If the word trinity isn't in Scripture, why is it such an important part of our faith? And if the Bible can be interpreted in many ways, how do we know what to make of it? And who decided what should be in the Bible anyway? The Church Fathers provide the answers. These brilliant, embattled, and sometimes eccentric men defined the biblical canon, hammered out the Creed, and gave us our understanding of sacraments and salvation. It is they who preserved for us the rich legacy of the early Church. D'Ambrosio dusts off the dry theology and brings you the exciting stories and great heroes such as Ambrose, Augustine, Basil, Athanasius, Chrysostom, and Jerome. This page-turner will inspire and challenge you with the lives and insights of these seminal teachers from when the Church was young. The audio edition of this book can be downloaded via Audible.
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Short Review: This is a good introduction to the history and writing of the early church fathers (those just after the apostles until about 600AD). D'Ambrosio does a good job of putting these pastors, bishops and lay people in context. When I have read some other survey history of this era I either got to much history and not enough writing or vice versa (or too much look at topical issues.) But for me this hit a sweet spot for introducing me to more of what the early church taught and practiced.
D'Ambrosio is Catholic and I think a few times he stretches to make connection with modern Catholicism and the early church fathers, but other than that issue, I highly recommend the book. I think I will be reading more of the early church fathers soon. This is also a good follow up to John Michael Talbot's memoir-ish look at how the early church fathers led him to Catholicism (my review - http://bookwi.se/ancient-path-old-lessons-church-fathers-new-life-today-john-michael-talbot-mike-aquilina/ )
My full review - http://bookwi.se/when-the-church-was-young/
