Where do I even start?

[Knee V]

Start with the 1st century Christian writings. Clement of Rome (he's mentioned in the New Testament), Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna (both were students of the Apostles). The Didache and The Shepherd of Hermas are other 1st century writings revered by the early Christians.

 

[mindlight]

I really want to research early Christianity. I know the first place to start is the Bible. I have read soo many different stores, and quite honestly the information overwhelms me. What would be a few good books to start with? I mean you have various authors that can write about the same period, but get different information.

Before Jesus came, there were many who followed false Gods ( and still do) I have read a little bit about about Zeus, nimrod, the sun god, and a few other ones. I get a little nervous about these gods because people say that we are really following one of these. I’m not sure if satan is trying to trick us, or HAS he tricked us, because I tend to think about the verse that says, he will deceive all, even the most elite if possible?

Were the apostles from the Roman church? I do not agree, or want to follow the Roman Catholic Church, and I think that is when Martin Luther started changing away from Roman beliefs? Why were the apostles called saints?

Is is impossible to sift through thousands of years, and the influence of paganism, and the Roman church on our beliefs today?

Sorry so many questions, haha i have a lot. I believe in the living God of Moses, Abraham, and I believe he sent his son to die for our sins. I just want to know after that, what has been altered. For instance, when Jesus was resurrected, there were graves that were open and many people from the grave went back to the Holy Land, and walked around. This is a huge event to me, something that i think would have been mentioned in history...even the apostles didn’t mention it. Maybe it was a long enough period to where people wouldn’t recognize them? I wouldn’t recognize even my own family 3 or 4 generations back lol

Thanks for the advice!

I have been quite fascinated with the After the Apostles era for some months now due to a little project I have going. It was fantastic to discover the ways in which the ELFs affirmed scriptures and the canonical collection so early on indeed with 1 Clement written by Clement of Rome even before the apostle John was dead and buried. Others have mentioned Ignatius and Polycarp. I would then add the later Justin Martyr and after him Ireneaus and Tertullian who clarified the Christian rule of faith and its canon of truth and helped to distinguish orthodoxy from the Marcionite and Gnostic heresies for instance. Basically the avoid list should be anything Gnostic (Hellenised heresy), Ebionite (Jewish heresy), Marcion, Montanus.

One way I think about it is that the church spent much of the first two centuries navigating between 3 cultures - the Jews gave us the OT scriptures but did not have the key to understanding them as they rejected Jesus and tended to be trapped in legalism. The Greeks gave us philosophical frameworks and the capacity to theologise but were given to wild flights of fancy and speculation. The Romans gave us discipline and the Roman church clarified the rule of faith and the canon. But sometimes it could be too authoritarian about genuine differences between authentic Christians e.g. over the date of Easter.

 

[ViaCrucis]

It's been a while since I've read any of these, but when I first started reading the history of the Church the two I read were

Church History in Plain Language by Dr. Bruce Shelley
https://www.amazon.com/Church-History-Plain-Language-Shelley/dp/0849938619

The Story of Christianity by Dr. Justo Gonzalez
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JOGB2DU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

These are pretty decent as I recall, and these are what I usually recommend when people are curious about getting into Church history. However, admittedly these works are far more focused on the history of Western Christianity.

To counterbalance this I would recommend the The Orthodox Church by Metropolitan Kallistos Timothy Ware
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XHNNHA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

There are plenty of good resources out there, but I would consider these to be very accessible to someone new to looking into Church history.

It also can't hurt to actually read what early Christians themselves wrote. Which can be pretty daunting. Fortunately much of the writings of the ancient Christian fathers are freely available to be read online. That said, I like the fresher translation of Maxwell Staniforth, it's only of some of the Apostolic Fathers (those immediately after the Apostles), but still, I think it's a good resource:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RI9LKI/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Bob Crowley]

The "Lion Handbooks" are generally good value for money. After reading the OP's question, I think he would be better if he had an overview of Christian history rather than just trying to specialise in the very early church.

Once the OP's got a handle on Church / Christian history as a whole, then the OP could consider researching more detailed scenarios.

I'd suggest "The History of Christianity (A Lion Handbook)". The OP could probably arrange to get a copy through the local library to check it out.