The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity

The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity

Author: Alan Cadwallader

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-12-28

Total Pages: 473

ISBN-13: 0567695964

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A complete geographical and thematic overview of the village in an antiquity and its role in the rise of Christianity. The volume begins with a “state-of-question” introduction by Thomas Robinson, assessing the interrelation of the village and city with the rise of early Christianity. Alan Cadwallader then articulates a methodology for future New Testament studies on this topic, employing a series of case studies to illustrate the methodological issues raised. From there contributors explore three areas of village life in different geographical areas, by means of a series of studies, written by experts in each discipline. They discuss the ancient near east (Egypt and Israel), mainland and Isthmian Greece, Asia Minor, and the Italian Peninsula. This geographic focus sheds light upon the villages associated with the biblical cities (Israel; Corinth; Galatia; Ephesus; Philippi; Thessalonica; Rome), including potential insights into the rural nature of the churches located there. A final section of thematic studies explores central issues of local village life (indigenous and imperial cults, funerary culture, and agricultural and economic life).


The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity

The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity

Author: Alan Cadwallader

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-12-28

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 0567695980

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A complete geographical and thematic overview of the village in an antiquity and its role in the rise of Christianity. The volume begins with a “state-of-question” introduction by Thomas Robinson, assessing the interrelation of the village and city with the rise of early Christianity. Alan Cadwallader then articulates a methodology for future New Testament studies on this topic, employing a series of case studies to illustrate the methodological issues raised. From there contributors explore three areas of village life in different geographical areas, by means of a series of studies, written by experts in each discipline. They discuss the ancient near east (Egypt and Israel), mainland and Isthmian Greece, Asia Minor, and the Italian Peninsula. This geographic focus sheds light upon the villages associated with the biblical cities (Israel; Corinth; Galatia; Ephesus; Philippi; Thessalonica; Rome), including potential insights into the rural nature of the churches located there. A final section of thematic studies explores central issues of local village life (indigenous and imperial cults, funerary culture, and agricultural and economic life).


Society and the Holy in Late Antiquity

Society and the Holy in Late Antiquity

Author: Peter Brown

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1989-10-25

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 0520068009

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With the blend of art and learning that is the hallmark of his work, Peter Brown here examines how the sacred impinged upon the profane during the first Christian millennium.


A Source Book for Ancient Church History

A Source Book for Ancient Church History

Author: Joseph Cullen Ayer

Publisher:

Published: 2019-06-14

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780359727209

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This thorough, well-sourced history of the early Christian church follows its origins in the Apostolic Age, through its growth during and after the collapse of the Roman Empire. The author treats the death of Christ as the starting point for his examination of Christianity's initial rise to prominence via the work of the apostles. Originally commanding only a small following in what is today Israel and its immediate surroundings, the movement grew rapidly despite being banned as heresy by the Roman authorities. Through disparate and spread over a wide area, early Christians were organized; the teachings of Jesus were spread by devoted, literate believers who commonly held copies of the New Testament and other lore. Great milestones in the history of Christianity, such as the Emperor Constantine's adoption of the faith, as well as the conflicts between different groups of believers, are examined. The emergence of the Catholic church, and the formal papal office of the Bishop of Rome, is detailed.


Early Christianity in Lycaonia and Adjacent Areas

Early Christianity in Lycaonia and Adjacent Areas

Author: Cilliers Breytenbach

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2017-12-11

Total Pages: 1007

ISBN-13: 900435252X

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This work gives a detailed survey of the rise and expansion of Christianity in ancient Lycaonia and adjacent areas, from Paul the apostle until the late 4th-century bishop of Iconium, Amphilochius. It is essentially based on hundreds of funerary inscriptions from Lycaonia, but takes into account all available literary evidence. It maps the expansion of Christianity in the region and describes the practice of name-giving among Christians, their household and family structures, occupations, and use of verse inscriptions. It gives special attention to forms of charity, the reception of biblical tradition, the authority and leadership of the clergy, popular theology and forms of ascetic Christianity in Lycaonia.


