What Did Early Christians Really Believe?
The Answer Will Surprise and Amaze You!
The Fathers Know Best: Your Essential Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church is a unique resource that introduces you to the teachings of the first Christians in a way no other work can. It is specially designed to make it easy for you to find the information you want and need.
Amazing features in this fact-packed book include:
- More than 900 quotations from the writings of the early Church Fathers, as well as from rare and important documents dating back to the dawn of Christian history.
- Mini-biographies of nearly 100 Fathers, as well as descriptions of dozens of key early councils and writings.
- A concise history of the dramatic spread of Christianity after Jesus told his disciples to evangelize all nations.
- Special maps showing you where the Fathers lived, including many little-known and long-vanished locations.
- A guide to nearly 30 ancient heresies, many of which have returned to haunt the modern world.
- The Fathers’ teaching on nearly 50 topics, including modern hot-button issues like abortion, homosexuality, and divorce.
This groundbreaking work presents the teachings of the early Christians in a way unlike any other book. It flings open the doors of the crucial but little-known age covering the birth of Christianity and the triumphant march of the gospel throughout the ancient world.
“We are particularly blessed by this release of Jimmy Akin’s superbly compiled synopsis of the writings of the early Church Fathers. There are other works, but Akin’s finely selected and categorized collection provides a far more accessible introduction to the early Christians” —Marcus Grodi, President of The Coming Home Network and host of EWTN’s The Journey Home.
Contents:
Foreword by Marcus GrodiPART ONEI. Introduction 1. About This Book 2. About the FathersII. The World of the Fathers 3. The World at a Glance 4. “My Witnesses in Jerusalem” 5. The Second Holy Land 6. Greece and Rome 7. The Far West 8. North AfricaIII. Ad Fontes!—“To the Sources!” 9. Know Your Fathers 10. Know Your Councils 11. Know Your Writings 12. Know Your HeresiesPART TWOIV. God 13. The One True God 14. God Has No Body 15. The Trinity 16. The Three Persons of the Trinity 17. The Divinity of Christ 18. The Eternal Sonship of Christ 19. FilioqueV. Creation 20. Creation out of Nothing 21. Creation in GenesisVI. The Sources of Faith 22. The Canon of Scripture 23. Apostolic TraditionVII. The Church and the Pope 24. The Catholic Church 25. Apostolic Succession 26. Peter the Rock 27. Peter’s Primacy 28. Peter in Rome 29. Peter’s Successors 30. The Authority of the PopeVIII. Morality 31. Mortal Sin 32. Abortion 33. Contraception and Sterilization 34. Homosexuality 35. AstrologyIX. Sacraments and Worship 36. Baptism as a Means of Grace 37. Baptismal Regeneration 38. The Necessity of Baptism 39. Trinitarian Baptism 40. Infant Baptism 41. Confirmation 42. The Real Presence 43. The Sacrifice of the Mass 44. Confession 45. Bishop, Priest, and Deacon 46. Women Priests? 47. The Permanence of Marriage 48. Sabbath or Sunday?X. Mary, the Saints, the Miraculous 49. Mary, Full of Grace 50. Mary, Mother of God 51. Mary, Ever Virgin 52. Intercession of the Saints 53. Ongoing Miracles 54. Private RevelationXI. The Last Things 55. Salvation Outside the Church 56. Reward and Merit 57. Purgatory 58. Hell 59. Reincarnation? 60. The Resurrection of the Body 61. The AntichristTranslations UsedDocuments UsedScripture IndexNotes
About the Author:
Jimmy Akin was born in Texas and grew up nominally Protestant. At age 20 he experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant pastor or seminary professor, Jimmy started an intensive study of the Bible, but the more he immersed himself in Scripture, the more he found it to support the Catholic faith. Eventually, he was compelled in conscience to enter the Catholic Church, which he did in 1992. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in the book Surprised By Truth. Akin is a Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a member on the Catholic Answers Speakers Bureau, a weekly guest on the global radio program, Catholic Answers Live, a contributing editor for Catholic Answers Magazine, and the author of numerous publications, including the books Mass Confusion, The Salvation Controversy, The Fathers Know Best, and Mass Revision.
