ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book scans the literary career of a late-second-century apologist for church authority and one of the more outspoken critics of those executives who wielded it, Tertullian of Carthage. It considers church leadership during the third and fourth centuries by examining several executives' responses to prominent, contested issues: the identity of Jesus, the relationship between Christianity and secular politics, the determination of standards for conduct becoming and unbecoming the Christian, and the nature and extent of penance and pardon. The book belongs to Augustine of Hippo, who from 400 until his death thirty years later influentially adjusted the churches' frontiers, defining what it meant to be a member and an official in the universal church. It looks at how bishops managed conflicts and built consensus during the fifth and sixth centuries.
