The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries

About this book

Adolf von Harnack's celebrated history of the mission and expansion of Christianity during its first three centuries, presented in English translation. Harnack traces how the gospel spread through the Roman world, examining its preachers, its message, and the social conditions that aided its growth. The work remains a landmark study of early Christian missions, whatever questions attend its theology.

Contents

1. Translator's Preface
2. Preface to the First German Edition
3. Preface to the Second German Edition.
4. Chapter I. Judaism: Its Diffusion and Limits.
5. Chapter II. The External Conditions of the World-wide Expansion of the Christian Religion.
6. Chapter III. The Internal Conditions Determining the World-wide Expansion of the Christian Religion—Religious Syncretism.
7. Chapter IV. Jesus Christ and the Universal Mission.
8. Chapter V. The Transition from the Jewish to the Gentile Mission. 🔒
9. Chapter VI. Results of the Mission of Paul and of the First Missonaries. 🔒
10. Book II. The Mission—Preaching in Word and Deed. 🔒
11. Chapter I. Religious Characteristics of the Mission-Preaching. 🔒
12. Chapter II. The Gospel of the Saviour and of Salvation. 🔒
13. Chapter III. The Conflict with Demons. 🔒
14. Chapter IV. The Gospel of Love and Charity. · Part 1 🔒
15. Chapter IV. The Gospel of Love and Charity. · Part 2 🔒
16. Chapter IV. The Gospel of Love and Charity. · Part 3 🔒
17. Chapter 5. The Religion of the Spirit and of Power, of Moral Earnestness and Holiness. 🔒
18. Chapter 6. The Religion of Authority and of Reason, of the Mysteries and of Transcendentalism. 🔒
19. Chapter 7. The Tidings of the New People and of the Third Race: The Historical and Political Consciousness of Christiandom. 🔒
20. Excursus. Christian's as a Third Race, in the Judgment of Their Opponents. 🔒
21. Chapter 8. The Religion of a Book and a Historical Realization. 🔒
22. Chapter 9. The Conflict with Polytheism and Idolatry. 🔒
23. Epilogue. Christianity in its Completed Form as Syncretistic Religion. 🔒
24. Chapter I. The Christian Missionaries (Apostles, Evangelists, and Prophets or Teachers: The Informal Missionaries) · Part 1 🔒
25. Chapter I. The Christian Missionaries (Apostles, Evangelists, and Prophets or Teachers: The Informal Missionaries) · II 🔒
26. Chapter I. The Christian Missionaries (Apostles, Evangelists, and Prophets or Teachers: The Informal Missionaries) · III 🔒
27. Chapter I. The Christian Missionaries (Apostles, Evangelists, and Prophets or Teachers: The Informal Missionaries) · IV 🔒
28. Chapter I. The Christian Missionaries (Apostles, Evangelists, and Prophets or Teachers: The Informal Missionaries) · VI 🔒
29. Chapter I. The Christian Missionaries (Apostles, Evangelists, and Prophets or Teachers: The Informal Missionaries) · VII 🔒
30. Excursus. Travelling: The Exchange of Letters and Literature. 🔒
31. Chapter II. Methods of the Mission: Catechizing and Baptism, the Invasion of Domestic Life. 🔒
32. Chapter III. The Names of Christian Believers. 🔒
33. Excursus I. “Friends.” 🔒
34. Excursus 2. Christian Names. 🔒
35. Chapter IV. The Organization of the Christian Community, as Bearing upon the Christian Mission. 🔒
36. Excursus I. Ecclesiastical Organization and the Episcopate (in the Provinces, the Cities, and the Villages), from Pius to Constantine. 🔒
37. Excursus II. The Catholic Confederation and the Mission. 🔒
38. Excursus 3. The Primacy of Rome in Relation to the Mission. 🔒
39. Chapter V. Counter-movements. 🔒