Rating: 
Summary: Shakin' up my world!
Review: This book was quite a shock for me. When I first read it, I had just joined a church that was very zealous and full of love. However, it taught very different doctrine than the church in which I grew up. For months, I half heartedly partisapated in the activities and build friendships all the time thinking these people were way off track doctrinally and God had planted ME in that church (of close to seven hundred members!) to enlighten them and teach them the truth. All the doctrine I was certain was true was exactly what Bercot says the early Christians disagreed with. And my new Church (the one with the really messed up doctrine) matched straight down the line what Bercot says the early Christians were willing to die for. He has a bold, yet gentle way of telling you you're wrong. Needless to say, my world was quite shaken. I am very sceptical by nature, and I'm eager to study these early Christian writings on my own before I accept Bercot's words. How can we trust these are acruate? Where can I get a hold of them myself? If you have any info to help me with these questions please help me out. If Bercot is right them my whole family has been believeing and teaching lies for generations. I want to know the truth. What GOD'S doctine would be. Not only so I can better please God, but so I can help my friends and family do the same.
Rating: 
Summary: Challenging to the Evangelical Christian
Review: When you read what the early Christians believed regarding Baptism, The Eucharist, the nature of the Church, Apostolic Succession, Faith, Works, Sacraments, Tradition, you will know that these early Christians were not Protestants. The early Church was Catholic, not Protestant. A hard-core Protestant Evangelical will not find a home with the faith of the early Christians while a Catholic will feel at home.
David Bercot's book is a good introduction and challenge to any Protestant who believes the early Church was Protestant. For more information on what the early Church believed, purchase "Early Christian Doctrines" by J.N.D Kelly, "The Apostolic Fathers" by Philip Schaff, and William Jurgens "The Faith of the Early Fathers." Read what the early Christians believed and decide whether their beliefs match with Protestantism or Catholicism. Read the facts. Don't take my word for it as one reviewer already suggested.
Rating:
Summary: I like the 1st edition better than the 3rd.
Review: Yes, I read the 1st edition and loved it. I latter lost it which is why I'm buying a new one. I bought the 3rd edition which I believe left out a lot from the first. I have been reading the works of the early fathers off and on now for 4 years and what bercot says in this book about Baptism, the Lord's supper, the wealth and health dogma, salvation, evolution, our culture and Roman culture is right on the money. I must admit that when I first read the 1st edition 3 years ago I was shaken. But the Church today needs to be shook and it is a good thing to research these things from the primary sources so that noone can tell you that they didn't believe it because they did. Also I have noticed that those from a Reformed background have a tendency to hate this book, while those who are not tend to like it. I hope this helps.
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