Early Christians Speak, Vol. 1 3rd Ed.: Faith and Life in the First Three Centuries

by Everett Ferguson

Publisher:

Leafwood Publishers

, 2011

Overview

These studies in early church history cover various aspects of the church life of early Christians. They focus on the second century.What did the second century Christian leaders say about faith, baptism, infant baptism, worship services, the Lord’s Supper, prayer, singing, church organization, mercy and the role of women? New Testament texts bearing on the topic are listed at the beginning of each chapter. We are talking about the same community of people, the same church, as existed in the New Testament. Such writings have an important bearing on the interpretation of the Scriptures.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Your life was saved and will be saved through water.” (source)

“The writings of Origen provide the first claim that infant baptism was an apostolic custom delivered to the church” (source)

“The Roman church appears to have been the pioneer in the production of crystallized, creedal forms, as it was in other like developments. Its tendency was to reduce the area of allowable variety.” (source)

“Baptism was also viewed as an act of repentance (III.3). It was a turning away from past sins and a ‘promise to live’ according to Christian teaching (III.6).” (source)

“The phrase ‘in’ or ‘into the name’ is to be understood as meaning ‘with reference to,’ ‘with regard to,’ ‘for the sake of,’ ‘for the worship of.’” (source)

Product Details

• Title : Early Christians Speak, Vol. 1 3rd Ed.: Faith and Life in the First Three Centuries
• Author: Ferguson, Everett
• Publisher: Leafwood Publishers
• Publication Date: 2011
• ISBN: 9780891128427

About Everett Ferguson

Everett Ferguson (1933–) received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and served on the faculty of Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, beginning in 1962, where he taught church history and Greek. He is now professor emeritus in its College of Biblical Studies and distinguished scholar-in-residence. Although he retired from full-time teaching in 1990 to devote himself to research, he occasionally teaches a few classes at ACU. He is the author of many books, including Backgrounds of Early Christianity.