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A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs

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How the early church (those who lived from the time of the apostle John to around 330 AD) viewed issues may be slightly different than many Christians do today. This book (all 704 pages!) catalogs those beliefs in a systematic, topical fashion. Want to know what the church believed about Original Sin? or the Trinity? or abortion? or even reincarnation? Bercot puts together a variety of quotes (directly from the Ante-Nicene writings) together for each topic. Many topics have 10 or more quotes of a variety of lengths from the church Fathers. Also the page number of the quote (in the Ante-Nicene 10 volume set) and the date of the author are listed. Also included at the very beginning is a brief biography of the major Christian Fathers.

The doctrines that the early church held may surprise many today...overall, they wouldn't serve in the army if it meant killing, they believed in free-will, and they accepted the apocrypha, at least as useful reading. Even if one does not accept their interpretation, it is still useful to know what the people who lived closest to Christ thought and believed. It is truly an excellent reference guide I would never be without. I personally get my theology from the Bible and the interpretations of it provided by the Church fathers.

There is a resurging interest among Protestants to understand what the Early Church taught and believed. I believe a book like this one can be instrumental in furthering that search and introducing a whole generation of Christians to the writings of these wonderful, devout, and pious men. This book is absolutely invaluable for anyone who wants to research what the Ante-Nice Fathers taught on any given topic. Also, Bercot's concise and standard way of referencing each Father's works makes it easy to go back to the original sources and do further resarch by examining the entire text.

There may be some who will not like what the Father's teach, but that is to be expected. A vast majority of Evangelical churches in America do not conform either in principle or in practice to what these godly men taught. I think that stauch Calvinist's will be the most disturbed by their writings because the Early Church Fathers were unequivocally more supportive of the view that mankind can and must respond to God. Furthermore, they did not teach unconditional election, perseverance of the saints, limited atonement, or irresistable grace. In fact, it was the Gnostics who held views similar to those expressed above. The response by most will be that these men just fell into error and didn't understand the gospel, but then the question must be asked, why do individuals who lived 1,500 years after the Apostles understand it better than the Fathers did? I do not mention Augustine because his views are not those of traditional 5 point Calvinists, and therefore the view followed by many is not Augustine's view but that of the Reformers.

Buy this work if you interested in discovering what the Early Fathers believed, and use it as an introduction and guide to further study of their writings. It is by no means an exhaustive study of the entire corpus of their literature, but is a great starting point for introductory study.

This book essentially puts in dictionary form various beliefs and practices, and then has quotes by the Early Church writers regarding each issue. While the former reader saw this as an index of sorts to the excellent ante-Nicene Fathers 10 volume set (which I own), it can also function autonomously. In fact I usually use it as a way of getting to what the Bible actually says when the Bible isn't as clear as I would like to to be. One instance is the issue of predestination and freewill which divides many Christians to the point of exclusion. The Bible can be used to support both views. By looking under freewill, one can find that the Early church almost unanimously were freewill. There are great quotes showing the early church was essentially Trinitarian, giving towards others, pacifists, and took turning the other cheek literally. It is not the Bible, but is a good way to know what those people who lived closest to Christ and the apostles believed.

Bercot is a lawyer and also an Anglican priest. His present book is written very easily (for a wide audience). Bercott,'s laudable intent is to provide a reference work with a neutral selection of what the Church Fathers thought on many topics, so one can discover what the church fathers used to think. Each entry has a few lines of explanation and then some short texts excerpts from early church fathers, taken from the "Ante-Nicene Fathers" by A. Robert (1885 and reprinted by Hendrikson.)

