David L. Eastman - Early North African Christianity - Turning Points in the Deveopment of the Church

This book focuses on early Christian Africa, but we need to clarify what we mean by “Africa.” If we say “Africa” today, many people think of the entire continent. This can create misunderstandings because when media outlets refer to problems in “Africa,” they mask the great variety among the different nations on this enormous and beautiful continent. Egypt is very different from Kenya, and both of these places are quite different from South Africa.

Because we are studying the ancient world, in this book we are going to define Africa by its ancient boundaries. In our period of study, the northern coast of the continent was under the control of the Roman Empire, and the Romans called this particular area “Africa.” Africa for the Romans did not include Egypt (which they just called Egypt— Aegyptus) or anywhere south of the Sahara. So in this book Africa refers not to the whole continent but to a very particular part of the northern coast of the continent.

For the sake of clarity, many scholars of early Christianity refer to this region as “North Africa.” They want to be more specific about what is and is not included.

The map in Figure 1.1 shows the area of Roman Africa. It stretched from modern-day Libya all the way to the northwest coast of the continent in modern-day Morocco.

David L. Eastman - Early North African Christianity. Turning Points in the Deveopment of the Church

Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2021

ISBN 978-1-4934-3132-8

David L. Eastman - Early North African Christianity. Turning Points in the Deveopment of the Church - Contents

Dedication

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

1. A (Re)Introduction to Africa

Part 1: Perpetua and Felicity

2. The Life and Times of the Early Martyrs
3. Perpetua and Felicity: Models of Christian Devotion
4. Perpetua: Leadership and Controversy

Part 2: Tertullian

5. The Life and Times of Tertullian
6. Tertullian Defending the Faith: Apologetics and Heretics
7. Tertullian Defining the Faith: The Fullness of the Trinity

Part 3: Cyprian of Carthage

8. The Life and Times of Cyprian
9. Cyprian: On Forgiveness and Unity
10. Cyprian: The Rebaptism Controversy

Part 4: The Donatist Controversy

11. The Life and Times of the Later Martyrs
12. Caecilianists versus Donatists: Rival Churches
13. Donatists versus Caecilianists: Rival Martyrs

Part 5: Augustine of Hippo

14. The Life and Times of Augustine
15. Augustine: Theologian of the West
16. Augustine: Debate with Pelagius on Grace and the Will

Conclusion

Select Resources for Further Reading

Index

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