"What was it like to be a Christian in the first centuries after Jesus? How much change did conversion bring to people's lives? How far did they live up to the lofty ideals of their founder? How far did Christianity develop a distinctive way of life, and how far did it constantly have to compromise with the world around it?" "In this study of questions which have never been investigated before at this depth, Christoph Markschies paints a fascinating picture of Christian social life and the development of Christian institutions. Drawing on contemporary sources, both Christian and pagan, not least on the great series of sermons of fourth-century preachers which indicate what was really going on in their churches, he shows leaders constantly facing new issues under the pressure of public demand."--BOOK JACKET.