1906
[Transcriber's note: Page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers enclosed in curly braces, e.g. {99}. They have been located where page breaks occurred in the original book, in accordance with Project Gutenberg's FAQ-V-99. For the book's Index, a page number has been placed only at the start of that section.]
[Transcriber's note: Footnotes have been renumbered sequentially and moved to the end of their respective chapters. The book's Index has a number of references to footnotes, e.g. the "96 n." entry under "Assyrians." In such cases, check the referenced page to see which footnote(s) are relevant.]
[Transcriber's note: The original book had side-notes in its pages' left or right margin areas. Some of these sidenotes were at or near the beginning of a paragraph, and in this e-text, are placed to precede their host paragraph. Some were placed elsewhere alongside a paragraph, in relation to what the sidenote referred to inside the paragraph. These have been placed into the paragraph near where they were in the original book. All sidenotes have been enclosed in square brackets, and preceded with "Sidenote:".]
EDITORIAL NOTE
While there is a general agreement among the writers as to principles, the greatest freedom as to treatment is allowed to writers in this series. The volumes, for example, will not be of the same length. Volume II., which deals with the formative period of the Church, is, not unnaturally, longer in proportion than the others. To Volume VI., which deals with the Reformation, will be allotted a similar extension. The authors, again, use their own discretion in such matters as footnotes and lists of authorities. But the aim of the series, which each writer sets before him, is to tell, clearly and accurately, the story of the Church, as a divine institution with a continuous life.
W. H. HUTTON
PREFACE
It has seemed to me impossible to deal with the long period covered by this volume as briefly as the scheme of the series required without leaving out a great many events and concentrating attention chiefly upon a few central facts and a few important personages. I think that the main results of the development may thus be seen, though there is much which is here omitted that would have been included had the book been written on other lines.
Some pages find place here which originally appeared in The Guardian and The Treasury, and a few lines which once formed part of an article in The Church Quarterly Review. My thanks are due for the courtesy of the Editors. I have reprinted some passages from my Church of the Sixth Century, a book which is now out of print and not likely to be reissued.