Book — The Early Church
Since the time of the Apostles, men have sought to better understand God and our relationship to Him. While a cognitive understanding does not replace faith as our attachment to God’s grace, the study of God and our relationship to Him is an important undertaking for several reasons. We have been given an intellect, and as good stewards, we are to use this in gratitude to Him and in service to each other. As we become more knowledgeable in God’ revelation to us, we are better equipped to confess our faith and witness to others. We also become better prepared to respond to challenges to our faith that frequently arise in a largely unchristian world.
Our goal is to share from an historic perspective, a progression of challenges that arose in the life of the church and how resolution of these resulted in the development of the language of our confessions as we know them today. In the process there were numerous digressions from the truth; however, the Holy Spirit used man’s desire to understand, and ultimately led him back to Scripture for the answers. We are the beneficiaries of these struggles as they uncovered underlying questions that lurk in the minds of man and led to answers that are articulated in our creeds and in the articles of our Lutheran Confessions. These continue to provide us with greater insight into our God, our relationship to Him, and His role in our salvation.
An eBook version can be found on Amazon clicking here. This book is also available for purchase at $14.99 plus $5.01 shipping from the CLCC. You can mail a check to CLCC at P.O. Box 2782, Idaho Falls, ID 83403.
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Contents
Overview
Age of the Church Fathers
Early Challenges
Alexandrian Theology
Monarchianism
Arianism
Council of Nicaea
Continued Controversies
Council of Chalcedon
Concept of the Church
Topical Summary
Notes on the Age of the Church Fathers
Medieval Church
Augustine of Hippo
The Medieval Period
Scholasticism
Topical Summary
Notes on the Medieval Church
