★★★★★ 5
Profoundly challenging; I'm going back to this over and over
Format: Paperback
The remarkable growth of the early church has puzzled and challenged scholars. How did a tiny sect that attracted mainly the poor and unimportant and faced waves of persecution grow? How did they sustain their vigor and their distinctiveness such that well into the third century they were still well known for their non violence and care of the poor and downtrodden? Why did the church make baptism and membership so difficult? I've never found satisfactory answers. Kreider's exhaustively researched book did more than answer those questions. It stirred and challenged my thinking about how to "do church."
He argues, with compelling evidence, that a central conviction by the early Christians had much to do with their sustained vitality. They centered on the teachings of Jesus, in particular the sermon on the mount. They actually believed they were to live in obedience to the upside down Way of Jesus. It was this distinctive and intriguing lifestyle - Kreider uses the term "habitus" or their habitual behavior - that the church insisted upon and that attracted others. They patiently lived in community, expecting that over time, the impact of the light of their lives would "bubble up" or ferment in the lives of their neighbors.
So, rather than emphasize evangelism, the early Christians emphasized catechesis - careful formation and teaching. Only after a lengthy period of time - up to three years! - during which the prospective member was mentored and drilled in the life of Christ, was the person allowed to be baptized and take the Lord's Supper. They had to demonstrate, prove, that they were indeed genuinely living the life of Christ. Caring for the poor, sharing their resources, returning good for evil, turning the other cheek - those things had to be demonstrably evident.
Kreider ends by contrasting this patient habitus with the changing focus after Constantine. His examination of Augustine's redefinition of faithful Christian living that provided a way for Christians to both claim allegiance to Jesus' teachings yet use force and violence was both incisive and deeply saddening.
These days, most followers of Jesus do a better job of rationalizing why they can't take the Sermon on the Mount as more than platitudes. This book further challenges me, and I hope, the church at large, to actually live like Jesus! What a novel idea.
There are just a handful of books that have deeply influenced me, books that I find myself returning to again and again. The Patient Ferment is one of those books now. I hope this book becomes widely read, and even more, widely influential. May it disturb our comfort...
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Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2017
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