When the Church Was Young: Voices of the Early Fathers

"History shouldn't be boring. History is basically story-telling. Stories shouldn't be boring, especially if we're telling stories about our family..."This was how Dr. D'Ambrosio began his talk many years ago when I attended a lecture he gave on Early Church Fathers. Over the next hour, he regaled us with stories of our Catholic family, and anecdotes about our forefathers in faith. He told us about some of the early martyrs, but the stories which really stuck with me were those concerning the rather colourful lives of St. Ambrose and his protege, St. Augustine. Up until that point, I had no idea that so much passion and drama could be hidden behind the images of those old, bearded men which I saw in stained glass each Sunday. It was with great excitement, therefore, that I pre-ordered Dr. D'Ambosio's new book, "When The Church Was Young"...I was not disappointed. In short, Dr. D'Ambrosio has produced my new favourite introductory volume to the Church Fathers. While quite a lot of Patristics books can be rather dry, the style of this book is easy and relaxed, which meant that I got through the entire book in just a few days.There are several things which I think are uniquely achieved in this book. The first thing which is worth commending is the way in which the author manages to connect the stories of each Early Church Father into an overarching narrative. This is extremely helpful in keeping the chronology and flow of events clear in one's head.The next thing is that, although I would say that this is an introductory book, it is absolutely packed with little nuggets of information I hadn't come across before. In fact, every time I found one of these gems, I put a little post-it on the page and the book is now littered with these slips of paper.The final thing about this book which sets it apart from others is in the area of what you might call "application". At the end of each chapter, Dr. D'Ambrosio connects the events, issues and themes discussed in that chapter to both contemporary secular society and to today's Church. In these sections, he shows how the lessons learned in the early centuries can be applied to today's world and how the wisdom of the Fathers is the sage advice we need to hear as we attempt to remedy contemporary dilemmas and struggles.Upon completing this book I immediately purchased two more copies, certain that I would quickly find homes for them. No sooner had they arrived, I had put them into the hands of friends, enthusiastic to read them after hearing my glowing reports on Facebook.All in all, I loved this book. It's an excellent introductory guide to the Fathers which is never-the-less jammed full of valuable material presented in an accessible fashion. Dr. D'Ambrosio is right, history shouldn't be boring, and neither is this book, thanks to his excellent retelling of our family story.

If you are looking for a clear, understandable book on the early Church Fathers you will like this book. It concisely explains their teachings…doesn’t overwhelm the reader with too much information. Also links their writings to scripture. Excellent for beginners of research.

I've always been fascinated by books about the writing of the Bible (both Old and New Testaments) and the history of the early church. Many of these books are written for the biblical scholar and almost incomprehensible to the average reader. I am pleased to say that this book is not one of that type. It is scholarly, of course, but the writing seems directed to the average reader who just wants to learn more about this period of church history and the great thinkers and writers who lived in those first centuries after the crucifixion. Granted, the author is a Catholic, but it's almost impossible to tell that from the pages of his work. The lives and works of the early "Church Fathers" are examined in a way we can all understand, and I really appreciate that. We go from the apostles and their writings all the way through the pontificate of Gregory the Great, stopping here and there to read of Augustus, Justin, the various Gregories and Jerome, just to name a few. We are given snippets of their lives and also of those of their works which have survived. In the book we can read of the development of the Eucharistic feast, and the structure that arose around the sacraments of Baptism and Penance. The various heresies and wrong thinking of those times are covered, with emphasis how these Church Fathers wrote to combat them. All in all, I found it a completely captivating book, and I can recommend it highly.

A very enjoyable and easy to read book about the men who helped Christianity go from a small sect of Judaism to the largest religion in the world. Each chapter is a concise history of one of these men and the movement they championed. Some of these stories I was familiar with (like Clement and Gregory The Great) but many were new to me (like Polycorp and Basil The Great and my favorite, Origen).Whether you are Christian or not, you have to admire some of these early Fathers of The Church, many of whom were persecuted for their beliefs and even martyred. There are countless incidents in this book where someone was given the choice to renounce their faith or face death and they choose the later. It was one thing for the apostles to do that, the men who had literally walked with Jesus, but for those who came later, you believed based on stories they’d been told and the gospels they’d read, it’s even more impressive.In fact, as someone who doesn’t believe in God, the Jesus story is even more impressive. I mean, sure, if there’s a big guy upstairs directing things, it’s no wonder that His word has spread today to billions of people. It’d be like cheating in cards. Of course you’re gonna win. But remove the omnipotent part of the story and what are you left with? A poor carpenter’s son wondering around in the desert spreading some cool, peaceful vibes. He never wrote a book or even letter that we know of. He just preached for a few years and then paid the ultimate price for it. You’d expect his message to fizzle out in a generation or two and his name to be lost to history. And that’s where this book picks up. With the men who heard that message second hand and believed it so much they wrote eloquently about it and preached endlessly about it and made sure that Jesus did not suffer and die in vain. No matter what your beliefs are, you can’t not marvel at that.I’d recommend this book to any Christian to help you understand how there’s even a religion for you to believe in. And if you’re like me, someone who has moved past their faith but still has a fascination with the things I was taught (and why I was taught them) I think you’ll enjoy this book as well.

for my Masters in theology - very useful to have original source material

Awesome book

Mostly good. A bit dry at points. But very informative and meaningful for Christians to understand our roots!

This gives a great overview of the church fathers. It gives information about their main theological beliefs/arguments and gives you context too with the brief biographical accounts of each of them. This has been a fantastic introduction and I'd highly recommend it.

Superb overview of the highs and lows of the early church after the death of the Apostles.This book tells of the amazing awesome faith of these radical pioneers and how they lived and died to hold on to the Truth and Traditions handed to them from the Apostles themselves.A fantastic and absorbing introductory read about the early church fathers and their extraordinary lives.