Life and Practice in the Early Church: A Documentary Reader

by Steve McKinion (Editor)

A collection of primary texts revealing how early Christians practiced their faith

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.

Genres: Church History, History, Theology, Ecclesiology, Religion

189 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2001

Reviews

[Matt Koser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super helpful, early church Father resource!

Topics include:
• Preaching
• Church leadership
• Evangelism
• Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Big takeaway: people are the same today as they were then…people fell asleep during preaching back then too

I’ll definitely use this as a reference resource in future ministry.

*Read for seminary (Systematic Theology)*

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My ⭐️ rating criteria
- ⭐️: I absolutely did not like or totally disagreed with the book and would recommend that no one else read it
- ⭐️⭐️: the book was below average style or content, arguments were very weak, wouldn’t read it again, but wouldn’t beg people not to read it necessarily
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️: a fine book, some helpful information (or a decent story, for the handful of novels I read), maybe I disagreed somewhat, enjoyed it decently well
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: a very good book, information was very helpful, mostly agreed with everything or it was a strong argument even if I disagree, was above-average enjoyable to read
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: incredible book, I enjoyed it more than most other books, I want to read it again in the future, I will be telling everyone to read it for the next few weeks

[Tim Michiemo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars

Patristics studies is an increasingly popular yet daunting discipline to enter. One of the biggest hurdles is simply the vast array of early church writings that are available to us, and not knowing where to start. I believe that McKinion's work gives those interested in Patristics studies a great place to start. He centers on an important topic, life, and practice, and gives us "snippets" of the most important writings and treatises from the early church, giving us an accurate glimpse into the "life and practice" of the early church. McKinion's helpfully summarizes each "snippet" of early church writing, helping the uninitiated to understand the arguments being proposed by each writer. But at the same time, McKinion wisely strays from commentating, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions from each section. In sum, this is a good introductory book to the actual writings of the early church and that I highly recommend to any Bible student.

[Brady Boatwright · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Early Church Fathers are hard to read, but they are pretty smart🤷🏻‍♂️

[Ryan Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very insightful look at the practices and beliefs of the early church. McKinion does a good job of getting out of the way and letting the Fathers speak for themselves.

[Ian Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very solid read. A very helpful summary of many of the early church fathers’ teachings, in bits size pieces that are easy to understand.

Biggest takeaway: there is nothing new to man, and we have the same problems now that we’re being dealt with over 1500 years ago.

Read for seminary - Church History 1

[Eric Wendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun source to have for a quick snapshot of some of the early churches' basic teachings.

[Jill B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to the early church using excerpts from early writings and teachings.