The Religion of the Apostles: Orthodox Christianity in the First Century (Paperback)
The Religion of the Apostles offers a compelling and deeply researched exploration of the faith, worship, and lived experience of the earliest Christians. Rooted in Scripture, early Jewish context, and the witness of the Apostles, this volume examines what Christianity looked like before councils, empires, and later theological divisions — when the Church was still young, persecuted, and vibrantly missionary.
This paperback edition presents a clear and accessible study of first-century Christian belief and practice, arguing that the faith proclaimed by the Apostles was not a later invention, but a historically continuous and embodied tradition.
The book explores:
The Jewish foundations of early Christian worship and theology
The structure of first-century house churches and apostolic leadership
Baptism, Eucharist, prayer, and liturgical patterns in the earliest communities
The development of Christology within a Second Temple Jewish worldview
The continuity between the Apostolic Church and historic Orthodox Christianity
The role of Scripture, oral tradition, and episcopal authority
Drawing on biblical scholarship, early Christian writings, and historical analysis, the work situates Christianity firmly within its first-century Mediterranean setting. It highlights how early believers understood Jesus not merely as a moral teacher, but as the fulfillment of Israel’s Scriptures — the incarnate Lord worshiped within the communal life of the Church.
Readers will discover how themes such as temple imagery, covenant theology, sacramental life, and apostolic succession were already present in embryonic form in the earliest Christian communities. The book also addresses common modern assumptions about “primitive Christianity,” offering a thoughtful challenge to the idea that early faith was radically different from historic Orthodox belief.
Ideal for:
Students of early Church history
Readers interested in Orthodox theology
Those exploring the Jewish roots of Christianity
Lay readers seeking a historically grounded understanding of apostolic faith
Accessible yet theologically rich, The Religion of the Apostles invites readers to encounter Christianity not as a later development, but as a living faith shaped in the first century — rooted in Scripture, embodied in worship, and handed down through apostolic continuity.
