A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More Than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers

Book Overview

Interest in the ways of the early church has never been more intense. What did early Christians believe about the divinity of Christ? What did they think about resurrection? How did they regard John... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565633571
• ISBN13: 9781565633575
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers
• Length: 736 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Excellent!

There is a resurging interest among Protestants to understand what the Early Church taught and believed. I believe a book like this one can be instrumental in furthering that search and introducing a whole generation of Christians to the writings of these wonderful, devout, and pious men. This book is absolutely invaluable for anyone who wants to research what the Ante-Nice Fathers taught on any given topic. Also, Bercot's concise and standard way of referencing each Father's works makes it easy to go back to the original sources and do further resarch by examining the entire text.There may be some who will not like what the Father's teach, but that is to be expected. A vast majority of Evangelical churches in America do not conform either in principle or in practice to what these godly men taught. I think that stauch Calvinist's will be the most disturbed by their writings because the Early Church Fathers were unequivocally more supportive of the view that mankind can and must respond to God. Furthermore, they did not teach unconditional election, perseverance of the saints, limited atonement, or irresistable grace. In fact, it was the Gnostics who held views similar to those expressed above. The response by most will be that these men just fell into error and didn't understand the gospel, but then the question must be asked, why do individuals who lived 1,500 years after the Apostles understand it better than the Fathers did? I do not mention Augustine because his views are not those of traditional 5 point Calvinists, and therefore the view followed by many is not Augustine's view but that of the Reformers.Buy this work if you interested in discovering what the Early Fathers believed, and use it as an introduction and guide to further study of their writings. It is by no means an exhaustive study of the entire corpus of their literature, but is a great starting point for introductory study.

Excellent!

This book should be in any pastor, scholar, teacher, professor, or student's library. It is a comprehensive guide to over 700 key theological, moral, and historical topics, straight from the writings of the early Church Fathers! From Abel to Zoroastrianism, this book compiles under topical headings some short pieces of the writings of the most influential early Christians. These men are the shoulders on which today's Christians stand, and learning about their beliefs and arguments deepens our own understanding who Christians are and what they believe. Bercot has done a marvellous job assembling these works into this one fine volume. Buy and use this helpful reference book!

good overview of early christian beliefs

Even if you did possess the entire collection of the Ante Nicene Fathers, most folks wouldn't know where to begin to research what all of them said regarding any particular topic. This dictionary solves that problem. And it is even better than an index of where to find passages on those topics since the actual passages are printed out for you to read. Comparing writings is much easier since you don't have to search through several different books - they are all in one spot. While we must acknowledge the fact that the writings do not necessarily represent "dogmatic theological pronouncements," if you are interested in dicovering what the Early Church Fathers believed, do yourself a favor and get this book.

Do you want to know what the early church believed...?

How the early church (those who lived from the time of the apostle John to around 330 AD) viewed issues may be slightly different than many Christians do today. This book (all 704 pages!) catalogs those beliefs in a systematic, topical fashion. Want to know what the church believed about Original Sin? or the Trinity? or abortion? or even reincarnation? Bercot puts together a variety of quotes (directly from the Ante-Nicene writings) together for each topic. Many topics have 10 or more quotes of a variety of lengths from the church Fathers. Also the page number of the quote (in the Ante-Nicene 10 volume set) and the date of the author are listed. Also included at the very beginning is a brief biography of the major Christian Fathers. The doctrines that the early church held may surprise many today...overall, they wouldn't serve in the army if it meant killing, they believed in free-will, and they accepted the apocrypha, at least as useful reading. Even if one does not accept their interpretation, it is still useful to know what the people who lived closest to Christ thought and believed. It is truly an excellent reference guide I would never be without. I personally get my theology from the Bible and the interpretations of it provided by the Church fathers.

An excellent reference book for Christians!

This book essentially puts in dictionary form various beliefs and practices, and then has quotes by the Early Church writers regarding each issue. While the former reader saw this as an index of sorts to the excellent ante-Nicene Fathers 10 volume set (which I own), it can also function autonomously. In fact I usually use it as a way of getting to what the Bible actually says when the Bible isn't as clear as I would like to to be. One instance is the issue of predestination and freewill which divides many Christians to the point of exclusion. The Bible can be used to support both views. By looking under freewill, one can find that the Early church almost unanimously were freewill. There are great quotes showing the early church was essentially Trinitarian, giving towards others, pacifists, and took turning the other cheek literally. It is not the Bible, but is a good way to know what those people who lived closest to Christ and the apostles believed.