Book excerpt: Interest in the ways of the early church has never been more intense. What did early Christians believe about the divinity of Christ? What were the beliefs of those who sat at the feet of Jesus’ disciples? Now, for the first time, a unique dictionary has been developed to allow easy access to the ancient material and furnish ready answers to these questions and others like them. David W. Bercot has painstakingly combed the writings of these early church leaders and categorized the heart of their thinking into more than 700 theological, moral, and historical topics to create A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. Wonderfully suited for devotional or thematic study as well as sermon illustration, this resource offers a window into the world of the early church and affords special opportunity to examine topically the thoughts of students of the original apostles, as well as other great lights in the life of the early church.Collects relevant comments on key Christian concepts from prominent figures such as Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Clement of Rome, and HippolytusIncludes key biblical verses associated with a given topicOffers brief definitions of unfamiliar terms or concepts, allowing easy access to the ancient materialProvides a “who’s who” of ante-Nicene Christianity to put in context the ancient Christian writersDiscusses more than 700 key theological, moral, and historical topicsGives strategic cross-references to related topicsFunctions as a topical index to the writings of Ante-Nicene Fathers