The Pelican History of the Church 1: The Early Church

by Henry Chadwick

Paperback, 1984

Status

Available

Call number

270

Publication

Pelican / Penguin Books (1984), Paperback, 304 pages

Description

Examines the beginning of the Christian movement during the first centuries AD, and the explosive force of its expansion throughout the Roman world

User reviews

LibraryThing member deanc

Originally published in 1967, The Early Church by Chadwick is the first in a seven-volume series, The Penguin History of the Church. Chadwick was a professor at Cambridge University and brother of series editor, Owen Chadwick, who wrote the third book, The Reformation. Henry Chadwick presents the

highlights of church history from its Jewish antecedents of the early first century, through its first several centuries. He organizes the work around important issues and key individuals instead of following a purely chronological format. He makes it clear that the important orthodox doctrines most Christians take for granted today, such as the divine-human nature of Jesus Christ and the concept of the Trinity, were painstakingly forged on the anvil of conflict and controversy.

Although written in the British English of 40-plus years ago, the book is a relatively easy read. It goes deeper than most one-volume overviews of church history, therefore I recommend it be read as a companion text to such a survey. It is light on the footnotes, but has a thorough index and a seven-page section of recommended books for further reading.

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LibraryThing member beccabgood1

This book should be required reading for every serious Christian. So much of what we are taught as "Eternal Truth" in church, and church schools, is based on politics and contemporary ways of thinking in the early church. Reading this book allowed me to think about the church in exciting new ways.

It helped me start to separate out what is valuable, worthy of our reverence, and what is fallible, limited human thinking. It sounds rebellious, but it also supports what I consider to be "true" Christianity, by showing the context in which the fallible human additions came to be. Who am I to judge someone trying to make sense of Jesus in first century Palestine? Instead of wasting my time on anger, I can focus on figuring out what I believe, and what helps me live a better life.

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LibraryThing member charles.peter

Interesting well rounded in depth consideration of development of early influences on what was to become the Church

LibraryThing member HowHop

Generally this was a decent overview of the Early Church; however it is far from my favourite on the subject. At times I found it pretty dull even though the Early Church is a fascinating topic -- at least when covered by other authors. He also broadens the scope of orthodoxy far more than I can

accept, treating the Arians, for example, as just another Christian sect. The Early Church is informative, but there are others that I would recommend above it.

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LibraryThing member davidpwithun

Some of the scholarship here is a bit outdated (for instance, the contention that Eusebius of Caesara and St. Epiphanius of Salamis were proto-iconoclasts has been thoroughly dismantled in recent years) but this is still the standard and the classic text on early Christian history, covering roughly

the period of the Apostolic Fathers (late first century) to the Seventh Ecumenical Council (eight century) and introducing all of the major themes of Church history along the way, including theology, liturgy, art, major figures, etc. The focus throughout is primarily on Western Christianity but the author is also familiar with Eastern practice and generally takes a balanced approached. If anyone is interested in learning more about Church history but has very little knowledge of it already, this book is an excellent place to start.

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LibraryThing member wcsdm3

an excellent short survey of early christian church beginning from the day of pentecost, through the brutal persecutions to the fall of Rome & the triumph of Christianity

LibraryThing member parkersbooks

This is a great popular history book. Chadwick is a very honest historian and I have not seen any biases so far. I've only read sections of this book, but for those wanting a simple summary of early church history, this is the book. Very readable too.

LibraryThing member sergerca

This was a slog. Covering something so expansive is very tough, and Chadwick does his best. However, without knowing much about the various heresies, it's easy to wonder what the arguments were about. The chapters about the great, early thinkers and the evolution of the papacy and the mass are very

well done. All in all, it's informative, not exciting. And I won't be running out to get any more books by Chadwick.

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LibraryThing member jontseng

Despite his intimidating academic reputation (Dean of House, Master of Peterhouse, Regius Prof), Chadwick renders a difficult subject eminently approachable.

LibraryThing member vicarofdibley

the begining of christianity to the middle ages

LibraryThing member tony_sturges

Examines the beginning of the Christian movement during the first centuries AD, and the explosive force of its expansion throughout the Roman world.

About the Author
Henry Chadwick was a Regius professor at both Oxford and Cambridge; head of Christ Church, Oxford, and Peterhouse, Cambridge; recipient

of a honorary doctorate from Chicago, Harvard, Yale, and Uppsala; a member of the German Order of Merit; a fellow (former vice-president) of the British Academy; and a corresponding member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, and the Gottingen and Rhineland academies. He was made a knight in 1989.

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LibraryThing member stillatim

Solid, though now a bit dated. Chadwick writes well enough, but tried to cram a bit too much in, I think. Many of stories (well-chosen stories!) are very difficult to follow, even if you already know them quite well.

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