FIRST CHRISTIANS Pentecost & the Spread of Christianity

• Hardback book with Dust Jacket
• In Words and Pictures by Paul L. Maier
• Copyright © 1976 by Paul L. Maier

" The explosion of Christianity across the Mediterranean world was due to its extraordinary ignition in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Now Paul L. Maier, in the "you-are-there" style that has made perennial favorites of his First Christmas and First Easter, recreates the world, the mood, the people, and the events of the exciting first years of Christianity.

First Christians fills in the little-known background details of Pentecost, and gives a vivid account of the festival that drew people of all nationalities to the "upper room" in Jerusalem that day.

Correlating ancient history and the latest archaeological findings with the New Testament Book of Acts, Dr, Maier offers fresh and persuasive evidence for the mass conversion claims following Pentecost. The meteoric rise of the young church through Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome despite persecution is documented and rendered contemporary in the author's skillful narrative.

Individuals too stand out boldly in First Christians.
Here is the intrepid leadership of Peter and the fiery zeal of Paul.
The reader accompanies the apostles on their crucial missionary journeys, follows Paul on the road to Damascus, is shipwrecked with him on Malta, stands beside him at his final trial before the notorious emperor, Nero.
The probable fates of Peter, Paul, Mark, James, and John after the Book of Acts closes are also described.

Increasing the sense of actual presence at Christianity's first great adventure is a host of magnificent photographs (some in full color) that transport the reader to such sites as the Philippi prison where Paul was incarcerated, the tribunal at Corinth where he was judged, and the stone inscription that brought about his final arrest at Jerusalem.

The controversies of early Christianity are not ignored, but detailed for their lesson value in today's church.
More important than the disagreements themselves, argues Maier, was the spirit of love, openness, and ultimate unity in which even the most vehement clashes were resolved.

An adventure story nonpareil about the workings of God in the world, First Christians breathes the spirit of courageous men and women who went about building a church in a hostile empire. "

Contents includes:

" List of Illustrations
Preface

FIRST CHRISTIANS - Pentecost and the Spread of Christianity

1. To Apostles: The Commission

2. To Jerusalem: The Day of Pentecost

3. To Jews: The Opposition

4. To Samaria: The Dispersion

5. To Gentiles: Peter the Rock

6. To Syria: Saul the Fanatic

7. To Galatia: Paul's First Journey

8. To Christians: Quarrels and Controversy

9. To Greece: Paul's Second Journey

10. To Asia: Paul's Third Journey

11. To Magistrates: Jeopardy in Jerusalem

12. To Italy: Rome and Nero

Notes "

This book has minor wear including some light aging spots on the side edges of the pages.
The dust jacket has some minor edgewear and aging spots/yellowing mostly on the inside.
No torn or ripped pages.

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