The Early Church (The Penguin History of the Church)
by Henry Chadwick
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Book Summary Information
Author: Henry ChadwickEdition: Paperback
Published: 1993-10-01
ISBN: 0140231994
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Penguin
Book Reviews of The Early Church (The Penguin History of the Church)
Book Review: An Admirable Effort
Summary: 4 Stars
One might suggest that any short one volume history of the early Church is doomed to failure based on the magnitude of the project. That being said, this book in my opinion is more successful in accomplishing its task than any other of its type that I have encountered. Henry Chadwick now in his late eighties has long been a fixture in British and North American intellectual circles. He is a theologian, churchman, and historian and is an ordained priest in the Episcopalian Church of England. This in some ways makes him exceedingly suited to the task at hand, but in other ways it helps explain the shortcomings of this book. Chadwick is primarily a theologian and scholar of patristics. And, a history of theology amounts to an intellectual history of the Church. This is where this book shines and is at times magisterial. When fully engaged in the thought of the Church fathers, Chadwick's brilliance and ability to clearly explicate the material he is dealing with is breathtaking. Conversely, when dealing with certain nuts and bolts issues of history one might well wish for more. And lastly, it is my opinion that his Anglican orthodoxy makes him well suited to write an evenhanded appraisal of the history of the early Church.
Chadwick quickly moves through the earliest history of the Jesus movement. I was struck by his straight forward gloss of scripture concerning the trial of Jesus which is still a matter of continuing scholarly debate. Moving from there he engages Gnosticism in counterpoint to early orthodoxy. The sub-apostolic period as the author titles the era of the early Church fathers is less well covered although it crops up in bits and pieces throughout the book. Thereafter, approximately twelve pages are devoted to the success and expansion of the early Church in the first two Centuries. The next sixty or so pages is devoted to what I consider to be the finest section of the book. It is concerned with the development of Christian thought, doctrine and Church history from Justin Martyr through Origen. The Arian controversy and the council of Nicaea are well covered. The interaction of Church and Empire during the fourth century is less well explained. In essence, sometimes orthodoxy is assumed where there is scholarly debate and Chadwick's engagement with a topic under consideration tends to vary with its relevance to doctrinal formation. This pattern persist throughout the book.
Interestingly, beyond the fall of the western Roman Empire, there is a gradual attenuation of interest in the East. After Nicaea, the issue of the person of Jesus is well handled through the council of Chalcedon. Justinian the Great and the fifth general council receive far less attention than they deserve. Maximus the Confessor and the sixth ecumenical council receive scanty attention at best on two pages!! In a book of this length one would suppose that such choices must be made. However, the predictability of these choices may be disconcerting to some readers. A fine chapter on Augustine is included which provides a clear explanation of the "filioque" clause and its rational. An interesting section on the development of papal authority from 350 CE through the pontificate of Gregory the Great and the mission to the western barbarians follows. The book closes out with a section on the liturgy which is adequate and a short discussion of Church art and music which unfortunately engages the iconoclastic controversy in a remarkably truncated fashion.
The subtraction of two stars is for the variable depth of coverage that permeates this work. An additional one star is added back on for a total of four stars because of the brilliance of Chadwick's intellectual history of the Church up and through the fifth Century CE. As I have said previously but must emphasize, when the author is engaged in the history of development of doctrine and the events and personalities surrounding it, this is a remarkable book. It may seem to some that I have been very hard on this book, and I will assume that the length of the book was a decision of the publisher who commissioned it rather than that of the author. However, I believe I have fairly described what a potential reader can expect to find in this book. Ultimately, an intellectual history of the early Church is primary in my opinion to the understanding of the broader topic. Therefore, I highly recommend this book to anyone with at least a cursory knowledge of the history of antiquity and Christianity. For advanced students and laymen, some of Chadwick's insights will challenge and inform all but the most well read on the history of the early Church.
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