Susan E. Myers concentrates on two prayers, strikingly similar in style and content, found in the third-century Acts of Thomas. Each prayer is located in the context of Christian initiation and each is addressed to a feminine deity who is asked to "come" to be present in the ritual. The prayers appeal to the feminine Spirit, who is called "Mother," "fellowship of the male," and "dove," among other titles. The author examines these prayers in their historical, literary, and liturgical contexts, challenging some of the prevailing assumptions about Syriac-speaking Christianity in general, and the Acts of Thomas in particular.
Open Access for this publication was made possible by a generous donation from Segelbergska stiftelsen för liturgivetenskaplig forskning (The Segelbergska Foundation for Research in Liturgical Studies). In a seminal study, Cur cantatur?, Anders Ekenberg examined Carolingian sources for explanations of why the liturgy was sung, rather than spoken. This multidisciplinary volume takes up Ekenberg’s question anew, investigating the interplay of New Testament writings, sacred spaces, biblical interpretation, and reception history of liturgical practices and traditions. Analyses of Greek, Latin, Coptic, Arabic, and Gǝʿǝz sources, as well as of archaeological and epigraphic evidence, illuminate an array of topics, including recent trends in liturgical studies; manuscript variants and liturgical praxis; Ignatius of Antioch’s choral metaphor; baptism in ancient Christian apocrypha; and the significance of late ancient altar veils.
Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Durham under the title: Christ's proclamation to the imprisoned spirits: 1 Peter 3:18-22 in its tradition historical and literary contexts.
Eucharistic Origins was published a number of years ago. This revised edition continues to incorporate the work of the latest liturgical scholars in establishing that the earliest Christian celebrations arose out of varied forms of their ritual meals, and not out of the Last Supper. The custom of centering Christian practice in ritual meals seems to have lasted for about one hundred and fifty years before it began to be replaced by morning meetings at which the sacrament was distributed, and subsequently by a complete celebration of the Eucharist. It is here, in the third and fourth centuries, and not in the distant Jewish past, that the forms of the classical eucharistic prayers emerged and developed. The most important of these are presented in full, and their theology discussed.
In this work, Jan N. Bremmer aims to bring together the worlds of early Christianity and those of ancient history and classical literature - worlds that still all too rarely interlock. Contextualising the life and literature of the early Christians in their Greco-Roman environment, he focusses on four areas. A first section looks at more general aspects of early Christianity: the name of the Christians, their religious and social capital, prophecy and the place of widows and upper-class women in the Christian movement. Second, the chronology and place of composition of the early apocryphal Acts of the Apostles and Pseudo-Clementines are newly determined by paying close attention to their doctrinal contents, but also, innovatively, to their onomastics and social vocabulary. The author also analyses the frequent use of magic in the Acts and explains the prominence of women by comparing the Acts to the Greek novel. Third, an investigation into the theme of the tours of hell suggests a new chronological order, shows that the Christian tours were indebted to both Greek and Jewish models, and illustrates that in the course of time the genre dropped a large part of its Jewish heritage. The fourth and final section concentrates on the most famous and intriguing report of an ancient martyrdom: the Passion of Perpetua. It pays special attention to the motivation and visions of Perpetua, which are analyzed not by taking recourse to modern theories such as psychoanalysis, but by looking to the world in which Perpetua lived, both Christian and pagan. It is only by seeing the early Christians in their ancient world that we might begin to understand them and their emerging communities. (Publisher's description).
Using the method of literary critical analysis to read the Johannine narrative, Marianus Pale Hera underlines the profound relationship between the Johannine Christology and the Gospel's teaching on discipleship. A narrative reading of selected passages from chapters 1-12 of John (the prologue, Jesus' first disciples, the first sign at Cana, the man born blind, and the I Am sayings) indicates John's tendency to present christological teaching that leads to teaching on discipleship. The reading of these passages also identifies the elements that indicate the christological character of Johannine discipleship. The author's exegesis of John 17 confirms that John's teaching on Christology and discipleship are intimately interrelated to each other. All the elements that indicate the christological character of discipleship are on display in John 17. The author concludes that Christology, which is the center and heartbeat of John's thought, is not an end in itself but leads to discipleship. The twofold message of Christology and discipleship is a distinctive Johannine trait.
"Who can enter the sacred and heavenly presence of God? And how? Jared C. Calaway argues that the Letter to the Hebrews joined an ongoing debate between ancient Jewish and emergent Christian groups by engaging and countering priestly frameworks of sacred access that aligned the Sabbath with the sanctuary."--The jacket.
