Philip Schaff’s classic work colloquially known as The Early Church Fathers is an invaluable resource filled with the primary documents and early theological building blocks for the Christian church. Comprised of thirty-eight volumes, it is broken into three parts: the Ante-Nicene Fathers, and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First and Second Series.

Korinna Zamfir explores the manner in which the Pastoral Epistles redefine roles and ministries within a changed ecclesiological framework (the ekkl?sia as oikos Theou). The contextual investigation focuses on the cultural and social background of the station codes and church orders. Applying the environmental approach advanced by Abraham MalherbeZamfir discusses the Pastoral Epistles as writings intimately linked to their Greco-Roman social and cultural environment. The volume addresses the mentalities reflected in moral philosophies, political theories, drama and epigraphy, focusing on the discourse articulated in these sources. Exploring the adoption of conservative mentalities, the monograph advances a reading of the Pastoral Epistles based on ideology critique. It also incorporates insights gained from research on the social world of earliest Christianity, in particular on private associations.Korinna Zamfir argues that the ecclesiology of the Pastoral Epistles presupposes the metaphorical use of oikos Theou and shows that in Greco-Roman antiquity oikos denotes larger social entities like the religious association, the polisand the cosmos. The ekkl?sia is the oikos and polis of God. As a consequence the Pastoral Epistles define roles and ministries based on the public-private divide and on honor and shame mentality. The theo-logical and cosmic dimension of the »household of God«explains the essentialist understanding of social and ecclesial roles. The author also tackles the contrast between discourse and ecclesial reality.

Belief in the necessity of baptism for salvation is rooted in the New Testament and was forcefully affirmed by the Church Fathers, yet today this belief is treated with unease if not ignored altogether. Over the course of centuries, Catholic theology has wrestled with a doctrine--baptism of desire--that both preserves this fundamental principle and allows for salvation in hard cases, such as catechumens dying unexpectedly. Baptism of Desire and Christian Salvation traces this doctrine's varied history, from its genesis in a fourth century funeral oration given by Ambrose of Milan to its uneasy position in the Anonymous Christianity of Karl Rahner. More than a history, however, this book raises questions about the nature of religious ritual and the sacraments, the mission of the Church, and the essence of salvation. Arguing that theologians of the past two centuries have tended to downplay the role of the sacraments when discussing salvation, Lusvardi suggests that baptism should remain our theological starting point. Engaging with the theological tradition and at times challenging the conventional wisdom, Baptism of Desire and Christian Salvation shows how such a sacramental approach can offer credible--and sometimes surprising--responses to questions related to the salvation of non-Christians, the fate of unbaptized infants, and the relevance of the Church's mission today.

How does the Christian faith relate to a world stuck in ideological captivity? What happens when vast numbers of people abandon biblical faith for pre-packaged sets of ideas they received from podcasts, videos, and online personalities? How can we stay faithful, humble, and wise when everyone seems quick, arrogant, and foolish? In A Captive Mind, pastor and author Chris Nye presents Christianity next to the ideologies of this world to reveal the shocking and important truth: Christianity is not an idea in the first place, and therefore confuses, disrupts, and corrects any cultural ideology. To commit to Jesus Christ in this new age, the body of Christ will need a new way to see the faith they hold. Those who place their faith in Jesus cannot fit inside the pre-packaged sets of ideas regurgitated to us through the amalgamation of cultural events, leading charismatic thinkers, and now, algorithms and social media influencers. Fortunately, the event of the gospel gives us just what we need: a new mind and a new life.

Anglican church planting veteran Dan Alger shows pastors how the rich traditions of liturgical worship are a gift to the work of starting new churches.