The apostolic and early Church

This path follows the Church from the thin evidence of the early second century through persecution, the Gnostic crisis, the transformation of the fourth century, and the beginnings of monasticism.

It is deliberately not only a history of emperors and doctrinal fights. Where the sources allow it, the path attends to what ordinary Christian life looked like: how congregations worshipped, what they were accused of, how they handled those who broke under pressure, and what they did with their money.

Lessons

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1. The apostolic generation and what came next What we can and cannot know about the Church between the apostles and the second century. 7 min — Not yet read
2. Persecution, martyrdom and apology What Christians were actually accused of, how they answered, and how the martyr accounts should be read. 7 min — Not yet read
3. Gnostic teachers and the Church's answer What the second-century movements actually taught, and why the answer shaped the doctrine of Tradition. 7 min — Not yet read
4. Constantine and the Church in the empire What changed when persecution ended, and how to describe it without either triumph or cynicism. 7 min — Not yet read
5. The monastic movement Why Christians went into the desert, and what the Church made of them. 6 min — Not yet read