Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus. While there is disagreement as to when this epistle was written we know it was quite early. Some place it back to around 130AD. Some place it closer to 200AD. I personally think that the parts of the epistle noting the newness of Christianity does suggest that it is an …
Continue reading Critical Contextualization in the Early Church
Some notes from Stephen Neill's book, "A History of Christian Missions," regarding early missions: A. Neill speaks of three things that occurred in the first century that radically affected the expansion of the church. 1. The first was the realization the Jesus was not going to return quickly. After a fairly frenzied attempt to evangelize …
Continue reading Quotes and Notes on Early Christian Missions
The following is a great quote from "Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries" by Adolph von Harnack (1851-1930), from 1908 translated edition. This quote is from Volume 3, chapter 1 (section 366-369). The broader passage and related passages are available at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (see http://www.ccel.org/ccel/harnack/mission.v.i.html#fna_v.i-p2.1) Passage emphasizes the …