Late Ancient Christianity

Late Ancient Christianity

Author: Virginia Burrus

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2010-03-01

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 1451419465

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The particular excitement of this volume lies in its focus on the everyday realities of Christians' lives in the era of Christian ascendancy and Roman decline. Popular fiction, childrearing and toys, rituals of inclusion, the beginning of veneration of saints and shunning of heretics, the ascetic impulse, food practices—all these and more lend color and texture to the story of a "people's" Christianity in this formative stage.


The Early Church

The Early Church

Author: Josef Lössl

Publisher: T&T Clark

Published: 2010-02-17

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9780567165619

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This introductory study is written from a new religious and theological studies perspective. Building on latest research in history and archaeology it also deals with reception studies, including popular literature, fiction, film, art and new religions. The book illustrates how perceptions of the early church still dominate the wider cultural discourse and how much that discourse is in need of a historically informed notion of 'the early church'. The book falls into seven chapters. Chapter I discusses concepts like 'early church' and 'early Christianity' and wider aspects of reception. Chapter II deals with concepts of history, memory and cultural origins in early Christian thought and its study. Chapter III outlines varieties of religious traditions in the context of the early church, especially Hellenistic Judaism. Chapter IV discusses Jewish and Gentile identities in the early church. Chapter V deals with the emergence of an early Christian literature. Chapter VI outlines the development of early Christian religious practices, and Chapter VII looks at leadership and political structures in and around the early church and their implications.


Pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity

Pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity

Author: A.D.(Doug) Lee

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-04-15

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 1136617396

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In this book A.D. Lee charts the rise to dominance of Christianity in the Roman empire. Using translated texts he explains the fortunes of both Pagans and Christians from the upheavals of the 3rd Century to the increasingly tumultuous times of the 5th and 6th centuries. The book also examines important themes in Late Antiquity such as the growth of monasticism, the emerging power of bishops and the development of pilgrimage, and looks at the fate of other significant religious groups including the Jews, Zoroastrians and Manichaeans.


The Church in Ancient Society

The Church in Ancient Society

Author: Henry Chadwick

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2001-12-14

Total Pages: 746

ISBN-13: 0191529958

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The Church in Ancient Society provides a full and enjoyable narrative history of the first six centuries of the Christian Church. Ancient Greek and Roman society had many gods and an addiction to astrology and divination. This introduction to the period traces the process by which Christianity changed this and so provided a foundation for the modern world: the teaching of Jesus created a lasting community, which grew to command the allegiance of the Roman emperor. Christianity is discussed in relation to how it appeared to both Jews and pagans, and how its Christian doctrine and practice were shaped in relation to Graeco-Roman culture and the Jewish matrix. Among the major figures discussed are Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Constantine, Julian the Apostate, Basil, Ambrose, and Augustine. Following a chronological approach, Henry Chadwick's clear exposition of important texts and theological debates in their historical context is unrivalled in detail. In particular, theological and ecclesial texts are examined in relation to the behaviour and beliefs of people who attended churches and synagogues. Christians did not find agreement and unity easy and the author displays a distinctive concern for the factors - theological, personal, and political - which caused division in the church and prevented reconciliation. The emperors, however, began to foster unity for political reasons and to choose monotheism. Finally, the Church captured the society.


Early Christian Encounters with Town and Countryside

Early Christian Encounters with Town and Countryside

Author: Markus Tiwald

Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

Published: 2021-04-12

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 364756494X

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Ever since Jesus walked the hills of Galilee and Paul travelled the roads of Asia Minor and Greece, Christianity has shown a remarkable ability to adapt itself to various social and cultural environments. Recent research has demonstrated that these environments can only be very insufficiently termed as "rural" or "urban". Neither was Jesus' Galilee only rural, nor Paul's Asia only "urban". On the background of ongoing research on the diversity of social environments in the Early Empire, this volume will focus on various early Christian "worlds" as witnessed in canonical and non-canonical texts. How did Early Christians experience and react to "rural" and "urban" life? What were the mechanisms behind this adaptability? Papers will analyze the relation between urban Christian beginnings and the role of the rural Jesus-tradition. In what sense did the image of Jesus, the "Galilean village Jew", change when his message was carried into the cities of the Mediterranean world from Jerusalem to Athens or Rome? Papers will not only deal with various personalities or literary works whose various attitudes towards urban life became formative for future Christianity. They will also explore the different local milieus that demonstrate the wide range of Christian cultural perspectives.