The Early Church: From the Beginnings to 461

by William H.C. Frend

Frend's masterful survey, here presented with a new Preface and updated bibliographies, traces the historical and theological development of the Christian church from apostolic times through the fifth century.

Genres: History, Church History, Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Christian, Christian History

276 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1964

About the author

William Hugh Clifford Frend was an English ecclesiastical historian, archaeologist and Anglican priest. He served as Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Glasgow and was a fellow of the British Academy.

Reviews

[Joel Zartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can be a bit clunky in describing doctrinal controversies. More interested in the social aspects, which are important. He doesn't appear to think too highly of any of the figures he talks about, as if they were all personally disappointing to him.

[Lou Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was some interesting information in this book that I didn't know before. However, I found the style of writing very dry.

[abclaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up partially to flesh out in my head what Tolstoy was raging against within Christian orthodoxy. Turns out, the book is a bit exhaustive and probably aimed at anyone other than a lay history reader. Possibly this is the norm for ecclesiastical history, but someone pointed me in the direction of Foundations of Christianity which might suffice for my habits, particularly as I was a big fan of Engel's commentary on Christianity.

As I had expected, the church begins from humble beginnings, and as time goes on layers and filters are added until it begins to resemble something else entirely. You have over-drawn debates on the nature of Jesus, the second coming, the role of the trinity/holy spirit; this happens alongside the impact of culture, politics and philosophy - all coinciding with the internal logic of organisations like the the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church.

The book lacks the clarity I was hoping for. It moves along at a steady pace, right up until the Romans get involved in the decision making (what did the Romans ever do for us!) and then the multitude of schisms are then presented in a way that is neither engaging nor clear. The first half of the book and the concluding chapter are easily the better and make for more interesting reading - unless you want to know how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

[Timothy Dougherty Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frend does a wonderful job of telling the narrative of Christian history from its inauguration with the Apostles to the time of Augustine. This book, in particular, gives a great sweep of the socio-political spectrum that the surrounds the theological and doctrinal development in the first five centuries of Christianity.