THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Volume I) covers the period trom the ministry of John the Baptist to the Marcionite and Gnostic heresies of the second century. THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL (Volume II) continues Lietzmann's narra tive down to the death of Origen. It contains, in addition to brilliant character studies of such figures as Tertullian and Origen, notable chapters on the prin. cipal problems confronting the early Church. FROM CONSTANTINE TO JULIAN (Volume III) recounts the period in whicn the Church, emerging from the persecution under Diocletian, found comparative security under Constantine. It encompasses as well the stormy years of the Arian con troversy and the short-lived attempt at a pagan revival under Julian the Apostate. THE ERA Of THE CHURCH FaTHERS (Volume IV) includes treatment of the dramatic encounters between Ambrose and the Emperor Theodosius I; the account of Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil of Caesarea, and their formative influence in Eastern Orthodoxy; and a long concluding chapter on the origins of monasticism. Brilliantly written and documented, Lietzmann's HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHURCH IS a seminal work important for laymen, indispensable for students. Each volume of this paperbound edition contains two volumes of the original clothbound text. complete and unabridged.