Shepherds Theological Seminary is excited to announce the release of a new book titled Discipleship in the Early Church: A Study of the Catechumenate and Its Implications for Discipleship Today. The book is authored by Dr. Andrew Burggraff, Assistant Professor of Christian Education at STS. It was published by Shepherds Press and is now available on Amazon.
The state of discipleship in American churches today is dismal. In his book, Dr. Burggraff examines the catechumenate, the post-apostolic discipleship program of the church that witnessed the rapid growth of Christianity through a deep commitment by believers to Jesus Christ. At its core, discipleship is a deliberate, intentional process to help believers know what they believe, why they believe it, and how to defend it. The post-apostolic church placed a high priority on training and educating new believers before they joined the church community. In a world of persecution, vice, and doctrinal heresies, it was critical to train new converts in the teachings of Scripture, doctrinal orthodoxy, and moral purity. The early church developed the catechumenate to accomplish this important corporate education of new believers. Discipleship in the Early Church presents several principles based on the catechumenate to guide today’s church back toward scriptural discipleship.
