This new Historical Atlas is the first of its kind to provide a detailed picture of the early church's physical presence in the empire, tracing Christianity's geographical footprint upon the map of the ancient world. Complete with 59 full-color and detailed maps, illustrations of important monuments and places, and an up-to-date scholarly bibliography, the Historical Atlas serves both as a valuable reference work and a useful teaching tool. The Historical Atlas of Ancient Christianity will serve as an indispensable tool for those desiring to study the ancient Christian period in its historical as well as its geographical context. Fr. Angelo DiBerardino, former president of the Augustinianum in Rome has provided an expert guide through the early Christian world.

Historical Atlas of Ancient Christianity

Angelo Di Berardino

Gianluca Pilara

ICCS Press

The neglected fact is that there are more classic Christian believers now than at any previous time in human history. Orthodoxy has been understood and espoused without diminution by ever-unfolding communities of faith for 200 generations. That steady stream of faithful consent has not dried up or faltered amid these times. It does not need to be improved upon by modernity but more so it needs to be preserved for the sake of the healthy rejuvenation of modern cultures.
The sustained and growing vitality of Catholic, Orthodox, and Evangelical worshipping communities around the world has not been reported by a press fixated on secular change. What s happening now for believers is a fresh recognition of the faithfulness of God that has endured over human history. The challenges in North America that brought forth this book in 2003 have relevance now for readers especially in the global South, as well as in Europe, and in Eastern Christianity. Christians of the global South are presently passing through the fiery consequences of modern western consciousness that have accompanied the sad history of colonialism. Parts of the text that pertained primarily to the American situation have been displaced in the interest of showing the vitality of orthodoxy as a rising worldwide phenomenon. Since it is being offered digitally as well as in print, it will be more accessible to international readers than if it remained merely a North American topic.
The core confession has not diminished. The promise of the faithful Christian life not been altered. Believers everywhere can look around them and see that orthodoxy is persisting in liturgy, hymnody, and worshipping communities of prayer that are thriving in the midst of their own developing cultures. But many have not seen reasons set forth for why it will continue to persist into the future. This book will give these reasons clear expression. The central event of this surprising story is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the promises of the prophets and apostles. Even though it may seem as if our efforts are failing, God the Spirit is tireless in bringing to fruition the work of God the Father through God the Son without coercing human freedom. 
Many world-wide believers in their varied cultural situations have heard and understood the good news of God the Son who died for us and rose anew to give us new life. 
But many have not yet recognized the beautiful ways in which providence is working amid human conflict toward greater ends than we can imagine.
The Spirit has been forming the one body of Christ worldwide for all of these centuries and is certain to continue. The Spirit continues to awaken an enduring community of free consent to the apostolic testimony that has lasted twenty centuries and persists in and beyond modern life.
Why has it been so durable? Why has it penetrated almost every human culture since the good news was first heard? This is what we are seeking to understand.

The Rebirth of Orthodoxy: Signs of New Life in Christianity

History

Thomas C. Oden

World

Every social or religious movement, to survive, needs to create structures and develop standards of life and organization, which allow its continuation and strengthen the effectiveness of its mission. Numerical growth and the geographic expansion of Christianity required Christian communities to become quite creative. Detached from its Jewish matrix and its original environment, and influenced by new living conditions, the church's institutions and practices developed gradually. These developments reflect the various social settings in which they were born, consequently, the author notes the diversity of customs across regions. This volume intends to offer an overview of the birth and development of Ancient Christianity's institutions and practices in their variety and diversity.

Ancient Christianity: The Development of Its Institutions and Practices

Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in the world with natural beauty, incredible diversity and a proud history. Despite its countless tragic misfortunes, Ethiopia is not a hopeless nation. In this short book, Desta Heliso expresses the audacity to hope and believe that the current generation of Ethiopians have a huge opportunity to provide a better future for the next generation if they only have the courage and determination to be self-critical and to relook at the way they think, do things and relate to one another. Hope for Ethiopia lies with Ethiopians.

Hope for Ethiopia

Religion & Spirituality

Heliso

Desta

Christian Books & Bibles

Ancient Christianity: The Development of its Institutions and Practices is the fruit of Angelo Di Berardino's forty years of study, teaching, and writing at the Augustinianum in Rome. In this volume, he offers an overview of the birth and development of Ancient Christianity's institutions and practices in all their variety and diversity.\nThe volume retraces the first five centuries identifying how ecclesiastical institutions arose, developed, and were consolidated into their full maturity. It is a task fraught with difficulty because of the scarcity and fragmentary nature of the information preserved from different geographical regions and people who have inherited distinct traditions.\nThe chronological and geographical context of the evidence presents a challenge for historians looking to provide a more or less unified framework instead of an impressionistic pastiche. Often authors cite a few texts and generalize them, offering a homogeneous but false vision. Insisting on the inclusion of regional and diverse sources, Di Berardino deftly demonstrates that Christianity, from its beginnings and throughout its whole history, has always been multi-faceted.\nThe culmination of decades of research, Ancient Christianity: The Development of Its Institutions and Practices will be an indispensable resource for years to come.

Di Berardino, Angelo

In the Songs of Africa, the authors present evidence that the oldest written form of African music with embedded musical notation in the sub-Saharan region was Ethiopian chant, song, dance, and instrumentation. Those who are looking for the most ancient known roots of African song, jazz, musical phrases, composition, and scripted musical notation may find them echoing from the Ethiopian highlands from the fifth century and codified in a stable manuscript tradition dating to the fourteenth century.
These manuscript sources predate by many centuries most other oral traditions found in traditional African religions. Despite their crucial importance in centuries of culture-formation, the Ethiopian Canticles have never before been the specific subject of rigorous critical textual investigation. In this volume one encounters significant implications for jazz history, African studies, and Christian culture in eastern Africa.

The Songs of Africa: The Ethiopian Canticles

Origins and Significance of Christian Feasts is a deeply researched yet accessible volume that illuminates the evolution of Christianity's major festivals from their ancient roots to the modern day. Drawing from an extensive study of historical sources, the book provides a comprehensive exploration into how these feasts emerged, developed over the centuries, and ultimately disseminated throughout churches worldwide. Bridging the gap between specialized academic research and accessible historical narrative, this book delves into the profound questions of what we celebrate, why we celebrate, and how these celebrations came to be. From Julius Caesar's calendar reforms to Constantine's revolutionary restructuring and the gradual Christianization of time, readers are offered a nuanced understanding of how our current organization of time is a tapestry woven from pagan and Christian threads alike.

Origins and Significance of Christian Feasts

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the ICCS Press publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by ICCS Press

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the ICCS Press publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Historical Atlas of Ancient Christianity

The Rebirth of Orthodoxy: Signs of New Life in Christianity

Ancient Christianity: The Development of Its Institutions and Practices

Hope for Ethiopia

Ancient Christianity: The Development of Its Institutions and Practices

The Songs of Africa: The Ethiopian Canticles

Origins and Significance of Christian Feasts