Wipf and Stock author, James L. Papandrea, has recently released several initial short videos in a YouTube series entitled “The Original Church.” The series is meant to build bridges across traditions by debunking some common myths, but also by focusing on the time before any permanent schism of the church. The emphasis is on the church’s common foundation—the heritage that belongs to all of us—the trunk of the family tree, if you will, while also catechizing by answering topical questions about what the early church was really like.
Topics include “When the Church Was One” (see above video), “Did the Original Church Have Priests?” and “How to Choose a Bible,” among others. Browse all series episodes at whenthechurchwasone.com.
About Papandrea
James L. Papandrea is Professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. He is the author of Rome: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Eternal City (Cascade, 2012), Reading the Early Church Fathers: From the Didache to Nicaea (2012), The Earliest Christologies: Five Images of Christ in the Postapostolic Age (2016), and The Early Church (33–313): St. Peter, the Apostles, and Martyrs (2019), among many other volumes. Take a look at his Wipf and Stock titles here.
Spotlight on Papandrea’s Rome: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Eternal City
Rome: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Eternal City is not a travel book; it is a pilgrim’s guide to the city of Rome and its most ancient churches. In addition to helpful descriptions of the primary monuments and churches of Rome, this book will give the reader just enough historical background to enhance the spiritual nature of a trip to the Eternal City. Along with the description of each church, Papandrea includes prayers from the ancient church, and across the span of the history of Christianity, in order to facilitate prayer and meditation in the very sites that have been considered holy ground for over a millennium. Over one hundred photographs are included, not only to help the reader use this book as a guide in Rome, but also to make the book a valuable devotional aid both before and after the trip. Coming back from Rome after using this book, the reader will find that Rome has become a second home.