The Beginnings of the Christian Sacraments

For Further Reading

Barrett, C.K. Church, Ministry, and Sacraments in the New Testament (William B. Eerdmans, 1985) is a concise and readable treatment of early ecclesiastical developments.

Brox, Norbert. A History of the Early Church (SCM Press, 1994) puts the early development of church life and liturgy in a wider historical context.

Cabaniss, Allen. Pattern in Early Christian Worship (Mercer University Press, 1989) summarizes and comments on early documents containing descriptions of Christian worship.

Edwards, O. C. How It All Began (Seabury Press, 1973) gives an overview of the origins of Christianity, including the sacraments.

Fisher, Eugene, ed. The Jewish Roots of Christian Liturgy (Paulist Press, 1990) collects articles on Jewish antecedents to Christian worship, marriage, and funeral practices.

Markus, R. A. Christianity in the Roman World (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1974) traces the growth of Christianity from a Jewish sect to its establishment as the official religion of the empire.

Moule, C. F. D. Worship in the New Testament (John Knox Press, 1961) is a short introduction to baptism, eucharist and other practices mentioned in the Christian scriptures.

Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Excellent Empire (Harper and Row, 1987) is a set of informative lectures on the decline of paganism and the rise of the Christian Roman Empire.

Stevenson, Kenneth. The First Rites (Liturgical Press, 1989) summarizes contemporary scholarship about what is known about early Christian worship and rituals.

For Further Study
Christian Worship and Theology

Bradshaw, Paul. The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship (Oxford University Press, 1992) questions many of the assumptions that are usually made about early church rituals.

Bradshaw, Paul, and Lawrence Hoffman, eds. The Making of Jewish and Christian Worship (University of Notre Dame Press, 1991) contains articles by on the study of worship as well as on its practice and history.

Carroll, Thomas, and Thomas Halton. Liturgical Practice in the Fathers (Michael Glazier, 1988) documents the gradual development of Lent and Easter, Advent and Christmas, and other Christian feasts.

Danielou, Jean. The Bible and the Liturgy (University of Notre Dame Press, 1956) shows how patristic writers used biblical images and philosophical ideas to explain the meaning of the Christian liturgies.

DiSante, Carmine. Jewish Prayer (Paulist Press, 1991) examines Jewish worship in order to understand the origins of Christian practices.

Dunn, James. Jesus and the Spirit (Westminster Press, 1975) interprets the religious experience of Jesus and the first Christians on the basis of New Testament evidence and modern scholarship.

Ferguson, Everrett. Worship in Early Christianity (Garland, 1993) reproduces scholarly articles written between 1902 and 1982 on a wide range of topics.

Gavin, F. The Jewish Antecedents of the Christian Sacraments (SPCK, 1928) is one of the first books to argue that there is a close connection between early Christian practices and first-century Judaism.

Jungmann, Joseph. The Early Liturgy to the Time of Gregory the Great (University of Notre Dame Press, 1959) gives a detailed account of the development of Christian worship during the first six centuries.

Lampe, Geoffrey. The Seal of the Spirit (SPCK, 1967) examines and reflects on all of the early texts pertaining to this topic.

Martin, Ralph. Worship in the Early Church (William B. Eerdmans, 1964) uses primarily scriptural sources to review first century Christian practices.

Mazza, Enrico. Mystagogy: A Theology of Liturgy in the Patristic Age (Pueblo, 1989) is a thorough study of the instructional homilies of some of the great church fathers.

Osiek, Carolyn, and David Balch. Families in the New Testament World (Westminster John Knox, 1997) discusses house churches, community meals, marriage, and celibacy.

Palmer, Paul. Sources of Christian Theology (2 vols., Newman Press) is a useful collection of historical texts on the sacraments from patristic to modern times. Sacraments and Worship (vol. 1, 1955) covers sacraments in general and the eucharist. Sacraments and Forgiveness (vol. 2, 1959) covers penance and the anointing of the sick.

Taft, Robert. The Byzantine Rite (Liturgical Press, 1992) summarizes developments in the Greek or Eastern liturgy from the fourth to the fifteenth century.

Talley, Thomas. The Origins of the Liturgical Year (Pueblo, 1986) investigates the very beginnings of Easter, Holy Week, Pentecost, Christmas, and other Christian feasts.

Willis, Geoffrey. A History of the Early Roman Liturgy (Boydell and Brewer, 1994) reviews what is known about the Latin texts of baptism, eucharist and ordination through the year 600.

Williams, Benjamin, and Harold Anstall. Orthodox Worship (Living Light Publishing, 1989) brings out the connection between early liturgical practices and the Orthodox liturgy as it is practiced even today.

Church History

Bokenkotter, Thomas. A Concise History of the Catholic Church (Doubleday, 1990) is a very readable general history written from a Catholic perspective.

Brown, Raymond. The Churches the Apostles Left Behind (Paulist Press, 1984) makes some interesting deductions about first century Christianity from what is written in the New Testament.

Chadwick, Henry. The Early Church (Penguin Books, 1967) covers the history of Christianity from the first to the sixth century.

Doran, Robert. Birth of a Worldview (Westview Press, 1995) interprets early Christianity not as the spread of a set message but as the emergence of a new religious outlook.

Friend, W. H. C. The Early Church: From the Beginnings to 461 (SCM Press, 1991) is a concise history that has been revised twice since its first edition in 1965.

Gonzales, Justo. A History of Christian Thought (3 vols., Abingdon Press, 1971) is a lengthy but useful history that includes major developments in the theology of the sacraments.

Harrison, Everett. The Apostolic Church (William B. Eerdmans, 1985) summarizes much that can be known about first century Christianity from the New Testament and other sources.

Hazlett, Ian, ed. Early Christianity (Abingdon Press, 1991) creates a credible picture with a collage of twenty-five articles by scholarly authors.

Marty, Martin. A Short History of Christianity (New American Library, 1959) is a very readable history written from a Protestant perspective.

Meeks, Wayne. The First Urban Christians (Yale University Press, 1983) gives a sociological description of first- century Christianity, including church organization and rituals.

Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition, 100–600 (University of Chicago Press, 1971) discusses the theological concerns of the patristic period in their cultural and intellectual setting.

Placher, William. A History of Christian Theology (Westminster Press, 1983) is a clearly written history that focuses on the development of ideas.

Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity (Princeton University Press, 1996) is an intriguing sociological reconstruction of the spread of Christianity through the Roman Empire.

Wagner, Walter. After the Apostles (Fortress Press, 1994) reconstructs the second century of Christianity from how church leaders responded to the challenges of the day.