Complete in itself, this two-volume Image Books edition opens with an illuminating account of the origins of the Church to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, provides a magnificent study of St. Paul and describes the relations between the infant Church and the imperial Roman government including the persecutions under Nero, Domitian and the Antonines, presents a fascinating picture of Christian line and worship in the Catacombs. Included is a survey of early Christian literature and the crucial period of the third century, ending with the victory of the Cross under Constantine. The intellectual problems of the fourth century which gave rise to the first major heresies and the steps taken to define Catholic dogmas are fully explored. The author vividly re-creates the administrative, cultural and spiritual features of the Church in the closing years of that century when Theodosius the Great established Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. This is truly 'a vivid account of the most stirring period of the Church's history.'

    Seldom in all history has mere man been charged with such an awesome responsibility as was delegated to the Prince of Apostles when Our Lord uttered these words. And it is the story of this humble fisherman, so curiously neglected by modern authors, that William Thomas Walsh tells so brilliantly.Skillfully arranging all the scattered facts that the New Testament, tradition, and archaeological discoveries and patient historical research have revealed, he provides a vivid and dramatic record of the hot-headed, impetuous, devoted follow of Christ who thrice denied his Master and yet was chosen by Him to be the Keeper of the Keys and the head of His Church. Here is the long, painful, exciting journey travelled by the fisherman of Galilee as he is transformed from a figure of shifting sand to one of rock--Peter the Rock--martyred in Rome. It is a glowing and inspiring picture, full of warmth and color, which reproduces the early days of the Church, the great figures of early Christendom and above all the towering colossus who became the Vicar of Christ on earth, the first pope.

    He was converted to Christianity, studied Stoic and Platonic philosophy, and founded a school of Christian philosophy at Rome, where he wrote two Apologies on Christian belief (150-60). He is said to have been martyred at Rome. Curiosity is baffled, but faith and love are fed by these scanty relics of primitive antiquity. Yet may we well be grateful for what we have. These writings come down to us as the earliest response of converted nations to the testimony of Jesus. They are primary evidences of the canon and the credibility of the New Testament. -from the Introductory Notice

    The Epistle of Barnabas is a homily on the mistaken Judaistic conception of the Old Testament.The Epistles consist of a covering note and a letter, which is an exhortation to the Philippians on Christian life in general. The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp is the story of this bishop of Smyrna's death at the hand of the Roman authorities in Asia for the defense of the Christian faith.The Fragments of Papias. Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor, was the author of five books, entitled Exegesis of the Lord's Gospel.The Epistle to Diognetus is an apology for Christianity, presented by an unknown writer to a pagan of high social or political rank.

    It is, from the beginning, a period of revolt - the revolts of thinkers and 'mystics', of princes and kings, of bishops and monks, of capitalist bourgeois and proletarian workers. It is the story of the Templars, of the 'Avignon captivity' and the Great Schism of the West, of the councils of Pisa and Contance and Basel, of the Renaissance and the rise of the Ottoman Turks. It is the story, too, of philosophers (Duns Scotus and Ockham), theologians (Gerson, Nicolas of Cusa, and Cajetan)m and humanists (More, Machiavelli, and Erasmus). Popes of the period include Boniface VIII, 'Benedict XIII', Nicholas V, and Pius II, as well as the notorious Borgia, della Rovere, and Medici pontiffs. And, in these 250 years which culminated in the Reformation, come Wicklif, John Hus, and Martin Luther - and Catherine of Sienna, Vincent Ferrer, and Antonius of Florence.