A new edition of this well-respected work. ""Doctrine and Practice in the Early Church"" is clearly written and carefully organized with cross-references throughout to its two companion volumes, ""A New Eusebius and Creeds"" and ""Councils and Controversies"" (revised editions SPCK 1987 and 1989). It is well established as the standard introduction to the subject for student and general reader alike. The second edition makes the text easier to understand in the light of widespread use; provides a fuller and updated bibliography; and brings thinking up to date on a number of topics including house churches, Athanasius, Gnostics, Hippolytus, Constantine, the Creed of Constantinople, and the Monophysites. Praise for the First Edition ""At a time when seminary professors and ecclesiastical bereaucrats are busily sawing off the historic branches on which the churches have sat, it is gratifying that theological students and faithful laypeople should have available to them such an account as this of the missionary, moral, and intellectual achievements of the scriptural and traditional church of the early centuries. Stuart Hall's book provides an excellent introduction, both scholarly and accesible, to the formative period on which any recognizable version of Christianity will continue to depend."" --Geoffrey Wainwright Cushman Professor of Systematic Theology in the Divinity School of Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. ""Hall walks with the scholar's ease and grace through the ancient texts. His book has the advantage of treating more explicitly the liturgical practice of the ancient church, in addition to key persons, doctrinal issues, and movements. . . . The author's literary skill enhances what could have been a heavy technical presentation, making the book suitable for classroom use. . . . Scholars will find fresh perspectives on old issues."" --Kilian McDonnel, OSB, STD Priest, theologian, and monk of Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota Stuart G. Hall was formerly professor of Ecclesiastical History at King's College, London. He has written extensively on the early Church and on the New Testament, and works as a parish priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church in Fife.