However there are major problems with this book. First many entries are not provided, for example on apologists such as Militiades, Hippolytus, Apollinaris, etc. Second, the selection of texts often fails to represent the textual information we have. Bercot said he tried to be neutral, and I think he did, but the problem is that he does not have the scholarship required for the difficult task he tried to achieve. Take for example the entry "montanism": he fails to cite the major texts (Eusebius, Epiphanius, the montanist oracles), and above all the charismatic/shamanic nature of the heresy (glossolalia/tongues, fallible prophecy, trances/convulsions) which was the reason why the montanists were excommunicated at the church councils of Hierapolis and Anchialus). What a blatant omission! And then he cites many texts of Tertullian as if they were typical of montanism, apparently ignoring that Tertullian eventually rejected the charismatic aspect of montanism after he left the early church , and instead focussed primarily on the ascetic aspect of the movement, having no communion with the montanists but creating his own group (the Tertullianists). Bercot apparently ignores such things and many others. And among the many citations of Tertullian in the book, there is no information about when they were made (before or after his conversion), so the profane reader is given some texts of Tertullian saying that prophecy ceased with the apostolic times in the entry "prophecy" and the opposite in the entry on "montanism". So another problem is that one cannot make much with all these citations taken out of their context. Profane readers are being mislead if they think that they learn much with such a book, they will rather grossly misinterpret the citations and build erroneous views. In conclusion, this book does provides a "neutral", representative view of Early Christian thought, and is sometimes very inaccurate. Those interested in finding quickly some texts may find some help with this book, they should however no rely on it as a research, authoritative guide. They may be better better helped by the Church fathers CD-Rom from Wheaton College (can be ordered through the internet), which is no more expensive than this book, or they may just download the texts of the Church Fathers for free from many sites. But anyway they would better first read some serious texts about the Early Church, so as to avoid gross misinterpretations. For example I can recommend Henry Chadwick's "The Early Church". And for those who want more, there are the 4 volumes of Johannes Quasten's "Patrology", etc.

Even if you did possess the entire collection of the Ante Nicene Fathers, most folks wouldn't know where to begin to research what all of them said regarding any particular topic. This dictionary solves that problem. And it is even better than an index of where to find passages on those topics since the actual passages are printed out for you to read. Comparing writings is much easier since you don't have to search through several different books - they are all in one spot. While we must acknowledge the fact that the writings do not necessarily represent "dogmatic theological pronouncements," if you are interested in dicovering what the Early Church Fathers believed, do yourself a favor and get this book.

This book should be in any pastor, scholar, teacher, professor, or student's library. It is a comprehensive guide to over 700 key theological, moral, and historical topics, straight from the writings of the early Church Fathers! From Abel to Zoroastrianism, this book compiles under topical headings some short pieces of the writings of the most influential early Christians. These men are the shoulders on which today's Christians stand, and learning about their beliefs and arguments deepens our own understanding who Christians are and what they believe. Bercot has done a marvellous job assembling these works into this one fine volume. Buy and use this helpful reference book!

What a tool for study! If you are not an Ante-Nicene scholar, this book is a great source to start studying what the early church taught.

David Bercot is a well respected historical theologian focusing on the early church. He has been cited controversially by some because of his critiques in other writings stating that after the first couple of centuries that the church became less orthodox (little "o", not Greek Orthodox or any other Orthodox church) because of incorrect teachings. This is a common belief among Protestants and Evangelicals. So, know that his focus is restricted in this sense, and some sources are not considered that Orthodox or Catholic churches may rely on.

Bercot covers a significant set of beliefs in this writing, making this a superbly helpful book. I say it is a great place to start, because of the way the book's subjects are laid out. The book discusses a few topics regarding the authors quoted, and then works through a sample study of a topic to show how to use the book. He then gives a "Who's Who of Ante-Nicene Authors" that gives a very brief biography of each author. (For those who are unfamiliar with the term Ante-Nicene, this refers to the Christian Church before the Nicene Council in AD 325.) On any given subject, Bercot begins with the associated Scriptures that discuss the issue. Then, he moves on to listing quotes from Ante-Nicene authors' writings. With each quote, he gives the reference so one can go back and read the context.

Pros: Because of this reference system, it is very easy to go and do further study from the Scriptures and the Ante-Nicene fathers. Most of the writings he refers to are found in the 10 volume set (ISBN: 1565630823). Likewise, Bercot has a very easy-to-use listing of terms that facilitates finding the correct area of the book for information. He gives superb guidance about studying the early church fathers as well, which is very good advice from this ecclesiastical history scholar.

Cons: Some of the more complicated issues don't have all Scripture listed. For instance, Free Will and Predestination, a very controversial topic, does not list all Scripture nor all early church writings. Granted, though, a full list would likely fill a book on its own. Most topics are fully detailed. Also, the biographies of the Ante-Nicene fathers could have been a bit more detailed. Most get 3-4 lines, with only Origen getting half a page.

Despite these minor drawbacks, this books is a superb place to start study on topics regarding the early church.

For the past decade, I have admired David Bercot's desire to spread the message of the Early Church in the modern world. His teaching ministry has drove me deeper into the world not only of the Scriptures, but of the Early Church as well. I have listened to his various tapes and read many of his books, and was thrilled to obtain a copy of this edition, "A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs".

