Doctrine and Practice in the Early Church

This book is an excellent overview of the doctrines and history of the early church, placed nicely into the context of the Roman Empire.

With skillful precision, Stuart G. Hall compressed nearly five hundred years of Church history and doctrine into a small but definitive volume that's very readable and thorough. The up-to-date scholarship sheds new light upon several questions that have gathered dust over the years. From Nero's onslaught of the primative Church, to Leo's "Tome" and subsequent edicts of Chalcedon, Hall's consistency and brilliance stabilizes the vicissitudes of the churches struggle to rise to the summit of Orthodoxy. Through the Theological dissent and schismatic atmosphere of the "Arian Contreversy", to the new era of Monastism and settled popular piety, I found Hall's representation to far surpass others in getting down to the nitty-gritty of Church Doctrine and History. Hall's characterization manifests a picturesque quality of each individual that impacted the Early Church. From Tertullian, Irenaeus, Clement, and Ignatius, to Augustine, Jerome and the Cappadocian Brothers, I found once again precision and composure that's unparrelled when compared with other works. So for the scholar and novice alike, I highly recommend this work.

Hall writes with engaging candor about the early history of Christianity. The reader is left with a vivid sense of the Zeitgeist in which Christianity was born and in which it grew. Hall's historical objectivity is so pristine that this reader had to read the biography on the back cover to be certain whether or not the writer is a Christian. Halls walks us through the first seven centuries, touching on the issues of the time and candidly introducing each of the Church Fathers; Origen, Iranæus, Tertullian ... a wonderful presentation and a terrific read. I could not put this book down, and it led at once to a lot more purchases. Highly recommended.