The Early Years Of Christianity The Apostolic Age

A comprehensive look at the beginnings of Christianity and the formation of the early Church, written by a leading French Protestant theologian. The book covers the life of Jesus, the role of the apostles, the spread of Christianity, and the challenges faced by the early Christian community. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The sources of Christian church history, the data on which we rely for our knowledge,are partly divine, partly human. For the history of the apostolic age, until about A.D. 68 or 69, we have the inspired writings of the Old and New Testaments. But after the death of the apostles we have only human authorities, which of course cannot claim to be infallible. We will follow the chronological record of events for the early Christian Church,including dates, places and persons involved from the infancy of John the Baptist to the Death of John. This is the period dating from B.C. 5 or 4 to the Death of The Apostle John which happened in a period between A.D. 98-100. We will also give a detailed account of the Jewish war which started in AD 66 and concluded in AD 73. This includes details of the destruction of the Temple in AD 70.

It is our aim to present as full a picture as possible of this period, commencing with the apostolic age, which is so little understood, either from religious indifference or because of the unintelligent veneration which surrounds it with a legendary glory, behind which its types lose all distinctness and originality. St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John appear too often like those fabulous heroes placed by tradition on the threshold of the historic age, after whose era history, properly so called, begins. We feel the necessity of reconquering, as part of the domain of history, this primitive age of the Church. It will thus regain color and life.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1879 Edition.