Christian Life in the Primitive Church

What was primitive Christianity? Ernst von Dobschütz gives a picture of early Christian life on its moral side—not only by diffusing exact knowledge of old Christian manners and morals, but by disseminating the spirit of primitive Christianity: the earnest, strong, and victorious spirit of faithful religious and moral activity. What von Dobschütz investigates is not the ethical teaching of primitive Christianity, but its real morals. At the same time, however, he wishes to express his very distinct conviction that historical progress cannot be explained by forces originating in a collective way, but by eminent leaders or heroes. The astonishing success of the gospel during the first century is the work of St. Paul and his fellow-laborers, not of the mass of Christian converts whom they brought together by their preaching.