First, a housekeeping note, the manuscript was prepared at a point when Bercot was an Anglican priest, but he isn't anymore. As I understand it, he is a part of the Society of the Good Shepherd, which is essential a Primitive Christian denomoination unto itself. Any charges of bais, therefore, on the grounds of him being an Anglican should be dismissed.

Throughout his writings, Bercot often states that he accepts the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds as benchmarks of Orthodoxy, and thus this book is going to reflect a lot of material that meets that benchmark head on.

I have read a lot of criticisim of this book, but let me tell you, it's unwarranted. Bercot was attempting a monumental feat, to collect quotes in topical form from the Early Church. There is no way that he was going to get everthing. What you have here is a representative, but quite extensive, sampling of the Early Church Fathers.

Some have criticised him for not including writings from the early historians of the Church, but one must realize that is is virtually impossible to take a small snippet from those historical records and put it in a proper context. It is far easier to do with Polycarp, Ignatius, Origen, and other writers.

In the end, however, as I believe that Bercot himself would tell you... this is just a tool, a resource. It is not, and never will be, a substitute for the ten-volume set of the Ante-Nicene Fathers. To really, truly, properly study the early Church, one must read the ANF, especially the first few volumes, of one will be lost.

This is an excellent topical index (and is particuarlly notable for the inclusion of topical scripture as well as patristic quotes), and is far superior to the Index volume of the ANF, but still will fall short if you are attempting to study the Early Church.

In my own personal use, I use it as an index to the ANF (each quote is followed by the volume and page number on which it can be found) and as a quick reference when away from the ANF set. I keep one with me most of the time, even on vacation. It is simply one of the best topical indexes there is, and I highly commend it to all.

Bercot says in the very fist paragraph that this book "functions as an index to the writings of the ante-Nicene writers, specifically as collected in the ten-volume work the Ante-Nicene Fathers" (ed. by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, Hendrickson Publishers). On page xi of his Preface he states that this is not the only translation available, but he chose it because " 1) the translations...are usually more literal than more recent translations, 2) other sets...contain only a small portion of the pre-Nicene writings, and 3) this translation is the only set of pre-Nicene writings affordable to the average person." These are all good reasons, but the most significant is that the Ante-Nicene translation published by Hendrickson is affordable, and thus one can assume has found a prominent place in the homes of many persons interested in these sorts of things. From this introductory material it is evident who the intended audience of this book is and it is an excellent resource for those who desire to look up the writings of the early Church Fathers on a particular topic and peruse the entire writings for themselves. In summary, the book is an excellent index for those who use it as intended - a companion to the Ante-Nicene Fathers translation . I would recommend it to anyone who owns a set of this translation.

BJM

While this book could be used as a stand-alone source, it is infinitely preferable to use it as a supplement to the "Ante-Nicene Fathers" ten volume set, in order to check the full context, to read the "extended discussions" in the ANF that Bercot frequently refers one to, and etc. Having checked the context of many of these quotations for myself, I would like to note (in so far as I have done so) that Bercot consistently is able to accurately capture the meaning of the writers to which he refers us, even when using slight paraphrases and minor word changes in order to make them more understandable and easier to read.

I've read and heard of several other topical selections of early Christian writings, but this one is among the most honest and least biased, and while it is not exhaustive, it is easily the single most comprehensive collection that I've ever seen.

Useful Note: I've heard a couple complaints about Bercot citing "heretics" in this work, but the only real example that anyone has been able to give me is that of Tertullian. Let us keep a few things about Tertullian in mind though. First of all, many of his writings were penned before he began to become involved with the Montanist heresy. Secondly, as for his writings that are suspected as being heretical, Bercot points out on page xx that "the Montanist sect differed from the church primarily on matters of discipline, not theological doctrines . . . When the view [Tertullian] expresses appears to be unique to the Montanists, this is noted." And finally, it is still good to keep in mind which of his texts were written before he was influenced by Montanism, and which texts were written after that point, and Bercot usefully noted that "Around 211, he seems to have left the church to join a Montanist congregation," and fortunately, a date is assigned to each quotation in this book. But it is also useful to point out that, according to Henry Bettenson, "Tertullian's transition to Montanism" first began as early as ca. 203 (see Bettenson, "The Early Christian Fathers," pg. 302).

Want to know more about this book, who the early Christians were and what they taught, and/or what the Bible has to say about the post-Biblical Christians and the importance of their writings? Then feel free to contact me via E-mail.