Sources of Authority, Volume 1

“The consultation proved to be a life-changing event, for all of us there. We all came away from it renewed in our sense that to read and to reflect on the teachers and witnesses of the early church together is to share in something of profound significance for the life of the church today. There was no lack of critical engagement with their writings, from all the participants, and there was no rosy romanticism. But there was a deep sense of participating in what is living tradition, and of hearing the voices of witnesses for Christ who were, in their time and for ours, profoundly practical and rooted theologians, living holy lives and sometimes witnessing with their dying too.”—from the Foreword

Living and witnessing to their faith in the first centuries after the New Testament, the men and women of the early church—theologians and bishops, ascetics and martyrs—have exerted a profound influence and authority in the subsequent theological and ecclesial periods and traditions. Yet what is their significance, their authority and pull for Christians today? Can reverence for them survive critical scrutiny? What can they teach us about what is core in Christian scriptures, tradition and ecclesial life?

In this remarkable volume, scholars and theologians from a variety of confessional traditions together assess the contributions, failings, and contemporary relevance of the teachers and witnesses of the early church.

Tamara Grdzelidze is programme executive for the Faith and Order Commission, World Council of Churches.  A theologian and historian, her work centers on Orthodox theology and spirituality, Georgian Orthodox Church history, and interconfessional dialogue.