Live your theology.

Behold! A book review!

Harry Boer’s A Short History of the Early Church is a brief look at the Christian Church from its inception as found in the book of Acts to the middle of the fifth century, A.D. Boer’s history is a basic look at the culture, people, surroundings, and events that played an influence in the shaping of the early church.
Boer begins his account by providing the reader with various details about the world as it was known during the infancy of the early church. Specifically Boer speaks of the Roman Empire, the background of the Jews, the model of Greek though, and religious practices of the time.
The Roman Empire was growing in size and power. When Jesus was born, the Empire was approximately 750 years old. Its boundaries extended from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the borders of the Persian Empire in the east.
Upon painting a picture of life in the time of Christ, Boer discusses the beginning of the Christian Church itself. He gives an account of Jesus and his teaching, the church’s foundations in the Book of Acts, and the Pauline missionary efforts to establish a gentile church. This is all written in a very basic manner, and seems to assume that the reader is not already familiar with Christian doctrine & tradition. This is a perfectly acceptable premise given the book seeks to provide a brief primer on the subject. However, for the reader who is already familiar with this particular subject matter, this portion of the book is rather tiresome. The same can be said in subsequent chapters detailing various historical events or persons.
A brief summary of the offices of the early church, early church doctrine, and early Christian conduct is provided before Boer begins recounting this persecution of the early Christian church, perhaps which it is most famous for, under the Roman Government. For the most part, this information is handled chronologically, with the story of persecution beginning with Nero, in A.D. 64. However, after giving the causes of persecution, Boer provides a much more generalized explanation of the responses to it by Christians (theological apologies, etc.). These, along with his account of the type of physical suffering imposed on the Christians are written more as a blanket covering the entire era of persecution, rather than a step by step look at persecution in the chronological history of the church.
Boer soon shifts gears from persecution and begins to look at various heresies and apostate belief systems that came about as the early church continued to mature. Particular focus is paid to Gnosticism, Marcionism, and Montanism. In each instance a brief account of the central beliefs of the religion, its proponents, and the counter arguments of its opponents is provided. Almost as if contrasting the Gnostic doctrines Boer begins discussing the apostolic tradition, highlighting the changing role of bishops, the canon of the Bible, and the origin of the Apostle’s Creed before changing the focus from the orthodox church at large to the various schools of Christian thought in Rome, Carthage, and Alexandria.
Perhaps sensing a lull in the reader as he examines various doctrinal statements and counterstatements, Boer inserts another “action sequence” by way of detailing the Diocletian persecution of the church in A.D. 284. Indeed, Boer’s accounting almost mirrors that of a three act comedy. In act one the characters are introduced (Diocletian and the church), act two sees our heroes (the church) thrust into the darkest circumstances imaginable (the Diocletian persecution), act three features what would’ve seemed impossible in the midst of act two, the church regaining the upper hand and living “happily ever after” thanks to the unexpected arrival of a Christian-friendly emperor Constantine.
The remainder of the book is separated into various accounts of theological disputes, brief biographies, and one more historical foray regarding the (now declining) Roman Empire.
The theological disputes discussed include the Trinitarian controversy which ultimately led to the Council of Nicea. It also looks at the controversy around the nature of Jesus Christ, his being both divine and human (or too much in one aspect, or none at all in the other). Brief biographies of Ambrose, Jerome, Justin Martyr and Augustine (who takes the lion’s share of pages) are offered, but there is not rhyme or reason to their placing in the book, and they almost feel like an after thought. A brief account of Christianity among the Germans and Arians along with the rise of monasticism is provided in the last few sections of the book.
As a whole, Boer’s A Short History of the Early Church admirably covers the important people and events relevant to the Christian church in its infancy. I cannot think of any historical items of note that were left out. Since this book is meant to be a brief account, rather than an in depth look it was occasionally frustrating to read. On familiar issues I found myself hoping for the section to come to a close and move on to the next. When reading about events I was less familiar with I found myself asking “is that it?” I wanted more. This is to be expected given the purpose of the book and I mean no slight to the author. Harry Boer was quite successful in providing an easy to understand survey of the early church. I will happily refer the uninitiated historical inquirer to his work and trust that they will be enriched by reading it.