Books

Early Christianity and

ecumenism

Early Christianity:

Theology shaped by Saints

Preface by H. E. Cardinal Prosper Grech

This book explores how in the first centuries the followers of Jesus Christ lived their faith centred upon Him. It provides a comprehensive introduction, starting from New Testament times, to key figures in the rise of Christianity including Mary, Mother of God, and Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the founders of Christian Rome. The book shows how the theological tradition of the primacy of Rome developed in the Church and with the Papacy. It considers a wide range of issues in the life of the nascent Church, helping us to understand how the early Christians related faith and reason, and were prepared to suffer martyrdom for their belief. Early liturgical and sacramental life is fully described, including a broad examination of the issues surrounding the date of the Easter celebration. It also illustrates how the Church had to face internal conflict and heresy, and examines the work of the first general Councils. Paul Haffner explores the significant role played by women in early Christianity, and describes the contribution of monks and missionaries in spreading the faith. He illustrates the impact on early Christianity of its leading figures, who exercised the major influence then and are still the most important of the Church today. This study is carried out from a Roman perspective, as the cradle and centre of Christianity. The book intertwines doctrine and history, tradition and legend, in the hope that the reader will have a colourful ride through the first centuries of the Christian epoch, enabling them to emulate what they find there.

New Testament Theology

This work is primarily a class manual for those who wish to deepen their understanding of and love for the New Testament. It is of course no substitute for reading the Biblical text itself, which is the first and foremost task of the student. This book is simply a companion to guide the reader of the New Testament on his or her pilgrimage. It furnishes a few key signposts in terms of the basic ideas of how the biblical text came about, its objective value and special character and inspiration, the Synoptic Problem and the Canon of the New Testament. Some tools for interpretation are offered, and then some basic themes are treated, in particular the Church, the Holy Eucharist, Mary, the Mother of God, the rôle of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and the interplay between faith and reason in the New Testament.

L’ecumenismo oggi

Dalla reciproca comprensione si giunge alle condizioni per un futuro migliore per tutti. Il movimento ecumenico, soprattutto dal Concilio Vaticano II in poi, ha acquisito il significato specifico di «movimento per ricomporre l’unità della Chiesa»; tale unità si deve realizzare nel contesto di una ricca diversità, anch’essa espressione di universalità, attraverso la collaborazione attiva di tutte le Chiese e la partecipazione di tutti i membri delle rispettive Chiese. La comunione nella quale noi cristiani speriamo e crediamo è, nella sua realtà più profonda, la stessa comunione di vita con la Santissima Trinità: perché sappiamo di muoverci in risposta alla chiamata del Padre che vuole ricondurre l’umanità all’unità e alla salvezza nel Figlio mediante il dono dello Spirito Santo. Oggi come sempre il nostro interesse ed i nostri sforzi partono dal cuore del messaggio di Cristo: “Non prego solo per questi, ma anche per quelli che per la loro parola crederanno in me; perché tutti siano una sola cosa. Come tu, Padre, sei in me e io in te, siano anch’essi in noi una cosa sola, perché il mondo creda” (Gv 17, 20-21).