said, it remains a very valuable and important text, a genuine starting point for anyone who wants to learn about the origins of the church.”
martignoni, who is also director of evangelization for the diocese of birmingham, alabama, and host of ewtn radio’s open line on monday, adds that eusebius also gives “fascinating accounts of the apostles, the martyrs and other figures prominent figures of the early church, as well as more background on some of the characters who receive passing mention in the New Testament.”
city of god, by st. hippopotamus agustin
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“this historical and theological classic of st. Augustine of Hippo is considered one of the greatest works of Western literature for good reason,” said Fr. avelino gonzalez, a priest of the archdiocese of washington who works at the pontifical council for the promotion of christian unity. “It was written at a very precarious, and I would say relevant, moment in the history of Western civilization, the fall of the Roman Empire (410 AD). the book presents the first attempt at a philosophy of history. presents human history as a cosmic conflict between two cohorts or groups of people. one group belongs to the city of man and consists of members of the human race devoted to earthly appetites and the pleasures of the passing world. the second group consists of the city of god or members of humanity dedicated to the eternal truths of god, and following the incarnate word of god and redeemer of humanity, jesus christ. History itself is presented as the unfolding of God’s divine plan for the salvation and happiness of the human race. only those who make up society within the city of god will be saved.
“in this interpretation of salvation history, st. Augustine maintains that the paganism or the sin of idolatry practiced in the Roman empire contained in itself the seeds of its own destruction, that is, that the city of man was inherently nihilistic”, fr. gonzalez continues. “A question for the contemporary reader is why it seems that more people throughout history seem to choose the city of man over the city of god, when self-annihilation is inevitable in the former.”
Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection
fr. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B., Founding Prior of the Monastery of San Benedetto, located in Norcia, Italy, birthplace of St. benedict, says this work is “profound, easy to read, and readily available.”
“desert fathers (and mothers) are larger-than-life heroes of the fourth and fifth centuries, whose radical way of life and terse sayings cut to the marrow,” fr. Folsom says. “His perceptions are timeless. As we read them, we are inspired to follow Christ more boldly.
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