In my experience, your regular Latter-day Saint has never heard the names Clement, Ignatius, Irenaeus, or Justin Martyr. And those who may have heard the names in passing, certainly have not read from them, or if they have, likely saw a quick quote explaining how they believed something exactly the way the Church practices and teaches in the 21st Century.
There's a lot of history as to why Latter-day Saints have that perspective. But this new book, Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints published by the Maxwell Institute at BYU in December 2022, is hard at work at trying to fight against this long tradition by presenting history, context, and a sympathetic nuanced reading of the first centuries of Christian tradition.
The book's editorial team (Jason Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Catherine Gines Taylor and Kristian S. Heal) isn't subtle or opaque about its purposes, and the tides of tradition it knows it's working against.
From the introduction by Jason Combs:
Latter-day Saint Narratives of Ancient Christianity: Early Latter-day Saints inherited from Protestants a great apostasy narrative. . . In support of ... more recent statements [from General Authorities speaking out against traditional anti-Catholic interpretations of Restoration scripture], we acknowledge the need for greater care in discussing a great apostasy - a term that does not appear in our standard works.
We unitedly affirm the need for the Restoration, and at the same time, we must be clear in stating precisely what that means. For instance, the Doctrine and Covenants never speaks explicitly of a restored church . . . When Latter-day Saints use that unscriptural phrase, restored church, it should be understood as shorthand for the restorations the Doctrine and Covenants does address - namely, the bestowal of priesthood power, authority, and keys associated with making sacred covenants, establishing Zion (Moses 7:18), gathering scattered Israel on both sides of the veil (that is, in this life and beyond), and binding up all dispensations in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. These special purposes to which God has called us and for which God has established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not require us to spend our time trying to prove other churches and religions wrong or apostate.
It goes on to suggest a new, positive approach to Christianity of the past:
A New Latter-day Saint Approach to Ancient Christians: What does this careful reading of our Latter-day Saint teachings regarding the Restoration mean for this volume about ancient Christians? First, it means that we cannot assume that something found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today necessarily existed in the ancient Church (see Doctrine and Covenants 124:38, 41). We cannot assume that today's Church is a template for what the first-century Church must have been, or vice versa. For that reason, in this book, our authors acknowledge the differences between ancient Christians and Latter-day Saints without automatically assuming such differences to be evidence of apostasy. When our authors encounter these differences, they work to explain how and why ancient Christians developed beliefs and practices that contrast with our own - working toward understanding them from a position of respect and even "holy envy."
These opening passages are absolutely radical in our tradition, and present a huge promise of what one might expect in the coming chapters, which are in and of themselves stand-alone essays covering a specific topic and how it was understood, practiced, and developed in early Christianity.
I'll admit, as excited as I was by this introductory promise, I was skeptical (as past works on Christian History as presented by Church-owned institutions have generally rightfully caused me to be) of what I would be seeing in the ensuing chapters.
And then, each and every chapter not only lived up to their editorial promise, but exceeded it. I'm just going to list the chapters and their topics here:
- Preaching Christ: Scripture, Sermons, and Practical Exegesis (by Kristian S. Heal)
- Creating Canon: Authority, New Prophecy, and Sacred Texts (Thomas A. Wayment)
- Church Organization: Priesthood Offices and Women's Leadership Roles (Ariel Bybee Laughton)
- Sacred Spaces and Places of Worship: From House Churches to Monumental Basilicas (Matthew J. Grey)
- Connecting with Christ: Rituals and Worship (Mark D. Ellison)
- Human Nature: Creation and the Fall (Gaye Strathearn)
- Divine Nature: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Jason R. Combs)
- Receiving Christ: Atonement, Grace, and Eternal Salvation (Cecilia M. Peek)
- Becoming Like God: Incarnation, Moral Formation, and Eternal Progression (Daniel Becerra)
- Inclining Christian Hearts: Work for the Dead (Catherine Gines Taylor)
- Living in the Afterlife: Heaven, Hell, and Places Between
- Facing the End: The Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the Millennium (Nicholas J. Frederick)
- Medieval Christians (Miranda Wilcox)
At the beginning of reading through this book, even against what was stated in the introduction, I started bracing at certain points at each chapter where I was prepared to be hit with some traditional "parallelomania" showing why something the ancient Christians did is exactly what we do today. But each and every time I thought it was going to go that route, the author seemed to anticipate my concern, and would often specifically include a call-out box making sure that we did NOT make unwarranted connections, and make very clear why some parallels made by some in the past misinterpreted key reasonings or purposes or language in the ancient practices. Not only did these chapters avoid making false equivalencies, they went out of their way to try to repair some of the notions presented by past approaches to this work.
A few chapters in, I stopped worrying, and started to actively look forward to how some key aspects were handled. I was always incredibly impressed.
It's not just a book of 'debunking', though. There are wonderful and beautiful meditations on the practices, giving a sense of how the practitioners devotion to Christ led to such beliefs and practices, and in some cases giving a suggestion of how the principle could be understood or applied by modern Saints without suggesting there be a direct 1:1 relationship. It's all so masterfully handled.
The book is also beautifully visually presented. Andrew Heiss designed a stunning book filled with relevant and gorgeous authentic ancient artwork. It's as much a joy to look at as it is to read. The visuals complement and enhance the essays they accompany.
I want to also call attention to a fantastic companion resource. Wayfare Magazine has produced a 'Meet the Early-day Saints' podcast hosted by the great Blair Hodges, who in each episode interviews one of the authors of a chapter of this book, and has a wonderful in-depth discussion about its particular topic. This podcast serves both as a great companion for the chapters for those who have read it, and a completely independent introduction for those who have not (yet!) had the opportunity to check it out, and presents the key points in a highly accessible manner. It's a great podcast, and I highly recommend checking it out.
This whole project is a monumental and important work. President Nelson has said, "good inspiration is based upon good information" - this book can be a powerful source of "good information" that I believe can catalyze "good inspiration" as to how to change how we understand and talk about our Christian ancestors, as well as our brothers and sisters in other Christian traditions.
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