02081cam a2200301 i 4500 913557666 AUA.1 20160809164935.0 151106t20162016miu b 001 0 eng 2015043726 9780801048494 0801048494 (OCoLC)913557666 DLC eng rda STF DLC YDXCP BTCTA BDX OCLCF BCT CDX WIO ISS LNT OCL EXN pcc EXNs BR162.3 .K74 2016 270.1 23 Kreider, Alan, 1941- author. 22780 The patient ferment of the early church : the improbable rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire / Alan Kreider. Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Academic, c2016 xiii, 321 p ; 23 cm. Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-313) and index. Growth and patience. The improbable growth of the church -- The good of patience -- Push and pull -- Ferment. Christians as agents of growth -- Communities as cultures of patience -- Forming the habitus. Catechesis and baptism -- Worship -- "Wise doves" in the Didascalia apostolorum -- The transformation of patience. The impatience of Constantine -- Augustine and the just impatience. How and why did the early church grow in the first four hundred years despite disincentives, harassment, and occasional persecution? In this unique historical study, veteran scholar Alan Kreider delivers the fruit of a lifetime of study as he tells the amazing story of the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Challenging traditional understandings, Kreider contends the church grew because the virtue of patience was of central importance in the life and witness of the early Christians. They wrote about patience, not evangelism, and reflected on prayer, catechesis, and worship, yet the church grew -- not by specific strategies but by patient ferment. Church history Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600. lcc BOOK BR 162.3 .K74 2016 15336 15336 0 0 lcc 0 0 Books AUA.1 AUA.1 GS 2016-08-09 Bought by JTL 26.99 AUA018589 0 BR 162.3 .K74 2016 AUA018589 2016-08-09 00:00:00 26.99 2016-08-09 BOOK