Imagine being able to talk to a Christian leader who had been a personal disciple of one of the apostles! Of course, we cannot do that today—but we can do the next best thing. We can read the writings of men like Ignatius, Clement, and Polycarp, who were personal disciples of the apostles. Their writings give us an authentic glimpse at what Christians believed when the church was still young.
But one of the things we find when we read the early Christian writings is that the Christianity of their day was not theology-centered. It was relationship-centered. The essence of early Christianity was an obedient love-faith relationship with Christ. It was not mental assent to a long set of theological doctrines.
Furthermore, in many cases, where the early church did have clear doctrinal teachings, those teachings quite often differed from what is taught in popular Christianity today. Yet, everything they believed is based upon a literal interpretation of the teachings of Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament. Below are a few examples of some of their doctrines. We hope to add more in the months ahead.
