Review: THE EARLY CHRISTIANS IN THEIR OWN WORDS by Eberhard Arnold

The first thing to notice is that Arnold uses a different definition of "the early Christians" than most of us have seen . Perhaps due to the influence of The Ante-Nicene Fathers, American and British authors tend to consider the early Christians as extending down to the Council of Nicea in 325AD. Arrnold, a German, makes use only of sources prior to the year 200AD.

More than anything, this book resembles The Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, edited by David Bercot, though it's both more and less extensive than that work. Like Bercot's later book, Arnold's lists various topics and arranges quotes from the early Christians under them. What makes it less extensive is that there just aren't as many topics. While Arnold has done a very good job with what has, Bercot's exhaustive approach ultimately makes his book more useful.

What makes it more extensive is that, despite its title, Arnold's book doesn't just contain quotes from the early Christians, but from their enemies and other contemporaries as well. It's sometimes as illuminating to see what was said against Christians as for them.

This book is both a good companion to Bercot's, and a formidable resource in its own right. I highly recommend it.