Early Christianity
Second Temple backgrounds, apostolic communities, and the early church.
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Read Acts 15 as a dispute about Gentile belonging and community life, considering what the Jerusalem decision required and how discipleship continued.
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What is the Didache? Explore this early Christian teaching text, including the Two Ways, baptism, prayer, Eucharist, and community discernment.
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Meet the Shepherd of Hermas, an early Christian work of visions, commands, and parables concerned with repentance, moral formation, and life in the church.
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What did the apostles teach their churches? Explore the relationship between gospel proclamation, sustained instruction, community practice, and maturity.
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Why did Paul confront Peter at Antioch? Read Galatians 2 in its setting of shared meals, Gentile inclusion, and conduct consistent with the gospel.
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Read the earliest Church Fathers as witnesses to Christian practice, teaching, and continuity, while distinguishing their testimony from apostolic authority.
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What do Epiphany and Theophany celebrate? Explore early Christian traditions surrounding Christ’s manifestation and baptism, and their meaning for discipleship.
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Why listen to the earliest Christian voices? Explore their historical proximity, witness, and limitations when reconstructing the world of the first churches.
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Explore the encounter between early Christianity and Greek thought, considering language, philosophy, and the cultural world in which the gospel spread.
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What did early Christian life involve? Explore work, shared meals, worship, mutual care, and the community practices that shaped the first believers.
