The Apostasy That Wasn’t

CBB Review of The Apostasy That Wasn’t: The Extraordinary Story of the Unbreakable Early Church by Rod Bennett.

There is a little piece of early church history that is misconstrued to the point that Protestants often use it to question the legitimacy of the Roman Catholic Church. The event is what has become known as The Great Apostasy. Rod Bennett does an exceptional job of bringing this story to life in his latest book The Apostasy That Wasn’t: The Extraordinary Story of the Unbreakable Early Church.

This is what the alleged Great Apostasy is. It hinges upon Constantine’s decree that freed Christians to worship more freely. That decision helped lead to an expansion of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Detractors tend to talk about a theory that Constantine conjured up Catholicism on his own. You can almost picture Constantine in some backroom of his palace mixing things like some mad scientist in a lab if you follow this theory. The fact is, Constantine did no such thing. He had no direct influence on Christians. In fact, the practices they followed in worship, as well as the principles of the faith, were being followed long before Constantine realized his conversion.

Rod spends a large portion of the book with Athanasius, the twentieth Bishop of Alexandria. Athanasius is mostly known for his battle against the Arian heresy. The 325 Council of Nicaea plays a significant role in the story, but it doesn’t end there. Rod weaves early church fathers in such as Antony of Coma during the persecution of Diocletian, Saint Jerome, as well as Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and Gregory of Nyssa.

Every Catholic should have at least some knowledge of the early Church and the Church Fathers. This book is an excellent starting point if you have not been exposed to them previously. The book is packed with footnotes, over 200, to spurn further research.

The Apostasy That Wasn’t has been thoroughly researched and a pure joy to read for almost anyone with interest in the early church. Bennett’s writing style is far from dry history. This book, like his previous title Four Witnesses, has the feel of a novel. The story he tells flows and resists the urge to become totally bogged down in the subject matter at hand.  Rod Bennett is a storyteller and a gifted one at that. His writing brings to life the early church and lays to rest any debate as to authenticity (or in this case lack thereof) of the alleged Great Apostasy.  All Christians should avail themselves to reading this book and learn the truth about the early church.

To learn more about Rod’s book and the early church, listen to our recent interview on my show Off the Shelf here.

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