Many people today live in a polarized societies, struggling to find common ground in a time of deep division. But there is good news—the first Christians faced this challenge too. Christians & the Roman Army tells the forgotten story of the early church’s relationship with the army of imperial Rome. Over six well-researched and thought-provoking chapters, Andrew Garnett explores the ways that some early Christians embraced the army and the reasons that other Christians did not want to welcome soldiers into the church. Garnett offers lessons for our outreach to military service-members today, and discussion questions at the end of each chapter help readers apply the story to contemporary contexts. Anyone interested in ministry with the military, the history of the early churches, or finding common ground on contentious issues has a valuable resource in Christians & the Roman Army.
Available from Amazon.com, directly from the publisher, or wherever books are sold.
Author interviews, presentations, and related work in this field:
“An Interview with Andrew Garnett.” Publisher’s interview about Christians & the Roman Army
“Andrew Garnett on Christians and the Roman Army.” Podcast episode on the Dangerous Dogma podcast about lessons we can learn from the early church on Christian military service.
“Good Faith Weekly – Andrew Garnett.” Podcast episode for Good Faith Weekly about lessons we can learn from the early church’s experience with the Roman army.
“CBF Podcast: Greg Jarrell, Our Trespasses, & Andrew Garnett, Christians & the Roman Army.” Interview with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast about tension of today’s society through the lens of the early church’s tension with the Roman Empire.
“Christians & the Roman Army” for ancientromelive.org, published by The American Institute for Roman Culture. A historical introduction to the relationship between the early church and the Roman army.
“Book Interview with Andrew Garnett.” Interview with Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim about Christians and the Roman Army.
“Ministry to Military,” Nurturing Faith Journal, Vol. 39, Issue 4 (July/August 2021): Article about the complex relationship of the early church to the Roman army, and what modern churches can learn for their relationship with service members today.