Guest book review by Heidi Toth who lives, works, writes and runs in Flagstaff, Arizona, with her dog. She is earning a degree in religious studies from Arizona State University, writes midrash about the Hebrew Bible, and is an introvert in an extroverted church.

The title of this piece is both correct and not correct, and understanding how and why that is, as well as what it means for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, is at the heart of the book Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints. This book, edited by BYU religion professors Jason R. Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Catherine Gines Taylor, and Kristian S. Heal, is a deep dive into the beliefs and practices of the women and men who laid the foundation for Christianity today. The various authors expound on familiar scripture but also rely on other scriptures that were never canonized (and explain the canonization process and the many councils that shaped Christianity) as well as introduce and discuss the writings, interpretations, and translations of scholars from the first few centuries after the events of the New Testament took place. The book is a pilgrimage through the New Testament and those who first studied its words.

The book is lengthy, but it reads quickly (unless you stop frequently to take notes); the authors write to a lay audience, and the text invites the reader to engage with the ideas—sometimes new ideas, but often they are familiar ideas but in a new way. The authors reference different books of scripture to fill out our understanding of our Christian foremothers and forefathers, and they pull in writers, scholars, and interpreters from the first centuries after Jesus’ life. It is expansive, asking its readers to consider not only the differing perspectives of ancient Christians but also to find value in the different forms of Christianity today. We are, after all, reading the same Bible, praying to the same God, seeking salvation through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Each chapter also includes a brief “Why It Matters” section to help lay the groundwork, and there are a number of discussions about how this topic relates to LDS beliefs today. Although the focus is on early church writings, the authors also use examples from LDS history and explain how current beliefs differ, where they came from, and how we understand them today. As we begin the year of “Come Follow Me” when we study the New Testament, this book is an excellent resource to provide important context, help fill the gap from how we got from a centuries-old verse of scripture to a doctrinal tenet today, and give life to a group of people who often get lost in the heady words of the New Testament. (There is also a chapter that may be of particular interest to Exponent readers; Ariel Bybee Laughton goes deep on women and priesthood and answers some questions about how we got here. It’s worth an in-depth study.)

Below are some tips to apply this in your teaching and study this year:

Teach that the ancient church is not the same as the modern church. The https://exponentii.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_5173-scaled-1.jpgs lead with this admonition: We, as members of The Church of Jesus Latter-day Saints, cannot assume that teachings, rituals, and organizations existed in the ancient church. “We cannot assume that today’s Church is a template for what the first-century Church must have been, or vice versa.”[1] This is not a sign of apostasy on their part or on ours. What was restored, according to our belief system, was the priesthood on the Earth. 

Understand on what our beliefs are based. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John inform Christianity, of course. The writings of Paul are pivotal to the Christian belief system. But Christianity, and by extension Mormonism, was defined in the centuries after Jesus Christ by those who wrote and interpreted those teachings. The decisions about what words became sacred scripture and what didn’t were made by church leaders at a series of councils, most famously the Council of Nicaea, which served to establish a foundational set of beliefs for Christians: “What was at stake in the discussion of faith at the Council of Nicaea was not a list of books that could be read in the liturgy and worship services but rather a defense of the Church’s rule of faith.”[2] One thought I couldn’t shake as I was reading this book: It is not all inspired scripture. 

Make your lessons, talks, and personal study mean something. In his chapter, Kristian Heal writes about how worship service” in the early church were a “robust admonition” for hearers to apply the scriptures into their daily lives: “The scriptures, in the course of the sermon, cease to be embers from the past and instead become the living fire of prophecy, spreading the message of Christ among the congregation to instruct and inspire them in their discipleship.”[3] He also quotes Jerome, the translator of the Vulgate, who demands not “a perfunctory reading of scripture, however, but the kind of reading that leads the reader to become ‘an exceptionally well-trained expert on the deep things and mysteries of your God’s Scripture.”[4] Would you describe your lessons and study in this way? I don’t know that I would. More than anything else, this book provided me with a renewed zeal to study, ponder, and learn about where my faith comes from.

Seek out church fathers and mothers. This book repeatedly draws attention to writers and scholars who don’t get quoted in church manuals or sacrament talks. The authors are not seeking to replace church leaders; they ask readers to consider what these scholars wrote. When the https://exponentii.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_5173-scaled-1.jpgs introduce the book, they highlight the necessity of the church fathers and mothers—then and now: “Rather than imagine ancient (and modern) Christians as duplicitous in their efforts to write about, understand, and practice their faith, it is more accurate to view them as earnest, believing Christians—our ancient spiritual ancestors and modern brothers and sisters.”[5]

As the book repeats, today, there is truth, divinity, Christlike love and devotion all around you that can expand your understanding of Jesus Christ as Jerome, Origen, Augustine, Egeria (a female disciple I’d never heard of before) and others did almost two millennia ago. Use those scholars and writers in your lessons, and encourage those in your class to find their own. Some of my favorites are the late exvangelical writer Rachel Held Evans, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, Jewish feminist scholar Judith Plaskow, and New Testament scholar Carolyn Osiek. If you’re not sure where to start, this book is a great place. Dive into the footnotes for other ideas.

Read different translations and interpretations of the Bible. The authors study and quote a number of different translations of the New Testament. While our church exclusively (at least officially) uses the King James Version, there are many others that have been translated more recently and by different scholars and different processes. 

The https://exponentii.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_5173-scaled-1.jpgs call this book “an act of devotion,”[6] and their faith is present on the page. For readers who have not strayed much from church material, there are new names, new ideas, history, and context that may be unfamiliar to you. And that might be scary. I have been there—holding a book in my hands that challenged something I thought I knew. I encourage you, if this happens, to sit for a moment with the new idea, consider the discomfort that often accompanies a new idea, and when you are ready, continue reading. Ancient Christians can expand your understanding not only of where our beliefs stemmed but also how they may continue to evolve today as we seek greater knowledge and understanding—just as our Christian ancestors did.

“As ancient Christians pondered the words of Paul and the Gospels, as well as the words of the Old Testament, they often were left with questions. And the more carefully they read, the more questions emerged.” [7]

[1] Combs, Jason R., introduction to Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, ed. Jason R. Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Catherine Gines Taylor, and Kristian S. Heal (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2022), 14.

[2] Wayment, Thomas A., “Creating Canon: Authority, New Prophecy, and Sacred Texts,” in Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, ed. Jason R. Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Catherine Gines Taylor, and Kristian S. Heal (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2022), 79.

[3] Heal, Kristian S., “Preaching Christ: Scripture, Sermons, and Practical Exegesis, in Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, ed. Jason R. Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Catherine Gines Taylor, and Kristian S. Heal (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2022), 30-31).

[4]  ibid, 40.

[5] Combs, Jason R., introduction to Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, ed. Jason R. Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Catherine Gines Taylor, and Kristian S. Heal (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2022), 11.

[6]  Ibid, 16.

[7] Combs, Jason R., “Divine Nature: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,: in Combs, Jason R., introduction to Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, ed. Jason R. Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Catherine Gines Taylor, and Kristian S. Heal (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2022),  292.