Early Church History Resources

[Ernie]

I'm looking for Early Church History Resources (from the first few centuries) that give lots of detail about people such as Polycarp, Ignatious, Clement of Rome, Papias of Hierapolis. I'm looking for something readable for a high schooler.

[MattY]

I have three such resources I'd recommend. They're all academic, but readable by someone on a general audience level who's interested in the topic. (If you're trying to interest someone who usually finds church history boring, I don't know what I'd recommend).


Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church, by Michael J Kruger

Here was my review:
"Solid review of the state of Christianity in the second century, discussing the various challenges it faced from inside and outside the fledgling church. The author discusses the sociological makeup of the second-century church, the developing structure of church leadership, how pagan political and intellectual figures viewed Christianity, the challenge of heresy within the church, things that united the church (the "rule of faith"), and the importance of the written text in the early Church, particularly in beginning the formation of a New Testament canon. The way the church responded to the various issues and critics set the stage for further growth in the coming centuries, and even affects us today. Had they responded differently, today's church could look quite different."

As I said, it's academic but it would be accessible to a motivated high school student.

Another book I have similarly looks at the second century:

After the Apostles: Christianity In The Second Century, by Walter H. Wagner

He looks at 5 challenges the early church faced - issues of Creation, human nature, Jesus' identities, roles of the church, and Christians in society, and how five key leaders (Ignatius, Justin, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Irenaeus) responded.

I'm thinking Kruger's book was a little more accessible than Wagner's, and Kruger's was definitely my favorite of the two. But I have everything tucked away in boxes in anticipation of moving to a new house shortly.

Finally, I really enjoyed the book by Roger Olson, The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform.

It's a very long book but students could just read the first few chapters about the early church fathers. He talks about some of the leaders you mentioned, and more. I found it to be very readable.

[Nomad]

How the Church Fathers Read the Bible by Gerald Bray, is a quick and easy read.

[Bootstrap]

The best general introduction I know is Michael Holmes, "The Apostolic Fathers". His introductions are really good, and it's a modern, readable translation. It's also one of few collections that has gathered the fragments of Papias together in one place. The introductions alone are worth it, his English translations are good, and if you want to read it in Greek, it's right there.

Interesting that you mention Papias specifically. We have nothing that Papias wrote, we only know what others said he wrote. Especially Eusebius, who didn't think much of Papias, and called Papias "a man of exceedingly small intelligence". Which is worth keeping in mind when reading his quotations.

According to later sources, Papias wrote a multi-volume work called "Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord," with 5 volumes, but we do not have them. Papias is mostly quoted in debates about three things:

1. Oral tradition
2. Mark as Peter's interpreter
3. Matthew in Hebrew

For all three, Papias is either the earliest source or the main early source we have. And we do not have what Papias wrote, only what others said he wrote. Beyond that, there's more than one reasonable way to interpret what Papias actually did say.

For Papias, this is a good starting point:

https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/papias.html