Varieties of Early Christianity - The Formation of the Western Christian Tradition

Provides a broad and balanced understanding of how Christianity originated in the first five centuries

Varieties of Early Christianity: The Formation of the Western Christian Tradition traces the origins and evolution of Christian concepts from the first through the sixth century CE, exploring the events, issues, and individuals that helped shape the beliefs and practices of Christianity. With a multidisciplinary Religious Studies approach, this reader-friendly textbook places the early sources of Christian teaching within their historical and cultural contexts to highlight what gave rise to the beliefs and rituals that Christians follow in the present day.

Chronologically organized chapters analyse the ways in which Christians absorbed and adapted ancient concepts from Judaism and Greco-Roman religion and culture from the first through the sixth centuries. Combining both traditions, early bishops, Church Fathers, and theologians added innovations that contributed