title: Trinity and Incarnation: The Faith Of The Early Church
author:  Basil Studer 
description: A history of early Christian doctrine, by one of the world's leading authorities. This book is a comprehensive study of early Christian trinitarian theology and christology - the central issues in patristic theology. Professor Studer shows how early apocalyptic visions developed into sophisticated, philosophically orientated theology concerning the mystery of God, the world and humankind. From the mystery of the resurrection of Christ from the dead there developed a growing understanding both of the mystery of the living nature of God, in the doctrine of the Trinity, and of the ways God communicates to men and women, above all in the doctrine of the Incarnation. Basil Studer sets the development of Christian doctrine firmly in the political and cultural context of the Roman Empire. He explores the history and conditions which preceded the advent of specifically Christian ideas, and the transmission and reception of doctrine through to its mature expression in the work of Augustine and other theologians of the fifth and sixth centuries. While historically perceptive Basil Studer's approach is always that of a theologian concerned about the Church's mission to the contemporary world.
zlib_text: Contents
  Introduction
  Part I: Urban Legends of the Early Church (50–500)
  1. e Earliest Christians Worshipped on Saturday
  2. e Church Apostatized Shortly after the Apostles
  3. e Sands of the Colosseum Are Stained with the Martyrs’ Blood
  4. e Lord’s Supper Was Originally a Love Feast or “Community Meal”
  5. e Earliest Church Didn’t Know the Diﬀerence between Orthodoxy and
  Heresy
  6. An Emperor, Pope, or Church Council Canonized the Bible
  7. Pagan Philosophy Contaminated Christian eology
  8. e Doctrine of the Trinity Developed Centuries after Jesus
  9. e Emperor Constantine Made Christianity the Oﬃcial State Religion
  10. Women Never Served as Church Oﬃcers in the Early Church
  Part II: Urban Legends of the Medieval Period (500–1500)
  11. Nothing Good Came from the “Dark Ages”
  12. e Substitutionary Atonement First Appeared in the Middle Ages
  13. e Roman Catholic Church Ruled Europe with Uniformity
  14. e Christian Faith Was Lost during the Middle Ages
  15. e One True Church Went Underg