Life and Practice in the Early Church : : A Documentary Reader / / ed. by Steve McKinion.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• HerausgeberIn: McKinion, Steve,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2001]; ©2001
• Year of Publication: 2001
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Life and Practice in the Early Church brings together a range of primary texts from the church's first five centuries to demonstrate how early Christians practiced their faith. Rather than focusing on theology, these original documents shed light on how early believers "did church," addressing such practical questions as, how did the church administer baptism? How were sermons delivered? How did the early church carry out its missions endeavors? Early Christian writings reveal a great deal about the tradition, as well as the wider culture in which it developed. Far from being monolithic, the documents which present the voices of the early church fathers in their own words demonstrate variation and diversity regarding how faith was worked out during the patristic period. The texts illuminate who was eligible for baptism, what was expected of worshippers, how the Eucharist was celebrated, and how church offices and their functions were organized. Contextual introductions explain practices and their development for those with little prior knowledge of Christian history or tradition. The pieces included here, all in accessible English translation, represent such sources as Justin Martyr, Tertullian, the Cappadocians, Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom, and Augustine.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 Entering the Community: Baptism in the Early Church -- Chapter 2 Assembling the Community: Worship in the Early Church -- Chapter 3 Instructing the Community: Proclamation in the Early Church -- Chapter 4 Uniting the Community: The Eucharist in the Early Church -- Chapter 5 Expanding the Community: Evangelism in the Early Church -- Chapter 6 Leading the Community: Church Officers in the Early Church -- Notes -- Index -- About the Editor