Early Christianity
The first few centuries after Christ featured not just the formation of a new religion, but also Christianity's biggest theological debates. Early Christians debated a number of questions. Who is a Christian? Do Christians need to follow Jewish Law? What is Christianity's relationship to Judaism and the God of the Old Testament? Was Jesus human or divine or both? If Jesus was both human and divine, how did that work? What does Son of God mean? How does the concept of the Trinity work? What books should be included in the Bible? What should the role of women be in the church and Christian society? Is the material world inherently bad? The Lapp Learning Commons gives CTS students access to thousands of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources on this period; below are some recommended works.
Online Textual Resources
- Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) This link opens in a new windowThe Christian Classics Ethereal Library is a curated, digital library offering hundreds of classic Christian books from a variety of viewpoints and traditions.
- Loeb Classical Library This link opens in a new windowEvery work is classified by language, form, genre, subject, and date, making both navigation and browsing for unexplored treasures far easier than facing all those volumes on the bookshelf. Are you looking for a person or place, a quotation about love or wealth, or how a particular word has been translated in a work, by an author, or across the entire Library? You will find it quite easily, for every word of the Greek, Latin, and English is fully searchable. And whatever you find in the Library can be saved and organized as you like in your own digital workspace. You can even share your bookmarks and notes with other users, such as colleagues, students, classmates, and friends.
- Bible Odyssey This link opens in a new windowAs a public outreach of the Society of Biblical Literature, Bible Odyssey’s mission is to inform the general public about the content of the Bible and the critical approaches to it. The scholars that contribute to Bible Odyssey are socially, geographically, and ethnically diverse, and the site is not affiliated with any religious or political organization. It does not advocate for any particular perspective or reading; rather, Bible Odyssey seeks to help the public appreciate the different viewpoints within the Bible and understand the diversity of biblical interpretations. The purpose of the website is to draw the person on the street, or the one in the pew, into the fascinating world of scholarly investigation into the Bible and the communities who value it.
- Codex Sinaiticus This link opens in a new windowThe Codex Sinaiticus is a manuscript of the Christian Bible from the fourth century, contains the earliest complete copy of the Christian New Testament.
Audio & Visual Resources
- Bart D. Ehrman YouTube PageLectures and other videos by Bible and early Christianity scholar Bart D. Ehrman, the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Other Early Church Fathers
- Origen: A Critical Reading byCall Number: BR65.O68 T75 1985ISBN: 0820402133Publication Date: 1985-06-01
General Books on Early Christianity
The Spirit of Early Christian Thought by Call Number: BR165.W65 2003ISBN: 0300097085Publication Date: 2003-03-11
The Christians As the Romans Saw Them by Call Number: BL2756.W54 1984ISBN: 0300030665Publication Date: 1984-09-10
Gnosticism
The Gnostic Imagination by Call Number: BM536.G54 D48 1995ISBN: 9004102647Publication Date: 1995-11-01
The Gnostic Scriptures by Call Number: BT1390 .G494 1987ISBN: 0385174470Publication Date: 1987-06-03
Paul
Paul: In Fresh Perspective by Call Number: BS2651 .W748 2005ISBN: 9780800637668Publication Date: 2005-11-14
Paul: The Apostle's Life, Letters, and Thought by Call Number: BS2506.3 .S367 2015ISBN: 9781506404974Publication Date: 2015-12-01
Paul: The Man and the Myth by Call Number: BS2506 .R595 1998ISBN: 1570032645Publication Date: 1998-10-31
Paul: A Man of Two Worlds by Call Number: BS2505 .H4813 2000ISBN: 1563383012Publication Date: 2000-04-01
Early Christianity & Judaism
Early Christianity and Judaism by Call Number: BR195.J8 E37 1993ISBN: 0815310668Publication Date: 1993-03-01
Jesus the Central Jew by Call Number: BT590.J8 L33 2015ISBN: 9781628371116Publication Date: 2015-04-01
Eusebius, Christianity, and Judaism by Call Number: EbookISBN: 0814323618Publication Date: 1992-10-01
Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism by Call Number: BR129 .C44 1992ISBN: 1880317036Publication Date: 1992-11-01- Early Christianity and Hellenistic Judaism byCall Number: EbooksISBN: 0567085015Publication Date: 1996-09-01
Women in Early Christianity
Women in Early Christianity by Call Number: BR195.W6 W66 2005ISBN: 0813214173Publication Date: 2005-08-31- The Role of Women in Early Christianity byCall Number: BR195.W6 L25 1982ISBN: 0889465452Publication Date: 1982-01-01
- The gendered palimpsest: women, writing, and representation in early Christianity byCall Number: BR67 .H255 2012ISBN: 9780199918140Publication Date: 2012
The Bone Gatherers by Call Number: BR195 .W6 D46 2007ISBN: 9780807013083Publication Date: 2007-07-15
Women, Class, and Society in Early Christianity by Call Number: BS2589.6.W65 A75 1997ISBN: 1565631811Publication Date: 1997-04-01- More ‘Holy Women’ in Early Christianity : The Gospels of Mary and Marcion byISBN: 9780191903830Publication Date: 2021-04-18
Augustine
Augustine: His Thought in Context by Call Number: BR1720.A9S36 1995ISBN: 0809135663Publication Date: 1995-01-01
Augustine: A New Biography by Call Number: BR1720 .A9 O36 2005ISBN: 9780060535377Publication Date: 2005-04-05
