Description: "T&T Clark Handbook of the Early Church discusses the key documents, authors, themes and Early Christian traditions. The essays trace the vital trajectories of emerging distinctive Christian identity in the Graeco-Roman world and diversities of theologies. Special attention is given to the coherent growth of Christian faith in connection with worship, alongside the crucial transformation of Christian life and doctrine under the Christian Emperor. The contributing essays offer a chronological development of the Early Church, as well as they examine the interaction between Christian worship and faith. In addition, readers interested in systematic theology are offered chapters on the roots of some significant theological notions in Christian Antiquity, also with reference to ancient philosophy. The chapters address issues such as: the relationship between faith and reason, interreligious dialogue, creation and ecology, suffering of people in relation to Christ's suffering and feminist views on the Holy Trinity. The book finishes with appendices and indexes giving information on biblical references, updated publications, electronic resources and classified bibliographies"--
Brief description: John A. McGuckin is the Nielsen Professor Emeritus of Early Christian History at Union Theological Seminary, USA.
Review Quotes:
"This exciting handbook of the Early Church will intrigue laypersons, clergy and scholars alike. It departs from the traditional "history of doctrine" to focus on the struggles of early Christian communities to organize themselves, to sort out the roles of women, slaves, children and the differently abled and to create forms of unity within the remarkable diversity they embraced." --Karen Jo Torjesen, Claremont Graduate Union California, USA
"This Handbook is a breath of fresh air: it breaks free of the usual history of doctrine approach to the early Church to give an account of the wide range of different contexts in which Christian self-understanding and practice were formed. It will enable those who study this extraordinary period to learn with and within the early Church; to have their thinking and actions shaped and informed by it." --Carol Harrison, University of Oxford, UK "This is a wonderfully rich collection of essays exploring many different aspects of the early centuries of Christian history, theology, spirituality, and so much more. It is sure to become the standard go-to handbook for scholars, students, and all those interested in early Christianity." --John Behr, Aberdeen University, UK