Christian Books How the First Essay

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St. Justin was one of the earliest Christian apologists, and his Apology of the second century helps trace the laying of the Christian dogmatic foundation. The faith, as expressed by Justin, contains several of the elements that established the Christian religion as a religion founded by God Himself -- and as Justin composed his Apology as a defense of Christianity against paganism, it takes pains to explain exactly what Christians were expected to believe. Justin is mentioned by Tertullian as being both a philosopher and a Church martyr who, along with a handful of other early Christian martyrs, was slain in Rome for defending the Faith. That Faith was largely recorded in Justin's First Apology, one of the earliest records of Church teaching on the subject of the Eucharist. Justin's writings survive today because they like so many others were preserved and collected along by the early faithful and the monks who dedicated their lives to removing themselves from the world and holding onto a vision of Christian doctrine. Needless to say, Justin's writings were much commented upon by the early Christian fathers because the first Christian books were constantly being spread throughout the Christian communities.

Part of the reason these early Christian books were so well preserved, however, is that there was a long tradition in the Greco-Roman-Judeo world of preserving important texts. Rome was a hybrid of Jewish, Greek and Roman learning. Under Roman rule, after all, Greek and Jew had been assimilated (to a degree) into the Roman culture -- which, under Constantine, became officially Christian. Thus, the Fathers of the Church had Greek, Hebrew, and Roman traditions to draw upon for intellectual grounding. These traditions taught them to gather and collect in an institutional way (ala monastic institution) the first Christian books (Woods, 2008, p. 36). Then there were the councils, at which the early Church fathers and bishops like Augustine gathered to proclaim those writings which were essential to the maintenance of the Christian Faith.

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Definite affirmations concerning the Person of Christ were made in, for example, the Nicene Creed -- which some 1200 years later would be reaffirmed at the Council of Trent (at a time when the medieval world was beginning to experience the rending of its garments -- the rise of Protestantism and the end of Christendom). In other words, the early Church was so well organized and defensive, that the preservation of the Faith and those books which proclaimed it, taught it, clarified it, and spread it were given top priority by those members of the Church who were inflamed by a spirit of preservation.

Therefore, I conclude that the first Christian books were written, preserved and collected by defenders, teachers, and preachers of the Faith. The Apostles gave the world the first Christian texts. Those texts were written most likely within the first century AD and quoted at length and repeatedly by the early Fathers of the Church. The first monks of the Church took upon themselves the task of preserving and collecting the first Christian books. Under Constantine, the Church was granted a degree of legitimacy and the collecting and disseminating of religious literature was given a great boost thanks to the Emperor's recognition of the religion. But the real credit must go to the writers of Sacred Scripture and the books that expounded upon them. It must go to the faithful readers, who showed an obvious love for this literature. And it must go to the faithful monks who dedicated their lives to keeping the Word of God alive for all the generations that would follow.

Reference List

Barnett, P. (2003). Is the New Testament Reliable? IL: InterVarsity Press.

Lindberg, C. (2006). A Brief History of Christianity. UK: Blackwell Publishing.

Robinson, J.A.T. (2000). Redating the New Testament. Eugene, or: Wipf &….....

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