The Earliest Christian Heretics: Readings from Their Opponents

Rating:
Summary: one of a kind
Review: In a time where the Christian fiction literature abounds and Church history is put aside it is difficult to find books about the early church's struggle for theological purity. This books fills a much needed gap. There are no other works I have found that speak to these issues so directly. The book is mostly summary of the issues of heresies and the church's response to it. Hultgren adn Haggmark have filled the text with well documented sources which allows for great depth of research into any area of heresy of the 1st century you wish to persue. A must for understanding the core of the Christian faith.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent one stop source for selected 'heresies'
Review: There were two things that made this book top notch:

1) The number of heretical leaders' works that it compiles

2) The way it is compiled

The "authors" use an excellent approach to this subject. They allow the heresies to speak for themselves. They give a small blurb of introduction before each selection, which is a perfect lead in by the way, and then they present the selections. The book is not exceptional because of what the "authors" write as much as it is due to the resource this provides. It is searchable, concise, and allows for amateur researchers to find what they need without having the full texts.