The Early Christians: Self-Portraits and Portrayals

Who were the early Christians? There is no better way to find out than to 
read their own descriptions of themselves, as well as the portrayals left 
us by their Jewish and pagan contemporaries. In grasping the faith of the 
first believers, we are confronted with a vision of life as broad and
lofty 
as it is severe and deep. The early Church was an organic body of men and 
women gripped and driven by a spirit whose immediacy they felt in their 
daily lives. They expected the complete transformation of all things by
the 
Spirit, and as their own words show us, they strove for its fruits – love,

purity of heart, peace and justice – with a single-mindedness we
latter-day 
Christians often lack.