Works of the Church
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Epistles of King Abgar and Jesus

According to Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History, King Abgar V of Edessa, after hearing about the active ministry of Jesus, purportedly wrote a letter to Him requesting that He come and heal him, to which Jesus replied in kind. Whether real or forgeries, these letters were at one point housed at the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae in Constantinople and later at the Church of the Virgin of the Pharos. They were written probably no later than the 3rd century if forgeries, and between AD 30–33 if authentic.




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The Complete Apocrypha

All-In-One Holy Bible with Apocrypha


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Wikisource







Didache

Didache, which means “Teaching,” is a very early Christian treatise purporting to have been written by the Twelve Apostles per the opening line. It is thought to have been written between AD 50 and 150. The document covers basic Christian principles of godly living, conversion, and ritual.




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The Complete Apocrypha

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Wikisource







Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel of Thomas is perhaps the most famous of the apocryphal Gospels. The extant version presents as a lengthy list of 114 “sayings” of Christ and bears a striking resemblance in places to the gnostic heresies. However, some scholars argue that the work is not explicitly gnostic or otherwise conveys a sort of primordial Gnosticism. While many scholars have argued for an early date for its composition in the 1st century AD, an increasing number of researchers have proposed a later date on the preponderance of evidence, perhaps in the mid-2nd century. Renowned biblical scholar Dr. Craig A. Evans notes that “[o]ver half of the New Testament writings are quoted, paralleled, or alluded to in Thomas . . . [unlike any other] Christian writing prior to AD 150.” As such, it was unlikely to have been written before or during the completion of the New Testament.




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Early Christian Writings







The Ecclesiastical History

Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History (or Church History) was published around the same time as his Chronicon and was the first detailed historical narrative and chronicle from the Christian point of view, providing a chronological account of the development of Christianity, beginning with Christ’s Incarnation and ending in about AD 325.




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Ancient Historia


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The Complete Apocrypha

All-In-One Holy Bible with Apocrypha


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Apocryphal Books > Histories and Chronologies > The Ecclesiastical History


The Chronicon

Eusebius’ Chronicon (or Chronicle) was the ancient world’s first systematic, chronologically sound, universal history. It begins with the earliest extant written records available to the author and continues to about AD 325. Eusebius frequently cites and quotes Berossus, Alexander Polyhistor, Abydenus, Josephus, Castor, Diodorus, Cephalion, various translations of the Bible, the writings of Manetho, Porphyrius, and others. His chronicle includes important events, personalities, and king lists from the ancient Chaldeans, Assyrians, Medes, Lydians, Persians, Hebrews, Egyptians, and Greeks, plus listings of the Greek Olympiads and the rulers of the Greek city-states, the Macedonians, and Romans. It was arguably Eusebius who first made use of chronological tables, now a tool taken for granted by modern historians. This was a revolutionary development in Eusebius’ day, not sufficiently appreciated in modern works on historiography.




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Ancient Historia


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Tertullian







The Earliest Creeds

Beginning with, in particular, the Rule of Faith in the 2nd century (from Irenaeus’ Against Heresies) and culminating with the Athanasian Creed of the 5th, numerous extrabiblical creedal statements were formed to both establish acceptable Christian faith and deal with weighty theological and Christological issues. Most of these creeds were developed in the context of the universal, orthodox Church in an effort to dissuade heresy and reinforce the faith that had been handed down over the centuries; in particular, the earliest creeds dealt heavily with the [historical] life of Christ, Trinitarianism, and Christology. Between Nicea (AD 325) and the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (AD 381), a number of the creeds from those intervening years, listed below, reflect the schismatic Semi-Arian position that was ultimately defeated at Constantinople.
  • RULE OF FAITH
  • OLD ROMAN SYMBOL
  • CREED OF CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE
  • DEIR BALYZEH CREED
  • CREED OF ANTIOCH
  • NICENE CREED
  • APOSTLES’ CREED
  • FIRST CREED OF ANTIOCH
  • SECOND CREED OF ANTIOCH
  • THIRD CREED OF ANTIOCH
  • FOURTH CREED OF ANTIOCH
  • CREED OF THE WESTERN SERDICAN COUNCIL
  • CREED OF THE EASTERN SERDICAN COUNCIL
  • THE LONG-LINED CREED
  • CREED OF JERUSALEM
  • FIRST CREED OF SIRMIUM
  • SECOND CREED OF SIRMIUM
  • FOURTH CREED OF SIRMIUM
  • NICENO-THRACIAN CREED
  • NINTH CONFESSION OF SELEUCIA
  • HOMOIAN CREED
  • NICENO-CONSTANTINOPOLITAN CREED
  • CREED OF THE FIRST COUNCIL OF TOLEDO
  • CHALCEDONIAN CREED
  • ATHANASIAN CREED





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The Complete Apocrypha

All-In-One Holy Bible with Apocrypha


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Fourth-Century Christianity







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