A history of early Christian doctrine, by one of the world's leading authorities. This book is a comprehensive study of early Christian trinitarian theology and christology - the central issues in patristic theology. Professor Studer shows how early apocalyptic visions developed into sophisticated, philosophically orientated theology concerning the mystery of God, the world and humankind. From the mystery of the resurrection of Christ from the dead there developed a growing understanding both of the mystery of the living nature of God, in the doctrine of the Trinity, and of the ways God communicates to men and women, above all in the doctrine of the Incarnation. Basil Studer sets the development of Christian doctrine firmly in the political and cultural context of the Roman Empire. He explores the history and conditions which preceded the advent of specifically Christian ideas, and the transmission and reception of doctrine through to its mature expression in the work of Augustine and other theologians of the fifth and sixth centuries. While historically perceptive Basil Studer's approach is always that of a theologian concerned about the Church's mission to the contemporary world.
